Road to Nowhere

Road to Nothing

It was late in the night when I finally went home. I walked to my car and sat down on the drivers seat for a moment. I sighed. It was like a silent scream leaving my overworked body. I thought about coming home to my two cats and my goldfish. Not that they would care about me, but it felt like home. I already imagined the feeling of my head touching the soft pillows on my bed. I was tired, so paying attention to the road would be an issue. Working night shifts at McDonald's is very tiring. Especially when the customers are annoying and moody. And that one old lady... she was very weird.

'How can I help you?' I asked, trying to smile at her.

She looked up and stared right into my eyes. It was like she could see through me. She stared at me for I don't know how long. It seemed hours. Her cold blue eyes stared right into my soul, as I started to feel hypnotized.

Suddenly she grabbed my wrist. My heart skipped a beat.

'Be careful. The one that is following you is gonna be your death. Take an other road when you go home!'

Immediately after she let go of my wrist and turned her head away.

'Cappuccino, please,' she said.

I wrote her order down, before I turned around and walked back to the kitchen. My heart was still racing and I could still feel her hand around my wrist.

After a few minutes I placed the coffee cup on a plate and walked back to the café.

The woman disappeared.

I feel weird. Like someone is watching me.

I start the car and hit the road. I turned the volume of the radio up, until I only could hear the music and the sounds around me disappeared. I needed to clear my head. Too many things had been happening lately.

Today was simply weird. First, that strange woman. Secondly, every other customer who came in after the woman left, were acting like I was the strangest person they've ever seen. It was like they all knew something I didn't.

After a few minutes I reached an intersection. Normally I would turn right, but then I remembered the lady's words.

'Take another road when you go home.' I can still hear her voice in my head.

What if she was right? What if I end up dead? What would be following me?

Oh, my goodness, I don't know; I don't know; I don't know! I wish someone could tell me why that woman showed up; why she told all those things; why it has to be me.

Everything could just be a joke to scare me, but her eyes. It seemed like she know what she was talking about. It was like she knew what was gonna happen. But somehow I still won't believe her.

No one can predict the future. Heck, she don't even know me, just like I don't know her.

Who was she? Or better: what was she? A medium? A witch? A psychic?

As much as I wanted to go home, I still had a wrong feeling about all of this. Maybe the old lady was right. Maybe I should take another road to get home.

I reached the point where I couldn't think straight anymore. Too many things were haunting my brain.

I just stopped thinking and I took a left turn. The road was dark. There was almost no illumination.

I opened the navigation app on my phone and entered my address. A blue line appeared across the map on my screen.

I shut the radio down and focus on the road, since it's hard to see where you're going.

In the distance I heard thunder and a few seconds later I saw the lightning lighting up the dark clouds.

After two hours I was wondering if it was the right choice to make a left turn. This road has been going on like forever. Where does this road even go to?

I was driving through a forest right now. The trees moved on the wind, like they were waving at me. Not like they were greeting me, but more like they called out to me, to come and enter the forest. To enter their territory and make me get lost in their world of cruel wilderness.

Sometimes when I looked past the trees on my left side, I saw yellow lights moving around. I knew they weren't lights. The yellow lights were eyes, from who knows what for creature. Wolves? They are pretty common over here. Bobcats? Bears? Foxes? You can name it all.

When I looked at my right side, I looked down on the valley. There was a lake in the middle, but there still was no sign of a village or any other sign of humans. It's just like I was the only human on earth, surrounded by nature and her creatures.

I didn't even know this forest existed. Probably because it's remoted and abandoned, no one talks about it. Or does it have another reason no one comes here? Maybe a dark secret? Maybe this forest is like the Suicide Forest in Japan. I don't hope so though. I rather get out of this alive.

The further I drove, how more I started thinking.

Wait a second! What if the old lady wanted me to come here? What if those words weren't good intensions? What if this was a trap? She would be waiting for me somewhere on this road to kill me. Maybe she is a cannibal.

Oh, come on, you fool. You're not a child anymore. Be realistic.

The voice in my brain stopped talking to me. It was like someone shut it off.

Everything was dead silent. I didn't even dare to make a noise. I felt scared, but I don't know why. My heart started racing and I felt sick.

Suddenly my whole body started shaking softly. I felt the goosebumps on my arms and on the back on my neck. What was happening?

Something was wrong.

Then I realized it was quiet.

Too quiet.