The Prophet (Chapter 5)
// September 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Novel
“Ugh such a nasty mist!” Micah pushed past a wet branch, it seemed like he had been walking for a while, he had the nagging feeling that he was not sure how long he had been walking… or if he had just started actually? It reminded him of a time when he drove 18 hours home, at one point in the trip he realized he completely missed going through 3 cities and yet miraculously showed up on the other side of the state… weird… how could you forget something like that? sometimes he thought about that trip.. and wondered whether he actually drove in his sleep… he also wondered if he was a better “sleep driver” than he was when he was awake. That could be really handy if you could plan your road trips accordingly… just wake up when you get to your destination! “Never mind that now… “ he thought, “where am I?” Micah stopped to get his bearings. A very gray rolling field spread out in front of him… fog shrouding the low areas and spilling into a valley to the left. The eerie half light refused to cast shadows and made for a very bleak landscape. A heavy wet mist seemed to just hang in the air, making everything just a little soggy feeling. Micah looked down at his feet, his eyebrows arched in serious concern… he was completely barefooted! and his feet were coated with a mixture of caked mud and fresh blood. Suddenly things began to feel very wrong; The sting of the fresh cuts on his feet came sharply in focus, and Micah began to take stock of his condition. His head hurt from a nasty cut on the back of his head, his hair was sticky and matted around the cut, and he counted a few minor scrapes on his elbows, knees and knuckles. “What the ….?” he tried to think back and remember how he got here…what had happened but it felt as if his life had begun only a few moments ago… it might as well have, because he could not remember a single thing. It was as if nothing existed past the foggy mist that seemed to envelop him. “Ok…. Ok let me think… ” he said out loud… as he paced back and forth, “OK how do I know where to go if i do not know where I am?”… again aloud, he thought it was odd that he was thinking aloud but it helped him feel less alone. “Alone!” he said, ” I am alone, and lost, and hurt! why am I here? why has this happened to me?” his pacing slowed as he realized that he had absolutely no answers about anything… there was nothing to do but walk further into the valley…
The Valley
As Micah walked further down the hillside towards the foggy valley he became aware of faint voices. He stopped “Hello?” he called.. finally some help! but there was no answer. Something seemed wrong, the voices seemed to be coming from all around him, at first there were only a few, some frantic, and others seeming more calming and reassuring. but none of them clear enough to understand. he began walking again, looking around, fear began to grip his heart… The closer to the valley Micah walked the more voices seemed to join in, soon there were countless voices all blended together into a horrid, terrifying murmur completely surrounding him, he put his hands over his ears and blindly jogged forward trying to understand this surreal experience. He peered into the fog down the path into the valley and paused thinking of the relative safety of the hill he had just descended, the voices still unnerving him. “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil” he quoted.. “who am I fooling? I am scared to death!” yet he pressed on … down into the gloom.
he had not walked very far down the path before he heard heavy footsteps coming towards him… they seemed to be running.. Micah stopped and moved to the side of the path and peered into the fog trying to see something… anything. Suddenly a man burst through the fog, running towards him..
“AGH! who are you? ” he stopped running, “what the heck are you doing all the way out here? ”
“I..um… well… ” Micah stuttered
“well out with it man! its a simple question!” The stranger replied
“I…I. don’t know!, I…I..I ‘m lost, and I have no idea how I got here!” Micah stammered. “C can you please help me?”
“sure buddy what do you need?” … suddenly he stopped… “hey be quiet… I hear something!… do you hear that?” he looked at Micah quizzically.
“The voices?” Micah quavered.
“Like whispers!” the stranger turned his head listening… “what is that?”he asked incredulously.
“I have no idea but it is absolutely terrifying me” Micah breathed.
“Ok so I am not really in the mood for a jog anyway, considering that there is some weirdness in that direction… the stranger grinned.
“s..so its not that way?” Micah pointed back to where the stranger had come from.
“No… just the city of Peculiar, ”
“Peculiar?” Micah looked confused
“Ya Peculiar… you know the city of Peculiar? “ the stranger shrugged “Man! you’re not from around here are you?” he continued.” How did you get way out here anyways? you are acting kinda confused buddy are you sure you are alright?” Micah just stared back at him..
“I got nothin… ” he replied a little wearily
“well lets get going… we need to get back to the city, it’s going to get dark soon.” the stranger replied, “Oh, and the name’s Philip.”
Micah nodded, “Micah” he replied, as they started walking. “so… to the city of Peculiar then? …. are we in Florida?”
“Florida? no.. not in Florida, this is the great state of Missouri!” Philip replied enthusiastically shaking his head… “Seriously… did you hit your head man?”
“Actually I did” Micah realized aloud, rubbing the back of his head “Why am I in Missouri?” he wondered, also aloud.
“Well we need to get you looked at then” Philip stated matter of factly, “As far as why you are here in Missouri, and Peculiar in particular… I have no idea, it seems a bit .. peculiar if you ask me!” Philip grinned at his wit.
Micah groaned loudly but grinned at the Pun. As they crested the hill a small farmhouse silhouetted the horizon. Philip waved in it’s general direction, “that’s my place, I can give you a ride to a hospital so you can get some help.
“That would be nice” Micah sighed wearily.
Tags: needing help
