Curious

Chapter 7: Like a Hurricane

CHAPTER SEVEN: Like a Hurricane

Simon woke to the sound of a hurricane alarm. It took him a few moments to get his bearings. He was still sitting in the sofa looking out in the direction of the lighthouse, which still had the light on, revolving in an endless circle. Down in the town below him, people rushed in circles, scrambling to get back into their houses. No one was screaming, no one was yelling. It was silent except for the mass migrations of people, as if they were used to this. The only sound was the hurricane alarm, a blaring echo that pulsed throughout the town. It was an eerie sound that sent chills up Simon’s spine. The people below made one last final sound as they slammed the doors of their houses shut and closed themselves inside the safety of their homes. Then all that was left was the hurricane alarm, an eerie sound especially when Simon looked down from his window into the ghost town.

His neck felt stiff. He didn’t know why this bothered him now that it did. He rubbed his neck and rolled his head around trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling. He yawned. He looked down at the town one last time. It was a typical American suburb type, say for the strange hurricane alarm. Looking up at the sky, he frowned; there were no clouds in the air or any sign of a storm brewing for that matter. Then why was the hurricane alarm going off?

His tired eyes focused back down on the town below him. His mind was still taking time to wake up. As he stared blankly down at the street, he watched as slowly each light in each house went off. Then as he watched the lighthouse light went off too. The hurricane alarm was still blaring. A clock on the bed side table stated it was 2 AM.

Then Simon was left in the darkness looking out into more darkness with an eerie horn blaring in the background. He blinked. It suddenly occurred to him that the hurricane alarm was quite an irritating noise, especially to his sleep-raddled mind. He got up from the sofa, wincing as he stretched to stand. His legs, unused to such heavy use, had taken a huge toll from all the walking of the day and were now extremely sore. As he ached his way to the bathroom, he acknowledged that it would unfortunately be a couple of days before his legs got used to such heavy leg work, no pun intended. He washed his face with water, splashing it generously. The cold liquid served to awaken him. He stared at his reflection in the hotel mirror, the bathroom’s white-ish gray lighting coloring his skin a sickly pale yellow and adding a worrying sheen in his brown hair. He shook his head at himself and his straying thoughts and returned to the room. The hurricane alarm continued with its persistent notification.

He slid under the bed covers, admiring the soft comfort of the mattress. Then he lay in bed, his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. The hurricane alarm would keep him awake for a while. He shifted uncomfortably in the bed as a thought came to him. The hurricane alarm blared loudly throughout empty, quiet streets. He didn’t know what it meant, he didn’t know what it signified, but as he listened to its terrifying rhythmic sound, he realized that he was alone in this world. Upset at this newfound realization, he wasn’t able to sleep without completely analyzing the situation. He shifted again, turning to his side, folding his pillow over his exposed ear in order to block out the hurricane alarm. 

The hurricane alarm finally turned off at 5:45 AM, a half hour before dawn. Simon fell asleep at 5:50.

He woke up, feeling groggy and overtired. His limbs ached like the devil. And worse, he fell asleep on his arm so when he woke, his right arm was limp from lack of circulation and it took a good five minutes to get the circulation going and even that was a painful experience as a thousand pins and needles shot through his arms.

He got up, brushed his teeth and left out his dirty clothes outside for the laundry service. Once they came back, clean and freshly pressed, Simon resolved that he would leave. He ordered a French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast and asked for a newspaper to be sent up along with the tray. It came ten minutes later and like he did with dinner, he sat with his food in the sitting area facing the window. He freely lathered on butter on his toast and as he lifted it up for his first bite, he finally looked out the window and his fork dropped in shock.