Rise of the Punch Monkey

Chapter 1

The void of darkness surrounded me as I drifted among the unending black. I looked over my body, patting it down, and found it intact but I could see absolutely nothing. Was I blind? Wherever I was, the dark was wholly perfect and I had the odd sensation that I was floating. Not falling or flying, mind you, but held in a state of perfect suspense achieved through the complete absence of gravity. It was a very weird sensation. Eventually I began reaching around, stretching my fingertips into the empty hoping to discover something, anything at this point, through the faintest of touches. My efforts were in vain, however, as I found nothing in reach with either my hands or feet, including the ground.

Frustrated, I thrashed about in a spastic swimming motion trying to move myself towards anything. I couldn't tell if I was successful in moving but I knew I was unsuccessful in discovery as nothing changed. I thought to call out in hopes someone was nearby however a blanket of fear crept in from the depths of my mind as I strained against the blackness. I suddenly did not want to call out or make a sound at all. I was afraid. The situation, such as it was, invoked a fear within me so primal that my imagination crafted winged beasts and fanged monstrosities dancing along the corners of my vision. Was that my breath I was hearing? Or some creature I couldn't see waiting to seize me while I was so vulnerable. I trashed our wildly again until I tired myself then curled into a small ball, hugging my knees.

I had been a completely normal, lucid man before all this. I was never afraid of the dark, even as a child, and frequently enjoyed spending time outside at night as a man. I found the warm evening air in my city refreshing and pleasant. This darkness was something different entirely. It was a black bag around my head stifling my breath, my thoughts, my everything.

I don't know how long I floated there but it felt it felt like an eternity. How had I gotten here? What had happened? I searched my mind to try and piece everything together. I had been on the number nine bus, or was it ten, headed downtown to meet Emilia. Emily? The seats on the bus were a bright orange. I don't know why that stuck out so much but it might have been due to the puddle of vomit covered up by a Burger King bag one of the seats in front of me. God that had been gross. I could still remember how sour it smelled.

I remembered standing up to move seats and the bus lurched violently to the side as the reckless driver clipped the curb with the back wheels causing several of the passengers to swear loudly.

"Sorry!" the large man said as he pressed harder onto the accelerator.

I eased myself back into my seat. Best to just stay seated, I thought.

The bus began its trudge across the bridge towards downtown and I remembered looking through the windshield at the glowing city skyline beyond. I remembered thinking that I was late to meet her. Emilia was a blind-ish date basically meaning I knew who I was meeting but she did not. One of our mutual friends, Candice, had set the whole thing up after she learned that I was infatuated but a bit too timid to ever actually make the first move.

I didn't agree with the situation at all, honestly. To me it seemed like it would have been a colossal waste of both our time if she was uninterested to begin with and on top of that it seemed like kind of a messed-up thing to do to someone you considered a friend. I was unsure of how well Emilia and Candice actually knew one another but I know I wouldn't have appreciated it, being forced into an awkward encounter such as this. Candice insisted that Emilia loved surprises and liked quiet guys but I remained skeptical. I stared at the lights dancing in the distance as I thumbed my phone in my pocket.

I should text her and let her know it's me, I contemplated. That way she can make up some excuse to tell me about how she couldn't make it or an emergency came up or something so she had a reason to leave before I actually got there and it wasn't embarrassing for both of us.