Come closer

You have no recollection of the mist descending. It seems to happen in an instant - but the fact that you seem to have moved closer to the doors without realising ... well, that makes you doubt it.

It's as if time has suddenly jerked forward, like one of those time-lapse films. As to whether you've lost a minute, or an hour, who knows. Are you even wearing a watch? You can't remember. You can't even remember whether you usually wear a watch.

But certain facts are apparent: you have moved closer to the building, and there's now a heavy mist all around you. Or perhaps it's fog. If there's a real difference, and if you know what it is, that difference escapes you now.

All you can say for sure is that the moisture in the air is making sounds very different. You can hear distant traffic, you can hear the hum of a street light - but from the building you can now hear nothing.

You feel the damp on your skin, and the air is cool and sharp. It's these details that convince you that this isn't a dream.

If you could believe it was a dream, that you were safe in your bed, you would be delighted.

But this is no dream. And you know it.


Story starts here.