My Untitled Story
The sky was grey for the first time in years. There was no sun, no clouds, nothing but a grey haze. It spread a breath of nothingness across the city. It confused people, it made them wonder if the world would suddenly become grey and there would never be color again. The children had never seen a grey sky before, they never knew such a thing could exist. Other people of the city, older citizens had seen the grey fill the skis till there was nothing but gloom. These people knew what it meant and what it brought to the city.
Don and his youngest daughter, Jamie who is 4, sat at the kitchen table as they pondered about what the odd grayness might mean. Don is intrigued by the grayness, it might mean a change from the perfect sunny, no cloud weather. As a child Don remembered his father telling him about the strange grayness and, telling him at when it comes again to take action. Don thought through what his father had told him and what it might mean.
Don had been married for 14 years to the same woman, and he has 3 children. He had his first child when he was 20, a year before he was married. His oldest son was 15, named Kyle, his second child was Marta who is as named after Don’s mother, she is now 13. His youngest and secretly his favorite is Jamie.
Don and his family live in the same house that he had lived in his entire life. Don has a steady job as a financial consulted which makes less then he want but enough to get by.
Don feels as if his whole life was planned for him. His whole life was was perfect he never had to worry about a thing. His parents never fought and they always had plenty of money. Nor him or his sister ever got sick not ever a sore throat or a stomach ache. His life was flawless there had never been a bump in the road or an accident. In some way this had always made Don clam he liked being a laid back guy, but on the other hand nothing spectacular happened either. He never won any gold medals, he was never the best at any given subject he was just kinda in the middle. So in Don’s mind, the only way he could describe his life was plain.
Later that afternoon Don drove down to the Market to pick up some dinner for his family. While he was driving through the haze he saw a man on the side of the road. Why in the world would there be a man with no car on the side of the road. This was very strange he has never seen someone on the side of the road with dirty old clothes and a shopping cart full of garbage. He quickly thinks back to what his father had told him as a boy, but he didn’t recall anything. Don was so curious so he pulled over the car and rolled down his window.
“Sir, excuse me sir, but what are you doing on the side on the street.” Don called at the Man
The man did not answer, he continued to dig through his shopping cart.
“May I ask where your car is?” Don shouted
This time the man yanked an old book out of his cart threw it at Don’’s car and yelled,
”Hide, Run they are coming to get you and if you don’t you will be misery forever.”
Right as Don turned back to go to his car the man started running towards him with a 2x4 and almost smacked him in the head, but luckily Don got in his car before for there was any damage.
Don was totally confused. He had never seen someone without a car and using a shopping cart as a closet. Every person Don had ever seen, heard or met in his life had a car, a house, and a job. This man rummaging through his cart on the side of the road with cars zooming by, well Don just didn’t understand. Don kept on driving, but now he was driving a lot slower and he was paying attention to every pebble, stone, sign, piece of garbage on the road. He was scared he didn’t want to see another man sitting on the side of the road with no home or car.
Don pulled up to the market and climbed out of his car. He walked into the store and watched every bit of movement around him. He paid for his items and drove back home. When he passed the place that the man had been before, no one was there. The old man in tattered clothes standing on the side of the road was no longer there.
When Don got home he was greeted by his youngest daughter Jamie. He lifted her up with one arm and, put his groceries away with the other hand. After a couple minutes his wife walked in from the hallway with his other daughter Marta. The five of them sat down for dinner and talked about what they had done that day. In his head Don wondered if he should tell his family about the strange man with no car, or home. Don settled on not telling them and waiting until it blew over. After dinner Don tucked Jamie into bed which was his favorite part of the day. Before she fell asleep Don whispered in her ear. “Live your life to the fullest because there are people out their that are not as lucky as you.”.
The rest of the week pretty normal except for Friday. That morning when Don was dropping off Jamie for pre-school he saw the strangest thing, the pre-school had a large
out-of-business sign and was all boarded up and dark. The bright pleasant street that the pre-school used to be on was now a dark deserted alley way with shoes hanging from telephone wires. What had happened to this place it was so odd. Don just didn’t understand every thing in his life had been perfectly protected and now it was starting to change.
As Don drove home he inspected every street to make sure nothing was wrong or out of place. When he was driving down his street he noticed that the house next to his was completely barren with boards on the windows and just like the pre-school. What was happening to Don, his world was falling apart. The skis had been grey for the past week now and they were just getting darker and more dull. Buildings in his neighborhood started closing down and people started to disappear. Don started wondering if other people had noticed the odd changes or will they disappear soon too. What might happen to his family will they disappear too or can they escape the madness. Don thought back to the day when he saw the homeless man standing on the side of the street. That reminded him of what the old man had yelled at him, ”Hide, Run they are coming to get you and if you don’t you will be misery forever.” Maybe that was just what Don needed to do.
