Work Text:
The road stretches ahead of me for miles upon miles under the darkening sky, an endless stream of concrete spanning over the grassy fields on either side of me. I’m sitting in the passenger seat of my friend Theo’s old pickup truck as we speed down the highway, something he and I have done countless times before. Although, I wouldn’t quite call it a highway - it’s single-laned and cracked beyond repair. The truck is hitting potholes more often than we’re comfortable with, producing jarring bumps and bangs as well as some choice words from Theo himself. Most noticeable, though, is the traffic in this area - which is all but nonexistent. I guess it makes sense… because where we’re going is a place people never go willingly.
The place we’re going is none other than our hometown. With a declining population barely above 150, Anchor Grove is clearly a place everyone wants to be. The “highway” heading towards it is surrounded by tall, thick forest left and right. The scenery is clouded by a seemingly infinite expanse of leaves, freshly bloomed and presenting countless shades of vibrant green. Tall grass blankets the forest floor on either side of us, flying past in a dark green blur as we travel.
I look over at the boy in the driver’s seat: Theo, my childhood friend. He’s a mountain lion that I've known longer than I’ve probably known myself. Despite the age difference between us, with him being 2 years older than me, we make it work. It’s not like we have other options anyway. When you live in such a small town, you need to have friends. Otherwise, you're truly on your own. Because not only is our town small; it’s isolated, hidden amongst this giant forest that encompasses the hilly terrain for as far as the eye can see.
I kick my feet lightly, shoes tapping the glovebox. The drive from Fairmont always feels so long. You’d think being bussed there and back twice a day from school would get me used to it. But nope; what’s supposed to be a single hour feels stretched into two, considering the most interesting scenery around here is trees, more trees, and even more trees. I just watch them as they whiz past us and fade into the distance. I look over at the older feline beside me. Theo has been quiet tonight, an odd contrast from his usual self. I'm accustomed to his usual tough-guy banter or sports rants, but tonight he just looked… tired. We had talked for a while earlier, when our trip first began, but it had died down to an awkward quietness, leaving me with my own thoughts.
The radio in the truck plays quietly, so at least it isn’t completely silent in here. It’s some weird kind of underground country music. Every so often, a short-lived layer of static partially blocks it out. It’s almost like a struggle for power, the way the static battles to smother the music, each time to no avail. Personally, I’m on the static’s side. Bad country music is typical for the few radio stations that reach into these parts - and when I say bad, I mean unbearable. I twiddle my thumbs as my mind starts to rush around within its own boredom like a caged animal pacing its enclosure. I look down at my hands, as at this point I’m simply sick of looking at trees. As I do so, I notice an empty cup by my feet from the fast food place we stopped at earlier. I still faintly smell remnants of the food in the musty air of the truck, the culprit most likely being the grease-stained paper bag sitting crumpled atop the console.
I bend over slowly, reaching out to grab the cup from the otherwise unpolluted floor. One thing about Theo that I never fail to remember is his attention to cleanliness, especially within his truck. Despite having it for over a year and a half, it still remains virtually spotless. I don’t know how he does it. As my hand wraps around the cup, the truck lurches aggressively and my head slams hard against the glovebox.
I shout out in pain and raise my hand to the back of my head just behind my large ears that now stand up straight.
“Jeez! What are you trying to do, kill me? You're lucky I wasn’t wearing my glasses” I laugh, but my joke is met with silence as I bring myself back up. Confused, I look over at Theo. To my further confusion, he’s completely silent, eyes fixated on the road. I follow his eyes and immediately notice the truck has stopped. No, not just the truck… everything around me has come to a standstill. The leaves sit frozen on their branches, and the wind they danced to has died. Like the Earth itself has stopped spinning.
I look back at Theo, growing concerned - especially at the fact that he’s not breathing, his pale fluffy chest remaining completely motionless. In fact his entire body doesn’t even appear to be moving at all. Hesitantly, I glance back outside. The trees stand like a legion of statues staring blankly at me. The last hint of light from the dark blue sky slips away from the unmoving landscape, leaving me in darkness.
“Theo?” I squeak nervously. I can feel a knot of fear tightening in my stomach as the seconds pass, the weight of it making my stomach drop dreadfully. What is happening?
And then, my eyes catch something in my peripheral vision. Something outside. I turn my head to the windshield, and- -oh my god-
In the sky, there are jagged lines of bright pink, like scratches from the claws of a giant beast. They rapidly grow and widen, an invisible force tearing them open like a scar reversing back into an open wound. The bright pink colour pours out of the colossal cracks like blood, painting the dark canvas of the sky. And then, like liquid metal to a magnet, the road ahead of me begins to stretch. All the rules of my own perception shatter as I watch the spectacle of time and space unfold before me. The road morphs like a tidal wave that just keeps building and building, stretching up towards the sky. In the very back of my maddened mind, I am reminded of the time I watched Interstellar with Theo; the scene of the unimaginably colossal wave on Miller’s planet struck me with absolute awe. And now, I have grown utterly speechless, my jaw hanging open in a soundless scream of horror. I can’t think straight, like a thick fog is covering my mind, much like the static of the radio as it smothered the music. But now the static holds the power, loud and unwavering against my brain waves, slowly increasing in volume and strength.
The sensation of nausea explodes inside my body, bile skyrocketing up my throat. Too much is happening for my brain to even process, much less comprehend. The sky is now a mix of pinks and blues, strikingly vivid and bright, a nightmarishly marvelous display comparable not even to the Northern Lights, nor to anything from our world. I can feel tears brimming in my eyes, my anxieties bursting out against my will like water from a collapsing dam. I am purely powerless, left completely subservient to the insanity unraveling before my widening eyes.
The radio cuts in and out, every so often leaving me in a void of complete silence, but after a few times the radio sounds different. Almost like it’s flipping through stations, the frequency rising and falling faster than I can process the noises between the cuts. The swirling mass of the sky makes my stomach twist aggressively, empowering the nausea. I can hardly bring myself to keep looking at it, but as I do, it almost feels like it’s looking back at me. An impossible feat, considering the sky can’t possibly have eyes, -can it?!- but I still feel the short fur on the back of my neck raise nonetheless.
Suddenly, the radio crackles to life, and an old folk song blares through the speakers, impossibly loud, only to cut out again a few seconds later. Then it plays again - but this time it sounds… off. The static whispers, slowly growing louder - and that’s when I realize the static isn’t just static. It’s speaking, croaking fuzzy words I can’t understand. But it grows louder, and my disturbed heart is shaken to its core at the eerie voice that speaks.
“Don’t let youRself fOrget… that’s What they waNt, remember wHat they dId to you, what they Made you suffer through.”
I try to think about what it’s saying, but before I can fully process those words, my eyes get heavy and I can feel the world go dark.
When I open my eyes again, the sky is black, and the truck is once again gliding down the road. Theo’s face is back to normal, calm and stoic as he drives, as if nothing even happened. I look around, confused like I’ve never been before, my head spinning at the suddenness of everything. I notice Theo’s ear flick slightly, which causes him to glance over at me.
“You okay over there?” Theo asks nonchalantly. He glances between me and the road carefully, keeping a decent amount of attention on each. It is clear that he didn’t see anything that I’d just experienced. A despondent feeling of isolation hits me all of a sudden. I was the sole witness to whatever the hell just happened. How can I be honest about that? What even is the honest truth? He’ll probably think I’m messing around, or insane
-am I?-
if I tried to explain what I just saw. I can’t even explain it to myself. So I take a breath, glance back at him, and say as calmly as I can manage:
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
Maybe I’ll tell him another day.