Screaming like a speeding commuter train suddenly slamming on its brakes, Allen and Rebecca tumbled through the ominous gray emptiness. Their arms and legs flailed wildly as they slammed against one another trying to grab onto something solid and stationary. As they tumbled downwards, their fingers would grasp an object only to feel it rip from their hand as they tried to hang on in an effort to stop their terrifying fall. Warm, sticky blood oozed from the multiple scratches on their arms and faces; numerous scratches that resembled a roadmap of the California freeway system. Allen wondered if they were tumbling through barbed wire as another sharp object punctured through the skin just below his right eye, stopping just before it could slice open his upper lip. Excruciating pain shot through every nerve ending as their bodies suddenly slammed into a solid surface. The pain was almost a blessing as they both realized that whatever they had landed on had finally stopped their terrifying plunge. Uncontrollable fear seized every muscle. Unable to move, they lay on the cold, prickly surface, their eyes closed, gasping for air as they tried to calm their racing hearts. Rebecca and Allen both wondered if any other human had ever experienced such uncontrollable terror. Their minds were being bombarded by one horrible thought after another. What the hell happened? Where are we? Please God! WHY is this happening to us? The sounds of Rebecca’s frightened whimpers and Allen’s anguished sobs merged. Rebecca’s petrified whisper reached Allen’s ears, “Oh my gawd Allen, what the hell happened? My heart is going to race right out of my chest! How can it beat so fast and not explode? Is this what “being scared to death” means?” Tears rolled down Rebecca’s cheeks and into the deep scratches on her face. Her brain refused to tell her hand to raise itself and wipe away the salty tears stinging the open wounds that criss-crossed her face. Allen lay there with his eyes closed, sobbing quietly. “Oh Rebecca, I’m so sorry I got us into this. What the hell have I done? Gawd, I’m so sorry!” Their hands inched toward one another. Their fingertips touched, but pain and terror controlled their muscles. That slight movement was all they could manage; just touching one another was enough. An incessant pounding began to vibrate through the space surrounding them. It was the same horrifying pounding that had started their fall through the terrifying emptiness. The deafening sound was inside their heads beating violently against their ears. Their skulls felt like they were expanding to three times their normal size just to accommodate the thundering sound. The pounding grew louder and more frantic. “This sound is making me crazy! Allen, I can’t stand it! Make it stop!” Rebecca shrieked, her voice filled with abject terror. Allen’s body twitched and jerked with pain. Between his gasps for air, he managed to cry out, “I can’t stop it, Rebecca! Damn! Damn it! I don’t know how to stop it!” Suddenly the deafening pounding slowed down and then stopped. Now a stunning silence, a silence almost as painful as the incessant pounding, filled the emptiness. Allen shook his head like a swimmer shaking the water from his hair. His breathing was slowing down. Taking a deep breath, Allen slowly opened his eyes dreading whatever horror might reveal itself. Allen moved his head from side to side and stretched his neck as far back as the pain would allow him. His eyes opened wide. “Oh my God!” Rebecca, open your eyes!” Rebecca moaned as she heard the fear in Allen’s voice. “Allen, I don’t think I want to. You’re scaring me!” Clenching her teeth, Rebecca forced her eyes open moving them back and forth as she tried to decipher the meaning of their surroundings. Emptiness. Colorless space. A dull, flat-grayish sort of haze surrounded them; like the dull, ash-gray smoke billowing into the sky from a forest fire. Vague, menacing shapes, without detail or dimension, appeared to be floating in the space surrounding them. A foul-smell began to fill the air; a heavy smell, like a thick, moldy wool blanket. Slowly the smell began to change becoming more acrid. Their nostrils began twitching to shut out the dank, putrid odor “What in the world is that smell?” Allen gagged as he tried to squeeze his nostrils shut to block out the assault of the rancid smell. They both began gagging and choking as vomit-like mucus flooded their mouths. The foul smell was enveloping them like plastic wrap stretched tightly around a block of Limburger cheese. Hovering on the edge of uncontrollable hysteria, Rebecca screamed, “Allen, I’d rather be falling through that terrifying emptiness than to be drowning in this horrific stench!” She lay there gasping trying to shut out the putrid smell filling her nostrils. Rebecca’s survival instinct began to take over as she told herself that she was not going to just lie there like a limp, lifeless rag doll. She had to get out of this horrible place. Rebecca slowly raised her head and rolled over on her side bracing herself with her arm. Thank goodness I’m regaining control of my muscles, she thought as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Rebecca quickly pressed her hands against her nose and mouth to keep out the pungent smell. Shudders of fear coursed through her body. Allen heard Rebecca’s movements. He knew they had to get out of this horrible place if they wanted to survive. He began to move around. Placing one hand across his nose and pushing himself to a sitting position with the other hand he hollered. “Arggggg! That Smell! I can’t breath! I swear it smells like every piece of broccoli on this planet has rotted in the fields.” “If evil can be described as a smell, I would think that’s what we’re smelling,” Rebecca exclaimed as she began focusing on the vague shapes floating around them. Allen blinked his eyes tightly several times against the rancid odor. Lord, could a smell blind a person with its rancid fumes, he thought as he looked around trying to find a way out of this hell. Allen felt like the rancid smell was invading every pore in his body. An overwhelming