In the light of a candle - The Fog

A Story by D.Y.Petkova

Hello. You are a bit late. Oh ? Okay. No, it is not a problem
At all. Come in, it is cold outside. Do you like my view ? Yes ? So do I. Tonight I will tell you a story about this city. Yes, this one. So listen…

If you go around, you will see that there are many old buildings and many new. But not in the middle. Only mid-century and completely new. It is like during the 90’s not a single house was built. Do you know why ? Because it hasn’t. And if you go around and ask people, you will see that all of them moved here about ’96 or later. Basically, there are old houses, but not citizens. So maybe you would ask yourself what happened ? Where are they ? Because this is a big city with a great area. Good for trade, good for living. What happened ? This is what I am going to tell you tonight.
There has always been a big city here. Since Ancient Greece this place has been the spot where many international roads cross. But for a few years it was completely abandoned. Yes. Truly. People were afraid to go near it, to mention it, to remember it. Now, of course, everybody says these are superstitions. Nothing has happened, life here has never stopped. This is a lie. A lie, told so many times, it has turned into history. But in reality, well, things are a little different.
A young woman was the only one who gave an explanation. The others were afraid. Or simply couldn’t speak. But this woman shared her story and was later called a liar. Here is what she said.

She was coming to the city by bus. The strange this here is that before you enter the city, you get a spectacular view from above from the road. It is truly a lovely sight at night. But she travelled at late afternoon. And she noticed something strange. The whole valley of the city was surrounded by white fluffy clouds. She noted it because it was a usual occurrence here �" when thick fog covers the city, it looks like it is drowned by clouds from above. But those clouds were strange, because they weren’t covering the city, they were surrounding it. From all sides. And, she remembered, it looked like they were waiting for something. And then she dismissed it. It was simply sea mist. And nothing else.
As the bus entered the city she saw the fog. It was really thick and the cars were going with their lights on even though it was four in the afternoon. She got out of the bus and almost choked- the air was so humid and heavy, it stuck to the lungs and refused to leave. It was almost impossible to breathe. Everybody was hurrying to somewhere. They were trying to reach their homes or, at least, a shop or a caf?. The people needed a rest from the moisture in the air. She ran home as she lived near the station and locked the door. Her apartment was on the sixth floor and she could usually see the buildings on the opposite sidewalk. But it was almost impossible. The fog was simply too thick. She turned the heat on and went to bed as the day has been way too exhausting. Just before she surrendered to sleep, she remembered that the fog has covered the city in less than five minutes �" it had been clear when the bus drove around it. It was important, she knew, but before she could think about it, the sleep claimed her.
She woke up with a start. Not sure about the reason, she quietly stayed under the covers and listened. And heard it �" the sound. It sounded like the windows were being pushed inwards. She stole a glance at the glass and froze. Thick fog, no, a cloud, completely opaque and white, was trying to get in. She could see the strain on the frames, the glass bending to the force of the … thing outside. The windows creaked again and that woke her up completely. She couldn’t see the sky, couldn’t tell if it was day or night. The clock on the nightstand said five o’clock but was it morning or afternoon ? It was impossible to tell. She tries to scream, to call her roommates, but the sound got lost in the air. Not a single sound left her lips. She felt like her ears were full of cotton. She could feel her own throat work, the scream building and going out, but not a sound came out. She tried again. Nothing, except that now she could feel her eardrums tremble and her eyes felt like they were going to pop out. The pressure in the air was horrible. She felt lightheaded and barely managed to reach the bed before falling on it. The pressure rose even more. And then she heard it. Felt it first, and then the sound reached her brain �" a faint humming, the beat matching the rise of the pressure. She screamed.
And then she knew no more.
These are her memories. She was found later, three days to be precise, by the soldiers who went to investigate. She was the only person found. Not a single living person, not a single corpse. No stray dogs, no alley cats, no bees, no worms. Nothing. Nothing dead, nothing alive. Just empty, barren streets and light fog that turned into mist and then disappeared.
They never found them, you know. No boned, no traces, nothing. It remains a mystery. The air, water and dirt were tested and the results came clean �" no pollution, above the normal for such a big city, of course. No radiation. No poison. No traces of cars, buses, planes or tanks. Just the ones that were left on the streets.
Perhaps we will never know what actually happened. It hasn’t happened before, as far as I know, and many people deny it has happened at all. What do you think ?
Good night and stay away from the windows. Just in case.