SHORTS

LADDER

 The sounds of blazing horns are being heard accompanied by the sounds of the ground trembling. The sky is lit red, like a wildfire, with seemingly visible heat waves. It appears to be a dystopian planet; indeed maybe it is. No trees can be seen for miles and miles. Just the red sunlit sky and under it, a dark ground.

A rumbling sound is heard. It's coming from the ground, which appears not to be a common one but a rather horrific one; it is a ground made of human skulls. Dark human skulls spread all around. On that skull ground; a man, tumbling and walking; rather trying to walk, stepping his legs slowly onto the skulls, making them collide with each other. He is wearing a dark suit, with a white tucked in shirt and a loose tie; which is shaking like a swinging pendulum with his each step. He is all alone on that ground, with wooden fences afar laid all over the place.

The Man just keeps on walking, looking to his front like he is headed somewhere, a destination maybe, but as far as the eye can see; there was nothing but nothingness. He is mumbling; uttering something and stumbling; with his each step falling to his face. He is suffering. He can't take even a single step without using all his force and energy; what's left of it anyways. But that doesn't stop him from getting back up as he looks all around; taking the steps while falling to the ground again and again. His lips are like a snake shed skin; his face burnt up with the heat waves from the sky; his body is shivering; he is feeling the coldness from within; his eyes want death but his body won't let him have it, not so soon anyway. After all this struggle and just walking all over the skulls on the ground and trying to balance himself with each step but keeps on failing and falling to his face, hurting himself even more; he just wants to lie down for a minute. But as soon as he tries and rests on the ground for a mere second, the skulls around him start shaking; making huge rumbling noises and he starts getting sucked into those skulls. He have to get back up; although that's what he wants; death from this agony, he is not yet ready to face the final moments of his life. So he fights, for his life; for his struggle; for himself and for his everlasting agony.

After walking; rather dragging himself through the skulls on the ground, he finally looks up to the sky, at the sun; which was already hitting him like an erupting volcano and is now appearing to be erupting with even more anger. He can't take it anymore; tries a lot but just can't.

He lost the courage to walk anymore; to live anymore. So, he sums up the courage to let it go; his body, his soul, his wish to live, his need to struggle; all he wants now is the calmness of death, the peacefulness of his soul exiting his body; at least what's left of it . He just closes his eyes, with pain, with pleasure and relaxes himself to freefall onto the ground collapsing into the skulls; shattering some them. The ground trembled at once like it was waiting for his body to collapse. Even though his body was resting down for a couple of minutes now, the skulls didn't consume him in as they were trying to before. Instead, they were as calm as a sleeping infant.

Moments passed. A wind breeze blows onto his face; a cool wind. He couldn't help but open his eyes to see what was happening and what is standing in his way to his ultimate rest. After he opens his eyes slowly; he looks to his front, a few inches away from him is a ladder. He lifts his head up with curiosity to look up at the ladder. It is so big that it is touching the sky, literally. He couldn't believe his eyes. Is this real or is this his delusion?; Is the ladder really there or is it just a figment of his imagination?; adding to that disbelief was the ladder itself. It was made of bones, Human bones. The entirety of it was both unbelievable and amusing to him. To his surprise, he was standing now, without him realising it; with the energy that he didn't feel for what seemed like a thousand years. He just kept staring at the everlasting ladder made of human bones touching the sky. He slowly leans forward lifting his right leg to touch the first step of the ladder. That first step was enough for him; as now he is many steps on to the ladder within mere seconds. He is climbing it like his life depends on it; climbing it step by step, trying to reach it's end.

While he is nearly halfway up the stairs, the skulls on the ground starts trembling, emitting huge sounds which are echoing so loudly, that the entire world could hear it except him; for he was so busy climbing up with an immense speed that anything is nothing for him and the only thing he wants is to climb up the ladder. What were the skulls making the sounds for? They were making the sound to tremble; to engulf the body laying on them. The Man; he had left his body down onto the skulls, which was being engulfed in slowly, inch by inch as he just kept on climbing up the stairs hastily, step by step.

He stops climbing for a second; looking around him, the view from the ladder. It's a view that he had never seen. But there is not amusement in his eyes, but wonder; what is he looking at? Ladders. All around the planet; same as the one he is climbing on. The ladders are spread all over the place, reaching the sky and on those ladders are ants crawling up on them. He is confused; looking at them carefully and realizing; they are not ants, but Humans. Same as him on every single Ladder. He can't believe his eyes and is stuck by the view of the humans climbing up those ladders hastily, just like him. But it took him just a couple of seconds to come back to his senses; he started climbing back up again, this time without looking anywhere else but his destination, up.