it was just beyond duskdarkening
up the golden hour passed
he slowlyrolled up to the street to
exit the apartment complex he looked
left for traffic looked right to assure
himself that a car wasnt making a left into the complex cheatingentering in his
lane and not swingingwide making a ninetydegree angle turn as they should into
their appropriate lane
with his left free looking right
he saw a teenage boy had crossed the street ahead and disappeared from sight as
he kept walking
he made his right and
slowlyrolled up to the cross street that the teenager paralleled which hed make
a right onto
he had expected to see him walking
on the sidewalk
he did not
with no oncoming traffic he made a
right and merging into the lane he was startled to see only a disembodied left
arm swinging in cadence with steps
asif
he emerged was rematerialising
he had spats with ghosts
those however were inclined to
interior pursuits haunting houses
particular rooms cellars
his foot came off the gas pedal
he glanced in his rearview
headlights were gaining on him
he veered nearer the side of the
curbless roadnearer where the sidewalk was ending and the young man would have
to walk on the shoulders dirt and gravel it was a wide rural road a wider
road than he was familiar with in the Midwest where he was from
as the car came up on him he saw
his cars shadow dimly stretch ahead stretched long like momentary taffy then
shortening shortening shorteninggone as
it sped by
after the car passed he had squintedturned his head right avoided
the light glinting off his mirrors to keep his night vision not let it be starched and bleached because if ruined the walking spirit would be
obliterated disappeared
an outdoor ghost
the old road narrowed a bit forcing
him left at the edge of his headlights
he saw the boys shoulder hip the back of his head
asif his emergence was formed
like a deck of cards being fanned where eventually the edges of all the cards could
be seen
asif
he was spread from behind an impenetrableblack destitute hand
nearing him he saw the boys shoes
kick up dust scatter small stones and gravel onto the roads edge revealed more
and more
however he
noticed too in his poise his steps he was aware of the slow car behind them and he was also aware that his headlights threw his
shadow before him taffy again
a ghost doesnt cast
a shadow
then nearly upon the boy he saw a
solid black figure steps behind him the
black figure had obscured him had dealt
him like a deck of cards
now almost beside him his steps anxious quicker shorter likely preparing to run he tossed a quick look over his shoulder at him
while the trailing pitchblack figure threedimensional turned its head and looked
directly at him without eyes or features
without clothing a threedimensional humanshaped silhouette
gliding directly behind the boy a threedimensional pitchblack impenetrable
hole in this living dimension
startled he abruptly hit the gas pedal the
car lurched forward the teenager turnedfast to the road and stopped
the black figure stopped
too however paid him no heed faced the boy fascinated by the boy
continuing up the road he checked
his sideviewhis rear mirrors and could still see him see the shape looming behind him
he didnt have the courage to turn
around
his mind argued he was seeing
things
I know what I saw
You know what you thought you saw
So your explanation is
Nothing was there
A construct you
imagined made of weak light and shadows
No There was something There was something there
a couplethree days later a local television News Bulletin Authorities requested anyone who might have information about a missing boy to please come forward
. . . please come forward
he knew the boy wasnt going to be
found
recalled again
One-ish, Reggae Friday, 5 2.
21
1059, Saturday,
6 2. 21
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