Shadows in the Dark

by Hunter England

  Karen

  I stood at the street light, looking at my house as it sat there in the dark. Even down the street, I could see my room’s window, along with my parent’s. That house held my life. It held all of my memories. They may not be good, but a memory is a memory, and a memory stays with you forever.

  I watched it for one last second, then turned around, planning to never see it again. That may have just been a dream, but leaving felt so right. So unbelievably right. I wasn’t meant for that house. I wasn’t meant for this world. Leaving would lead me to a better world. To a better life. No matter what that life is, it’s bound to be better than this one.

  The sound of the asphalt crunching under my feet took my mind somewhere else. It kind of took my mind off of things. As I walked in the dark of night alone, the crunch soothed me in a weird way. Everything around me seemed to just become unnoticeable. But I liked it. I let it happen.

  I had no clue where I was going, or where I’d end up. But walking in the night, all alone, leaving to anywhere was one of the best feelings that I’ve ever felt in my whole, lonely life. I felt... alive again.

  I stopped at a streetlight that was about a mile or so from my house. I didn’t see a car pass me on the way there. I didn’t notice it at the time. I just sat there at the streetlight, looking into the bulb that lit up the streets. In it I saw life. In it I saw an answer. The light would lead the way.

  I looked down the street and saw more streetlights aligned with each other. Even though it was a hunch, I didn’t disagree with doing it. After a while, I sat up and started following the street lights, not caring where it’d take me.

  I kept on walking, even after I saw the sun come up about two or three hours later. My legs started to hurt and they wanted to rest. But I wouldn’t let it happen. I felt the need to keep going.

  You don’t have to be smart to know why leaving was so easy for me. I didn’t have friends. My parents didn’t care about me. I was a nobody. No one knew I even existed, and whoever did wanted me dead. So leaving seemed like the greatest thing I’d ever done.

  Eventually, after walking for so long, I ended up walking out of the city lines. Up until that point, it was all neighborhood. It was kind of cool to see the transition go from neighborhood to all highway. The change was, you could say, interesting.

  People would give me funny looks as I walked down the highway all by myself at the crack of dawn. But I didn’t let it bother me. I knew what would happen if I did. All of the cars would “somehow” end up floating in mid-air with people freaking out inside of them.

  I stayed on the highway for a good hour or so, until I saw a diner at the side of the road. That was when I finally decided to stop and take a seat, after about six hours of walking. I had no clue where I was, and I loved it.

  The cool, air-conditioned breeze felt amazing as I opened the diner doors. The place was nearly empty. I only saw a fat guy sitting in a corner drinking coffee, and a person wearing a hoodie with the hood over their head sitting all alone at the counter.

  I awkwardly walked over and sat two chairs away from the hooded guy. He didn’t look over at me. His gaze seemed to be glued to the countertop. His hands were trembling as they were clamped together.

  The waitress walked over to me with an obvious fake smile and asked, “What could I get you, sweetheart?” I gave her a fake smile back and thought.

  “Could I just have a coffee?” I asked. “I’m kind of in a hurry to get somewhere.” The waitress gave me a look that said she was sort of interested.

  “Where to?”

  “Honestly?” I started to tap my fingers. “I have no idea. I just know I shouldn’t be where I was before.” The waitress sat the coffee in front of me and stood behind the counter.

  “Why shouldn’t you? What happened ‘where you were before’?” I took a sip of my half-assed made coffee and sighed.

  “Let’s just say,” I started, “things got complicated.” I looked down at my coffee. “Something happened, and if it had of gotten out, people wouldn’t accept me. Well, it’s not like they did before anyways.”

  “Well,” she said, “I hope you find what it is you’re looking for.” She smiled and walked away towards a man that had just walked in and sat down.

  I noticed the hooded guy was kind of looking at me, tilting his head in my direction. I ignored him. I wasn’t going to be there that much longer. I finished the crappy coffee and sat up. The guy raised his head and was directly looking at me. Again, I ignored him.

  I was about to walk out of the door, when the guy stood up and started to follow me. I started to walk faster as I walked out the front doors. I heard as the man opened the door and continued to follow me.

 

  I didn’t bother to run. It’d only make it obvious I was up to something. I kept on walking down the highway, not having to look back to see if he was still following me. I could hear him. Even over the cars. All of a sudden, his footsteps grew louder. Ear piercingly louder. My head started to ache. I covered my ears and attempted to run, but I could still hear it.

  I toppled over onto my side and pressed against my ears, trying to block it all out. But no matter how hard I tried, I could still hear it. Then, it all stopped. The only thing I heard were the cars as they drove by me. I looked up and searched around. The guy was nowhere in sight. He was gone.

  …..