My interlocutor in his velvet jacket was sat on the other side of the long table. The position of his body was relaxed, but the same could not be said of mine. To tell the truth, an appointment with a specialist such as a counselor wasn’t my own idea and I didn’t even remotely understand what I was doing in that room. Sitting in front of him made me feel neither comfortable, nor confident.
“Uh, where ... from where should I start?” I asked.
“From the beginning, please…”
“The beginning took place somewhere neither of us had ever expected it to…
For that trip we had delayed some important meetings at work, so just our backpacks needed to be ready. I hardly remember the time when I started to adore camping and all the things associated with this kind of outdoor activity. Because of our job, we have the opportunity to work from anywhere, but sometimes we end up getting stuck somewhere because of it too. We were waiting for the best moment for several months, but every time we started to plan our way, something happened. However, we haven’t been on holiday (since I don’t remember when), so that was the main reason why we said to ourselves: “No way! We will not be waiting anymore!” That is why we were in a rush. We just wanted to get out of this city. We didn’t want to stay here any longer. One weather forecast said that the weather will be a bit cloudy, but another one predicted that there will probably be rain in most of the east, and there could even be a chance of storms. We knew that it may cause problems, but one fact you should take into consideration is that people in this part of the world constantly believe that the weather forecast lies only once, but every day. So the forecast didn’t matter to us much.
After one week camping not far from the seashore, we were planning to take a short boat trip and then hike through the forest to reach the outskirts of the city. During the previous week, we basked in the lovely weather, but the wetter weather was on its way. We didn’t fully realize it until it was too late. Before we had time to get back to shore, the storm had hit. That was the reason why we went back to the shore, but not to the same place we had planned to go to before. Because of the strong, biting cold wind and torrential rain, we quickly felt physically exhausted and too tired to continue. Nevertheless, we obviously needed to stay somewhere and make our way through the bushy thickets.
Finally, as we neared the highway, we saw an unlikely-looking motel with its pale signboard. Nothing apart from this did we see in the vicinity. We felt a great amount of hesitation, but on the other hand, to be honest we had no choice. A fence which was falling apart was the first thing I saw as we came closer. However, it was too cold outside, so we just pulled ourselves into the motel. We stopped in the middle of the hallway where it seemed that no one was waiting for new guests. It was hard to imagine that anyone had ever stayed in this place. The walls were covered with old wallpaper on which everyone could easily notice stained spots. The place was full of shadows and darkness, but even these dim chandeliers with thin cobwebs on them gave enough light to see little cracks on the ceiling. Everyone knew that we were stuck there indefinitely. Suddenly the door slammed open and a gaunt faced woman appeared from behind it. Because of the storm, or maybe the unwelcoming environment which had been inflicted on us, we spoke out of turn as she just stood there stern and emotionless.
When every one of us was in our rooms, I opened my notebook and made some quick notes as I usually did before going to sleep. It was then that I realized that it would be a good idea to have something hot. I put my notebook on the table and went downstairs. No one was in the kitchen and there was no water in the pipes. No water?! Um… I was just about to come back to my room when I stopped in front of the window… There was something strange there far away… The wind was wailing and the trees were swaying from side to side. When I came closer, I could see a boy in the distance. A boy? All of a sudden, high-pitched scream from nowhere caused me to turn away from the window. That creeped me out… The light blinked several times, and when I turned back to the window, no one was in the distance. At that moment, the scream stopped… and the resonating sound filled the entire room… It was incredibly slow. A widespread sound. Something continued to move…”
“I guess we need to have a stop today. It is better to have a break,” said my interlocutor who was strutting around in the room.
I stood up slowly and moved towards the doorway. My sweaty palms started to tremble and I felt my knees get weaker. “What the hell is going on here?” I thought when I saw my yellow notebook on the left-hand side of his shelf, which I had left behind in a hurry on that wet night at an old motel in the middle of nowhere.
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