Visions
Cloud the Mind
The crawling night came upon my desolate world; I looked onward towards my destination, and every passing moment becoming more black and distant. Town after town I drove, I was moving from Bangor Maine to a Podunk town in southern New Hampshire. I soon learned of my passing roads, as it was impossible to see, I got the jiff of the land, rough gnarled dirt roads were ahead, nothing like the realtor said it would be. In fact, those pictures looked of early spring. Saying my thoughts aloud was the only comfort I got on this
Journey, "I wish I stopped at that gas station, next one, wherever it is." I said aloud.
The gas station was right over the hill, it looked humble, something you would imagine in a small town. I drove up to the pump, looking at my watch as I opened the door, it was already midnight, and I couldn't believe the time went by that fast, mumbling under my breath, "it was only around two when I left". Pushing the door open, a young man sitting at the counter woke up, wiping the saliva from his face, in a half-hearted hello he asked if I needed anything, I looked at his name tag, it read Dan, and I answered, "No thanks Dan, I can help myself." He seemed surprised by my tone, raising his eyebrows in a furrow; I walked on by, towards the back of the store, checking the beer coolers, almost impossible to see which was what by the fogged up windows. I opened up the nearest cooler, picking up a Heineken, and almost dropping it by the temperature alone. I quickly regained my composure and picked up a six pack of the green mixture, thinking back in time to the crap my father gave me,
"Jonathon Tanner! Get down here now and I mean it."
"Mom, I didn't do anything."
"Yeah, well let's ask your father."
"Ok, I'm coming down."
Walking down the stairs, trying to hide the redness on my face, it was my fault, but I did not mean it. My mother was standing in the middle of the living room, I saw my dad sitting in his reclining chair half dozed out, and I despised him. He was a degenerate drunk, mom was a fool to marry at the time, but a pregnant seventeen year old is hard to keep above the water without a safety line, and my dad was that line at the time.
"Young man, where is the Heineken? Your father says you clearly took it when he was watching his program."
"If I tell you, will you get mad?"
"You know me; I would never lay a hand on you."
"Alright, it's in the catch basin outside."
"What? Why would you do that?"
"Mom, I can't stand seeing dad hurt you."
"I'm fine, just don't let your father know where it is, or he'll kill you."
Little did I know, my father was not asleep, he was just faking it, and when he heard that I had put his Heineken in the catch basin, all hell broke loose! He rose from his chair, almost looking possessed, he started blabbering words from his drunkenness, stumbling towards me, and almost collapsing on top of me, catching himself on his right knee.
I was astonished at how ridiculous he looked, a grown man, saying a bunch of nonsense, and being furious at a ten year old, it was just insane, but alcohol fueled him to do this.
When he started becoming more elaborate in his walking, he tumbled to the floor, screaming out, "Stop!" as he fell flat on his face. Rising to his feet, angrier than ever, as if I had tripped him. I kneeled down, taking off my socks in one movement, standing back up and looking into his eyes, I walked backwards towards the door. Dad was almost in a trance not even blinking, his mouth in a slur, I hit the door with my back. Turning around and grasping the knob as fast as I could, I opened it, but my dad placed his hand on my shoulder, I tried to smack it off, but nothing worked and he threw me backwards to the ground. Letting out a barrage of punches to my face and chest, I tried to fight him off, but nothing, and my mother started to get involved, screaming for him to stop, "Please Stop! He's only a boy." He didn't budge, just fist after fist, until mom put her hand on his back trying to push him off, he smashed her in the face, sending her over the couch, and hitting her head on the coffee table. She was out cold, I started freaking out, and I thought he killed my mom. I picked up the nearest object, it happened to be a beer bottle, I grasped it as hard as I could, streams flowing down my swollen cheeks, and smashed it over his head sending shards everywhere, even some into my cheeks. Dad laying across me half conscious, still grasping the bottle, I pushed him off, and so furious at him I stuck the broken bottle into his left side and ran over to my mom to see if she was ok. Blood was running down her head, but she said, "Don't you cry, we're safe now." I hugged her tight,
we were safe, and that was all that mattered.
