The Man

I enter the bus, together with my mom. We are heading to the theatre, to see a play. I barely managed to plug in my earphones; I have gotten them out of my pocket and I have been trying ever since to “untie” them.

I take a seat as mom scans the bus card. I look out the window. I am listening to “Pesky Junk Worm” by PJWizrd. The artist still does make music, quite rarely, but I absolutely admire this first album of his.

The man in front of us... I suddenly realise what he was looking at on his phone. A... plane? A plane flying through a 3D animation... of a plane... flying... The guy is wearing headphones. He goes to the beginning of the video. The plane is now... taking off...

I look at the window again and, to my surprise, I see my mom outside, desperately looking for me. We are... back at the bus station! I get out and mom sees me. She hugs me and we get to our seats. My mom, once again, scans her bus card. I realise the album reset itself. It's playing “Ptownjunk”, the first song of the playlist. In front of me is... the man again. He suddenly looks at me and smiles devilishly. I am scared to death. I look at his phone and he jumps at the end of the video. The plane is now... landing...

My surroundings change. I am now near the Comedy Theatre, the one me and mom were heading for... We... arrived already???

We go to the entrance of the theatre and there is... the man!!! The man I saw in the bus! Dressed in guard outfit.

-I'm sorry, ma'am, but the theatre's cancelled the play... The power shut down due to the storm...

“Wha...?”, I tell myself. “This doesn't make any sense..”

I suddenly take the decision to jump at the man's throat. I want the person standing in front of me dead, and I won't stop until I have choked him for good.

I hear my mom's desperate screams in the background, but I don't stop. I start punching the man's face.

Suddenly, the man's eyes turn red and his body morphs into one of a demon's. I back off as he gets up. He is 3 meters high and is staring at me. I hear voices in my head:

“ T H E R E I S N O E S C A P E “
“ T H E R E I S N O E S C A P E “
“ T H E R E I S N O E S C A P E “
I start screaming loudly and run towards the beast. I kick his belly with my left leg. My leg runs right though him and he shrieks loudly and disintegrates on the ground.

Silence. I see my phone on the ground. I pick it up and notice a video is playing. It is.. the video. It suddenly starts rewinding itself. The plane hasn't taken off yet.

I am at the bus station with my mom. We are waiting for the bus, to go to the Comedy Theatre and see a play.