The Pandemonium

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]

Zillis remembered, and, held a grudge. He’d given Travis every rotten job that his position would allow him. He’d gotten Travis to start drinking again. Kimmy got upset, but Travis never drank at home, and was very conscious of his actions. Zillis was still his boss. Robert had tried to get him fired twice, but after Robert’s boss called him on a writeup, he settled for just making certain Travis got all the deadbeats and castoffs on his shift. No one worked, and those that didn’t got written up and fired. Travis needed the job too much. He hated it … [READ MORE]

The dome lightened as the room shifted and the disembodied voice grunted, sneezed and sighed. The first clear image was of an alarm clock. The time said Six thirty in tall orange letters, and the small letters ‘am’ were next to the bottom right of the zero. A slim hand appeared from the bottom of the view and slapped the alarm, then the light dimmed as it all went back to the dim grey. “What the hell was that?!” ‘That was the boss. She’s the one we work for’ the wall spelled out helpfully. “You have got to be kidding … [READ MORE]

Travis ignored the sign as he stood up, noting his feet were still bare. “Can I have my old Red Wing boots?” The breze tickled his toes and abruptly cut off as the shoes formed around his feet in an eyeblink. “Huh, that was slick. I think I’m getting the hang of this.” He looked sharply at the sign, expecting a snide comment to go traipsing across the sign, but for some reason, it remained black. Hah! Got you under control too. I must be sobering up. He shivered as he remembered watching himself being pushed aboard the ambulance, then … [READ MORE]