The Dream
"Come on Aroon, let's go have a drink with your co-workers man."
"I'm sorry, I can't today. I need to go home."
"Aw man… He refuses us every time."
"You should open up to people, my guy."
"You have been workin' here for an year and haven't gone drinking with us man."
"Yea, living like that ain't really livin."
And so all three of them left my cubicle, going off talking about the bar they usually frequent after work.
I don't hate them or drinking, they are good folk and social drinking is quite fun. It's just, my body instinctively says 'No' to most things related to that nowadays. Social gatherings are too much of a risk for me. I just want to be left alone.
Always takes me longer than everyone to leave the building, everything gets so disorganized by the end of it. A real mess, boss doesn't mind it though, never got yelled at by them.
Closing my day with my daily routine, walking the same cold street every night, the only way home. Something is different this time, I'm noticing way less cars or people around here. Even the lights are not working correctly. Whatever, it doesn't concern me, I just need to get to my bus stop and go home, too tired for this…
At my bus stop, I wait there. It's impossible for me to arrive on time, so I need to wait for the next bus everyday. Looking around me, there really is no sign of life hm… Wait…
That alley across the street… I've never noticed that before, was that always there?
Have I lost my mind? I'm sure it was never there. It's really dark and there's a faint light at the end…?
Strangely, I feel compelled to see what's in that light… What are you saying Aroon, enter such a dark corridor, you want to get mugged? But if I think about it, that alley could be a massive shortcut to my apartment… God damn it, why is the world giving me choices right now? I'm too tired to make decisions, I just want to go home.
I made the decision to go through that alley, something no one with common sense should do in their life. I can only pray for my body to not be in tomorrow's news.
It's cold here, very cold but yet, It feels like I belong here. I reached the light, it was only a street lamp, nothing really happened crossing that alley, I guess it's safer than one would expect. If I continue to the left, I should see my apartment.
It's really strange, there's a single sign of life here, no cars, no animals, even the moon feels oppressive. All the buildings have their lights off in this street. I know most try to sleep on time, but you would see at least one turned on, right? Wait there is one ahead, it's massive… It's a hospital? Here!?
That sign, "Phoenix Hospital", that name, it's familiar? But this is not the location of this hospital, did I really get lost!? There's so many voices coming from the hospital but yet, looking through the doors, there's no one there…
Hm? I can hear a faint ambulance sound coming from ahead. They are going really fast, hopefully the person inside is not in too much danger…
The ambulance made a quick and strong turn to the hospital parking lot, it was a very dangerous maneuver and from the brief glimpse I got, I think… It had no driver!? No that can't be it.
My tiredness has to be getting the better of me. Has to be. There's no such thing as a self-driving ambulance, I must be so tired to make these things up in my head.
The lights of the hospital suddenly shut down, putting me on alert for a few seconds. A hospital should not just shut down like that! The voices coming from the stopped too…
"IS ANYONE THERE?" I yell, but receive no answer. Such an unsettling feeling, I-I'm just continuing forward, my apartment should be ahead.
This road feels endless. I have walked for a long time and the further I go, the more broken street lamps appear, some even break in real time. Still not a single sign of human life, at least the hospital had voices, here I can only hear the wind. Out of nowhere, all the lights not broken turn off, all at once, startling me.
One of them ahead begins to flicker and turns on, showing a broken bench, one of its legs missing. There's also a… letter on that bench?
Something took the bench's place, it looked like a tall person, holding an umbrella above their head. But they are completely dark, almost like a shadow… standing there looking to one direction, their eyes being so bright.
Everything about this was wrong. The light begins to flicker again and shuts down. My heart begins to beat fast as I slowly take steps back. But it's too late, I hear the sound of something dropping to the floor. The eyes glowing in the dark, they are looking at me. After a few seconds of staring, the shadow takes the first step.
It was slow, every step took, felt like a huge struggle, making a loud sound when hitting the ground, lumbering towards me. My mind begins to panic, my body agitated as my heart beats faster. I can feel it extending their arm to grab me. My instincts made the decision. run opposite of it, to the hospital.
After running for a while, I take some time to breathe. Looking back… the glowing eyes still visible in the distance, inching closer, the shadow won't stop. I continue to run from it.