Journey into Madness

This is a small sample of my newest short story. I cannot put its entirety on this site due to rights issues in the magazine business. But if you are interested I will send you info on getting it when its available.

 

 

Journey into Madness

By

Christopher J. Dawson

 

 

Day Zero

I call it day zero because it was my last day of true existence. The biological equation had a major flaw, the equation had somehow encountered zero and all life was reduced to just about that. It’s been explained to me now, but then? It was the mighty hand of God himself who had stricken the world of his greatest creation.

 

            I don’t remember many details about that day. My memory is now as it was then; blurry and full of gaps. I remember running, though I couldn’t recall if I was running to something or from something. Lots of cigarettes. One thought was constant, no matter how much my mind would wander; I would always come back to that one thought. What if I were the last living soul on Earth? Maybe I had seen a movie recently about it, or maybe I just needed all those people to disappear. I wanted it to be true. I craved it. I desired it with an unfathomable intensity. They wanted me but I could not remember who, or why. As I lay down to sleep that night, I prayed that it would happen.

A prayer I wish would have fallen upon deaf ears...

 

Day One

            That day I remember much more vividly. At the time it was incredible, never before had I believed so intensely in a higher power. But now, looking back, it was more of a nightmare that would utterly destroy me from the core of my soul out...

 

I reluctantly peeled myself from the old musty blanket that was pulled nearly up past my chin. The bed seemed somewhat familiar yet also strangely alien, and my disoriented confusion was laced with a dull throb that seemed to emanate from deep in my skull. I had apparently slept in my clothes that night and so stood up and headed directly to the front door. I stepped out and jabbed a shaky hand into my pocket to retrieve my cigarettes. For some reason the shaking amused me and I stared at my hand gently roiling the pack as if the hand belonged to another. My interest quickly sputtered so I lit the cigarette and began down the sidewalk to destination unknown. The city was eerily dead, and I only noticed the fact when I carelessly stepped into a usually busy intersection, lost in my random thoughts, and jumped back to avoid phantom vehicles. There was nothing... cell phones screaming, horns blaring, voices swelling and dipping in their chaotic cacophony were all replaced by silence broken only occasionally by a noisome breeze gliding gently between the old buildings. I began to run from corner to corner finding nothing but silence and loneliness. I had put my every fiber into willing all those people into another existence apart from my own and I had been successful! But as with everything, there are consequences, but my mind was not on that, rather it was busy flitting from thought to thought like an over zealous humming bird in a sea of dancing flowers. The world was mine to do as I saw fit and time had lost all importance.

           

I spent the next few days wandering aimlessly, walking into convenience stores to grab a pack of smokes and beer. Destroying cars I could never afford and would never buy if I could. At times I would simply enjoy the freedom of complete solitude. My only complaint was the throbbing in my skull; it was slowly intensifying and becoming a nuisance. That, and there was a feeling crawling slow and terrible along my spine... I couldn’t quite grasp it, but it was as if I were being stalked by shadows not my own.

 

 

 

***excerpt from day six***

 

...I was still half rapt in the fog of reflection when I saw a figure step around the corner of the building. I was ripped from my thought and slammed with a jarring rush of hot and cold as my blood drained from my face and boiled down into my gut. I was on my feet without noticing and my back was pressed hard against the fence. As my eyes focused to take in fully the cause of my panic, what I saw overwhelmed my anxiety with shock....

Author's Note

send me a message if you would like me to send you the full short story. (17 pages total)