Phobic City

The street stank of perspiration and fear turned sour. The streetlamps flickered with vague definition. An alley plunged from the left. Dark. Stagnant. Poised.

The pedestrians walked with their briefcases clutched tightly in their hands, their faces impassive. The cluttering of heels and leather shoes; all so absorbed within themselves. Not looking, not aware, not caring, they walked, suffocated with the intricate tangles of their lives.

An incessant rumbling of car engines, followed by the barking of starving stray dogs. Nearby, a baby wails from the stacked windows of one of rented apartments.  Piercing scream through the dead city. No one cares. They just walk on.

The crowd of pedestrians thickens slightly, as more join the despicable rat race.

A barely audible murmur runs through the dilapidated street. Like a silent gust of wind, ushering in the whispers of the lost ones.

The front page of yesterday’s newspaper flies through the street, carried on the wings of the desperate wind. The headlines read “The Republican Government: A Tragic Farce or a Dictatorship Born out of Necessity.”  The rest of the paper is blotched with the dirt it had picked up from the streets. It flew on before getting caught between the jaws of one of starving dogs, probably mistaken for food.

They walked quickly, almost impatient, amidst all this, their eyes fixed on the ground. They took no notice of each other. They were inconsequential to the greater scheme of things. Some of them had their hats drawn low over their faces, consequentially obscuring most of it.

It started to rain now. The drops splattered on the sidewalk with a definitive finality. It made no difference to some of them. Some, however, began to break into a run, trying, in vain, to keep themselves or the contents of their briefcases from getting wet. Splattering footsteps.

A car rushes by, its tires screeching in the rain as it turned around the tight corners of the street. The sky, overcast with clouds, seemed foreboding, like silent darkness creeping into emptiness.

Emerging from this dark pandemonium, he seemed out of place in relation to the people walking on the street.

He walked with a slight limp, which was revealed only under relative scrutiny. His long dark coat hung loosely on his slight frame. His windswept hair was unkempt and already greying. He walked with his head slouched on his shoulder, just like the rest of them. The other pedestrians walked past him, brushing against his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

He walked, buried in his own devices and thoughts. The light from the shops he walked by, fell on him, illuminating him in a position of prominence he thought he did not deserve. His shoes were muddy and left mud tracks on the sidewalk. He didn’t care.

It seemed to him, before fading away into the void, leaving imprints was all he had for now.

The rain fell with increasing intensity, almost smothering him with its gentle kisses. He closed his eyes and stopped where he stood, content to feel the rain splashing against his face. The other pedestrians looked at him, curious and wondering what he was up to.

They did not bother him…did not faze him, for, unlike them , he walked alone. He walked alone in phobic city.