I found myself in the park by my apartment, my dog at my heel. Once again I was here, making my rounds, enough to make my dog content. He carefully trotted by, his four legs hitting the ground in perfect succession, and stayed by my heel. People and their dogs passed me and the sound of cars driving by reverberated throughout the park. The sky was blue, the clouds non-existent, the sun glaring. A soothing wind carried the mild smell of grass to me. Trees loomed over, some standing tall while others leaned over, their bushels leaving large shadows on the asphalt walkways.
As we approached the final corner of the park, my dog stopped. I didn’t have him on a leash because he always walked right behind me, never stopping or going in front of me. I looked at him from a distance as he sat square on the walkway.
I suddenly felt ringing in my ears. The blue sky blackened and the soothing wind sped up. The trees reacted to the wind strongly, now violently shaking their bushels. The people and their dogs disappeared from the park, and so did the cars passing by. I began shaking my head in an unsuccessful attempt to ease the ringing and then refocused on my dog, but he was no longer there. Instead, I saw a woman without a face.
The dull beat of my heart became sharper. I closed my eyes. The tap of her shoes echoed to me over the ringing in my ears. Then the second, third, fourth, fifth, and finally the sixth tap came to me. Silence followed. A hand pierced its way through my chest, resting on my heart. It was cold. Before she inevitably took it, my heart quivered, my stomach clenched, and I briefly recalled the avenues she and I would walk. I recalled how the Earth reduced its size to just where we were, a little igloo we had called our own. I recall all this, yet her face is gone forever, etched away in a dark cave I can no longer find. I looked into her face and saw no grooves where her eyes had been, no grooves where her mouth or nose had been. She leaned her forehead onto mine, before finally twisting our faces together. We melted through the floor, the world spiraling around.
My heart tightened once more before relaxing completely. Then it disappeared. The cars came back and so did the people and their dogs. My dog jumped on top of me, saw my face, and howled madly.
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