The Eyes of The City (610 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 9 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Grownasskid (View user info) at 2005-09-15 11:37:20 EDT
The first thing I noticed, even before I opened my eyes, was how silent it was. It was not the kind of silence that is characteristically associated with the absence of noise, but the kind of silence that I associated with the absence of life. There were no birds chirping, no cars driving by, no TV on in the other room. It was the kind of silence that made you feel alone, with only your heartbeat and your thoughts to remind you that you were still alive.
I opened my eyes. The clock next to my bed flashed 2:47. I looked out my window to see if I could figure out what time it really was, but if the dark rain clouds that covered the sky knew what time it was, they were keeping if from me like it was a secret that meant life or death. It could have been nine in the morning; it could have been dinner time. I got out of my bed and walked across my room to my dresser. As I put on some pants I tried to ignore the fact that the silence around me seemed to be swallowing me. I coughed just to hear a sound, any sound. The noise my throat made both comforted me and shook me at the same time.
I walked down the hall to the living room. I looked at my TV and saw my own reflection, distorted and dark in the black screen of the TV. I tried to turn on the TV, if for no other reason that to be rid of the warped picture of myself. The remote didn't work. I walked to the TV and got on my hands and knees to check the plug. It was plugged in. I pressed the power button on the TV, but nothing happened. Only my dark reflection stared back at me. I swear it looked like it was smiling at me.
I went to the kitchen to try the telephone. I picked the phone up off the receiver and held it to my ear. No dial tone, no operator; nothing but silence screaming into my ear, sending its dark panic into my already jittery mind. The clock on the wall was stopped at 1:47. The clock on the microwave wasn't even on. I tried to turn on the radio, only to be greeted with more silence. I walked out of the kitchen, every step echoing through my empty apartment, through my panic stricken mind.
I walked out into the hallway. The window at the end of the hall offered no light, no help. The lights above me were dim and soft, light falling down on me like droplets from a sink. The buzz of the light bulbs was a welcome change to the maddening silence that infested my apartment. I walked across the hall to my neighbor's apartment. I knocked on his door; the sound of my fist on his door was like a shotgun blast. I waited then knocked again. No answer. I called out my neighbor's name and knocked again, this time louder. I began to breathe faster, becoming very concerned about what was going on. The buzzing that only moments ago was soothing to me began to sound less like a comfort and more like an insult, calling out to me like a schoolyard bully. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, but suddenly I felt the hallway closing in on me. I ran down the hall to the stairwell and exploded out the door like cannon fire.
As I ran down the stairs, I swear I was being followed, but it may have been my own footsteps echoing in my mind. I reached the bottom of the stairs and smashed into the closed door that would take me to the street. I opened the door and ran out onto the sidewalk. The city stretched out before me, empty and cold. There were no people on the sidewalk with me, no cars in the street, save one car across the road, parked and on fire. There was no owner screaming about his car, no fire department to put it out, and no onlookers, only the flaming car and me. I walked out into the middle of the street and look up and down at the buildings. There was broken glass everywhere, and every now and then a red stain on the road. The silence that had taken over my apartment was now living in the city, and beginning to invade my head. I dropped to my knees and screamed at the sky, if for no other reason than to beat back the silence that was all around me. My voice, hoarse and afraid, echoed through the empty city. I was alone.
I got off my knees and to my feet. "I've got to find someone" I whimpered to myself. I began to walk down the street, not knowing where I was going, but just knowing that I couldn't stay where I was. As I walked, the city loomed over me, thousands of empty windows staring down at me, the dead eyes of the city watching my every move...
User Reviews
Submitted by johnhutch (user info) at 2005-09-22 16:13:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great stuff, man. You have a good sense of atmosphere.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-09-15 18:19:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I fully support the continuation of this. I'm on my second series here at Uber and I never really get too many reviews. Such things scare a lot of people away. But there are readers who love them, if done well. This was done well...
Submitted by algermetiphist (user info) at 2005-09-15 17:47:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
A little creepy, but ok...
Submitted by EatMeCompletely (user info) at 2005-09-15 15:41:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Cannot begin to comprehend why that bosh horseshit garnered more attention than this.
This is great, keep it up.
-EMC
Submitted by miss_tila (user info) at 2005-09-15 14:16:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I need a part two!
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-09-15 13:43:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think you should continue. With the few posts you've submitted and the few reviews you've written you may not get a lot of attention. it taks time but the more you review the more people tend to be curious and look at your stuff. carry on.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-09-15 13:35:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
more to come?
Submitted by Grownasskid (user info) at 2005-09-15 12:32:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
there might be, i wanna see what kind of responces i get
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-09-15 11:58:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Pretty cool.
Will there be more?