A Collection of Short Stories and Poems

Just A Normal Journey (story)

Harry picked up the ringing phone. "Hello?"

"You asshole!"

"And good evening to you too, heskell," he smiled, hearing his friend after a week.

"Now I don't wanna hear that shit. You're gonna bring your sorry ass back in town by tomorrow morning. I repeat, by tomorrow morning. Otherwise, I'm talking to a dead man!"

Heskell tried to sound as threatening as he could.

"Oh come on man..."

"No you shut up. We've got a game here tomorrow. We need you Harry, you're a part of our game. I know you love basketball, and you're gonna fuck your "I need some space" shit, get outta that old lakehouse, drive overnight, and come here. "

"That ain't possible heskell..."

"I'm serious harry. You're coming home."

Harry knew how much basketball meant to heskell. Whether it would be a community game, or a university game, he always gave in everything. And then, Harry had got the "time and space" he needed to get over his break up. He was getting lonely in the lakehouse. This wasn't his life.

Seeing that harry isn't replying, heskell had another sudden rise of temper. After threatening harry repeatedly, he hung up.

About two hours later, having stuffed his noodles in his mouth and his clothes in his backpack, harry was on his way back home. With a one dollar box of Kmart donuts on the passenger seat and loud music playing, Harry realized he was actually happy. He stopped at a gas station to get a refill, had a cheerful conversation with a guy at the station, and was just pointlessly smiling. He left heskell a voice mail that he'll make it to the town in 5 hours tops, and resumed his ride again.

Harry had begun his journey back home at 11 in the night. He wasn't in the habit of staying up late, not later than 1. He was 22, worked as a lawyer at the GBP firm. He was with Juliet, but, as you know, they broke up. He did really like her. She said she was breaking up because she was tired of him, that he was a sleazeball and she had already wasted her 3 months. That must've hurt, right?

Harry didn't realize, but suddenly, he was thinking about her again. He remembered their first kiss. Ah, everything felt so perfect. He felt the need to hold her hand again. He turned around to see that she wasn't with him. He cursed himself, and cursed, and cursed. He turned the volume up of the radio. "I'm on a highway to hell." He looked in the car mirror. There wasn't a single car behind him. He looked ahead, there was no one. He was angry, frustrated. He accelerated. 100 miles, 110 miles an hour. A curve. Acceleration. 120 miles. 130 miles an hour!

Suddenly, the radio lost its signal. He slammed the radio, but that didn't repair it. He glanced at his watch, it was 2:05. The radio was playing something. It was repeating something. He tried to hear it. It sounded like, "death death death death death".

Far away on the road, he saw a white dog. He blew his horn. It didn't move. As he came closer, he realized, it wasn't a dog. It was a woman! A woman on the middle of the road! He blew the horn again, and then again! She wasn't moving, and he was at 130 mph! He closed his eyes as his car hit the woman. He didn't stop for a second. He went on and on. 140 mph. What had he done! He tried to relax. He ate a donut, and said himself that no one will find out. No one saw it! He smiled at his luck. And then turned his attention to the song once again. "On a highway to hell." He sung along, trying to relax.

After a minute, he saw the woman once again on the road. The same white gown. The same song. Again, the radio lost its signal, and this time, he was pretty sure that the radio was repeating the word "death". Harry's heart jumped a beat. He screamed, and simultaneously, applied the brakes. As the car slowed down, he almost caught a glimpse of the woman's face. She was smiling, wickedly. Her hair was open, and was all over her face. There were scars all over her face. Her eyes, they were different. She was the scariest thing harry had ever seen. And he hit her again.

Harry opened his eyes. He was scared shitless. He could not believe what was happening. He slowed the car down, perhaps preparation for his next encounter with the woman. He looked around. He glanced at the mirror. And what he saw in it was his worst fear. Behind him was seated the same woman. Her face, so pale. Her lips, so dry. Scars, and scars, and scars. Her eyes were intense. She had the same smile, which made harry scream. In front of him, on the road, Harry saw something even more improbable. He saw an army of women, all dressed in similar white robes, with similar straight, black hair. He suddenly felt the woman's hands on his neck. He tried to fight back, but, can you ever really fight a demon? He lost control of the car, and he went bam into the army marching right towards him.

Harry was knocked unconscious. And that's the last thing he remembered.

Harry woke up in his lakehouse. He was sweating. He sat up at once, his eyes wide open. His dream seemed so real. He smiled stupidly at his fears. He looked around the room. He still couldn't believe it was a dream. He looked at his watch. 3:04. He got out of his bed. He was hungry. He went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. He opened the refrigerator to take out the cucumber and tomato. He took the knife and bread, and set to work. He cut the edges of the bread. He cut the tomato. He was cutting the cucumber when he accidentally cut his finger. He cursed. Many a times before had he cut vegetables, but he had never got hurt. Weird. He went to the bathroom to wash his finger. The blood didn't seem to stop. He closed the cut with his other hand tightly, and unconsciously, looked at the mirror above the washbasin. He went pale. He saw the woman from his dream, again! The same wry smile, the same eyes, scars, hair. And in a second, the mirror broke. Though nothing had touched it, though nothing had happened, it broke.

Harry had never been so scared. He wanted to get out of the house. He opened the bathroom door, and in front of him was the kitchen. The lights were flickering, the drawers of the kitchen were opening, and closing, and opening and closing. The doors and windows of the house followed the same pattern. And in the middle of this horrific scene, was the lady in the white robe. Wind that came in through those widows and doors was so strong. The woman lifted her hand, and the table at her side was lifted. The drawers didn't stop, neither did the doors and windows, nor did the lights. The woman had a knife in her other hand. She approached harry, who had damaged his vocal chords by now screaming. She held his neck, and pulled out his tongue. And with the same smile, she cut it with the knife. She chopped of Harry's ears. And then, she popped out Harry's eyes. Finally, she cut Harry's throat, and separated his head from his body. Just as this took place, out of nowhere, a fire engulfed the house, and the woman disappeared.

The next morning, heskell saw in the morning news that his friend's lakehouse was burnt by a fire, resulted from a short circuit.