Alan's Story

Chapter 2

A loud buzzer was going off. Alan opened his tired, heavy eye lids to see the digital clock sitting beside his bed flashing 7:00AM. With a groan of displeasure, he sat up and reached over to shut the alarm off. He slowly made his way to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked up at the mirror and saw his face, wet and depleted of energy. But he did not give in to his bodily urges to go back to bed. He got himself dressed and made his way to the kitchen to get the coffee maker started. Alan's weekends were not the fun type. The house he had purchased needed work and lots of it. From the point of purchase Alan had decided to dedicate the most time he could spare to fixing the house. It wasn't fun and certainly not easy, but it needed to be done and Alan was up to the task.

It was a beautiful Saturday. The sun was out and high in the sky, and there was a pleasant breeze from the ocean that made the sun's warmth seem just perfect. Alan stepped out the front door coffee in hand and walked onto the driveway. The red dirt road continued past the home for about another half kilometre. Alan began to walk down the dirt road, past the house, and back into the tightly surrounding trees. He enjoyed nature's pleasant sounds and was glad he couldn't hear the sounds of passing vehicles from the main road. He kept walking, and thinking, thinking about the days work ahead, planning on how he would attack each goal he had set. Shortly thereafter, he arrived at the end of the road. The dirt road met up with the beginning of a vast open field. Alan had assumed that the previous owners must have been farmers as he could see remains of wheat stalks. The rest of the holes were filled with weeds and whatever else that could find some open real estate to grow. This was something of a regular routine for Alan as he enjoyed the quiet walks and loved the view of the open field, though he had never taken the time to journey into the vast open space. Feeling satisfied and ready for a new day, he turned around and made his way back down the road towards the home.

The day was spent working on the flooring. Alan's plan was to replace all the current plastic tiling with laminate flooring he had purchased from the local home improvement warehouse. It was not a physically tiring job but more of a strain on ones tolerance for taking the time to do it right. Precision cuts were required for pieces to fit properly and Alan took his time to make it right the first attempt. By the end of the day, the kitchen was completed to Alan's satisfaction. After cleaning up after himself, he pulled out his cookbook to begin his search for that evening's meal.

At that precise moment, Alan heard his cell phone ring. He put the book down and walked over to the kitchen counter and looked at the caller ID. It read: Unknown. Perplexed, Alan answered the call and heard nothing but static. Not thinking anything of it, he terminated the call and put the phone down. He looked up and suddenly saw what appeared to be a dark figure rush past the kitchen window. With a shot of excitement and a hint of fear, he bolted for the back door. He burst the door open and hopped down the few steps of the small patio. He looked to his left, and then to his right, his heart racing like never before. There was nothing. Nothing but the black forest surrounding him. With a slight jog Alan made his way to the dirt road and looked up and down both ways. Again nothing. His heart rate was calming, but his mind still racing. He could of sworn he saw someone...or something...pass by the window. Deciding that it must have been the night playing it's tricks, Alan made his way back inside but with a sudden loss of appetite. Assuming he was short of proper rest, he settled on the decision to go to bed early.

The morning's alarm went off right on queue. Alan opened his eyes feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Sunday morning was not nearly as difficult to get started as compared to Saturday, despite the troublesome event the previous night. Coffee in hand, he set off down the dirt road towards the open field once again. Alan made the educated guess that he was seeing things the night prior due to over exhaustion and saw it fit to have a day of relaxation to himself to get back on track. He arrived at the mouth of the field. It looked the same as the previous morning. Big, vast, open, free. In an attempt to clear his mind and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, for the first time, Alan stepped foot into the field and began to immerse himself with the feeling of freedom and peace.