Abandoned - Part I
Some fiction, plus this week's music pick!
After taking a little vacation in Eau Claire, I’m back and feeling better than ever! I ate some great food, enjoyed some good weather for November, and saw some cool things.
Oh, and of course I got looooots of music!
While there, I also got more in touch with my creative side thanks to having some downtime, a journal, and a pen. I’d previously talked about getting more into creative writing since a recent writer’s retreat hosted by a local bookstore, but since then I haven’t really shared much creative writing.
Today, I’m happy to report I have something! I started working on it during one of our workshops we had during the writer’s retreat, but finally took some more time with it. I’ve titled it “Abandoned”, but I may change the title eventually since it’s the first word that popped into my head. This is Part I of it; I might work on the next piece for next week or maybe something else. Just kind of depends on how I’m feeling/how people respond to it. Either way, I hope you enjoy! (PS: this week’s music pick is a good one to listen to while reading this piece of fiction!)
Abandoned - Part I
He’d been screaming so long his throat felt raw and scratchy. At first, he said things like “Is anyone there?!”, but eventually it devolved into just plain screaming. It had been hours of walking through this city's suburbs, pounding on the doors of random houses and getting no response from any of them.
His car broken down and his cellphone dead, all Chris could do was keep screaming as he went, hoping for something other than the sound of the rustling leaves.
Salvation finally came in the form of a grocery store, filled with abandoned cars, many of which made that tink-tink-tink sound; the sound of a car still settling.
He went to the grocery store which, pushing past the carts and through the entrance to a store that looked normal. The bright fluorescent lights still gave him a headache. The PA System was playing oldies. Currently “Lovely Day” was playing as Bill Withers crooned to a crowd of one.
The produce section was amiss, evidenced by cabbages scattered around the floor along with other veggies and fruits. He stepped on something that felt like dog shit. A sigh of relief came out when he looked down; it was only a banana, its contents squished from its yellow skin, mashed on the shiny linoleum.
He heard something too. Someone breathing raggedly ahead. He looked around but saw nothing. He moved forward and, out from one of the aisles, came the face of someone peeking out.
Their face was contorted into a frown like the tragedy mask of the comedy and tragedy duo. Chris stared at them, observing a face that remained unchanged. He took one step forward to get a better look and the stranger shrunk further behind the aisle. He took another step and the stranger turned around into a sprint.
“Hey! Wait a minute!” Chris shouted after them, but it was too late. They were already deep into the store before he could say anything else. This was the first stranger he'd seen for hours, and they didn't even want anything to do with him.
Fuck.
Chris looked around to see where the stranger could have gone when his stomach gurgled, reminding him of the fact that not only had it been hours since he'd seen anyone, but also hours since he last ate anything.
Luckily, a grocery store was the perfect place for him to be. He didn't want veggies or fruits, especially the squished banana he'd stepped on. Past the produce, he saw something glorious in the deli section: a whole rotisserie chicken.
It was still warm to the touch thanks to the heating lamps. There were no forks for him to use to eat the thing, but that didn't stop him from sitting down at a nearby table and digging in with his bare hands. He ate a little more than half the chicken before he had to call it quits, savoring the taste of something that was at the low low price of free-ninety-nine.
Unfortunately, his hands now felt like he'd shoved them in a giant vat of Vaseline. He got up from his chair, sneering at the grease stains he left behind on the table before heading to the bathroom.
As Chris washed his hands and rid them of that greasy feeling, he noticed the restroom looked just as desolate as everywhere else, save for some recent signs of life. There were splashes of water all over the bathroom counter and the baby-changing table was still down, ready to help with a diaper change that would never come.
Chris dried his hands at the hand-dryer, thinking about all the germs being spread around by the wind. All the pooticles and other nasty shit in the air. Why couldn't they just use paper towels in the bathroom again like they used to?
He was getting ready to leave, shaking the rest of the wetness off his hands, when he heard that breathing again.
That person never left.
This Week’s Music Pick
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
A spooky sounding album that felt like a great fit for the spooky vibe of today’s story. Don’t got much else to say about this album specifically, but here’s one fun fact: Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaesching recently worked on part of Blood Incantation’s Absolute Elsewhere!
I want to know how he got to be in the place where are all the people were missing. Reminds me a little of the last part of Fahrenheit 451.
It's the end of the world as we know it!