Because I've been seeing a bunch of these and I couldn't help myself.
Lately there’s been a smell of something burning in the air. You’re not sure what it is. It’s not quite leaves, not quite paper. It smells sweet. You see no smoke. Hear no fire engine. There are no gardens around, just old granite buildings. Where can this be coming from?
There’s always ships waiting in the distance. You see them from the beach. You never see them in the harbour. You never see them move. They’re gone the next day, other ships stand in slightly different places. They all look the same but you know you’ve never seen the same ship twice.
Sometimes, when you walk on King Street, there is a smell of fish. The harbour is far away. There’s no fish market anymore. No one really knows where the smell comes from.
Summer is the worst. The sun sets at 10 pm. At midnight it looks like dawn is already there. The sun isn’t supposed to rise for another 4 hours. You hear a scream. It sound like a seagull but you know it’s not, though you’re not sure what it is. It sounds ancient and in pain. It sounds tired. You know how it feels. You haven’t slept since April.
Winter is the worst. The sun remains low. A constant dusk envelops Seaton Park. You go to sleep early in the morning. It is pitch black outside. By the time you wake up, the sun is setting. You could have sworn it was midday. The darkness is hungry. You’ve not seen your friends in a month and a half. Last time you went on a walk you could swear a man was eaten alive by shadows. You’re too scared to leave your house.
The leaves start to fall from the trees. One day, you notice a crow on the grass from your window. You don’t remember when was the last time you saw one. The next day there are three. After a week, there’s so many you can’t count them anymore. You begin to wonder if the darkness at night is just the absence of sunlight.
You go past Saint Machar cathedral. You know better than to look at the graves in the cemetery. You feel them watching you. You walk a little faster.
You have to go through Seaton Park. You hurry. You don’t want to be there after nightfall. There are worst things than the humans that hide in the shadows away from the street lamps. You know that when they’re near the river goes silent.
The buses never show up on time. You used to think it was because of poor time management. That did not explain the ones that disappeared. You long for the days you didn’t know the truth.
Some nights you hear a roar, like from a motorway. You’re in a residential area with no major road for miles. It is 3 am. You know you will never learn the true nature of the sound. It is for the best.
You used to see foxes when you walked back from parties. They’ve gone now. They felt it way before you did. By the time you realised something was wrong, it was too late to escape. The streets are empty now.
Several years ago, you planted potatoes in your garden. You cared for them but nothing grew. When came time for harvest, you dug them out to see what was wrong. They were all rotting away. You discarded them in the compost bin. You never tried to grow any more potatoes since. The soil felt reticent to let you. This year, you saw them. Potato plants growing in your garden. Nowhere near where you’d planted the previous ones. You do no know where they came from, or if it is a good idea to eat them. You decide to take a couple days to think about it. You hear them calling to you. Then, one morning, they are gone. “It’s for the best, really” says a soft voice behind you. You are alone in the house.
You order some food online. A couple seconds later, the doorbell rings. You open it to see the food, in a bag, at your doorstep. There is no one outside. You go into the street, no vehicle can be seen in the distance. When you go back inside and check the receipt, it only has your name on it. No address, no price, no mention of the restaurant. The order doesn’t appear on the app and you cannot find the restaurant anywhere online. Your credit card history shows the amount being taken from your bank account, but whenever you try to read the name of the company, it changes to a different string of random letters.
No matter how long you put your clothes to dry, they’re always damp. Even the ones that felt dry when you put them away now feel damp when you take them out of the drawer.
Any food you leave out for more than a day grows mould. Any food you leave in the fridge for more than a week grows mould. Even in the freezer, mould starts to appear. You’d never seen this kind of mould before. One day, you look in the mirror and see you are yourself covered in it. You look down at your arms in shock, but they’re normal. When you look back up at your reflection, you cannot see the mould anymore. Sometimes, you feel it, however. Every now and then, when someone walks by, from the corner of your eye you will see the mould that covers them. When you turn to look, however, it’s gone. Last time, letters appeared on your bread. They were from an alphabet you’ve not been able to identify. All the pictures you took of it are now corrupted files, and cannot be accessed. Any notes have mysteriously disappeared.
