I’m wandering. No rush, no where to go, as far as I know. I’m alone, I know this much. There’s abandoned cars everywhere, with so much overgrowth it’s obvious it’s been an extremely long time since anyone has been here. Windows broken open, vines and blackberries growing all through out of various cars, boats, and even a bus. It is so eerily quiet, no birds, no bugs, nothing but my steps that seemed to be sucking themselves towards a swampy ground. All around me it seems there’s a type of fluorescence, a greenish glow in the air.
I’m still wandering, just aimlessly looking in the various cars, looking for any sign of life, any sign of something or someone there with me. As far as I can see there’s just this endless number of abandoned, overgrown cars. My feet are still hard to pick up from step to step, the only noise is the sucking sound each foot makes. I feel drawn towards this one bus, it’s almost completely overgrown, but all the windows are open or broken out and exposed.
I suddenly feel wary as I get closer and closer to the bus with each sucking, swampy step. But I know that I must absolutely find out what is in there. I finally have a purpose, I’m not a wanderer anymore… Each step is getting more and more difficult to pick up and take the next. I look down as I try to take the next step, I’m only about five feet from the bus. As I loom down I can see that the swampy ground is actually growing over my foot, grabbing my foot as I try to lift it up to take the next. In that instant I knew that I had to do whatever it took to reach that bus.
I’m struggling with my feet but I’m able to take two more steps, the swampy ground is almost entirely over my feet at this point, and starting to go up my ankles and up my legs. It’s still so quiet, there isn’t even a sucking noise now as I struggle to free at least one leg. I reach forward to try to see if I am close enough to grab the bus, and I lose my balance. I fall sideways and my hand touches the ground, it is almost instantly covered in the swamp; it feels like tiny tentacles grabbing and biting my hand holding it in place, and a numbing sensation spreads through my hand and starts going up my arm.
I’m still desperate to reach that bus, I know that is why I am here, I need to reach that bus. I’m stretching with my other arm as the other is almost completely numb, wondering if it would actually hurt at this point to try to find a way to cut it off. It doesn’t even feel like it’s there at all. The swamp has covered my legs well past my knees, I am reaching with all I have with my one free arm….so desperately trying to reach that bus, reaching and reaching.
The numbness has spread up into my neck, it feels cold now, throughout my whole body, but there has to be some way I can reach that bus, some way. As I feel the numbness pass into my other arm it falls to my side, onto the ground, and I fall completely onto the swamp. The tentacles instantly grab everything else exposed and I become completely numb. As they are covering my eyes I’m staring up into the window of the bus, and just as I see a flicker of movement, everything goes black.
© 2017 Mj Gale
The Phantom Rem 