Learning the Ordinary

Chapter 3

(Please give me your honest opinion about the chapter in a comment. -- Gaudencio Y Sanchez Jr)

Chapter 3

Dreaming of becoming normal, Ezra’s pleasant rest shifted into a dark nightmare. The sky turned a dark black. Clouds banded together forming horizontal stripes across the world. Buildings slowly deteriorated from the inside out. And Ezra stood in the center of the city.

Staring at the dark sky Ezra noticed streaks of stars zooming towards the horizon. The cobble streets widened thanks to the broken buildings melting into them. A soft breeze flowed behind him—pushing him forward. Joining the wind, Ezra walked. A dull star flickered behind the stripes. Growing brighter it floated towards the ground. The wind grew stronger. Ezra squinted after he thought he saw something hidden inside its light. Drifting lower it suddenly rocketed towards the ground. A massive plume of white and black smoke erupted out of the ground. Tremors ripped over the world creating jagged crevasses from the point of impact. A black bolt of lightning shot forward. It reached for Ezra’s face. Ezra fell back. It faded away in the blink of an eye. A crevasse rocketed towards Ezra spewing black fog out of its rocky mouth. Ezra shuffled to his feet to run away. The wind blew stronger until Ezra could not move forward. He leaned, hoping to get some of traction. He started running in place. The crevasse neared. Patches of fog overflowed from its mouth. Swirling over the ground it left a path of decay as it stretched. Ezra tried not to look back but could not help it. The crevasse was right there. No matter how hard he tried to run he could not get away. A sudden gust tackled Ezra. He fell back. Screaming without sound he was casted into the dark ravine.

“No!” Ezra quickly sat up drenched in sweat.

The blankets were thrown off the bed. Small fragments of his wooden bed frame were scattered on the floor. Cat-like claw marks scratched the far wall as if trying to spell something. Ezra stared at his hands. Quivering, he thought of what happened…and then he knew. His Night Terrors had returned. Plagued by demonic dreams as a child, he had to be placed under special care. Thankfully they went away when he turned seven. But why would they return now? What caused this sudden change in dreams? Not only did he have to worry about his adventure, he now had to worry about his dreams. If he could do this much damage by himself, who knows what would happen if he harmed someone. Or worse, killed them by mistake.

Ezra jumped after hearing a powerful nock on the door. Wearing the same clothes from yesterday he raced through the house. Sliding to a stop he got ready to open the door. Finding its bolts and chains untouched Ezra pulled the door open—hoping to find his mother. Instead, Jeszur was there jumping in place. Smiling without a care in the world Jeszur kept his eyes wide with excitement.

“What’re y’u doin’ in those clothes?” Jeszur’s excitement filled his voice.

Ezra tilted his head with confusion. “I just got out of bed.”

“Go change and put on y’ur jacket.”

“Why what’s happening?”

“I don’t know.” Ezra slumped his shoulders when he saw Jeszur about to burst from holding the news too long. “There’s dozens, maybe even hundreds of people at the main gate. They’re crowded around somethin’ and chantin’. We have to go see what it is.”

“What time is it?” Ezra was suddenly pushed back into his home by Jeszur.

“Don’t worry about it. Jus’ change y’ur clothes, get y’ur things and come on!”

Being pushed into his home Ezra hurried to his room. Throwing on his brown jacket he snatched his dark blue backpack from the closet. Zipping his jacket halfway up he returned to Jeszur before pulling on his backpack. Rushing out of the house they raced through the alleys and down the streets. Listening to their echoing footsteps they began to hear a roar that quickly filled their ears. Turning a corner, Ezra and Jeszur came to a wide open part of the city. Clear of everything, except for a few small booths here and there, it was completely covered by cobblestone. At its far end stood a mighty gate made of two stone pillars and metal. Its doors were closed leaving a massive crowd locked inside. For the first time in his life, Ezra saw the entire city gathered in one spot. Seeing their hands wave over their heads Jeszur couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.