Works & Wonders

THE BARN

     The barn door dragged across the earth as I pulled it open.  It was dark inside and smelled of old hay and dung.  I'd left my phone in the car, but I did have a lighter, which I flicked a few times before seeing the flame.  It didn't do much.  I moved forward, slowly sweeping the lighter out in front of me from left to right.  The pitiful yellow hue barely illuminated the edges of the gates, boxes and junk inside.

     Then, slowly, a peculiar sound rose up from around me.  It sounded like air leaking out of a steam pipe.  Not very intense or anything, just a tiny flow of air with a slight whistling sound.  It made my skin crawl.  Suddenly, my nose began to fill with a rancid stench.   Absolutely disgusting. It burned my nostrils and throat, and I immediately began to feel the floor abruptly shifting back and forth like a seesaw underneath me.  Simultaneously, my vision increasingly grew blurry.  The flame from the lighter I was holding out, lost all of its definition and I quickly began to lose my sense of time or where I was.  Most disturbing, however, was that during this time, I had slowly lost my ability to even move, as my muscles tightened so much so, that they seemed to turn to stone, while causing a dull but excruciating pain.  Then, I was completely paralyzed.

     It was at this time that I heard something large sliding across the hay and dirt.  I was terrified. When I say terrified, I mean to say; I was seized with a horror that was so visceral and intense, I'd never imagined that such a state of crushing terror could be reached.  My heart must have reached well over 200 beats per minute and felt as if it would explode out of my chest.

     Then, suddenly, I could make out a dark form rising up in front of me, swaying side to side like a snake.  But what I assumed to be the head, since it was large and bulbous, was simply far too huge to be that of a snake.  Nor could I make out any arms or legs, only a hose-shaped body that was as thick as a tree trunk.  Then I heard that sound again...that sound of escaping air.  The horrible stench intensified, and I wanted to not only vomit, but I felt an intense feeling of total hopelessness overwhelming me.

     The dark form slowly ceased swaying and it appeared to rear up and arch backwards before freezing in place.  A few moments had passed as I stood there, frozen like a post when suddenly, it lunged directly at my face, smashing into it with great force before rearing back again and starting to sway.  I felt such an unimaginable and excruciating pain that I was certain I was dead.

     Next, I realized that my hearing was gone, aside from a high-pitched ringing noise inside of my head.  I could still feel my face though, which felt like thousands of needles were stabbing at it and injecting me with something horrible.  Then I experienced the strange feeling that my face was expanding like a balloon and ripping apart while it was on fire.  Then everything suddenly went black.

And... that's the last thing I remember.   I don't even know where I am as I write this.  If I am, indeed, even writing.  Or just thinking...or.... I don't know. This paralyzing darkness and deafening silence are awful.