MicroHorror

Cars zoomed past on the highway, and Manner moved on the sidewalk, feeling empty. He hated the world and usually liked to focus inside himself, but he couldn’t do that today, couldn’t be inside right now, because he had done something very bad. He looked across the highway, at the trees, trying to feel some sense of being alive or at least a sense of peace, but he found nothing there. He looked ahead, at the cars pulling into business establishments, and found nothing there either.

Then she appeared out of thin air. They met on the sidewalk. He reached out to touch her arm, but his hand went through.

“I’m merely an image,” she said. “Let’s walk.”

They did walk, side by side.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said.

“Of course,” she responded. “I’ve taken my image from your mind, you know. I am your guardian angel.”

He laughed gently. “I’ve not seen you since I was a child, not even in dreams.”

“I’ve been with you the whole time, just not in the same way. I’ve tried to nudge you here and there by placing the thoughts you needed in your head, by affecting your conscience.”

“I’m not always good at listening to my conscience.”

“I know.”

They walked on. He wanted to look at her, but he was too ashamed. She had been with him all this time, watching him. He hated to think any being knew all that he had done.

“Why are you here now?” Manner asked.

“Because your path is compromised,” the angel responded.

“Compromised?”

“Yes, compromised. I took the word from your head. It is how you would describe it.”

“Oh.”

He thought of what compromised meant to him. It meant altered in a very negative way.

“Is there something I can do?” Manner asked.

“Yes,” the angel responded. “That’s why I’m here, to make sure you do it. Look directly ahead, and tell me what you see.”

He looked up the sidewalk. “I see a woman in a car, pulling out of the gas station lot.”

“Yes. Now really look at her.”

He did. The woman seemed focused on traffic at first, but then she seemed to notice him. She smiled and held her stare.

“She’s pretty and seems warm,” Manner said. “Is she here to help me?”

“Yes, but she does not know it. Keep looking at her. Really focus.”

He did. She continued to look back at him. He liked what his guardian angel was showing him. He felt a slight sense of hope.

“Keep focusing on her,” she said.

He was getting closer. The woman rolled down her window.

“Keep focusing on her,” said the angel. “She’ll focus on you. Neither of you will notice the truck.”

He did notice the truck, but it was too late. Apparently, its driver didn’t notice him. Manner was hit and taken under the vehicle.

The next thing he knew he was standing on the sidewalk next to his guardian angel again. The woman in the car was screaming. The truck screeched to a stop. The sounds were dulled, though.

“Your path was compromised,” his angel said. “It was the only way to help you.”

“But the girl?”

“Just a distracter. All the paths from what you had become led to bad places. You’re much better off now.”

• Copyright: © 2008 Joshua Scribner