That Road

This flash fiction story exploring second-person narrative was inspired by the car ride home from Context 2013. It has previously been entered into a contest and posted on MicroHorror.com.

And when I remember the future, we will follow that impassive road, weak with hunger and faint with thirst, with sore and blistered feet we will follow it to the very end.

We will begin not at the beginning, but at a crossroads. You will want to go right and I will want to go left. In the end we will go straight through. I will notice a swarm of vultures circling the streets of a Midwestern town. You will wonder aloud what could possibly attract so many of the carrion birds to the suburban locale. I will tell you that you don’t want to know.

We will pass a frozen automaton straddling worn and rusty tracks. I will imagine a red glow coming alive from deep within its empty sockets.  You will not notice me shudder. We will pass others on our way, those with tattered signs and hollow eyes begging for a ride. We will not stop. We will not slow down.

Later we will pass a faceless giant with huge hands gaping open his own chest and allowing himself to spill out. You will not see him, but I will tell you of him when we are passed. When darkness comes I will startle you by speaking. You will be angry with me.

When the car runs out of gas we will abandon it, but still we will follow. The road will lead us on and when we reach the place where it is no more, I will whisper in your ear and our journey will be over.