Well, here I am. Running again. The first rule when running is that you never have to be the fastest, just faster than the slowest person. The second rule when running is that anything goes. Speaking of anything goes…I bend down quickly and pick up a handful of the dirt from the side of the road, turn around, and throw it high in the air. Then, I spin around quick as a flash and off I go.
There, now they’ll run into the cloud of dust and hopefully it will blind them long enough to trip or at least slow down a little. I can’t afford for them to catch up to me. Not when that thing is so close behind. How far away is this place, anyway? I think they gave me some bad directions. I hear gasps and sputters behind me. I know that they just hit my cloud of dust and debris. I hear coughing and I take a glance behind me and I really wish that I hadn’t…Oh, why did I look behind me!? I turn my head back immediately as I hear two short, piercing screams, cut off quickly.
This is why I’m running. I am running to save my life. I have to run faster than the slowest person or I die. I have to preserve my life, even at the cost of others. I can feel the chill of the wind blowing against the tear rolling down my cheek. But that doesn’t make it easy.
It doesn’t take long for them to finish…well…doing what they do to people…but I think I’m getting closer! Off in the distance is a bright orange sign with baby blue lettering standing tall and proud above the surrounding forests and the overgrown buildings from an age past. Ivy and low bushes and weeds and occasionally some beautiful flowers like Chrysanthemums and multi-colored Magnolias and sometimes even sporadically growing rose bushes have overtaken much of what was once finely trimmed lawns and paved parking lots and roads and once proudly up-kept buildings. Not that these things weren’t beautiful in their own way, but the beauty of nature persists over them in a more literal sense now. Although, the people of yesteryear managed to build and construct a few things that have been able to withstand natures advances, like this sign. Ah, I can read it now! It looks like it says, “ALMOST THERE!” Wow…good thing this thing can’t read. The sign had once had some professionally printed white letters but these have long since worn off and now the baby blue letters have been crudely painted on by an inexperienced hand, and it seems like they were painted rather hastily as well.
As the sign gets closer and bigger and larger with each step I begin to look for my next waypoint. A dog in the park…this is so vague and so stupid. How am I supposed to take the time to find a dog in a park when they are chasing me. Those kids from before didn’t slow them down enough for me to be able to go on a search for a lost puppy! Just then the image of the two kids, blinded by my trickery, being attacked by that thing. They couldn’t have been more than twelve, maybe ten, years old. I give my head a quick shake in an attempt to rid myself of the memory. I don’t have time to think about that.
As I approach the sign I realize that there is a town or something surrounding the sign, which makes sense. Well, the best thing to do is find a park in the middle of this town-forest. Good, that should be easy…
I am running down what I can only assume is the main street through the town and I see houses with white picket fences, red doors, green shudders, white siding, lovely brick chimneys, except that they are now falling apart and covered in greenery. It is totally abandoned, like most small towns. Wait. What is that. A street sign. I glance behind me and I do not, or cannot, see it behind me and I strain to hear anything but I can only hear the occasional bird song and the soft hum of the activity of the forest surrounding me. So, I take the risk and stop at the street intersection. As I look around I notice a tiny, blinking yellow-orange glow. Wow. All this time and all this overgrowth and the street light is still functioning somehow. That is just crazy. Then it hits me…that means that it has power. Which means that somewhere around here there is a functioning generator. And that means that someone must be around to keep the generator working! That means there are people, or at least someone, here!!! I sprint over to a street sign and try to wipe off all the grime and vines. The sign reads, “Trenton Memorial Park.”
