MDallas
02-23-2011, 01:18 PM
Eddie Metro
Darkness.
It’s what ensues when you lose yourself, literally or figuratively, physically or emotionally. Eddie, as of recently, has landed himself in a position of both. He struggled to open his eyes, his head pierced as if sliced by surgical steel and his muscles burned like battery acid. He’d come to realize that would happen after a long night of drinking and debauchery. As he slowly came to consciousness, he became faintly aware of the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. He could not even see his hand in front of his face; it was the kind of dark one would expect to find deep among the celestial heavens. Frozen, tacit, eternal. Eddie momentarily became clearheaded, energized by a surge of adrenaline that coursed through his veins.
“Where the hell am I?” he thought. “Could this be real?”
“Hello!” he screamed in frantic desperation. “Somebody help me!” he cried endless times, to no avail.
No answer but his echo resonating off the walls of the mysterious prison. Dropping to his knees, he felt the cool, moist gravel under his fingers. With no concept of direction, he began to crawl slowly, for what felt like days. With each cautious movement, his muscles seized and cramped in sheer terror. In an overwhelming burst of frustration, Eddie grasped a cold, hard stone and swiveling to the side in anger, hurled it as hard as he could with a cry of rage. Knock, knock, knock, knock; the noise rebounded all around him.
“That must be a wall, thank god,” Eddie thought.
He knew by the immediate collision that followed his throw. With frenzied despair Eddie rushed in the direction of the noise, and found the wall within a few paces.
“Had it been there the whole time, did I just pick the wrong direction to move?” Eddie thought.
He ran his hands up and down, left to right. Trying to feel for height, length, or any indication that would help him discover his location. He slid his fingers along the slimy, slipperiness of mold and condensation. The wall was brick, set in a square pattern every foot or so, he guessed. He could tell the wall was old, due to its smoothness and the eroded grout layers along the edge of each brick. As Eddie’s adrenaline slowly began to wear off, drowsiness and side effects from the night before began to take their toll, leaving his senses impaired and his ears ringing. Deciding it best to take a moment to think, Eddie slumped against the wall and attempted to recall the events from the night before. Events that would hopefully lead him to the reason he’s trapped in such a forsaken place, with a seemingly dim chance of escape.
“I’ll start from the beginning,” he thought. “I left home about 8 AM, then suffered through several hours of driving and finally got to that damned business seminar. Then, after the dull day of presentations, I met Susan for dinner around 6 PM. From there we proceeded to that bar for a few drinks, then what?”
He racked his brain for an answer, searched every wisp and tendril of his memories. But from what he could remember, Eddie had zero inclination as to how he ended up in this predicament. His recollection of the night before ended after their drinks at the bar. As he contemplated the previous night, Eddie couldn’t help but be reminded of the numerous other business trips he’d been on, as well as the side excursions that usually followed. He noticed the feelings that originally caused these distractions start to fade. The complacency and monotony of his modest life suddenly didn’t bore him as it used to, and he longed for the familiarity of his home and family.
“Could my secret double life be the reason I’m here?” he thought. “Is this some sort of trap or punishment?”
With a surge of emotion, Eddie began to weep and moan at the destructiveness of his decisions. He couldn’t believe he had lied to his wife, and his children, once again. If only he had gone straight home after the presentation, and not used a petty overnight excuse he’d be at home, peacefully asleep, most likely.
“How could I let myself do this again, I knew I was pushing my luck. Now look where I am,” he reflected.
Eddie’s boyish dreams of lust and passion seemed no longer relevant to his life, he ached for the comfort of his wife and the embrace of his children. Just then, in the midst of his self-wallowing hatred, he was thrust from the wall in absolute agony. The thunderous roar crippled him, mind and body, as it reverberated in a constant, seemingly endless pattern. It shook Eddie to his very core, rattled his bones and penetrated his entrails. In the far distance, a light shone brightly through the perpetual darkness. Struggling through the delirium thrust upon him by leftover alcohol and the godlike rumble, Eddie stood up, hoping this was the help he’d been longing for. The light grew nearer at an unbelievable rate, and in a sudden burst of intuition through his haze, Eddie had recognized the true outcome of the light at the end of his tunnel. He dropped to his knees in prayer, as so many nonreligious men do at their time of reckoning. In his final moments, the life that flashed before his eyes left him utterly disappointed, especially with the way he’d let it end. Dissatisfied at the memories he could have had, days he could have spent with his family; time instead spent on lies, adultery and hedonistic pleasure. If he had another chance, he would do it differently. Lead a full, honest life that would have greater rewards than power, money or lust. Metal screamed against metal, echoing never endlessly. Gravel crushed and sprayed the walls with composite shrapnel, chipping the smooth bricklayer. A futile warning horn rang out, piercing the darkness further than even the light could reach. The light grew larger and larger, it filled the tunnel, overwhelming, mesmerizing, devastating. Then, as abruptly as it came the first time…
Darkness.
Eddie’s eyes snapped open, immediately aware of his surroundings. The musty motel room reeked of mold and dust, with already soiled linens, and carpet lacking the attention of a vacuum. An outdated TV with a rabbit ear antenna rested on the sole dresser. Yellow, faded floral wallpaper covered the walls, and a single, bland white curtain hung over a solitary window. He noticed his own sweated-drenched, trembling body, still filled with the nightmare’s artificial reality. Suddenly, Eddie experienced an intense growing sense of restlessness; the woman next to him, Susan, felt extraordinarily alien and the bed uncomfortable. The dream burned into his brain; Eddie welled up with a sense of disappointment and shame as he realized the empty hours of thought that awaited him during his long drive home.
