The Walker (section 1)

 

It was early morning and the sun had just risen above the horizon. Blinding sunlight reflected off the morning dew. The sun glowed red; it looked much more like a setting sun than a rising one. Its light discolored the sky, making pinks and oranges in the surrounding clouds.
 
The sun rose directly over a straight road running east to west. It was paved in the cheap way most rural roads are, with loose stone held together by tar. As the late August day grew hotter, tar would seep out of the road forming bubbles on the surface, making the road black. If a car were to go over it the vehicle would pop the bubbles, creating a crackling sound. But no car would pass by. The road was more frequently traveled by deer than by people. Other than the road the only other sign of human life was a single power line on the left side of the road heading east which, much like the road itself, had been forgotten long ago. Fields of weeds lined both sides of the road, some weeds had begun growing through cracks in the pavement. Sumac trees grew in various places on both sides of the road. The road itself was in disrepair. Its surface was filled with cracks and potholes. Portions were missing in some places, some of these portions rather large. In a few years the road will be broken up completely and nature will reclaim it. But at this juncture it was still a recognizable road.
 
The weed fields surrounding the road were teaming with life. Crickets chirped loudly from the ground. A doe was grazing with her young fawn, their den was in the forest behind the field. A young rabbit was nibbling on the leaves of one of the smaller weeds. Sparrows, robins, blue jays, cardinals and other birds nested in the sumacs and sang bird songs. One of the trees housed a bee hive; most of the bees were out collecting pollen from the wild flowers of the fields. Flies and other insects were buzzing about in their seemingly random patterns.
 
The morning was mildly breezy. The limbs of the sumacs swayed gently in the wind. The weeds also swayed; if you were to look down upon them from a bird's-eye view you would see the waves the breeze created.
 
And then it all stopped. There was no sound and no motion. The crickets had stopped chirping. The birds ceased their birds songs. The bees, flies and other insects had all landed. The deer and the rabbit stood dead still, as if a predator was near. The fawn trembled slightly, but remained as still as possible. The deer and the rabbit, along with the birds and even the insects, were all looking toward the east. The wind had stopped completely, there were no more weed waves or swaying sumace limbs. Everything was dead silent.
 
That was when the man appeared in the east.
 
He hung his head slightly, looking only at the road ahead of him. He cast a long shadow in front of him on the road. The shadow was almost as dark as his attire. He was dressed in black from head to toe. He wore a wide brimmed hat which cast its own shadow upon the man's face, hiding the man's eyes, a black trench coat over a black turtle neck, and a black pair of pants. He wore black leather gloves over his hands and black cowboy boots. The very little bit of skin that was exposed was pale, almost grey. His eyes were bright green, a very hypnotic shade, and appeared to glow in contrast to his skin. His face, which was hidden in shadow, wore no expression.
 
(His pace was almost labouredly slow as he moved our of the east.) He was the only thing that made any sound in the area. The little >noise that was made was the sound of his boots clapping against the road, a sound that was made at a regular interval of roughly one second. That might not seem like much, but when there is no other sound to hear one second is an eternity.
 
All eyes were on the approaching figure. They made no attempts to move away from the man. The only moved their heads to keep the man in the center of their fields of vision. The trembling fawn was the only thing that moved, by side stepping closer to his mother. The man did not return the fixed attention he received from the animals. He looked as if he was in a trance, his legs moving but not by his own accord. He did not seem to notice the presence of the animals as he passed them. They on the other hand gave him their undivided attention.
 
The animals stayed still as he slowly walked further away. The fawn's trembling subsided and he edged away from his mother. The fawn slowly made his way onto the road, his hooves clacked upon the pavement. Unlike the foolish fawn, none of the other animals dared move just yet. The sounds of the hooves and the boots clashed against each other in the eerie silence. That was when the man's trance was broken, either by the sound of the fawn's hooves or by the sense that there was actually something present behind him.
 
The man stopped in the road and as he did so did the fawn. The man stood paused with his back to the young deer for a moment. As he stood the fawn's trembling began again, more violently because he was not at his mother's side. The man turned slowly around and fixed his gaze upon the young fawn. Half of his face was now in sunlight, but his eyes were still concealed in the shadow of his hat. The absence of the man's eyes did not prevent the deer's trembling fit from becoming even more violent. The fawn back stepped carefully, as if to signal to the stranger that no offense was meant. The fawn and the stranger stood so for a moment, the longest moment in the fawn's life.
 
After a little while longer the man broke his gaze at the deer and slowly turned back to the west. He assumed his slow stride again and entered the trance-like state he was in before. The fawn did not dare move this time. Moments later the man was only a speck in the distance. The fawn's trembling grew lesser until it finally ceased. Some the breeze began to blow again. The crickets began to chirp and the other insects went back about their business. The birds began their songs anew and the doe and the rabbit continued grazing.
 
The fawn did not move though. He stood there in the road, watching the walker until he disappeared from sight.

 

[Gemini's Fiction Collection]-[Short Fiction]-[Front Page]

Read Chapter 2

 

Written By: Gemini
Submitted : 12-1-99