Day 110 - The Warped

 The Warped

 Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

The sunshine reflected off of something, although Bart couldn’t tell what. It wasn’t a rainbow or glare, it was more like a wrinkle that slithered along through the sky, casting a sparkle with a million colors. At first Bart thought he had something in his eye or that his contact was loose. But it was the sky that was changing and moving, not him. For a moment he thought it might be heatstroke or perhaps even a stroke itself. He didn’t know what caused optical illusions or mirages, but he thought that had something to do with heat as well. Maybe it was just some sort of natural trick. Or maybe he was about to go into major medical shock. It was his own fault, working all day out in the sun, up and down ladders, trimming and cutting and mowing. He wasn’t old but he was no spring chicken. His beating heart and quickened breathing kept reminding him of that.

Bart leaned against the garage wall and caught his breath and thought that would make things better. When he took of his hat, an avalanche of built-up sweat came streaming down. Maybe the worst was over, he thought.

Bart turned and looked again. The wrinkle was gone, but the sky still wasn’t quite right. He swore there was a tiny incongruity, almost like a slice where two different parts were stretched and sown together, but the image no long quite flowed right.

Maybe he was going insane.

The mosquitos were out. Too many. Big suckers. Bigger than he had ever seen before. It had been a wet winter and now there were mosquitos everywhere. Something had them riled up. Normally they would smell a man’s sweat and come looking for a tasty treat. But these suckers were bouncing around like they were going crazy and trying to get away. It made no sense. Bart didn’t mind though. Betting bit was no great love of his, so if he could avoid it, he wasn’t asking too many questions.

He needed to get back to work, but he just didn’t feel like it. His mood was off. There was a strangeness now to the day. Something he couldn’t put his finger on, but it was there. Things were off. The creatures were off. His body felt out of sorts, and not for the reasons he could explain like sore muscles or exhaustion. No, it was more like something was wrong and his body was reacting to it. Something there or wasn’t there, but it was in the air. Something was making things feel as though something bad was coming.

The sun moved from behind a cloud and the sky began to sparkle again. What seemed like a splice before was now a glowing flowing river of light, like one of those 70s oil lamps, drip drip dripping down. Bart had never seen anything like it. It was so pretty. He couldn’t help himself from staring. Couldn’t take his eyes off it. Couldn’t think of anything else. He was transfixed. Time seemed to stand still, the wiggly warped sky coming closer and closer and all Bart could do was watch as it came his way.