Lost Aisles was dreamed up back in October, when Anne Elisabeth Stengl had her scary story tour. However, at the time I was unable to finish it. Now you can read it. Hope you enjoy! Click the picture to see more abandoned places.
Florescent
lights flickered, casting eerie shadows over the store. They
sputtered in desperate last attempts at life. Irritation coxed a sigh
from Leissa as she orginized shampoo bottles. The bulbs needed to be
replaced. Two thirds already didn't work. Another month and she would
be cast in darkness.
She'd
need to leave a note for the morning shift. Again.
A
crash boomed from the next aisle. She flinched and knocked a bottle
to the ground as another rocked on the edge of the shelf. A growl
rolled in her throat and she knelt to retrieve the product.
If
Jacob would ever bother to show for their shift, she wouldn't need to
do all this on her own.
A
low hum filled the air, punctuated by exhales of frustration and
thumps of shifted merchandise. Three hours were left to her shift.
Then she could go home and crawl into bed before the neighbors awoke.
“Help
me!” The muffled scream came from the front of the store, by a
pounding of glass and a rattle of doors. “Please, let me in.”
Leissa
cocked her head. Who would make such a racket at this hour? She wiped
a layer of dust from a bottle of Garnier before setting it down.
The
pounding continued, accompanied by cries for help. “Please. Someone
has to be here.”
She
kicked aside an empty box and marched to the end of the aisle. If
that man thought for one second that she would let him in to steal
something...
“Thank
God.” A man stood just outside the front door, his clothes torn and
dirty. Blood dripped from cuts on his face and tears fell from his
eyes. “Thank God.” He pressed his hands to the glass as though
she might disappear.
Leissa
frowned. “Go away.”
“No.”
His eyes widened in panic and glanced over his shoulder before
piercing her with a fear ridden gaze. “You can't leave me out
here.”
“Yes,
I can.” Who did he think he was? She wouldn't let a man like this
in during the day, let alone at night. She turned on her heel.
“Please,”
the word tore from his throat with an animal like intensity. As she
continued to walk away, his cries turned desperate. “I'll die out
here.”
Another
light flickered out. Leissa ground her teeth. For all this to happen
on her shift...
“Don't
leave me out here.”
Before
she left, she would leave a note for the manager. If Jacob did not
start coming in soon, she'd quit.
“Please!”
Blocking
the man from her thoughts, Leissa returned to the hair care aisle.
She began to sing, drowning out his cries. When he screamed, she
barely turned her head.
Three
hours later, after she'd written her note and clocked out, she
shuffled to the door. The sun rose in the sky, illuminating dirt on
the glass overlooked by the day shift. Today, dark red speckled its
surface as well.
She
ground her teeth. Was she the only one around who did their job?
As
she fumbled with her purse, she didn't notice when she passed the man
on the pavement. Nor did she see his blank gaze and the red pool
under his limp form. Neither did she wonder at the grass sprouting
from the street or the cars abandoned in the road. She never
questioned the absence of her neighbors, or people at the grocery.
She
merely groused that no one took pride in their work anymore.
OH MY GOSH! That is SOOOO sad! And tragically familiar! It's always horrifying to hear when some crime is done when people could have helped yet didn't. But what was with everyone being gone? Did the Rapture happen or something? But doesn't explain the grass growing in the street. So creepy and sad.
ReplyDeleteIt is post-apocalyptic, and Leissa has totally snapped. In another draft, I will try to make that a little more clear. However, in this, I was trying to stay under 600 words.
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