I don’t know where to start.
It was a normal day. I woke up in my bed. My husband, David, was asleep next to me in his usual spot. I always wake up first. I got up to make breakfast for us both.
We were supposed to be going to visit his parents that day for his dad’s birthday. I was making us pancakes to keep us fuelled for the long drive ahead, but the milk was finished. We keep extra in the fridge in the basement so I went to get it. I slipped on the stairs, hit my head on a beam. I was fine, just a little sore, so I grabbed the milk and headed back up.
I made the pancakes, I set the table, I called David. He didn’t come. He normally comes running for pancakes, he loves them. I called him again. Nothing. I went to check on him. The bed was empty. I checked the bathroom, the garage, the spare room, the garden. Nothing. It’s like he disappeared into thin air. His keys were still in the bowl by the door, his shoes were still in the rack, his slippers still by the bed as though he hadn’t even put them on. David never walks around without something on his feet. The blankets didn’t even look like they had moved since he was under them. He just vanished.
I called him, I texted him, I called and texted his parents, my parents, his brother, his best friend. and with no answer from anybody, I finally called the police. The phone rang and rang and rang. I thought maybe it was just my network so I tried the landline. I know, it’s old fashioned, but it came free with the Wi-Fi and we thought it would be good for emergencies, but even that wasn’t getting through to anybody.
Finally, panicked as all hell, I ran over to the neighbours house, still in my dressing gown, to use their phone and to ask if they had seen David. I went to the Green’s house first and knocked. No sign of life at all. I assumed they were still in bed. It was still early for a retired old couple to bother waking up yet.
Next, I hurried to the Fuller’s house, but there was no answer to my now more aggressive knocking. I peered through the window. The table was set for the kids breakfast, and the tv was on, but there was no one to be seen.
I raced over to the Cornish’s house, throughly freaked out at this point. The front door was wide open. A set of car keys and a shoulder bag were lying abandoned on the floor as thought someone were about to leave for work, but jumped ship while walking out the door. I ventured into the house to find the whole place completely deserted, just like everywhere else. Tried the phones, no answers again.
I was starting to go into a full blown meltdown. I had no idea what was going on, where everyone was, anything. My head was spinning so I ran out to the street and just sat on the pavement trying to get my bearings.
That’s when I noticed how still everything had gotten. No insects, no birds, no planes, no people whatsoever. It was eerily silent. Like the whole world had stopped spinning and I was only person left. Impossible, surely? I thought I had lost my grip on reality. Several hours of existential dread later and I somewhat came back to my senses. Something was going on, and I needed to work out what. If the police weren’t answering, I was going to have to go to the police. So I picked myself up and went inside, grabbed the keys, got in my car, and drove to the police station.
But the horror was only just beginning.
Along the way, the panic really set in when I saw the cars. All along the roads were cars. Some with doors wide open, bags and coats spilling out of them as though they’d been quickly abandoned. Others had gently hit walls, or fences, or lampposts. Many were flipped over, crashed into each other, smashed into the front of glass windowed shops, all manner of carnage. But no blood, no people, no bodies, no ambulances. Nothing.
I reached the police station. I was shambles at this point. The station was in the same state as the rest of town. Abandoned but in a half finished sort of way. Like everyone had just simply stopped existing mid task. I didn’t know what to do. I was lost. David was always the problem solver. I was the one who panicked until he sorted things out. I wasn’t good in a crises. I just had to get out of there.
I drove to the town limits and drove some more. The carnage of crashed cars continued way past the limits. I stopped at a petrol station not far from the next town. Deserted just like everywhere else. But here I finally had the bright idea to check the tv. All the stations were running, every single one, but the studios were empty. Like they’d hit record on the cameras and then just simply walked away.
It was starting to sink in at this point. I was the only one here, for whatever reason. Maybe I survived some of kind of extraterrestrial abduction, or I was being pranked, or I was losing my marbles. Or I was still asleep and simply dreaming. But pinching myself hurt and didn’t wake me up, no matter how hard I did it.
I was alone. Completely and utterly alone. Made me glad I never had kids to miss. I drove through the next 4 towns and every one was as deserted as the last. The purpose of finding somebody, anybody, else, drove me to keep driving for miles and miles, through towns, cities, villages, finding not a single soul.
I didn’t understand why I was spared. Why I was the only one left. I still don’t. I’m writing this post in case anybody is still out there and sees this. I have this eerie feeling I’m being watched.
It started a week ago when I stopped to refuel and grab food supplies. I was in a supermarket after grabbing the fuel. As soon as I left, I just felt this feeling. Not just like I was being stared at, but like something hateful was wishing death on me, or something. It felt dark and horrid. I felt sick. I just hurried into the car and drove away. I didn’t see anyone, obviously.
The feeling lessened the further away I got, but it didn’t completely fade. And every time I stop, it slowly gets more intense until I start driving again, like the hateful being is getting closer to me and then being left behind again, but never being completely lost.
If anybody is out there, please reach out to me. Let me know I’m not alone. Let me know if you feel this hateful energy watching you. Tracking you. I don’t know why I’m the only one left, but I need help.