Coming back to reality, standing in front of the cooler,
"You ok, you've been out for a few minutes." Said Dan
I looked over at him blankly,
"Umm what, oh yeah I'm fine, just thinking."
"Good, thought I'd have to call the ambulance."
I watched him walk away, wondering how he can joke about death so monotonously. It was a little bit unbearable to be around him.
Walking over to the food isle, I thought of how amazingly vivid the memory left me, almost a ripple effect still going through me, and I didn't understand it. This new environment had to be doing this to me, back in Maine, the climate would send rain over the mystified sand, and waking up to the combination of sea salt and sand always delighted me. This new area, was different, not a bad different, but it was different. The maple and sand from the past winter smelled of bile, it was sickening to me, but I imagined it would get better, like old wine.
Picking up a Doritos bag and pretzels for the ride ahead, looking at my watch to make sure it was not getting too late. Walking over to the counter, Dan looked different, hair wet, different shirt, and a strange smell resided on him. I pictured him in the bathroom wetting his hair, changing his shirt, and not washing his hands. I pushed it aside, not taking lightly to the thought.
"So what takes you to this state? It's me isn't it?" Dan said
"Haha, yeah it's definitely you, but seriously I'm a photographer, and my boss asked if I could get some pictures of his old town."
"Oh! Most people come over for the scenery, it is quite exquisite" Snapping his fingers together like a Frenchman.
"Yeah, it's something alright."
"Your total is, nine ninety-eight, remember no tax."
"That's the great thing about New Hampshire."
"That's for sure, have a great day Sir."
"Yeah, have a good one."
Walking to the car, I checked my watch again, it said one in the morning, I could not believe it, time really does fly. Opening the door and stepping into the frozen Mercedes, I looked at the gas gauge, as I flipped the key, it read 'E' at first, and then suddenly floated up to the middle. Being self-conscious, I got out and flipped my credit card into the machine, it accepted, and I pulled out the nozzle and started to fill up the hunk of metal. I waited and watched the pavement, a truck came down the road, as they passed they pulled their heads out and screamed some incoherent words, must have been a bunch of students on break drinking. I turned around, as the machine clunked, and pulled out the nozzle, turning the cap back on, and taking my receipt. I jumped in the car, turned the hunk of metal on, and turned the seat warmer to high. I blasted some oldies over the radio, the ones I grew fond of as a kid, The Who, The Police, the pick for today was Bob Dylan, The times are changing, the song always picked me up.
Looking over my directions, I figured the way out in my head, and started to head off. Going down the road, I opened the Pretzels, taking a handful and devouring them in seconds, the quivering in my stomach for food was subsided for the meantime. The sun started to grow over the horizon as the day came closer, I was getting closer to the house, just as fog was coming over the hills and cutting my vision to nothing. It was impossible to see ten feet in front of you, but I kept my focus in check. I knew the house was just a few minutes a way, driving down a steep road, looking at the directions, showing a giant red circle at the house, it was a mile or so away. I started driving faster in anticipation, reaching for the Doritos I quickly ripped them open in a maniacal way, sending orange chips everywhere. I started to look down picking a few up and looking back up, a blur came in front of me, I slammed on the brakes, but the pure power of the car overtook the brakes, and I hit the blur like a brick wall. My head went flying forward knocking myself out on the steering wheel.
Waking back up, I checked my watch; it was five in the morning. I quietly fell back on the warm car seat, looking at the orange mess around me, I quietly groaned and opened the door, letting a hundred chips fall to the ground. The cool wind began to rush around my face, letting my hair fly, I started regaining thought of what happened, and I rushed around to the front of the car. I dabbed the front of my head, wincing at the sudden pain, bringing my hand back it was covered in a reddish-orange mess, I suddenly laughed at the sight, muttering under my breath "I must have smashed my head on the bag of Doritos."
