Life in a Limbo

Chasing Figures

He seldom had nightmares.

But when he did, he defined them as the worst kind, unlike anyone else's.

He was standing tall, relaxed, and strong. It was a sunny day on a beach. He felt the warmth of the sun and smelled the salt of the ocean that gleamed and shimmered in the sunlight. It was so beautiful, but it was difficult for him to fully open his eyes, and he could not understand why. His eyes were partially open, almost shut. Wrinkles formed on his forehead every time he tried to open them fully. The ocean stretched as far as he could see.

He stood on his feet, feeling the cold water creeping into the crevices between his toes, even between the half-split toe on his right foot, which had blackened from a nail infection he had when he was little. The wet sand perfectly embraced his feet, making them feel alive and somehow floating. He felt the breeze pushing his dark brown hair to flicker side to side on his forehead. There was a delightful aura in the air. He took deep breaths and felt so fresh, so perfect, he thought.

Everything was going well, he thought. He looked into the distance and saw something on the horizon. Far off, he saw something moving toward him. It was black, like burnt matches, but moving, hopping, in slow motion, like on TV. The shimmering water made it difficult for him to see clearly. As the figures came closer, they started to move faster with every passing second. The approaching things slowly took shape, but they were still unrecognizable. Maybe less than a minute had passed, and the unknown figures had limbs, heads, and even hair. They were human—or something human-like. Humans he hadn't seen before, with faces he could not yet trace. Even with half-shut eyes, he was certain they were human. When they came into view, he looked carefully at their faces, squinting his eyes, but he couldn't seem to recognize a single one. They appeared disfigured and blurred.

The figures, with disfigured, human-like faces, ran faster now, calling his name: "Adrishya! Adrishya! Wait!" The sky began to turn gray as the figures got closer, and their voices grew louder and more urgent. His gut told him something wasn't right, but he wanted to know who they were, how they knew his name, and why they knew his name.

He slowly stepped back from the water and onto the sand. He retreated out of the water in fear, anxiety rushing over him—maybe fear. The sand was dry, hot, and lifeless. There was no water or life in it; the aura was gone. Something was wrong. He tried to breathe, but the fresh air had disappeared, and he struggled to take a breath. Suddenly, the air was filled with the stench of rot and sickness. He realized he had no time to waste and turned around to run. The figures were getting closer, calling his name louder and more clearly: "Adrishya! Adrishya! Stop!" He ignored the voices and ran. He moved his muscles quickly, trying to get away, to distance himself from the figures, the terrible voices, and that bleak place.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't run. He slowly lost pace. The ground beneath his feet gave way, and his limbs began to give up too. He ran, but he was still there—still in the same spot. He hadn't moved an inch. He looked back. "Adrishya, stop!" The figures were shouting in shrieking voices that echoed across the empty beach, which had been so peaceful just a moment ago. He suffocated even more, unable to breathe, and now he was slowly losing his sight. He looked down—he could no longer see his toes. He was running, trying to escape, but his feet had disappeared. Slowly, he couldn't see his legs below his knees. There was nothing. He looked back; the figures, tall and dark with thin, noodle-like limbs, were getting closer. He tried to crawl with his hands, pulling his half-body along, but the ground was too wet and slippery, with no grass to hold onto. He suffocated even more, unable to cry, unable to make a sound. He screamed louder, but no sound came out. It was a void: dark, cold, and blinding. He crawled quickly, but he was still in the same place. He looked back. Everything was blurry, but he could tell the figures were gone.

They were no longer there. Gone?

"There you are, Adrishya!" screeched a voice just above his head. "We've got you now! Finally!" The voice was off, hard to tell whether it was a man speaking or some animal growling. He looked up and saw that the figures who had been chasing him were now above his head, in a circle, looking down at him. He was surrounded by those figures. "We've got you! Why didn't you stop? We've got you now! Why didn't you stop? Adrishya! Wait! Adrishya! Why didn't you stop? Why did you run? Why? Why?"

The heads were just above him, yet he still couldn't tell who or what they were.

His heart felt as if it had crashed into a wall, and his head was on the verge of exploding.

"What do you want? Who are you? Leave me alone. Leave me alone."

Leave me ALONE...!

The next thing he knew, he was soaked in sweat, lying in bed. He opened his eyes and looked around. It was bright. He looked up. There was nothing above him or beside him. He was alone. An alarm clock on his bedside table told him it was past 7 in the morning. Yet he lay there still, with a thin blanket covering his lower body, except for his right foot, with the infected toe.

To be continued...