Day 328 - ...and fade away

...and fade away

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Five…

Jason hurried as fast as he could. There was something in the room. Something somewhere, hidden from sight or locked away or buried deep in a bag. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew it was there. It had to be. He was there, so he knew it was somewhere close. It was like a magnet. Always drawing him near.

Four…

There was a dresser with broken drawers that didn’t quite open correctly or slide back in. The closet was empty. He pulled the sheets from the bed. Lifted the mattress but saw nothing.

Jason was already beginning to feel fuzzy. His fingers were tingling. His muscles tightened, his back sore. It was coming. He could feel it coming. Sooner than later now. Time was almost up.

Three…

There was nothing. Lamps. A chair with little cushion. He pulled the mirror from the wall but saw nothing to indicate a hidden compartment. If it was in a wall, he had no idea, and more importantly, no time for demolition.

Two…

The door opened. Jason turned. Who was it? Someone who could help? Someone he was here to meet? Something who could make it stop?

One…

Samantha walked into the bedroom and swore she saw a shadow figure move. It was a trick of her eyes, a trick of the light. She had been telling herself this lie for years and it never helped. Samantha saw ghosts and no one believed her so she stopped talking about it.

The room was in shambles. Of course it was. It was further evidence to her, but no proof at all. No one would believe she didn’t do this. There was no film, no photo, no evidence. Just a messy room and her thought that she might have seen a figure when she came home. No evidence of a break in. Nothing to report. Nothing to see.

She might as well be crazy.

But she didn’t feel crazy. But she didn’t know what to do about it. It had been happening to her for so long she just took it as a sad fact of life. She’d put everything back. Reassemble her possessions. Maybe in a week, maybe in a year, a ghost would come to haunt her again and make her wonder about her own perceptions of reality.

 

 

One…

Jason turned, but not it time. He was already fading away. In less than a second, he would be gone. No idea why, or where he was going. No idea what had brought him here, or where it was about to send him.

Jason faded out of existence.

Time moved on.

Light crept it. Black faded to grey and the fog cleared. Jason opened his eyes. Where was he? Someplace new. Always someplace new. He wondered how much time he had. Time was always at a premium but sometimes it played along. Sometimes it stretched and could move slowly and he had a chance.

He needed to get up. He needed to search. He needed to find the signal and stop the machine.

Slowly he rolled over, his back already in pain. He got to his knees and then to his feet and tried to stretch his neck out. Time was already ticking; he needed to get a move on.