Darkness.
It’s what ensues when you lose yourself, literally or figuratively, physically or emotionally. Eddie, as of recently, has landed himself in a position of both. He struggled to open his eyes, his head pierced as if sliced by surgical steel and his muscles burned like battery acid. He’d come to realize that would happen after a long night of drinking and debauchery. As he slowly came to consciousness, he became faintly aware of the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. He could not even see his hand in front of his face; it was the kind of dark one would expect to find deep among the celestial heavens. Frozen, tacit, eternal. Eddie momentarily became clearheaded, energized by a surge of adrenaline that coursed through his veins.
“Where the hell am I?” he thought. “Could this be real?”
“Hello!” he screamed in frantic desperation. “Somebody help me!” he cried endless times, to no avail.
No answer but his echo resonating off the walls of the mysterious prison. Dropping to his knees, he felt the cool, moist gravel under his fingers. With no concept of direction, he began to crawl slowly, for what felt like days. With each cautious movement, his muscles seized and cramped in sheer terror. In an overwhelming burst of frustration, Eddie grasped a cold, hard stone and swiveling to the side in anger, hurled it as hard as he could with a cry of rage. Knock, knock, knock, knock; the noise rebounded all around him.
“That must be a wall, thank god,” Eddie thought.
He knew by the immediate collision that followed his throw. With frenzied despair Eddie rushed in the direction of the noise, and found the wall within a few paces.
“Had it been there the whole time, did I just pick the wrong direction to move?” Eddie thought.
He ran his hands up and down, left to right. Trying to feel for height, length, or any indication that would help him discover his location. He slid his fingers along the slimy, slipperiness of mold and condensation. The wall was brick, set in a square pattern every foot or so, he guessed. He could tell the wall was old, due to its smoothness and the eroded grout layers along the edge of each brick. As Eddie’s adrenaline slowly began to wear off, drowsiness and side effects from the night before began to take their toll, leaving his senses impaired and his ears ringing. Deciding it best to take a moment to think, Eddie slumped against the wall and attempted to recall the events from the night before. Events that would hopefully lead him to the reason he’s trapped in such a forsaken place, with a seemingly dim chance of escape.
“I’ll start from the beginning,” he thought. “I left home about 8 AM, then suffered through several hours of driving and finally got to that damned business seminar. Then, after the dull day of presentations, I met Susan for dinner around 6 PM. From there we proceeded to that bar for a few drinks, then what?”
He racked his brain for an answer, searched every wisp and tendril of his memories. But from what he could remember, Eddie had zero inclination as to how he ended up in this predicament. His recollection of the night before ended after their drinks at the bar. As he contemplated the previous night, Eddie couldn’t help but be reminded of the numerous other business trips he’d been on, as well as the side excursions that usually followed. He noticed the feelings that originally caused these distractions start to fade. The complacency and monotony of his modest life suddenly didn’t bore him as it used to, and he longed for the familiarity of his home and family.
“Could my secret double life be the reason I’m here?” he thought. “Is this some sort of trap or punishment?”
With a surge of emotion, Eddie began to weep and moan at the destructiveness of his decisions. He couldn’t believe he had lied to his wife, and his children, once again. If only he had gone straight home after the presentation, and not used a petty overnight excuse he’d be at home, peacefully asleep, most likely.
“How could I let myself do this again, I knew I was pushing my luck. Now look where I am,” he reflected.
Eddie’s boyish dreams of lust and passion seemed no longer relevant to his life, he ached for the comfort of his wife and the embrace of his children. Just then, in the midst of his self-wallowing hatred, he was thrust from the wall in absolute agony. The thunderous roar crippled him, mind and body, as it reverberated in a constant, seemingly endless pattern. It shook Eddie to his very core, rattled his bones and penetrated his entrails. In the far distance, a light shone brightly through the perpetual darkness. Struggling through the delirium thrust upon him by leftover alcohol and the godlike rumble, Eddie stood up, hoping this was the help he’d been longing for. The light grew nearer at an unbelievable rate, and in a sudden burst of intuition through his haze, Eddie had recognized the true outcome of the light at the end of his tunnel. He dropped to his knees in prayer, as so many nonreligious men do at their time of reckoning. In his final moments, the life that flashed before his eyes left him utterly disappointed, especially with the way he’d let it end. Dissatisfied at the memories he could have had, days he could have spent with his family; time instead spent on lies, adultery and hedonistic pleasure. If he had another chance, he would do it differently. Lead a full, honest life that would have greater rewards than power, money or lust. Metal screamed against metal, echoing never endlessly. Gravel crushed and sprayed the walls with composite shrapnel, chipping the smooth bricklayer. A futile warning horn rang out, piercing the darkness further than even the light could reach. The light grew larger and larger, it filled the tunnel, overwhelming, mesmerizing, devastating. Then, as abruptly as it came the first time…
Darkness.
Eddie’s eyes snapped open, immediately aware of his surroundings. The musty motel room reeked of mold and dust, with already soiled linens, and carpet lacking the attention of a vacuum. An outdated TV with a rabbit ear antenna rested on the sole dresser. Yellow, faded floral wallpaper covered the walls, and a single, bland white curtain hung over a solitary window. He noticed his own sweated-drenched, trembling body, still filled with the nightmare’s artificial reality. Suddenly, Eddie experienced an intense growing sense of restlessness; the woman next to him, Susan, felt extraordinarily alien and the bed uncomfortable. The dream burned into his brain; Eddie welled up with a sense of disappointment and shame as he realized the empty hours of thought that awaited him during his long drive home.