Over the years I've stopped questioning a lot of things. I know now that I'll only get the answers on my death bed so I can take them to my grave but it doesn't stop the deep Want for an understanding, for even the slightest nod to all the theories I have about the innermost workings of this city.
Take, for instance, the sky. Sometimes it doesn't darken when it should so we spend our nights with the sun stuck at midday and nobody questions it - not even the local or national news. The only theory I can come up with for this is that whatever we think the sun is - it isn't and we've been living under the scorching gaze of some unknown Thing all our lives.
It would certainly explain why the sun doesn't move as it should and why I've seen arms reaching down from it to the outer reaches of the city. I feel that staying in the basement level of an apartment block is the safest I can get but every time the sun stays still I wonder if it's taking away anyone I know.
Speaking of people I know, each week the paper picks a person at random from the city registry office and does a two page article on the highlights of their life. Allegedly this promotes community bonding and unsponsored public recognition but when it came to my turn (not that they told me or even consulted me, yet they did for everyone else) I found my article to be a little... threatening.
They used phrases like "is so dedicated to local research they're practically conspiring to undermine the town" and "lives in the library, if you ever want to find them" combined with photos of me smiling with people I've never seen before, all smiling with too many teeth and a few taken inside my home while I was writing out my theories.
My latest theory is about our local wildlife, specifically our pets and the way they appearance physically changes to have some of their owners characteristics. I had a dog for three months before I noticed the way it stared at my screen over my shoulder when it sat beside me, those once-brown-now-matching-grey eyes were reading everything I was witting.
I gave it away to a friend when its barks sounded like the way I yelled "Hey" to my friends. I still ask myself if there were any other changes it went through, anything else it copied from me and how much it had become me before I unleashed it on someone else who'd only joke in that slightly scared tone of voice that all pets resemble their owners.
Combine all this with the deep growling coming from the sewer drains and it seems like a whole lot of Somethings are about to start coming out of hiding to meet us all.
Perhaps I'll be the only one who's prepared.
No comments:
Post a Comment