The Pandemonium

Travis moved to the round platform, and grasped the poles to brace himself. He waited as the screen remained grey, with the faintest of darker shadows flitting across it. “Is there any noise? I don’t hear nothin’.”

‘One moment,’ the screen printed in a light orange-yellow. Travis felt a sense to the room this time. The grey seemed to weigh heavier than yesterday. There was a sense of emptiness to it, which was ridiculous to Travis. He scoffed at his ‘feeling’ yet it wouldn’t leave him, and the empty feeling seemed to percolate through his skin, and weigh upon him, … [READ MORE]

The last thing Travis expected to do was dream. For him, it was a hazy sensation that cleared, and this young girl with dark mocha skin was crouching a short ways in front of him, her arms wrapped around her legs as she tried to stifle her tears against her knees. Travis felt a flash of something. The pink nightie dragged on the on the ground behind the girl, but did nothing to conceal the curves of womanhood. Her hair was black with pink ends. Short, cut to shoulder length, and a slight wave, it seemed whimsical. At the same … [READ MORE]

‘Temper, temper, Jiminy. I am not faulting you. My comment was merely observational.’

“Don’t call me that. I ain’t no bug thing.. If you want me, just call me Travis.” He glared at the screen as his mind tried to figure out what to do. He realized, that suddenly he felt that this girl was his charge, and he had to look out for her. Somehow, it had become personal. The recognition of that feeling had him unsettled. What about Kimmy? I owe her. She put up with all my crap and never complained.

‘Kim is a good, living woman. … [READ MORE]

Travis felt more than heard the answer. “No, I ain’t getting you any J, or nothin’.” He could feel her fear, and her rapidly failing determination. She wanted to stay out of the drug trade. She didn’t want to be here at all. She was scared. The girl looked big enough to hurt her, and the other two behind her, bookend twins if Travis was right, looked as if they’d done time. Their eyes were, to him, empty of any emotion. Their faces didn’t twitch even a little when they smiled. The big woman looked hard at the ‘boss’, her … [READ MORE]

The sky was cloudless and blue. The open yard stretched away some distance before grey walls, with row upon row of barbed wire, loomed up. To Travis, the walls looked twice a person’s height without the barbed wire. This place ain’t one that lets you leave, it’s a prison. He looked around slowly. The screen turned with him, showing all sorts of young women in shapeless orange or grey shirts and pants that reminded Travis of hospital scrubs. There were no shoes or socks for anyone, just a pull-on slipper. If this is a prison, why such a nice room … [READ MORE]

The view suddenly started jerking a little as the movement accelerated. the view leaped and hopped the counter, grabbing a plastic dispenser that had scratch and win tickets. This was smashed on the ground, the plastic shrapnel scattering far and wide as a slim hand in a black windbreaker scooped the tickets up and out of sight. The view spun and blurred, then sharpened as two figures with a heavy chain wrapped it around an ATM machine. The view spun back as cartons of cigarettes were grabbed and thrown towards the smashed door. The ATM suddenly disappeared, being dragged through … [READ MORE]

Travis clamped his hands tight on the ski pole things as the room shifted. There was a sense of rolling over, and some kind of annoying pressure that rhythmically warbled along his skin. “The hell is that? Some kind of alarm?” ‘Got it in one, Jiminy. Are you certain you haven’t done this before?’ The lighthearted tone after all the agony of finding out about his death grated on Travis. It was kind of a minor thing, though as if the reaction was part of someone else’s life, or perhaps a memory of what he might have done, if he … [READ MORE]