The hum of the night city rang through the open windows of
penthouses and homeless shelters alike, touching those inside with its
intoxicating echo taking captive the millions that called this place home, a
true testament to the achievements of man. The engine tick of a fleet of taxis
parked by stainless Steel lamps producing an almost insect like buzz of which
nobody heard over the incoherent chatter and the intoxicated footsteps of
couples walking underneath. Of course, the city did not just speak, there were
an abundance of smells clashing with the sounds for the attention of the mind.
The scent of liquor and street food were overwhelming almost all others aside
from the occasional gust of exhaust fumes, also most likely caused by a taxi
given the lateness of the hour.
BANG!!! the rhythmic
urban soundtrack and scent pallet had now been induced into cardiac arrest with
the frightful sound of scraping metal followed by its recognisable SNAP. The nose
also suffered a change of pace, what was once liquor now became the burning
smell of fuel. Then the before neglected senses began to have their time in the
spotlight also, with thick smoke filling the lungs creating a burning sensation
in the chest as well as making breathing an increasingly difficult chore. The
heat began to rise steadily at first but before long the temperature became
unbearable and a few moments later … unsurvivable. Before too long the metal
that had just completed scraping and snapping began to stretch and contract
under the heat being applied.
The hand of death
looks favourably upon situations like this, almost makes his job too easy as
even your average night boozer could predict the obvious and grizzly outcome of
this tale, but death knows better than that, he has suffered many a surprise
before and so patiently he waits watching events unfold until he is absolutely
certain that his services are required.
The only way out of a
situation like this is to breathe deeply and allow the smoke to fill the gaps
in your lungs before the fire reaches you as no fate is worse than that, or so
they say. THUD ........ THUD .......... THUD....... CRASH the metal hatch gave
way to the forces applied by its inmate who proceeded to heroically stumble and
fall into the flames. Reemerging moments later drooling, gasping for air,
secreting increased amounts of mucus and part mentally alight, that is to say
on fire. For the minutes following they would valiantly fade in and out of
consciousness in ............ out ............ in ...............out. Once
regaining consciousness for the seventh time they preceded to stagger away with
their once bushy (now extremely crispy) tail tucked square between their legs.
Turning down an alley they crashed into every bin, cardboard box and cat possible
before collapsing yet again however this time was an improvement in that
consciousness remained.
A scraggy and
possibly mangey ginger tabby strode over standing over the head of the
collapsed. The cat however did indeed have an owner as identified by the phone
number etched into his name tag which also gave the name “Biscuit”. The escapee
didn't know what to make of this as that cat sure didn't look like a biscuit
and the idea floated that biscuit had been killed and his collar stolen but
more important things were at play than the status of the real biscuit. Biscuit
(if that was his real name) began to chew, gnaw and tear at the large, hairy
but also fire damaged ears which were miraculously still attached to the partly
conscious individual. Surprisingly the cat still had enough left-over teeth to
penetrate the skin releasing a slow trickle of blood down to and over the brow
before picking up speed on the sharp profile of the grey-haired face and
dropping onto the floor of the alley which had most likely seen its fair share
of blood. Slowly getting back on all four legs and feeling a little more stable
at least in the physical sense and now well acquainted with this particular
alleyway they shifted their gaze slightly to see a ginger leech named biscuit
hanging from their ear. No worries however after a quick flash of several sharp
teeth and a low growl biscuit soon realised that what he was attempting to eat
was in fact not yet dead and so relinquished his grip of the now even worse for
wear ear.
Walking back out of
the alley and into the street where a small crowd had gathered around the still
burning wreck. Deciding to walk in the opposite direction of the crowd now in a
much more stable fashion than before, caught a cool breeze which ran through
the thick grey coat of the creature aside from the areas that had suffered from
fire damage and were now bald. Progressing through the street their ears shot
upright to hear a distant howl. The city itself knows many different howls the
sound of dogs domesticated and stray howling at night, the sound made by less
than mentally stable individuals as they walk the streets but this, this was
the howl of a fire engine something which would have been much use minutes ago
but nevertheless, the sentiment was appreciated. The sound of sirens soon
became background noise as the oversized dog spotted some equally oversized
rats scuttling along the pavement weaving in and out of the trash likely
scavenging for anything a rat could call food.
Then off to one side was an area of green in the middle of
all this glass and concrete. It had grass, trees and bushes all covered in
different smells from different animals (mostly dogs and humans but squirrels
also). Stepping into this new land the air was noticeably more gentle on the
still burning lungs of this battered beast. The sound of the city remained but
visually this was a place thousands of miles away from the streetlamps and taxi
cabs of the world. Now able to walk on a surface other than cement the slow
deliberate walk that had helped to avoid the dangers littering the city’s
streets became after a few seconds of hesitation a full-blown sprit. Darting
from bush to tree, smell to smell finally feeling…
Black that’s all there was just plain and simple black.
There was no smell, there was no noise, there wasn’t even any burning sensation
just … black. Then slowly but surely it all came back. The smells, the
sounds and yes even the burning. The black it would seem was the body’s
reaction to running around when in such distress, its own pain relief when
adrenaline alone no longer cuts it. Just as it had so suddenly come into view
the trees and grass were no more, once again it was hard cold cement holding up
this four-legged mammal.
Emerging once again into
the city night presented an opportunity with what could be described as a small
truck or a large van but whatever its designation was sitting unattended not a
wholly unusual sight but what made this stand above all others was that it was
open and contained a similar bed to the ones this nighttime explorer was
familiar with. Upon waking up from the deep slumber one often enjoys in the
back of a van the realisation was made that as the door had been open before
that was no longer the case. Panic would have been a reliable emotion to field
in such a situation however any panic was soon dispelled as the hum of the
nighttime city no longer rang.
Points: 2679
Reviews: 30
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