I'm Totally Random - a book of random oneshots

Flight Of Fancy

I flee through the darkened hallways of the locked building, trapped. My heart is loud within me, blood pounding through my veins. My lungs burn for oxygen. Every muscle aches from exhaustion, near to collapsing. I stumble, catch myself, run on. The stairs are within sight, empty of the daytime rush of students. The windows on my right show me an empty parking lot beneath an empty moonless sky, visible only because of the few lights outside that have not burnt out.

Footsteps from behind make me run faster, terror giving me new energy. I reach the stairs, my bare feet cool against the stone steps. It seems, almost, that I can fly down the steps, but it is still not fast enough to escape. Once I reach the bottom I hurry past door after door, all locked to my now desperate hands. Laughter from behind drives me onward. The hallways seemed to twist around me, turning at angles that should have been impossible. Footsteps echo in the halls, ever closer, no matter how I run, telling me of my doom, telling me I cannot escape. I know that they will soon catch me, my legs burning with fatigue, near to collapse. I gasp for breath, slowing, though I know it could mean my demise to do so. I can run no more.

The doors blur together as I stumble from one to another, rattling their knobs, tears blending with the sweat streaming down my face. I almost give up hope as the next knob slides through my slippery fingers, but I dry them off and try again. It turns. I stand there staring for a moment, but then the shock wears off and I rush inside, the room before me filled with vague shapes that I can barely make out, locking the door behind me. Moments later the knob jiggles as whatever was behind me tries to enter. Soon it stops and I hear the footsteps fade as IT walks off.

I am safe. I decide to turn the lights on so I can see better. All I can see now is a sliver of the moon, probably shining through the windows, and the hazy shapes I saw on my way in. I flip the switch, light flooding in, blinding me for a moment. When I can see again, I wish I had left my eyes shut. Nothing made sense. The wall behind me is the only one I can see. Everywhere else is a jumble of trees, bushes, flowers, weeds, and what seems a million eyes glaring out at me from the shadows created by the midday sun that has replaced the moon. I am in a nightmare land. It is then that I realize I am screaming.

* * *

"There she goes again," says the nurse with an angry sigh. "Darn that loon. Why did I ever choose to work in this crazy house?"

"Because of the good pay and the easy work. Plenty of free time, too. The nuts are locked up all day long," answered the other nurse.

"Oh, yeah. That's right," giggles the first. With that they turned back to they TV, ignoring the continued screams from down the hall as more voices add their strength, drowning out the first. Neither noticed the darkness pooling at the bottom of their door... A darkness which truly did not belong there.