Prisoner

24th May, 2011 : Prisoner

I was standing in my backyard. Looking at the rock garden in the middle of the yard, the one with the seahorse water bowl for the birds. My dog Fenix was running around back and forth, chasing black shadows that seemed to dart from place to place. I watched the shadows dart, from one side of the yard to the next, more and more of them seemed to appear and they brought the faint sound of humming or maybe it was flapping. I watched as they met up on the fence, growing larger and larger into a shadow. I had a bad feeling about them and saw a lady in our shed out the back. Her eyes were wide with fear as she yelled for me to get inside. I watched as the shadows converged into what looked like a large silhouette of a lady, bits and pieces of shadows darting on and off. I ran for the shed, slamming the door behind me. An old lady appeared and she was dressed in black. She kept trying to open the door and the girl kept screaming for her to get away. She went to each of our windows and tried to open them, so the girl blocked them off with sticks. She kept making promises of better things, if only we would accept and join with her. She went from window to window and seemed to get bigger with each one. The shed seemed to get darker and darker inside until I couldn't see in front of me. I clutched the arm of the old couch that had been left in there as I listened to the sound of banging on all the walls. The door burst open. I could see dark clouds and it was pouring outside. I could make the shape of the old lady coming into the house... and then suddenly I was standing in front of my house. The doorbell rang and I opened the door to find a guy and two of my friends coming in. They said they needed to get to the shed, and I was confused. We walked to the backyard, but there was no path, just a gaping hole in the ground. The guy turned to me, he told me to close my eyes and concentrate hard on being at the shed. I closed my eyes and I felt him grab my hand, and someone else grabbed my other one. There was a feeling of a slight shudder that passed through me. We ended up standing outside the front of the shed. I opened the door to the shed, the old hinges creaking. The shed was a complete mess with things thrown everywhere; the girl wasn't to be found. The guy turned to me and said, that's alright you have some place else to be right now. He touched me on the shoulder, I felt a light shudder and then I was standing in a large field.

The field was covered in patches of dirt and grass and up ahead I saw tents, similar to those you'd find at a carnival. I started walking towards them. There was a newspaper stand and my picture was on it, and a story that I didn't understand. I saw a friend of mine with blonde hair walk past and I grabbed her and asked her what was going on. She smiled a sly smile and said, well since we're not really friends anymore and I needed a story, I volunteered you as the subject. She laughed as she walked away. I walked further down the path and ran into a friend of mine named "Chase". I linked my arm around him and told him he'd be my date for the fair while he waited for the girl he was in love with to work out the guy she was with was a complete loser. He laughed as we walked down the path and into the tent that was designated to us. Once inside, the tent seemed more like a large prison. It was cold and grey and had rooms that were locked up with no windows. The security men then started to bring in prisoners, and put them in different rooms. There was the sound of a fight from the back room, and I headed back there just to see a prisoner run past the door and through the window at the end of the hall. We began to chase after him down through all the people. I saw him head off between two of the tents and ran after him. I jumped and tackled him to the ground. Turning him over and taking the grey hoodie off his head, I saw the flash of the prisoner as the face staring back at me was someone else. Chase caught up with me and swore, He picked up what looked like a round coin off the ground and crushed it under his food as the guy's face distorted for a second, then returned to normal. He laughed at us, and then got up and took off. Chase and I headed back towards the main strip and started heading back for the prison. He was annoyed and I was pissed off that the prisoner had gotten the one up on us. As we walked back, a young boy and his father, both in grey hoodies passed us. The boy gave me a smile as he walked past... it unnerved me. I turned and grabbed the father. The illusion was shattered as the boy screamed and the man became the prison. He swore and kicked me hard in the stomach. Chase jumped at him, and he threw him down. I picked up a chair from the tent next to me and smacked the guy over the head, hard. The chair shattered into pieces as the prisoner fell down onto the floor. I leaned over, punched the guy hard in the face and he was unconscious. The kid stood there, watched, and then laughed. He said I'd never find the surprise they had planted and then he disappeared. I helped Chase off the ground and we carried the prisoner back to the tent. He was locked up into one of the rooms in the back, furtherest from the window this time.

I looked at Chase and said, you know there's a "surprise" in store for us, we need to work it out.  I walked through an open door and saw a large blackboard. There were pictures of it stuck there, and the newspaper story. I picked up the story and ripped it off the board. For some reason I had a flash of the guy hiding under the prison as we headed out searching for him. I looked at him and said, I have an idea. I walked into one of the rooms at the back. There was a toilet in there, but it didn't quite look like a toilet. I began pulling it, and it slowly shifted with a large squeak against the tiles. Chase grabbed the top of it and helped me pull it out of place. Underneath was a bomb. I swore. There wasn't enough time left to diffuse it, so I did the only thing I knew. I picked up the bomb and started to run. I ran past Chase, out of the prison and down passed all the people. Ahead I could see the girl from the shed in a helicopter. She gave me the thumbs up as I continued to run down away from the crowds. People kept getting in the way and I shoved them hard, not caring where they landed. There were only a few seconds left and all I could find was a large bin filled with soft toys. I tossed the bomb in there and headed in the opposite direction. A second later it exploded and I was thrown forward. I opened my eyes, I could smell fire and the stench of fabric burning. Chase was standing there, he offered me a hand and helped me up. He smiled and said 'no point dying until you've finished the last thing' and I laughed at him. I put an arm around his shoulders as he helped me back towards the carnival. The blonde showed up again, she had her camera and was dying for the story. He looked at me and smiled. He said "you know you want to". And I walked over to her. I threw her camera on the ground and shoved her up against the wall. I told her there wasn't going to be a story, not after the last thing she wrote.  She looked scared as I punched my hand against the wall next to her head. She promised to print a retraction, and to leave, and I just turned away. I could feel myself thinking, what a waste of time dealing with her. Chase caught up with me and helped me back to the tent. He sat me down on a chair and looked at me. I stared back and finally said "what?” He said, "You know you're done right?" I didn't understand. He said it again "you're done now" And then I woke up.