Tonight

Tonight, I see a man, a lone man, walking through the streets of an abandoned, yet modern looking city. He is covered from head to toe, and I can not see his face or distinguish his persona. But he is there, walking so slowly, so slyly, that not a sound can be heard from his footsteps. It's as though he is slowly floating towards me, illuminated every now and then by the equally spaced street lamps bordering the ever stretching sidewalk.

All of a sudden, he stops walking. Everything stops, the silence now even louder than before. Questions crowd my head, my memory, my very being, and an urge to know answers, an urge to find out what this all is, and what it could mean, bubbles gradually inside of me. But I find out all too quickly, that I am paralyzed. My mouth can not move and neither can my feet. In a flash, faster than light itself, the man who was just a second ago, a mile or two away, is now so close that I can feel his gentle yet icy breath upon my face. It sends chills up my spine. I want to move, I want to run, I want to scream, but the silence is simply so powerful, like an invisible impenetrable wall.

Slowly, carefully, the man raises his hand, brings two fingers together, and snaps. At first, the snap is inaudible, but it begins pulsing louder and louder with each passing second until the pulse is so loud that my ear drums are bursting and pressure is building up inside of my head. The sound is so loud that the invisible wall around me pops like a balloon, and I bring my hands up to cup my ears, hoping the sound will go away. It only grows louder. I run around the hollow streets, looking for the man who is no longer there. Pounding at the walls, at the ground, desperation to escape the ever increasing volume of the pulse which rings right through my body and shakes the buildings like an earthquake only amplifies. I try to scream, but I can't tell if I am just opening my mouth, or if I am actually screaming. Suddenly, I shut my eyes and fall to my knees, pounding at the sidewalk, until everything is gone and the world is quiet.

I open my eyes, and at first, the brightness stings and I can see nothing, but as sight slowly develops, I realize that I am on a merry-go-round. I am sitting on a light blue pony with a black mane and a golden saddle, and my feet swing down with the elevation. The merry-go-round is turning, turning, with no music, just silence and a soft breeze mockingly caressing my loose hair. I remember this from somewhere. I've been here before. A long long time ago, perhaps in a past life. I look up, expecting to see a soft baby blue sky sprinkled with clouds that lofted over with a melancholy drag, but when I look up, I see nothing but a sea of white. Simply white, as white as paper, as nothing. This was not how I remembered it. This was not it, it couldn't be. I look to my side. I see the long blades of grass. I remember them. But far off into the distance, I see something else I don't quite remember. And it's coming closer. A dark figure. A man. Covered from head to toe. And as I stare closer, I see he is lifting his hand. Bringing his fingers together. He snaps. I am gone...