It's the same routine every night. I've done it so many times I can basically lock everything down to the very millisecond. Hell, maybe even the very nanosecond.
It's something I have had to live with every single day for five years. It's a constant nightmare that I never wake up from. Why it happens, is something that I cannot explain. Is it meant to happen? I cannot answer that either.
I have never been on top of this hill since the first time it happened. I always thought that if I stayed away from it, then it could stop the rest from repeating itself. I have tried to change things in my night to night life in the hopes that the outcome would be different. I very soon realised that no matter what I did, it could never be changed. I could never see that girl that has her back to the glass door, I could never answer that phone call, I could never have guessed that the crazy man's ramblings from last night actually meant something.
The ground beneath me continues to rumble. It starts off small, but it gradually accelerates and turns into what feels like an earthquake.
This goes on for a few minutes, and then it slows to a stop. This is then followed by a loud groan, like a disgruntled whale call that's taking place right in front of you. A siren comes afterwards, a loud, elongated wail that goes up in pitch and then down in pitch. It used to unsettle me, but I have since gotten used to it.
I stand up, but I don't intend on moving anywhere.
From where I'm standing, I can see people coming out of their houses and looking toward the source of the sound; the source being the mines.
I can see the workers of the mines scrambling about. Trucks halting to a stop and people flopping out of them, more men and women exiting various buildings, pointing in different directions and shouting orders of some sort.
The orders they're trying to lay out become pointless when another, even more intimidating groan breaks through the air. The citizens cover their ears. Some of them look confused, others are worried, and some know what's about to happen and try to get in their cars to get out as soon as they can.
The rumbling comes back in full force, knocking the people off their feet. Within seconds the buildings from the mines start to collapse. They fall down in pieces, some flying this way, some flying that way.
This causes a roar to a degree that's beyond description. Even now, it sends shivers down my spine.
Very quickly dust erupts from the wreckage of the fallen buildings, and after that a sonic boom erupts from the heart of the mines, flames accompanying the noise.
It spews out and lurches over the town, a wild animal that is on the loose. The citizens are blanketed by the inferno. Screams erupt.
A second eruption bursts, even more ferocious than the first one. The explosion sends out a shockwave, followed by an even more vicious flame that stretches out further than the one before. It heads in my direction, so bright it's like the sun has landed right in front of me. I can't feel the heat, or smell the smoke. This has never happened before.
The flames consume me, and then my vision goes black.
*
Just like the last hug between Laura and I, the feeling of the flames encasing me felt final.
YOU ARE READING
Night Shift
Fiksi Umum"It's the same routine every night. I've done it so many times I can basically lock everything down to the very millisecond. Hell, maybe even the very nanosecond. "
