I was trying to get to my sister’s new house when Google Maps rerouted, making it seem like it was taking me down the perfect shortcut - a 40 minute journey down to just 20 minutes. I vaguely knew where Maggie’s new home was located since it was close to where our grandparents used to live, but I hadn’t been there since we were kids.
“You’ll recognise it once you pass the horse sanctuary,” Maggie had told me over the phone before I left to go see her, and that’s exactly where I thought the shortcut would take me.
Oh, how wrong I was.
At first, the shortcut was working. Everything was normal and as I drove past the houses, fields, and buildings, that felt faintly familiar. It was as if I’d been there before but couldn’t quite recall the memories I’d made. I knew this wasn’t possible, though, as whenever we visited our grandparents, we’d just be driving through unrecognisable countryside for almost the entire journey. The streets looked so homely that I chalked up the nostalgic feeling to that; it was just comforting, that’s all. Perhaps almost too comforting.
Children played hopscotch on the pavement, men and women in suits came in and out of a big office building laughing and chatting, and a fireman was helping a young girl retrieve her cat from a tree. The further I drove, the more unnerving these picture-perfect scenes became. People had waved at me a few times as I drove past, but now they would just stare. I was relieved when I reentered the countryside. I never thought barren fields upon fields could be so reassuring of my safety.
Then the signs began to appear, or perhaps I’d only just began to notice them.
Travel At Your Own Risk
Hm, okay. I suppose forest animals could cause some accidents, and driving down the unlit dirt roads at night was pretty dangerous. Makes sense… kinda.
CAUTION: Carjacking next 10 miles
Okay, that’s pretty freaky. Probably not true though, right? I mean, where are these carjackers? The fields are completely empty. Maybe a little too empty.
YOU ARE A TARGET
I’m officially terrified. What the fuck is going on?
That’s when I checked Google Maps again and it said I was only ten minutes away. There was no point turning around now. It’d take me another 50 minutes to get to Maggie’s house if I did that!
pray
All lowercase? Must be fake. Maybe it’s a simple, yet still slightly unsettling, Christian propaganda sign. Not important.
They Have Places For People Who Scream
This sign was made 10x more frightening by the following signs:
SCREAM
SCREAM
SCREAM
I lost count of how many of them there were, but eventually they came to an end. By now, my heart was practically beating out of my chest. I just wanted to get to see my sister. I was 6 minutes away now, but there was still no sign of the horse sanctuary. Maybe I’d gone past it already?
Your Future Self Will Meet You Shortly
Huh? Well that doesn’t even make sense.
IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING
I tried to distract myself by thinking of my childhood at my grandparents’ house and visiting the horse sanctuary. The horses, mules, and donkeys of Adelaide Coal’s Horse Heaven were what made me and Maggie get into horse-riding before our grandparents’ died. My favourite of all of them was an American Thoroughbred called Alphabet Soup. God knows how many old pictures there are of me and that horse. My daydreaming came to an abrupt end when I saw another sign.
Dead Horses
What?
I drove by and there it was. The horse sanctuary. Except, now it was acres of dirt and broken down stables and such. Horse skulls, bones, and even entire skeletons were scattered throughout the land. I slowed down when the gravestones came into view. Here lies Albephot Osup
It was as if someone had tried to turn my memories into a nightmare, but some parts weren’t exactly accurate. Tears streamed down my face as the next sign appeared.
Nana And Grandad Ahead!
I stopped the car and checked Google Maps again. Now, it was just an endless line that went in all sorts of directions. The time it would take? 666,666,666,666,666 years.
It’s getting dark and all of my contacts are illegible symbols and ‘letters’. I’ve tried everything and the only phone number that actually works is 666. I didn’t let it ring more than once. I don’t want to know who’s number that is.
I’m going to die out here, no doubt about it. Use my story as a cautionary tale. Don’t follow the signs.