casting shadows

Late December evening spared no one who got caught in the dark, somewhere around 5-6 pm. Everyone who their sanity, any sense of danger or fear would hurry home, cowardly looking back to see if they were followed. Followed by what? The dark? It is insane and idiotic, the dark is just the absence of light and not a creeping creature that will swallow you as a whole as soon as it gets its’ dirty hands on your little mind. Yet young people grabbed their obese bags and run towards their parental shelters, leaving the slow, unfortunate behind.

I was an innocent troublemaker, as a punishment I was always kept back after school to clean the dirty corridors, ruined by a stampede of irritated, hyperactive kids. I didn’t mind the job, it kept me out of my house for longer and it was nice to drown in the rhythmic sound of your own breath with the accompaniment of the old broom scraping against the maple floor. I always stood by the back window empowered by isolation, watching the last of the human race disappear in the central park. Few of them threw me a bagful of sympathetic glances; politely I accepted them, before throwing it all away. I didn’t mind staying completely alone, or the heavy sighs of the walls as they watched me polish the wood, or the creaking of the joints in the doors as they swayed with no apparent reason. In fact I enjoyed it.

It was around six thirty and the sun had already fell exhausted into the horizon, shattering in silver and gold. The floors shone silently with wood polish, the smell of lime still lingered in the frosty air sluggishly spreading in the empty corridor. My job here was done, but I didn’t hurry to leave the premises instead, I pressed my numb cheeks against the icy window and enjoyed the view. It was fascinating how the trees, so alive in their white coats during the sunlight, looked so oppressed and lonely in the lack of it. Like an endless row of grumpy men, they kneeled their weak branches to the ground struggling under the wet weight casting shadows all over the yard. My bladder signaled me, that I had to find the nearest bathroom and let my self go, every second I disobeyed it sent tingling sensation down my spine, causing unpleasant goose bumps. I hurried down the corridor, rushing to the right, few more steps then a sudden turn to the left, flick the rusty hinge. Creek. The heavy door swayed out of my way then gently banged against the tiles. Few more steps, unzip, let my jeans fall. AH. Much better. The bottled up pressure left my lower body in a quick frenzy, weakening my numb with cold legs. Zip. All done, free to go-not run, but walk home. Quickly I spin on the spot, twisting the rusty tap to let similar contents out. It gargled and spat at me, in a sudden shock, I twist it tight, stopping all the hectic movement. Heart racing, I just stood there gazing at my self in the dirty mirror, all of the sudden my heart seemed to stop, I couldn’t hear my self breathe. Someone was sitting in the cubical right next to the one that I just came out of. The door was closed shut but I could see bare, soggy feet tapping away. I know for sure that I was thee only human being in this building at this time, there were no guards, no teachers, it was just my broom and I. The tempo of the beat had ascended, it felt like any moment now they would crack open the cubical door and rush out towards me. Another wave of shock- RUMBLE, the bucket tipped over, spilling the dirty, soapy water all over the place. I watched in horror its mini wave creep towards the tapping feet, the time had stopped, it refused to move. All of the sudden the feet came to an abrupt stop. I didn’t know whether to run or remain absolutely still. The silence was intimidating, nerve-cracking, choking. With a slight hesitation the handle of the cubical began to twist downwards, as slowly as possible, shooting me on the spot. Whatever hid under there I didn’t want to find out, but there wasn’t much I could do, my hands dug into the sink, they went white from the pressure I had applied. Click. The door teasingly began to move outwards. I froze, eyes tightly sealed together. I could hear it breathe.