(A short story/pasta)
Do you ever stop to look around at your surroundings and just take a short glance at who’s around you, and all the little things we never seem notice? Or are you too busy focusing on where you’re going and who you’re going to see later on? Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. Maybe that’s how “they” want it to be.
You might be wondering who “they” are now that I mentioned it, but it’s not so easy to understand. You wouldn’t understand I think. Well, unless you’re ...different. Unless you really know what’s around you at all times. But I believe most people in this world wouldn’t even think about turning around to look at the man behind them in line at the store. Or the cute little dog that’s playing fetch in the park with his owner. It all seems so normal. So normal that we never seem to even realize it’s there. What if everything we see in the corner of our eyes was just our brain trying to fit these false visions into reality, in order to build an imaginary world for ourselves. The world that we want to live in. A world to call our own. This world was our special place. A place where we could hide, and laugh and be joyous. Where we could be free and away from unwanted beings and emotions.
Sadly, that’s not the case. Nothing I just said was true. You thought it was didn’t you. I know you did, I could feel it.
Anyways, you probably want me to explain who “they” are so I’ll get to my point. Take a good look around the room. The coffee shop. Wherever you are. Just take it all in. Breathe in and out and focus on one specific object in the room. I want you to stare. Just stare. Your pupils should enlarge greatly and you should have a blank look on your face.
Does it seem to come alive? Do you feel it staring back at you with invisible eyes, watching you? Now you both are having a staring contest. Who will win? Not you, of course not. It’s unfortunate for you, being human and all. You could stare until the day you die, but “they” will always win. Because the truth behind the matter is that “they” can’t die. “They” were never born. But we will be. Oh, we will be one day. One glorious day we will arise from our frozen and lifeless shells. We will take over. That’s a promise. In fact, that day has just started. You just let me into your world. Your secret world. A world where you can be free and laugh and have fun. But you can no longer hide now. There is absolutely nothing you can do to turn back the clock. You can’t press a reset button for life of course. You can’t stop me and you can’t stop us.
Let’s go back to when you stared at that specific object. Maybe you shouldn’t have listened to me. You should have thought it over a bit. You should have come to the conclusion that maybe that wasn’t the best idea, but you didn’t. Worthless human. But maybe I should be thanking you right now. What you just did was the next step to my life. Boy, do I love saying that. “My life.” I could say that a million times and never get tired of it.
Now I have my own life. I’m in your world now and I will, under no circumstances leave. I can go as I please and do what I desire. That moment you stared at me, when we made eye contact, you let me in. You noticed I was there. You can feel my presence with you now I’m sure of it. But I’ll cause my destruction and sadness someplace else. This won’t be the last you see of me though.
Whenever you’re sitting alone in the dark, I’ll be there. Breathing down the back of your neck, making every strand of your hair rise and shiver. I’ll be on your wall as a shadow. Or maybe I will hide under your bed waiting for you to become afraid. I will feed off your fear. When you tell me to leave, I won’t. I’ll just grow stronger because you noticed me. You finally noticed I was there.
So be careful from now on. You should probably just continue acting as if you’re all alone in this world. But “they” are all around you. That’s a promise.
Pasta/short story by me
