BURDENS

O N E

Thomas Walker's POV:
The morning that it happened, I had woken up with a sense of dread. I couldn't quite lay my hands on why, as I couldn't recall the dream I had had the night previous, but it was a sense I will always remember.

It took me a few minutes to get up, typically, I would stay in bed until noon-ish, before deciding to face the world. This morning was different. I felt as though I needed to get up, to try and understand this uneasy feeling I was having inside of me. I removed the ruffled grey duvet which had cocooned me in the dark and sat up on the edge of my bed. I reached out into the distance to pull my white t-shirt that I'd thrown and quickly put it on. I grabbed a pair of bunched up socks from a week before and headed downstairs.

My home was silent. I checked my watch, "8:30am" it read. I then checked my phone for the day, "Thursday." I knew that at least one of my relatives should be home but there wasn't a whistle of movement. I didn't think too long and hard about it once I had seen the black reinforced cars that stood proudly in the driveway. The lay across the front window as though they were bouncers at a nightclub.

I wasn't much of a 'breakfast person' so I decided to take a cold and brisk shower before getting dressed for the day. It had just turned may but it had been unseasonably hot. I recall opting for cream chino shorts as apposed to my usual black skinny jeans. I felt as though I had enough energy to venture out of the house, something I had not done for well over two weeks.

After strolling for some time, I found myself in the local park. The air was breezy but the sun had already began to shine through the early morning clouds. I found a large bolder-style rock located in the centre of a patch of sun, and chose to sit for a while.

It didn't take long before I noticed a distinct lack of people. In the town I lived in, even on a Thursday at this time, you'd hear some kind of commotion. I couldn't even hear the hustling of the cars on the main road situated close by. I felt uneasy and that sense of dread only began to grow.

Around an hour past and I had seen no indication of life. My mind began to panic and I thought it had got to be a dream. There was no plausible explanation that would account for the sudden lack of people. Not only that, but I had seen no wild life. In an attempt to wake myself from a wild encounter of the mind, I began to pinch myself. One. Nothing. A second pinch, I was still there. I kept going and going, making the once flush armour turn purple and sore.

"Hello?" I heard a panicked voice call from behind me. I'd recognised it, but couldn't quite match it to a face. I turned around to see a sun lit figure edging towards me. Their hands shielding their face from the blinding lights. They kept walking towards me, hard to see, I left closer. The closer I got the better I could see this mysterious creature.

When our eyes met I watched as we both exhaled deeply in relief. Someone I had known for some time was in front of me. My childhood best friend which I had stemmed away from since becoming more introverted.

His ashy blonde hair had remained untouched since last I saw him. He looked very well dressed that day, wearing what seemed like business casual.

"That's not exactly what I would call park attire..." I joked as our hands met and we exchanged non-verbal hellos.

"I hadn't planned to come here. Strange things are happening." He exclaimed worriedly. "You're the first person I've seen all day.

We both stood there slightly stunned. We both felt the uneasy presence that covered us like an itchy wool blanket. 

"So what exactly happened to you?" I asked him as we both began to fumble to sit on the grass.

"It's a long story."