My legs had not stopped moving for a second. The harsh lights from the ceiling kept blinding my eyes, despite my efforts at squinting them as much as I could. Becoming more intense with each passing light. There was no light at the end of the corridor however; the one I had been running down for… since when did I start? How long had I been going for? I kept running and running, light getting brighter and my legs slowing down. Eventually they stopped, leaving me standing there, staring into the endless corridor.
A rare sensation suddenly filled me up, one I had barely ever felt. It was as if someone had taken a hold of me. Comparable to the feeling of being picked up when we were small. I could not control anything, not even myself. My body was limp, unable to respond to any commands I tried to give it. The feeling my body was currently experiencing was out of this world. Literally. Floating into the air, my eyes rolled upwards, staring into the barely visible ceiling that slowly approached. As I closed up to the cement above me it stretched out more and more, and my body travelled faster and faster upwards. There was no mistake in thinking I would hit the ceiling harder than Michael Richards' career hit the wall.
The hole in the road had hit the car with brute force, slamming my head against the window of the car door. My head hit the window as I would've hit the ceiling. Or rather, so it felt like.
"Ow!" I muttered to myself. Honestly, it had not even hurt that much, it was more the surprise attack of the car door window. My hand slid to the side of my head, rubbing gently through my short, red hair. Even with the engine going, and the static from the radio we had no signal for, there was still a silence in the car that felt unnatural.
A clear night sky let the moon light up the vast amount of nature beside the road. It had been quite a while since I stared out the window of our van like that. I gazed up at the stars and not a cloud could be seen anywhere before my eyes rolled back down towards the green grass. Watching the trees as we sped by, concentrating on one specifically until it was out of my sight. Doing so repeatedly for only a minute or so.
Sounds of movement beside me made me turn my head and in the driver's seat, my mother was sitting quietly, and it did not seem she had noticed me awaking yet. I had at least made enough noise for her to notice, but her mind seemed to be on other thoughts.
"Are you alright?" Her brown, gentle eyes were transfixed on the road in front of us. She barely even blinked, but when she did, you could see drowsiness in her eyes. Slowly, the radio tuned in on a station, breaking the silence that had made me a bit nervous. It was playing off some old 80s pop song, and my mom quickly awakened from her 'mesmerized state'. The gaze of her eyes travelled all over. To radio, out the window beside her, back to the road and finally to me.
"Lyn! You're awake?" In one motion, she turned her eyes back on the road as she spoke those words to me. As I was looking at her, I could not notice how close we actually were to crashing before she took control over the car again. Close by was a parking spot beside the road, 'designed' for three cars, four maybe; it was hard to tell. However, she did not hesitate to push the brakes and turn in with hasty movements that left me shaken. My grip was tight around the handle of the car door and it took some willpower to let go after we had stopped completely. It was definitely a wide stare I gave my mother "Mom?!"
My voice and the tone of it came out a bit angrier than intended and I realized as much as a tear rolled down and dropped from her cheek. Her empty face with nothing else but tears streaming down was a sight I would never forget. I had never seen her this way. The expression on my face shifted quickly. She tried to open her mouth, stuttering while she tried to form coherent words.
"I-I'm sorry, Lyn! I don't know what was with me… I-I…" Even if she tried, she couldn't hold back the tears, "this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for us and then…"
Her eyes were still drowsy, but even more so now and she seemed far more tired as a whole, "It's okay, mom. Please, let's just stop here for the night."
I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket, using it to wipe her tears before handing it to her. She nodded her head, agreeing without another word. Before we knew it, we had both gotten out of the van, stretching a bit. My hand reached into the van again to grab the map and flashlight we had with us to figure the way. Apparently, my parents had been to the hotel we were going to and as my mom had always been, she wanted to do it the old fashion way.
But… where were we even?
"M-", I walked along the van and peeked in the back, stopping myself from shout as I witnessed her already sleeping one of the two mattresses. I'd never forgive myself if I waked her. A blanket lied beside her and I pulled it over her. She hadn't even managed to do that herself. The map could wait until tomorrow. It fell lightly out of my hand as I crawled into the van and onto the mattress beside my mom. I closed the doors behind me, but right before I managed to close the second one, a noise that could sound like thunder roared through the forest and made me shiver. Quickly, I closed the door and unfortunately, it gave off more noise than I expected. However, my head turned towards the sleeping beauty on the mattress and she was still sleeping like a rock.
It really had me frightened. Letting out my childish side, I pulled my red hoodie over and tightened the straps. For our car trip, I had picked out the comfy hoodie and a black skirt that reached down to my knees to go with it. It was quite hot outside. Again, the sound could be heard. I didn't dare to wake my mom. This time it was closer and it lingered for a while. The flashlight I grabbed along with the map rolled down to my leg when I moved along the mattress. With a swift motion, I picked it up and grabbed ahold of the handle of the car door. All I could hear was a small waterfall nearby and my own breath. Not even the wind gave off any sound.
In all the commotion, I had forgotten an important detail, which I suddenly remembered. There were no clouds. Not by miles, and this was far too close for it to be happening further away. Carefully, my hand pulled at the handle, opening the door and letting in a chill breeze. My body shivered as it passed by and I jumped out of the van. Exactly as I had thought, there were no clouds. Wide open in every corner of the sky.
What was that sound then?
I looked down at the flashlight in my hand. Realizing it was of little use with the moonlight, I shoved it into my hoodie's pocket. It was a gift from my dad before we left for our vacation, and he told me to keep it with me if I was to go anywhere at night. My mom was quite upset that he couldn't come; had to stay in the city to work. Maybe that's why she was so weird when we were driving?
Loosening the straps around my hood, I turned towards the forest, scouting after anything that could've made such a terrible sound. It wouldn't be wise to go in there… is what I should've thought at the time, but curious little 'me' had to go looking. Looking back at my mother for a second, I smiled before whispering, "I'll be back soon."