THIS IS IT! I FOUND THE PARK! Off in the distance I hear it. The sudden, intense clacking and buzzing. My whole body tenses and I burst forward into the park. Run faster! Run! I shouldn’t have stopped for so long, what an idiot. Where is that dog!? As I’m putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to trip on any rocks, concrete, or roots I am scanning left and right looking for a dog. Or maybe something dog-like. I don’t know what I am looking for! I hear the clacking and buzzing getting a little louder. Oh, God, please someone help. I feel something snag the tip of my left foot. I try and keep my balance and catch myself with my other foot. No, no, no, no! As my right foot lurches forward with the unexpected downward momentum I know that this could be it. I could be done. My right food lands at an awkward angle and I immediately can feel the stress on the tendons. My heart is beating so fast I can feel it in my ears and in my fingertips. Pain shoots up from my foot to my hip and I let out a short gasp of pain, but I somehow catch my balance and push off with my right foot in order to keep moving forward. Every step hurts and I have slowed down a little. I don’t think anything is broken and I don’t think I have torn anything but I can still hear that thing. It definitely knows where I am now, though, after I opened my big mouth. I may have just killed myself…
It was at that moment, when I was totally preoccupied with my thoughts that I hear a startling sound that catches me off guard. I hear a dog bark. Just once. To my right. Without giving it another thought I cut to the right in the direction where I hear the bark. Now, I am listening intently in that direction hoping to catch any other sounds. A dog. In the park. A literal dog. This is ridiculous. The clacking and buzzing has gotten closer and louder. I am too scared to turn around and see how close it is. I could probably see it now. Those horrible eyes…Another bark. Definitely closer this time. And dead ahead! I’ve got to be close! I have to push myself! I put every ounce of energy I have left into pumping my legs faster and faster. As I squeeze between two tree trunks and burst out on the other side I am suddenly in the middle of an open field with thigh-tall grass. Where did this come from? I slow down long enough to get my bearing. The sun is overhead but heading west. It is probably still several hours until dark. I have been heading east for quite some time. The dog should be around here somewhere. I risk everything and yell, “Here boy! Heeeerrrreeee, boy!” I see some movement in the grass and I can hear the dog barking, coming towards me. I run closer to the dog. He pops out close enough for me to see him and I come to a screeching halt. Running out of breath and energy with my ankle throbbing I pat the dog on the head instinctively, “Ya know, boy. I’ve never seen a dog but, somehow, I knew you would look like this. Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard a dog before either…so how did I know what you would sound like?” The dog had long, blonde hair and a square-ish face with deep, brown eyes. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth a bit as he panted and enjoyed the patting and scratching. Then, suddenly, he made a growling, barking sound and his body tensed up and his hair began to stand on end. I realize that while my mind wandered about this dog I had dropped my guard and stopped paying attention for the thing behind me. I feel the hair on the back of my neck rise and I feel a shiver go down my spine. I listen closely, too afraid to see what the dog was growling at. Where did it go? I don’t hear anything…What is happening!?
Silence. Nothing. The most terrifying sound of all when you are surrounded by wildlife and nature and have recently been chased by something. The dog barks again, bites onto my right shirt sleeve, and pulls me away. This is just what I need to snap back to reality and both the dog and I break out into a sprint. In his haste, the dog tore off part of my sleeve but is still holding on to the scrap of dust –covered, mottled green and brown cloth flapping as he runs. It is almost comical despite the horror that I know is right behind me. I don’t even know where this dog is taking me. Why am I doing things and remembering things that I know nothing about. What is going on with me? What if this dog is just leading me to another one of these things? Are there more of them??
Suddenly, I am falling. The ground just disappeared beneath my feet and I see the sun and sky disappear and a blackness and darkness surrounds me. In the split second before I lose sight of everything above ground I notice the dog stop and turn around, panting, almost smiling. What is happening now?
I hit the ground with a dull thud, trying not to land badly on my injured ankle, and I quickly jump up to observe my surroundings. The drop wasn’t as far as I thought. Maybe just fifteen feet. That didn’t hurt as much as I thought. And did I land on something soft? What is going on? The opening where I just fell through has closed already and, wherever I am, it is completely dark. There is absolutely no light. I blink a couple of times quickly in an attempt to make my eyes adjust faster but no luck. A hear the sound of a speaker turning on, that small crackle of electricity when you flip a switch, and a familiar voices calls out to me, “Charlotte.”
“What do you want? Who are you? And where am I? What is going on? Why aren’t you answering me” I call back while pausing between questions, my voice rising in intensity with each question.
The lights flicker to life and I realize that I am standing in a room with mirrored glass on all the walls. The soft floor I landed on is actually some kind of orange and red and yellow shag rug from who knows what time period. I see myself in the mirrors all around me. I look at my dirty green-brown shirt with part of the right sleeve missing, from the dog. My torn and tattered light blue jeans. My shoes are covered in dirt and they are caked with mud. They used to be mint green but now are some kind of ugly, puke green color. My long black hair that used to be so straight and would shine when it caught the light is now tangled and frizzy and has lost its luster significantly. My dark brown eyes are bloodshot and they carry a deep sadness in them. My soft, white skin is now bronze and scratched up and covered in scars. My nose that used to look so small and dainty is now crooked from it healing wrong once when I ran into a tree and broke it. My fingernails are chipped and rugged and short due to the constant clawing and climbing up trees and rocks. Who is that? I can tell it used to be me? But who is it now? Is this what I have become?
The voice speaks up again, gently this time, “Charlotte. You are safe now.”
I lower my head, looking at the floor, and a wet spot appears on my shoe from the tear that fell off of my eyelash. I’m safe.
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