After
fiddling the radio for good fifteen minutes, Brian settled for some
small, local channel. A warm and inviting voice was talking about wild
life in Amazon forest, with occasional sound bites where monkeys howled
and birds sang.
He had hard time staying awake, the road was dark and the hum of the car was making him sleepy. The calm voice, for some reason, made him more alert, made him concentrate on the road.
“You see, these birds, they fly north every year..”
He didn’t pay much attention to what the man was saying, he let the words come and go, enter his mind without leaving any trace.
“People have been cutting down great parts of the forests, and it has had serious impact on the fauna and flora in the area. This is something that needs the attention of regular people using products that are made in the plantations. And now, you need pay attention to me. Wherever you’re going, Brian, don’t turn around. Don’t look back”
What? Did he hear that correctly? Maybe the stations are mixing up with each other, he thought and fiddled with the button again. But nothing happened, there was not even a static as he kept changing the frequency.
“Just keep driving. There is something following you. You don’t want it to catch you”, the voice continued. brian's hands were suddenly sweaty, and he was holding his breath. He let air out when he got his nerves back.
“What is happening?” he said, more as a reflex than actual question. He started to lower his speed. Maybe he was having sleep deprivation. Better to stop to be sure, Brian thought.
“Stop that! Keep driving”, The voice said, now snappier and demanding than before. “Soon there will be a turning to left in the road. Drive faster now, and after the turn, there’s a smaller road to the right. Drive there and shut your car. If you are fast enough, it won’t notice you.”
brian's hands were white from squeezing the steering wheel. He tried to swallow but his mouth was dry as the dusty road under the wheels. He speeded up, and after few minutes that felt like an eternity, the turn came. He almost drove past the smaller road, the opening was hidden behind long branches from trees that towered alongside the road.
“Drive some twenty meters and shut your car” the voice said. Brian did as was told.
“Now, sit tight and don’t make any noise.”
He heard another vehicle coming closer, it sounded like a car but there was something wrong with the sound. It wasn’t stable hum and purr of a motor, it sounded like the vehicle was breathing. Brian tried to not think about why it was making such a noise.
It was coming closer to the small road, now it was almost there, and then it drove past it. Brian wiped sweat from his brown and let long, silent breath out. Then he heard the sound changing. It stopped. And now started, coming closer again. Soon he saw lights coming from behind him, and heard the vehicle approaching.
“What do I do?” He hissed behind his teeth, but the radio was silent.
The vehicle stopped, he heard the door opening. He didn’t dare to look back, just squeezed the steering wheel with his both hands. Something was walking towards his car, something that blocked the lights coming from the other vehicle. Brian closed his eyes, feeling paralyzing dread in his stomach. He heard footsteps, and someone speaking in the radio of the another car.
“The predators that live in these vast forests”, Brian heard familiar voice say, “they have adapted to have many imaginative tactics to hunt, to lure their prey into traps.”
He had hard time staying awake, the road was dark and the hum of the car was making him sleepy. The calm voice, for some reason, made him more alert, made him concentrate on the road.
“You see, these birds, they fly north every year..”
He didn’t pay much attention to what the man was saying, he let the words come and go, enter his mind without leaving any trace.
“People have been cutting down great parts of the forests, and it has had serious impact on the fauna and flora in the area. This is something that needs the attention of regular people using products that are made in the plantations. And now, you need pay attention to me. Wherever you’re going, Brian, don’t turn around. Don’t look back”
What? Did he hear that correctly? Maybe the stations are mixing up with each other, he thought and fiddled with the button again. But nothing happened, there was not even a static as he kept changing the frequency.
“Just keep driving. There is something following you. You don’t want it to catch you”, the voice continued. brian's hands were suddenly sweaty, and he was holding his breath. He let air out when he got his nerves back.
“What is happening?” he said, more as a reflex than actual question. He started to lower his speed. Maybe he was having sleep deprivation. Better to stop to be sure, Brian thought.
“Stop that! Keep driving”, The voice said, now snappier and demanding than before. “Soon there will be a turning to left in the road. Drive faster now, and after the turn, there’s a smaller road to the right. Drive there and shut your car. If you are fast enough, it won’t notice you.”
brian's hands were white from squeezing the steering wheel. He tried to swallow but his mouth was dry as the dusty road under the wheels. He speeded up, and after few minutes that felt like an eternity, the turn came. He almost drove past the smaller road, the opening was hidden behind long branches from trees that towered alongside the road.
“Drive some twenty meters and shut your car” the voice said. Brian did as was told.
“Now, sit tight and don’t make any noise.”
He heard another vehicle coming closer, it sounded like a car but there was something wrong with the sound. It wasn’t stable hum and purr of a motor, it sounded like the vehicle was breathing. Brian tried to not think about why it was making such a noise.
It was coming closer to the small road, now it was almost there, and then it drove past it. Brian wiped sweat from his brown and let long, silent breath out. Then he heard the sound changing. It stopped. And now started, coming closer again. Soon he saw lights coming from behind him, and heard the vehicle approaching.
“What do I do?” He hissed behind his teeth, but the radio was silent.
The vehicle stopped, he heard the door opening. He didn’t dare to look back, just squeezed the steering wheel with his both hands. Something was walking towards his car, something that blocked the lights coming from the other vehicle. Brian closed his eyes, feeling paralyzing dread in his stomach. He heard footsteps, and someone speaking in the radio of the another car.
“The predators that live in these vast forests”, Brian heard familiar voice say, “they have adapted to have many imaginative tactics to hunt, to lure their prey into traps.”
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