Don ran inside his house and grabbed a suitcase and threw some of his most important belongings along with couple changes of clothes. Next he ran into Jamie’s room and put a few dresses and some toys into a bag for her. He grabbed passports, birth certificates, and half of the emergency money out of the safe. Right before he left Don realized that no one was home he didn’t bother leaving a note for the family he didn’t want them to know he had left with Jamie. He said good by to his house for the last time and got in the car and wondered were he should go next.
After they had been driving for a few hours Don saw a pier that was wide enough for his car to drive on a high enough that it could kill him. He knew that this could be fatal but he had to save himself and Jamie from this mutated world. He started to accelerate once he got on the rickety old wooden pier. He got to the end of the bridge and started free falling which was a feeling he had never felt before and as soon as he hit the water the whole world blackened. It was total blackness he thought he was dead but then he felt Jamie’s small and fragile body close to his it gave him a warm feeling it made him almost feel safe.
After a few seconds in the darkness Don realized that he could open his eyes. What he saw was not what was expecting. He was in a dark alley with Jamie lying in his lapped still asleep. He had never seen any thing like this before, it was dark, dingy and had the smell of spoiled food. Though the best word to describe this place was lonesome. Don stood up with Jamie in his arms and slowly started walking down the alley. The alley felt like it was never ending that the light at the end never got closer but after a while Don stepped out on to a thin broken up sidewalk. Don was happy that he was out of the alley way and that he was in the sun. Once the Sun hit Jamie’s small body she suddenly woke up.
When Jamie’s eyes opened and her shivered it made Don nervous. I wasn’t sure how she would react to being in these new and strange surroundings. To Don’s surprise Jamie lifted her head from his arms and looked up at him, touched his cheek and did not say a word. She didn’t ask any question she didn’t even nod or shake her head as she often did when she was confused. Don started walking down the side walk still carrying Jamie he didn’t want to lose the comfort her small body gave him. As Don walked down the street he was looking out for someone he could ask for directions but he didn’t see anyone that looked helpful but the people he was looked like the man that was standing on the side of the road a few days earlier.
Don’s heart beat suddenly went from a lit pulse to a pounding throb. He finally remembered what it meant when the skis went grey and things started to change from normal to strange. It meant that alternate reality had started to set in and this only happened when a natures balance was deranged. So this meant that to many people were getting married and having to many children so that the universe had to start sending people to other dimensions. Don had it all figured out. He and Jamie and been forced out of there old world into a new one to make room for more people. His questions were why him and Jamie? Could this have happened if he had take any of his other kids? Was this where his missing neighbors had gone? Would the rest of his family come here soon or would they be in the other would for the rest of their lives.
As Don and Jamie continued to walk they looked around to see if there was a safe place for them the spend the night since they hadn’t slept two nights. Don picked up Jamie again because she looked like she was going to fall asleep and he was right as soon as she laid her head on his shoulder she fell asleep. Don felt lonely without Jamie little hand in his and without her head tilted up to look at him. Don kept searching for place to spend the night. After a while he saw a sign that said Vacant Motel and he ran into it as fast as he could because he could feel a storm picking up. When he got inside he could feel a warm space heater which was giving off just enough heat so that Jamie stopped shivering. Don walked up the lady at the front desk and asked for a room. She gave him a key and point him towards the stairs.
When Don got into the room he laid Jamie down on the bed. He took his back pack off and laid it on a chair and realized that he didn’t have enough clothes to last him and Jamie more then two week and now that he realized that he would be here for a while so he was going to have to find a coin laundry. He was also worried about how long the money he brought would last him. He didn’t now how expensive this new world was. Don pulled off his clothes and shoved them back in his bag. The room was very cold so he didn’t bother changing Jamie’s clothes instead he left them on and wrapped her in a blanket and climbed into the bed with her to keep her warm and safe.
The next Day had decided to get a feel for the city, what was the city like, how was it constructed, what was the economy like? Don and Jamie left the motel as soon as they woke up, the motel offered a free continental breakfast so Don grabbed a couple muffins and left. The first thing Don tested was his cell phone he tried calling his wife and family but it didn’t work. The next thing he tried was his credit card which luckily worked. The most important thing he testing was the rule he had yet break in his old world the rule that every thing written on paper was a command. Don had looked around and tried to find a sign that had a command on it and after a while he saw a sign that said “Ever lasting gum the flavor never ends!”. Don walked inside the store and bought some gum and started chewing it.
Jamie hadn’t asked one question this entire time. He wasn’t sure if she was scared or just confused. Had also never had a smile on her face. In the old world Jamie was always smiling accept for when she was crying which was very rare. Don was a little worried about his daughter. Maybe she would just snap out of it or would this be a permanent trait for her. Had moving from one dimension to another changed her forever.
