Walk

A Story about Suburbia as Purgatory for Week Three of Micro Miction March

She opened her eyes. The even gray light permeating her surroundings like it always did; utterly unchanging. She closed her eyes and still saw gray, just darker. Awake, asleep, there was almost no difference here. She got out of bed and walked through the empty husk that resembled her home when she was alive. There was no point in getting ready; her appearance never changed. She had tried, when she first found herself here. Anything she did seemed to have no effect, even when she had freaked out and tried to pull out her hair: it refused to budge.

Her whole reality now was exactly the same.

She stepped out onto the street and began trudging through the familiar suburbs. There were other people around, doing the same dreary walking. She had tried to talk to them, but she could make no sound. She had tried waving and even pushing them, but nothing happened, not even a glance from them. She kept walking, it was the one thing she could do in this world that allowed no changes and no extremes. She paused at a crosswalk and pressed the button from sheer force of habit.

“W-w-w-w-w-w-w-aaaaAAAAAAAAAAALK!” A horrible voice shrieked from the speaker.

The sound was utterly deafening after the near complete silence. She covered her ears and tried to scream as she stared at the speaker.

Two red pinpricks of light stared directly into her soul. “Press it again. Let me in, girl. I’ve been trying to break into Purgatory since humans started dying. Let me in!”

She covered her mouth and ran, even as Purgatory fought against the action. The demon’s shrieks followed her as she ran with all of her might through air that felt heavy, like trying to run in water. But she kept running.

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