Looking at the front of the car. It was perfect, nothing was wrong with it; I could not believe it, so I popped the hood, coughing as a cloud of smoke rose to the sky. There really was nothing wrong with it, bending down to view the bumper, sinking down in wet sand as I checked every area. I spotted nothing, only footprints, but those could have been anyone's, even mine. I threw the thought out of my head; just thinking about it was blasphemy,
"I must have fallen asleep driving, I obviously dreamt it." I muttered,
"But, how could there be chips everywhere." I was starting to have a fight with myself, "I must be going crazy"
Getting back in the car I realized that if I fell asleep, that meant the car was on the whole time,
"I'll have to get a new battery soon." I said, turning the radio off, I shifted the seat back, and started back on the road.
Coming up the road stood three houses, they were around a hundred feet from each other, and possibly enough privacy for everyone,
I remembered from the picture which one was mine. A plain white house with one floor and a bathroom, just the way I liked it. Assuming the neighbors were asleep, I came up to the house subtle, closing the door silently, I took in the air, it was still cool, but a faint smell lingered in it, it was soothing, and blue-jays could be heard in the distance. I ran over to the porch, trying to remember to be quiet, I kneeled down, picking up the welcome matt, I fumbled for the key as the morning sun came to help, and taking the small key in my hand, I smashed it through the hole, and twisted it, the door swung open.
A sudden smell flooded through me. It was an exciting experience to be in a new home, especially one that was so foreign to me, and the only time I can recall moving to a new home, was when I was a kid. Walking through the house, I noticed very little, it was half-empty of course, waiting for the next person to fill it, but the only thing that deterred my mind was my body. Finally finding the bedroom, I immediately walked towards the bed, and fell on top of the bed cover, not even caring for warmth; I fell deep in a trance with my mouth wide open, looking like I "was struck" with a bat.
Waking up, thoughts floated through my mind, where was I? What had happened? Soon I was comforted by the smell of baked goods. I was confused at first, wondering if I had cooked in some weird act of devotion for food. I pulled myself to the side of the bed, looking over at my shadow where I had slept, a wet spot lingered where my head was. I wiped my face of saliva and got up, counting my steps as I got to the bathroom, there were twenty-six steps from bed to door, and it surprised me how much I cared about a belligerent thing like that. Staring into the mirror, I saw a man, a thirty-six year old man, who needed a good trim around the chin. I ignored the fact that I was dirty and needed a clean shower.
Coming out to the kitchen, I walked past the cabinets, noticing the door was wide open; I freaked out running to the door, smashing it into place as if it was some infestation. Walking to the counter and kneeling over the surface out of breath, I saw what looked like cookies, I did not believe what was there, a yellow note was placed on top, I picked it up, and it read.
"Dear Mr. Tanner, I thought we would have a new neighbor here soon, Mr. Sweeney has become a nuisance lately, my husband and I can't take one bit of him any more. We baked you a batch of cookies to show you how happy we are to get someone down to earth. Don't worry about the door, we woke up and saw it was open; we just came in with the cookies, and whatever was on the roof of your car. PS: We didn't want to wake you; you looked sound asleep, so we left the door open."
I was dumbfounded, how could someone be so nice, these people must be amazing, but I could not believe they watched me sleep. Still, they gave me cookies, and they looked healthy enough, it could not hurt.
After getting most of my stuff inside, I walked over to the first house, it was a small house, one story, beige colored, looking at the front windows, furniture was visible, but barely, a face appeared from a chair. I looked away, afraid he had caught me in some kind of scheme of snooping, but looked back when a voice came to my ears,
"Young man, come on over, we don't bite."
"Uhhh, yeah sure."
Walking over to the open door, a man in possibly his sixties was around the door, I walked through the door. Closing the door, he yelled out,
"Francine, come here! The night driver is awake!"
"Really! I am Coming.
"Hey, it's great to meet you; my wife was shocked when she heard we were going to have new company."
"Haha, it's great to meet you to sir, may I call you sir?"
"No, you can call me James, James was my father's name."
