We approached the city near the 24 hour mark. The buildings stretched far above us. It seemed like they were never ending as they shot up into the sky. The desert disappeared behind us, leaving behind a great big blank nothing all around.
As we pressed on, the highway behind us erased itself from existence as well.
Their excitement didn't show any longer. They only had the residual determination left to keep going. They wanted an ending, and by God, they'd be getting one. I only wanted out. At the pace we were going, I didn't think I'd get that. I felt like it was the end.
"What happens once we're inside of the city?" They asked.
"We have to reach sanctuary."
"How does one do that...?" The professor asks frustratedly.
"One doesn't do that. That's the city's will. If it wants you to reach it, you will. We must earn its favor. You both must care to remember.... we are not in control."
And just as I said that, the highway below us cracked, and then everything collapsed.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Highway III
At some point the highway signs appeared on the side of the highway. They were green and had various languages on them. Most of them were not in English, so we could not tell what they were actually saying. A few of them were, however. We could have gone without reading them.
They started out innocent and straightforward, just as the realm usually starts out as. "Richmond, VA - 80 Miles." "Edgewater, MI - 415 Miles." "Splitsville - 10, 000 Miles." But they changed.
"No ending." "The silence begins." "City UnLimits"
The air grew cold, bitter, and stale. Smoke and smog covered the sky. It descended. We choked on the fumes. I felt lightheaded. I grabbed the professor and the journalist close to me.
"Keep near me. It'll take us if we're split by this."
They don't respond. I drag them a few feet when I feel them pull out of my grasp. I scream at them and grasp out for them repeatedly. The smoke disappears.
They're both far away from me.
"...What's wrong?" The professor asks.
"Why did you both let go of me?"
They seem confused.
"What are you talking about? You never grabbed us in the first place."
I look behind me. Nothing there.
"It's... it's especially playful today."
Why?
They started out innocent and straightforward, just as the realm usually starts out as. "Richmond, VA - 80 Miles." "Edgewater, MI - 415 Miles." "Splitsville - 10, 000 Miles." But they changed.
"No ending." "The silence begins." "City UnLimits"
The air grew cold, bitter, and stale. Smoke and smog covered the sky. It descended. We choked on the fumes. I felt lightheaded. I grabbed the professor and the journalist close to me.
"Keep near me. It'll take us if we're split by this."
They don't respond. I drag them a few feet when I feel them pull out of my grasp. I scream at them and grasp out for them repeatedly. The smoke disappears.
They're both far away from me.
"...What's wrong?" The professor asks.
"Why did you both let go of me?"
They seem confused.
"What are you talking about? You never grabbed us in the first place."
I look behind me. Nothing there.
"It's... it's especially playful today."
Why?
Highway II
By the seventeenth hour they were impatient, agitated, and on the verge of collapsing. The city's buildings didn't increase in size at all, and the sun didn't either. The clouds stayed in the same relative position, and we had passed the same patch of cacti formations at least twenty times.
"Goddammit. Goddammit. I have to stop. I have to stop. Hold on, let me rest. Goddammit."
The professor dropped to the pavement. The pavement began to burn him. He screamed and rolled onto the sand. He was crying in pain. We picked him up and held him up.
Our feet were no longer on the path. The path disappeared, and so did the city. The journalist yelled and kicked sand. I helped the professor up.
"This isn't good." I said simply.
"Oh no, it's grand! We're lost in an eldritch sandlot with nowhere to go- seems great to me!"
The journalist wandered off behind the cacti formation to take a piss. I dusted off the hot bits of sand on the professor. He muttered a thank you. He asked for water. I told him we didn't have any.
The journalist came back. He looked panicked.
"There's something stuck inside of the cacti."
I left the professor so he can rest, and I followed the journalist to the cacti. He pointed to the center of the mounds of it. I saw nothing.
"It's still... moving..." He whispered.
"What are you pointing at?"
"There! Don't you see it!? It's so ugly! The blood alone... fuck! Christ, look!"
"I see nothing."
He grabbed me.
"You're lying."
"No I'm not. There's nothing there."
"Im...impossible..."
His grip loosened. I removed his hands from my shirt.
"I don't disbelieve you. I just don't see the creature. There very well might be something there. No matter what, the realm is playing us. We need to keep moving. Sitting still solves nothing."
