Dreaming of You

Ch. 1-2 Dreaming of You

Chapter 1

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The city was filthy and unlivable. The streets and parks were covered in grime and debris. Garbage littered every corner, suffocating the earth. Everything was vast and bare, like that of a desert. It just lacked any life. Nothing with a beating heart was to be seen in this disarray; mice had curled up in their tiny homes of intricately knitted twine and string, safe and warm. Birds had scrunched up in their nests, heads tucked into their wings. Stray cats and dogs had scampered away, disappearing into the shadows, seemingly scared. It was as if every creature knew what was about to come.

I continued walking on the gray sidewalk, aware of all this. My heartbeat beating rapidly against my chest, as if trying to get out. I quickened my pace, trying to get home faster. The slap of my ballerina like shoes echoes throughout the block.

An ominous blanket of deep, dark blue and black filled the sky, slowly snaking towards the sun, engulfing its radiating heat and light, taking with it all comfort and joy, like shutting off a light bulb, not quite so sudden, but with the same effect. A small feeling of helplessness fills me. The wind picks up slightly as scraps of debris; paper, leaves, and dirt, swirls past me, like tiny living tornadoes.

I lick my dry cracked lips, trying to bring moisture to them. The air tastes stale, kind of metallic. I watch the baby blue sky morph into a dark ocean of violence.

Trees bow down to the darkness, leaves almost touching the soft blades of grass, which danced in a synchronized motion.

My neck hairs start to rise. Something is watching me.

I turn my head around quickly hoping to catch the culprit in their act. My eyes scan the empty abandoned warehouses, broken windows, spray painted doors and walls that touched every concrete building. I knew I shouldn't have taken this way! I screamed at myself. I continued on, my head bowed towards the ground, just like the trees. The wind howls a lonely, deep melody, as it rushes by my ears. The noise, like the ocean trapped within the confines of a small seashell, whistles by, warning me that a storm is on its way. "Great, just great. Not only am I flipping out over an invisible person that I think is following me, I'm also going to be soaked!" I whispered to myself. I quickly look back behind me again, as a feeling of uneasiness spreads through my body again.

All around me, a shadow spreads across the block, draping it in a deep depressive like state. Colors seem to fade into their dull counterparts. White turns to gray, yellows and oranges, to red. All are colors of hostility and aggression. The temperature seems to drop below zero, as Goosebumps form on my lightly tanned arms and legs. The tiny hairs on my arms start to lift towards the sky, as a magnetic attraction fills the atmosphere.

Without stopping my pace I watch intensely at the sky, expectantly. A loud crackle, like the sound of stainless steel pots and pans crashing to the floor, shocks me, upsetting my dreamlike state. Thunder. The sky lights up, only for a moment, but enough for me to catch a glimpse of the secrets hidden behind the clouds that were not there a minute ago. The suddenness of the light scares the shadows surrounding the block, back to their hiding places, where they lurk until the lightning backs down again.

My uneasiness feeling envelopes me again. I could faintly hear another set of echoes made by someone else's footsteps. This time I stopped walking. Nothing. I shake my head, muttering to myself at my paranoia, as I continue walking. My long, copper brown hair hitting to sides of my face, as if slapping me, also agreeing to my conclusion.

Another, more distant, crackle sounds behind me. The thunder again. I ignore it. A sound, like the clashing of cymbals, crashes in front of me. It was so deafening that I had to cover my ears. The noise fades away, leaving my ears still ringing and the sound echoing in my head. I fucking hate thunder!