I wasn’t sure where we were or how it was that we got there, but wherever we were, it was not a place where you would choose to go, if you’d have had the choice.
The town was large, and you could tell also well inhabited, because from the corner of your eye you could see shadows dash quickly across the windows and dark transparent figures that moved so swiftly between the buildings and through the streets that you could blink, then look again, and they would be gone. It made me question whether they had even been there, but a burnt surfer-like stench that lingered in the air hinted to the fact that it wasn’t just our imaginations.
Yet, at the same time, it was eerily quiet, it felt as if that moment of suspense when you hold your breath, so as to not miss even the slightest sound, in the vast ocean of silence that whispers clues of what might suddenly happen next. Just like that very still, tense moment that happens just before the hunting lioness, lying in hiding between the dense grass, her eyes fixed, paralyzed, and fully engrossed on her prey, holds herself in likewise suspense seconds before making her deadly strike to take down her unsuspecting prey.
We glanced around trying to figure out where we should go and how to try and leave this dreadful place, but everything looked either closed down or unwelcoming. Windows were boarded up and the doors to each and every one of the brick townhomes that lined the street had makeshift barricades in front of the doors, with so many boards nailed across the entryway that you could barely see the surface of the wooden doors beneath. Padlocks could also be seen on the doors and the message was clear that something was desperately being avoided and trying to be kept out of the homes, at all costs. It was clear to us that we were not safe here. Then we noticed, up and off in the distance, some movement and some occasional flashing and flickering lights, but because of the dense fog at that higher elevation it was hard to make out exactly what it was.
We looked at each other bewildered after realizing there was not a single place that felt acceptable approach, so we decided it might be safer to head over to the area where we saw the lights flashing and flickering from time to time. Hopefully, that’s were we could find our way out.
The town was large, and you could tell also well inhabited, because from the corner of your eye you could see shadows dash quickly across the windows and dark transparent figures that moved so swiftly between the buildings and through the streets that you could blink, then look again, and they would be gone. It made me question whether they had even been there, but a burnt surfer-like stench that lingered in the air hinted to the fact that it wasn’t just our imaginations.
Yet, at the same time, it was eerily quiet, it felt as if that moment of suspense when you hold your breath, so as to not miss even the slightest sound, in the vast ocean of silence that whispers clues of what might suddenly happen next. Just like that very still, tense moment that happens just before the hunting lioness, lying in hiding between the dense grass, her eyes fixed, paralyzed, and fully engrossed on her prey, holds herself in likewise suspense seconds before making her deadly strike to take down her unsuspecting prey.
We glanced around trying to figure out where we should go and how to try and leave this dreadful place, but everything looked either closed down or unwelcoming. Windows were boarded up and the doors to each and every one of the brick townhomes that lined the street had makeshift barricades in front of the doors, with so many boards nailed across the entryway that you could barely see the surface of the wooden doors beneath. Padlocks could also be seen on the doors and the message was clear that something was desperately being avoided and trying to be kept out of the homes, at all costs. It was clear to us that we were not safe here. Then we noticed, up and off in the distance, some movement and some occasional flashing and flickering lights, but because of the dense fog at that higher elevation it was hard to make out exactly what it was.
We looked at each other bewildered after realizing there was not a single place that felt acceptable approach, so we decided it might be safer to head over to the area where we saw the lights flashing and flickering from time to time. Hopefully, that’s were we could find our way out.
Without words we glanced at each other and then immediately started to briskly walk up the hill.
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