"But it's... right there, it's-"
He looked back over to the cacti. He seemed confused.
"Not there anymore?"
"Not there anymore."
We grabbed the professor and prepared to venture into the open desert. However, the highway appeared once again, as if it never disappeared in the first place. The city was once again in the horizon, and we continued towards it.
"Goddammit. Goddammit. I have to stop. I have to stop. Hold on, let me rest. Goddammit."
The professor dropped to the pavement. The pavement began to burn him. He screamed and rolled onto the sand. He was crying in pain. We picked him up and held him up.
Our feet were no longer on the path. The path disappeared, and so did the city. The journalist yelled and kicked sand. I helped the professor up.
"This isn't good." I said simply.
"Oh no, it's grand! We're lost in an eldritch sandlot with nowhere to go- seems great to me!"
The journalist wandered off behind the cacti formation to take a piss. I dusted off the hot bits of sand on the professor. He muttered a thank you. He asked for water. I told him we didn't have any.
The journalist came back. He looked panicked.
"There's something stuck inside of the cacti."
I left the professor so he can rest, and I followed the journalist to the cacti. He pointed to the center of the mounds of it. I saw nothing.
"It's still... moving..." He whispered.
"What are you pointing at?"
"There! Don't you see it!? It's so ugly! The blood alone... fuck! Christ, look!"
"I see nothing."
He grabbed me.
"You're lying."
"No I'm not. There's nothing there."
"Im...impossible..."
His grip loosened. I removed his hands from my shirt.
"I don't disbelieve you. I just don't see the creature. There very well might be something there. No matter what, the realm is playing us. We need to keep moving. Sitting still solves nothing."
"But it's... right there, it's-"
He looked back over to the cacti. He seemed confused.
"Not there anymore?"
"Not there anymore."
We grabbed the professor and prepared to venture into the open desert. However, the highway appeared once again, as if it never disappeared in the first place. The city was once again in the horizon, and we continued towards it.
Highway
On the horizon, a city sprawled out above everything. The clouds encircled the location. It was our destination. The professor and the journalist smiled as they saw the buildings. I could feel the anticipation of the end seep out of them. They needed to reach the center of the world.
But I knew something was strange this time. I knew that something didn't feel right. In all my life, I'd never seen the realm manifest in that shape before. It felt... it felt like a deathtrap. Too narrow, too open ended. Too surrounded. It was almost obvious.
I didn't say anything to the two. I didn't want them to panic. Besides, nothing we could do at that point. We had to keep moving.
My biggest fear was that we'd have to keep moving forever more. The arid heat encircled us and punctuated the feelings of imminent ruin within me.
And yet they didn't stop moving, nor stop smiling.
But I knew something was strange this time. I knew that something didn't feel right. In all my life, I'd never seen the realm manifest in that shape before. It felt... it felt like a deathtrap. Too narrow, too open ended. Too surrounded. It was almost obvious.
I didn't say anything to the two. I didn't want them to panic. Besides, nothing we could do at that point. We had to keep moving.
My biggest fear was that we'd have to keep moving forever more. The arid heat encircled us and punctuated the feelings of imminent ruin within me.
And yet they didn't stop moving, nor stop smiling.
Road III
When I shook the journalist to wake him he swung at me. I stepped back and he jumped up. He grabbed me and tackled me to the ground. He screamed in my face. Spit sprinkled my forehead. I grabbed his arms and pushed him off. I got up and kicked him to the ground. He screamed like some rabid creature. His face was cherry red and he kept squinting his eyes, studying me as he screamed.
"GET OFF OF ME!! I CAN SEE YOU!! I CAN SEE YOU-"
I covered his mouth. The professor approached from behind.
"What's wrong with him?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing. It's the realm. It's taken control over him. He'll be fine. Give him five minutes."
The professor seemed unsure, but then he nodded and stepped off of the road. I kept the journalist pinned. About three minutes later, he began to calm down. His eyes cleared up. I held him for two more minutes to make sure. He was alright.
"I'm alright now, off, off!"
I let go and he pushed me away. He got up off the ground and cracks his neck.
"Let's go, I'm sick of this goddamn ro-"
The dirt below us became concrete. We were no longer on some lone dirt road in the wilderness, but on a highway in the middle of a desert wasteland.
The professor laughed.
"It at least has a great sense of humor, huh?"