"Ok James, it's good to meet you"
A short frail looking woman popped around the corner, she was smiling and dancing towards me.
"Oh my goodness, I didn't know he was going to be so young?"
"Yes Francine, don't scare him off."
"I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for the welcome gift."
"You're Welcome." they both said.
"Well, I better get going; it was great to meet you."
"Same here stop by anytime you like."
"Thanks and see you around."
"Bye."
Walking out the door, I looked back, I was stunned, they were still there watching me. I waved back, they joined in and waved back, I felt good, like this new surge of energy has powered my body, and everything is becoming what I want it to. I knew from the note on the cookies, the next neighbor would be a drag. I chose not to greet him today, or the next for that matter.
Today's weather was great for taking pictures, cool breeze, sun not to bright, and in between humid and rainy. I took my time, getting to my house, looking over the landscape, checking out areas of interest. Coming to my door I brought my right hand to the knob, I stared blankly at the forest, trying to figure out if something would pop out, and call my name. I took my eyes back to the door, I looked down at my hand, trying to grasp the handle, and the door was already open. It finally came to me that the door was already open, laughing in my mind at my stupidity, I ran over to the bedroom, sifting my eyes repeatedly, looking for the camera that consoled my job.
After a couple of minutes of looking, I found it under the seat in my car, and continued on my task-at-hand. The urge grew stronger and stronger, I took my driver side door and smashed it open. Hopping in, I put my hand in my right pocket, rummaging around for the cold steel key. Once I found what I needed I turned the key and smashed the stick into Reverse. Putting my arm around the adjacent seat, I turned my face to the back window; sudden words came to my head, "Watch out for the man."
"Don't hit him."
I looked forward blinking at the houses. Taking my eyes back to the road in back, as soon as it happened, an object was there. I smashed my foot on the brake, squinting as I was sure to hit it, the car came to a halt, and I jumped out anxious to see if my virtue had come true.
Beads of sweat broke out on my face, horror was the only emotion I had felt, and I stared at the ground for quite sometime before becoming aware that nothing was there. Ideas came up, was there really anything there, am I seeing thing's, but the most common idea that arose was, insanity. Shaking arm's hands and feet, but still alive, I walked back to the car, and sat in the seat with my head on the steering wheel contemplating what had just happened. Right before the incident voices came to me, not mine, and not my neighbors. They had dark raspy voices, they had no right in my head, and they were not of this planet. I pushed the incident away, even though I was certain that something had been there, it had no ordeal invading my thought for I had a job calling me.
Driving out on the highway, I stared at the upcoming scenery, letting the window come down just enough for a cool spring breeze to pick my spirits up. I came closer and closer to spots of interest, letting my eyes wander at possibilities, and only stopping at a slow street a couple miles away. It was a dark lit forest with a mountain in the background, if I could recall it was Mt. Monadnock. It was pleasant, tall enough for the clouds and grand enough for me. I stopped at the base, taking my camera equipment out; I took some practice shots around the trees. I felt the spot was a bit to dark so I walked up the trail, the sun was starting to fall farther in the sky, I knew I would have to leave soon. I kept walking up, laughing to myself as I saw my lungs collapse up and down; I knew I was unfit now. I kept my pace, coming farther and farther up, nearing the end of the trail I pushed overgrown limbs out of my way, and looked at my prize. A grand view, I could see for miles, the wind started to pick up, and the breeze felt great on my sweaty face. Taking my sleeve, I wiped the excess sweat off my face, taking the camera up to my face, and snapping a few pictures into the sunset. I loved every second; it was a great feeling. Photography was like painting, instead of taking the brush, you controlled the piece, and instead of all the hard labor, you make it in one final click. I walked to the edge, kneeling down, and staring at my canvas. I threw my hands up and let the wind control them, a sudden whisper floated through the wind, "Watch what you wish for."
"Who's there?"
"Oh Jon, of course you know who I am, I am the whisper in the night, I am the loud roar in the morning, and I am everything you are! You can't stop me!"