Don was starting to enjoy the change of atmosphere. There were lot of new building for him to look at and think about. Though the main thing he was thinking about now was his daughter. He looked around to see if there was a park or a playground where he could take her and she could get away and just be a kid for a little while. As they turned the street Don spotted a toy store he could pick up something for Jamie that might be able to make her happy. Don walked inside the toy and picked out a pink and purple stuffed bunny for Jamie. Don Jamie the bunny and crossed his fingers. She opened up her mouth for the first time in days and said
“Thank you Daddy he’s perfect I’m naming him Henry.” in her small squeaky voice.
“ Your welcome I’m glad it made you happy” Don replied with a huge smile on his face.
“ Daddy can I tell you a secret?” she asked quietly
“ You sure can what it it?” he responded
“ How long are we going to be here? She whispered
Don was dumb struck. He didn’t know what to tell her. He didn’t want to lie to her and tell her that she would be back home in no time. Though on the other hand he didn’t want to scare her. He had just gotten his daughter back and now he might lose her again.
After his moment of thought Don told her “ I don’t know we will go home when it’s the right time”.
Through out the day Jamie would chat to Don and sometimes even talk to Henry. She was so happy, Don felt like a great load had been lifted off his shoulders. A couple hours after Don had bought the ever lasting gum he realized that he could no longer taste it. He broke the rule he had yet to break. The sign said that gum never lost it’s flavor but it had. A written rule had been broken for the first time in Don’s life. What did this mean was this world different in more ways then he had thought? Don was going to find out what was with this world and how he was going to get back to his family.
Don stopped a man on the street and asked him where he might find the rule of the town. The man looked confused and quickly scurried away. Don found a store that sold maps and bought one that had the City Hall on it. Don also bought a bus pass so that he didn’t have to walk everywhere and so that he didn’t have to constantly carry Jamie. When Don got to City Hall he asked to talk to who ever was in control. Don had never been to a City Hall before or even tried to talk to a major Authority. The lady at the front desk told him that his reasons were silly and that the Mayor was a very busy man and didn’t have time for random meetings with unimportant people. Don felt defeated he didn’t know what to do from here he might never get to see his family again.
That night Don and Jamie stayed at different motel one a little closer to the main part of town. Don tuck Jamie and Henry into bed and then climbed into bed after them. Instead of falling asleep right way he stayed up and thought of ideas of how he could get home. The City Hall didn’t help and the people that lived here made Don nervous. Finally Don had an idea of how to get him and Jamie home to their family. The pier that he had drove off to get this place might take him back to where he came from. Tomorrow Don was going to do a little bit of research because he didn’t want to drive of the wrong pier.
Don did not sleep well that night. He kept wondering if his plan would work or would he just end up killing the two of them. Though it made complete sense that leaving the way came would work he was still not quite sure which pier he should drive off of. What if he drives off the wrong pier and it takes him to a totally different dimension and he get stuck there and can’t get back. Well Don thought, the out come is worth the risk.
That next morning Don got Jamie out of bed put a new pair of clothes on her and packed up the rest of the belongings. He grabbed her a little bit of breakfast from a corner store. Then he realized he didn’t have a car to drive off a pier and who knows how long it would take if they had to walk around until they found a pier. Don decided that their only choice was to steal a car. Don walked until he found full parking lot. He saw a lady climb out of her car and forget to lock it. Don snuck up to the opened the drivers seat and climbed in. He put Jamie in the passenger seat next to him. He hot wired the car which was something he had learned as a boy from his father. He started the car and they were on their way.
Don pulled the map from his back pack and traced a line connecting all the piers on the map. Don started driving towards the fist pier and after about a half hour reached it. This pier looked nothing like the one he had driven off to get here it was brand new and small condos lined up along the edges of them. Don kept driving until he reached the second pier. This pier was much similar to the first one except it was a little bit bigger and longer. Don was starting to get frustrated. What if he couldn’t find the right pier and they could never get home. Don kept driving. The next pier was a little bit further away then the last ones. After about an hour of driving Don saw it. This was the pier that he needed. Don drove the car back and went full speed off the pier. He was holding Jamie’s hand and praying that this would work.
The whole world was black for the next few seconds. Don couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. He started opening his eyes and he felt soft sheets and could hear his wife making breakfast. He was in his bed laying their like he had been asleep for days. Don got out of bed and walked to the kitchen to see if his family was their. They were all sitting at table waiting for him to sit down so that they could eat. Don didn’t say anything about what had happened. His family didn’t remember it at all. That night when he was tucking Jamie into bed she whispered in his ear
“I’m glad were home I missed Mommy and my brothers and sister.”
“I’m glad too” he told her.
Then he kissed her head and she fell asleep.