"GET OFF OF ME!! I CAN SEE YOU!! I CAN SEE YOU-"
I covered his mouth. The professor approached from behind.
"What's wrong with him?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing. It's the realm. It's taken control over him. He'll be fine. Give him five minutes."
The professor seemed unsure, but then he nodded and stepped off of the road. I kept the journalist pinned. About three minutes later, he began to calm down. His eyes cleared up. I held him for two more minutes to make sure. He was alright.
"I'm alright now, off, off!"
I let go and he pushed me away. He got up off the ground and cracks his neck.
"Let's go, I'm sick of this goddamn ro-"
The dirt below us became concrete. We were no longer on some lone dirt road in the wilderness, but on a highway in the middle of a desert wasteland.
The professor laughed.
"It at least has a great sense of humor, huh?"
Road II
We stopped to rest. They did not want to stop, but I forced them to.
"We cannot go any further along on this path until we are well rested. I will continue to escort the both of you when we are able to proceed."
They rolled their eyes at me.
"This is ridiculous, we don't require any breaks."
The professor left the road and sat down on a lone tree stump. I kept my eye on him.
"Everyone, stick to being near the road. If you wander too off path, this place will you swallow you whole."
The journalist leaned against a tree. He smoked a cigarette alone.
I sat down at the center of the road. My stomach rumbled. The worst part of any voyage into the realm is always the lack of food. You cannot take food into the realm.
Food offends It.
We lost track of time as mysterious stars began to dot the sky above. The blank sky peeled away to reveal darkness. It was different than ordinary night. Darker.
I did not fall asleep, but I dreamed that I did, somewhere else.
"We cannot go any further along on this path until we are well rested. I will continue to escort the both of you when we are able to proceed."
They rolled their eyes at me.
"This is ridiculous, we don't require any breaks."
The professor left the road and sat down on a lone tree stump. I kept my eye on him.
"Everyone, stick to being near the road. If you wander too off path, this place will you swallow you whole."
The journalist leaned against a tree. He smoked a cigarette alone.
I sat down at the center of the road. My stomach rumbled. The worst part of any voyage into the realm is always the lack of food. You cannot take food into the realm.
Food offends It.
We lost track of time as mysterious stars began to dot the sky above. The blank sky peeled away to reveal darkness. It was different than ordinary night. Darker.
I did not fall asleep, but I dreamed that I did, somewhere else.
Road
The field went away sometime afterwards. It was replaced by the wilderness sprouting anew. The forest stretched out all around us. It was completely silent except for the crunch of our boots against the dead gray grass. A blank sky contrasted with the colorfully bland trees.
At some point, shadows ceased to exist. A sun without coloring popped into the sky above us and its light eradicated traditional shadows. There weren't any clouds. No birds. Just the sky, the sun, the forest, and us. And of course, the road.
We came across a lone car sitting lonesome on the road. It was an old car, a relic of humanity's past stranded within the realm. We walked past it without investigating its insides. Good decision.
But then the car turned itself on. The headlights of the car illuminated us and for the first time shadows returned to the world. We were blinded. The engine revved up. The car seemed as if it was on the verge of running us over. Instead, it went into reverse and rolled away swiftly in the opposite direction. It hit a tree and it merged with the tree. Rust covered it and vines did as well. The tree rotted while the car fell apart. Then, everything stopped, and the tree fell over, flattening the car completely. We forget this and keep walking.
Nothing of importance happened for a long time. The sun disappeared and we were left alone in the great emptiness once again.
At some point, shadows ceased to exist. A sun without coloring popped into the sky above us and its light eradicated traditional shadows. There weren't any clouds. No birds. Just the sky, the sun, the forest, and us. And of course, the road.
We came across a lone car sitting lonesome on the road. It was an old car, a relic of humanity's past stranded within the realm. We walked past it without investigating its insides. Good decision.
But then the car turned itself on. The headlights of the car illuminated us and for the first time shadows returned to the world. We were blinded. The engine revved up. The car seemed as if it was on the verge of running us over. Instead, it went into reverse and rolled away swiftly in the opposite direction. It hit a tree and it merged with the tree. Rust covered it and vines did as well. The tree rotted while the car fell apart. Then, everything stopped, and the tree fell over, flattening the car completely. We forget this and keep walking.
Nothing of importance happened for a long time. The sun disappeared and we were left alone in the great emptiness once again.
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