Nothing is Clear

2

I hated escalators.

Whenever I tried to step forward, I'd feel like falling down. What if I missed my step? I would probably fall down and hurt myself. Maybe my clothes would be stuck in the escalator. Who knows?

No one knew. At least, they didn't care. They would step into the escalator, without skipping a beat, extremely confident- as if they were normal stairs.

However; they were not.

"Come on, there are people waiting behind you!"

James was already on the escalator. He was slowly going down, down and down... His bright blue eyes were becoming colder as the light was changing.

He was facing towards me, meanwhile my hands were clenched on the bars of the escalator. I looked down.

The gigantic, metallic thing was swallowing the stairs with a great delight, waiting for the next ones. I didn't want to be the next one.

I bit my lip. My lips were already scratchy, I would either peel my lips because of stress or bite them. Therefore, they looked all red, uneven and miserable.

"Aaron- come on!"

James was almost dissapearing from sight. One of his feet was on the other stair, as if he was ready to climb backwards.

I felt the whole world hurling around me, with a scratchy melody poking my ears. I could sense the pressure physically, with a great weight on my shoulders.

My friend was waiting for me, so were ten people behind me. I had to be quick. It was no good to make people wait.

I lifted my right leg, trying to step on the right time. My foot became closer to the stair and then-

I felt an arrow hitting me from my head. I stumbled, everything went a cold purple. Everything was happening so fast, as if someone was rapidly pressing random buttons on a remote controller.

Panicking, I fell backwards, hitting a few people. I wasn't able to think at that moment. All I was looking for was safety.

I sat down, curling into a ball.

I could see a confused James staring at me, and then quickly turning around. He got off the escalator, got on the other one and ran towards me.

I knew that everyone was staring at me. I let them stare. Observation was not a shame.

James looked at the crowd, then scratched his head. "I apologize, he's just-"

Without completing his sentence, he sat on one knee, patting me from my back.

"Hey- you alright?"

And with those words, I felt tears rushing into my eyes, becoming heavier and heavier, with an urge to fall down... Aaron freed them and let them stream down his cheeks.

James sighed, stood up. He held me by my arms, helping me stand up. I felt like my legs were noodles, wobbling fiercely even though I wasn't moving. I could not stay still.

"Come on- lean on me."

I was surprised with the way that James was so calm and patient. I could not say the same thing for the crowd.

" We've become rotten until you could get out of the way! Move, we have things to do!" a mascular guy was yelling. I looked into his eyes.

James stepped forwards still holding me. "Excuse me, my friend just didn't feel well, it's alright now. Sorry for making you wait." he politely said. The guy was definitely not as polite as he was.