Running from nowhere

The rain continued to fall as I made my way up the dark thru-way. I kept looking around as I ran, I did not know where I was, nor did I fathom why I was running. I just knew I needed to continue to move.

I ran through the intersection of 3rd and Norman, barely glancing left to right to check for moving vehicles, I just ran. The further I ran the faster I moved, and the thoughts bouncing in my head matched the tempo.

Then I stopped, in the middle of an unknown city on an unknown street, in the dark rainy twilight. I just stopped. Fear paralyzed me. I could not remember my name or where I had come from.

It was at this time I began to notice objects and sounds. They surrounded my, yet I was unaware of these things the entire time I had been running, however long that had been. To the left of me was a warehouse with a flickering neon sign advertising storage space for rent; a car passed directly in front of me, spraying standing rain water in every direction, including my direction, soaking me to my very core. I heard a kid yell for her mother, and a dog bark for his supper. But the most disturbing sound came from the warehouse.

The screaming man sounded as if he was in a great deal of pain, yet somehow I could tell, or rather FELT, I needed to get into that warehouse. God only knows why, but I needed to be there.

I slowly made my way around to the side, then the rear of the building searching for an entry point. I came across a door that was slightly ajar and knew this would be my entry point. Things around me began to look familiar. I stepped through the doorway peering into the dark, damp area. I decided to stop and get my bearings when a scream shattered the silence again, this time the man seemed under even more distress, and the screams contained more pain.

I quickly rushed straight forward, towards the sound of the misery. I could see a faint light ahead, shining from around a corner hallway. I approached the corner and stopped. The sound of dripping water filled my head. I knew that sound. It was all I had known. The scream collapsed the stillness but again, so I pressed on.

I reached the end of the hallway and located the source of the light. It was a single low wattage bulb dangling from a wire above me. Ahead of me I could see what looked like a cage with prison bars. I heard a sound, a man coughed, then a moan. It was coming from inside the cage. I slowly approached the bars; I could feel my heart pounding throughout my entire body. I became lightheaded and my mouth went desert dry. I didn’t want to see what awaited me on the other side of the cage, but I had to. I stopped just short to compose myself, then began my final steps forward.

The light above me was casting eerie shadows as it swung on its’ wire. The sound of dripping water engulfed me completely, as if the origin of the sound were inside my head. I reached the cage, stretched out my arm and grasped the bars to steady myself, and to prepare me for the final push forward. I looked inside the cage, but at first I could not focus on anything in the blackness of the depths. The light helped my eyes adjust, and in a moment I saw the very thing that drew me into that warehouse on an unknown street. The man screaming in the cage…..was me!

- One Man Short

Good story!

The imagery of the howling man in the cage resonated with me, as well as the dripping water. When the man turned out to be the narrator, the first person, me, the connection was made and the story complete.

It reminded me of a book my mom gave me fifteen years ago, "Iron John", by Robert Bly. It was a tough read at the time, because I think I was still in "the Idaho of my mind, with my dogs and my AK-47."

The myth of Iron John is very relevant to your story. The man in the cage corresponds greatly to the "Wild Man" caged within all men.

"The key to the Wild Man's cage can be found beneath your mother's pillow."

Iron John

Thanks for sharing your story.


[edit on 2-2-2006 by Icarus Rising]