Pin needles of shock ran through me, I did not move, nor talk. Pulling my legs up towards my body, frightened could not justify what I had felt. The voices were not distant or far away, they were just there, as if someone was talking right next to me. Rustling came behind me; I jumped from hand in foot, and pulled my camera in front of me as a weapon. Bringing the lens to my eye, I peered through as sweat started running down my face, a smell rose from the ground of death, and rotting. Three men appeared through the sheath of limbs, they were carrying guns and a dead deer. I melted, relieved my nightmares had been halted from my eye, and I brought the camera down from view. Accidentally snapping a few photos. I wiped my face and waved towards them, they waved back, as they passed the smell got worse. I walked calmly over to the trees as they walked to were I sat, I started gagging, but stopped myself halfway as the smell dispersed itself. I felt disoriented, but mostly confused, and I knew something was wrong. I looked back only to see the three men in midair, falling off the mountain, I ran to the side, unaware of what had happened. I crawled to the edge and looked down only to see nothing, and I tried yelling out words, but all that came was "NOOOOO!" I was so confused, I felt my life was coming to a halt, and I picked myself up, and ran. I ran past the sheath down the trail, almost tripping over every object. Streams slid down my face, I could not help it, and I did not understand any of this.
Finally stopping, I hit the side of my car, and ran to the driver's side. I pulled the door open nearly smashing it right off the hinges, I put the key in, and threw it in drive. I came to the road, not even checking traffic, just by the luck, and timing I made it alive and on my way home. I was going at least sixty down the road, ten over the limit, but I did not care. Fear fueled me, and it is the only thing that kept me going. Coming up to my street, I started to turn my signal on, the yellow blinker becoming more noticeable as the sun descended farther down. A hundred feet from turning a car came out of a dark dirt road, and I had to take evasive maneuvers to miss him, as I did not slow down. The Man's car horn blared in my ear as I passed him, I looked at him for a split second, he was mouthing words, most likely fuck you. My stare must have been so utterly strange to him, but I threw it out of my mind, and just drove up my road. My foot kept falling farther down on the pedal as I went up the hill, trying not to look at the passing scenery, as now it was different, things loomed there, dark things. Bringing my hunk of metal to the house, I quickly drove it up to the stoop, slamming my foot on the brake, my body jolted forward.
I threw my hand to the handle and kicked the door open, smells arose and tantalized my thoughts, but I replaced them, trying to keep the bad thoughts at bay. I sprinted to the front door, pushing it open, and slamming it in place. I walked over to the first box I could find, I barreled through old possessions, until I found what I was looking for, a CD player. I quickly filled it with whatever I could find, not even looking at the disk. I put the ear buds in, and clicked play. A band I have known since I was little came on, "ACDC", but not the song I would want, it quickly made me feel worse, though I had lost it and I was in a different world. "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" I started getting goose bumps, and that little voice in my head said,
"No one's going to save you now!" It was loud and dark, and it sounded like an old smoker's voice. Taking my hands to my ears, I threw the ear buds off and threw the CD player, hearing the song becoming more distant as it hit the wall, and smashed into a million pieces. I started getting furious, "This is a dream! It's all a dream!" I told myself, but just as I comforted my thoughts, the voice desecrated it, "Oh! Are you so certain, am I still here?"
"Oh, god! Why is this happening?"
Running to the faucet, I grabbed a bottle of "Aleve", smashing the top off; I took the bottle, and poured as many as I thought I would need. I chucked the handful in my mouth and turned the faucet on, running my palms over the water, letting the cold water run over them fueled my frustration. I quickly filled my cupped hands with water, throwing handful after handful onto my face, and then bringing the liquid to my mouth I took gulps of water until the pills were down. After a few seconds of standing over the faucet, dark circles started appearing in my gaze, and all at once my sight went black and I felt myself tumbling over. The last thing I remember seeing was the dark clouds over the skyline, and the voice said,
"Nighty-night, don't let the bug's bite."

This is the first part of my story, hope you liked it so far. The picture is something I made in photo editor and paint.