desire to find a shower and keep soaping his body until the bar of soap was totally used up took hold of his thoughts for a few seconds. “Rebecca, we have to get out of here, but I don’t know which way to go.” Allen clenched his fists trying to calm his terror. He tried to concentrate on breathing slowly, but the smell was almost overpowering. “Okay, okay” he said as he clasped his hands over his nose and mouth to take a deep breath. “I’ve got to calm down so we can figure out how to get out of this stink hole.” Pressing one hand against their mouth and nose, Rebecca and Allen scooted towards one another. They wrapped their free arms around each other whispering reassuring words as tears flowed down their cheeks. A tiny feeling of calm began to flow through their bodies. Together they stood up. Squinting their eyes, they began concentrating on the numerous, menacing shapes floating around them in the grayish gloom. The shapes seemed to be piled on top of one another. As they watched, more menacing shapes plunged through the emptiness and fell onto the piles. Holding on to one another, Allen and Rebecca began to turn slowly to their right. A huge, pleasant-looking shape, far off in the distance, drew their attention. A hint of soft-yellow light surrounded the benign shape. It seemed to be beckoning them. They looked at one another. They didn’t know why, but they sensed that the distant shape and soft light could be their escape from this hell - their exit to freedom. Allen and Rebecca began taking slow, cautious steps toward the beckoning shape not knowing if the solid surface they were standing on would suddenly dissolve and send them plunging into another terrifying emptiness. They clung tightly to one another straining against the powerful force of the emptiness that did not want to let them go. Something was trying to hold them there. With fierce determination, they struggled to break free of the powerful force. More menacing shapes began racing towards them. Allen and Rebecca quickly fell to their knees as several huge, ugly shapes whizzed over the tops of their heads nearly decapitating them. Screams of terror began pouring out of their mouths. Their hearts were racing so fast they could barely take in the rancid oxygen filling the space. The pounding sounds began again. Horripilation spread across their bodies. Rebecca and Allen looked at each other seeing their own terror reflected in the other one’s eyes. They knew they had to get to that beckoning shape. And they would have had to run faster than the swiftest Gazelle if they wanted to escape from this hell. Trembling uncontrollably, they stood up, grabbed each other’s hand and locked their fingers together. Counting quickly to three, they began a crazed dash towards the soft light. The powerful force pushed against them as they fought to reach the beckoning object. Tripping and stumbling over piles of barbed objects hidden in the dull ash-gray light, they kicked out to free themselves from the objects snagging onto their pants. Every muscle in their bodies fought to reach the light, their only hope for freedom. Adrenalin rushed through their muscles urging them on. As they struggled to move forward the powerful force began to weaken its hold. Suddenly the rancid smell began to subside. They were just a few feet away from the beckoning shape. The thunderous pounding turned into sounds of dainty raindrops falling against a windowpane. Suddenly there it was, the huge shape and the soft-yellow light that would lead them to safety. Allen and Rebecca almost fell over each other in their haste to reach the beautiful shape. They screeched and shouted in unison, “THERE it IS! We’re safe! Oh my God, we’re safe!” They grabbed and hugged one another with a rapturous joy. There in front of them, in huge capital letters, stood their path to freedom. The huge shape took on detail and dimension. It was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The beckoning object said………………………………………………………..THE END. Rebecca and Allen raced towards the shape and past it into the soft-yellow light and into glorious freedom. Spread before them stood their beautiful New York City skyline. They hugged one another jumping up and down as they screamed, “WE made IT, WE made IT!” People passing them on the street rolled their eyes as if to say, “just two more New York City loonies.” Laughing and crying at the same time, Allen placed his hands on each side of Rebecca’s face. He looked deeply into her eyes. “Rebecca, I am making a promise to you now, and I swear that I will never break that promise. I promise I will never, ever again ask you to be a character in one of my mom’s pitiful, cock-a-maimy stories.” Rebecca grabbed Allen’s hands, “And I am holding you to that promise Allen. For eternity! I know I don’t have to tell you that your mom’s story really, truly stinks!” Allen’s mother sat in front of her computer gazing out the open window at the beautiful mountains surrounding her gorgeous California City. She scratched her head in bewilderment. She turned back around frowning at the monitor and directed a few choice words at the computer. Tears of frustration filled her eyes as she sat there trying to figure out why her crazy computer had suddenly deleted all mention of the main characters leaving only two words on the last page. Why had the letters suddenly begun tumbling to the bottom of the page accumulating into mounds of indecipherable words. Standing up, she slammed her hand against the keyboard and stomped out of the room heading downstairs for a glass of wine. Her hand became numb as she pounded on the banister. She shouted into the air, “Damn! All that hard work! My dream of a Pulitzer Prize winning story, LOST!” ~ © Donna (DYSchulz@aol.com) ~ November 30, 2003 If you use my graphics, please add my button to your page along with a link back. http://www.geocities/wcseptember2003/ If you enjoyed this page, check these out: My Last Christmas Doll Red Velvet Sledding Italian Is Ice Cream Momma's Clock When Santa Was A Boy Snowballing And.......for many others, click the link for HOME. Home: Writers' Corner Index