The sun shone brightly through the taxi's windshield, making it difficult to keep from squinting as we made our way to the airport. It was a warm mid-summer day, and the streets were about as busy as you can imagine. Along the sidewalks, there were crowds of people so large that you'd see someone walk in and never make it back out. A sea of people, all swarming to greet the beautiful day. Of course, I'd be spending most of my day out of the sun.
I had spent the last few days exploring New York City. I'm traditionally a yoga instructor, but after a year and a half, my higher-ups allowed me a week's vacation. I had decided that the one place I'd always wanted to go was to see the big apple. Exploring Time Square and seeing so many phenomenal Broadway shows, was all incredibly expensive, but it was an amazing experience. Especially with the friends I'd made there in that short time. I have to remind myself to go back next year.
After a while, the taxi finally pulled up to the airport. The building stood over me, casting a dark shadow, reminding me that my 'fun in the sun' had come to an end.
I reached for the cool glass door, noticing that there weren't many people inside. It was strange. You'd think that, with it being the middle of summer, more people would want to be traveling. I didn't mind though. That only meant that the plane wouldn't be so crowded on the way back to my home town of San Diego.
The woman behind the desk was friendly, greeting me with a warm smile as she asked for my ID before letting me get a plane ticket. As our exchange occurred, I couldn't help but notice the blue chairs in the waiting area, most of which were empty. The one chair that drew my attention was one that wasn't quite as empty. From what I could tell, there was a pair of sunglasses, sitting perfectly folded in the center of the chair. It piqued my curiosity enough that after I got my ticket, I sat down in the chair next to it.
I'd waited patiently for several minutes to see if anyone was going to come back for them. Nobody did.
I can't really explain why these headphones drew my attention so much. Perhaps it was how out of place it felt for them to have a seat all their own. Eventually, They called for my flight to be boarded. With nobody else coming to claim the sunglasses, I took them and put them on. There wasn't anything too special about them, looking through. Surely, it was a relief to not have the light intruding on my vision, but with the lenses being scuffed, they were far from favorable to be wearing.
I took them off as I sat down, placing them in my purse, just next to me.
Roughly an hour into my flight, I grew bored. I needed something to do to keep my mind busy, and the music I was listening to was boring me even further. I decided to give the sunglasses another examination. They were wire framed. The shape of them looked like something from the 80's, like something a cop would wear. The lenses were dark enough that you could barely see anything through them from the front. When I put them on, they felt extremely comfortable, as if they fit my head perfectly. It was a surprise, as wireframe sunglasses usually cut into my skin just behind my ears.
With them still on, I looked all around me. The fade from the sunglasses made the world around me feel somewhat crisper, like watching your favorite movie in high quality for the first time.
I continued turning my head until it reached the aisle, where there was a man. He was standing in the aisle, staring down at me, slightly hunched over. The sudden closeness made me jump.
I took the sunglasses off my face and began to ask what he was doing, but when they were off of my face, he was nowhere to be found. In looking around for him, I noticed a couple of weird looks coming from the few people in the cabin around me. I returned my eyes to the sunglasses and shrugged. Maybe he knew I noticed him and he ran away.
Slipping the sunglasses back on, I noticed a familiar shadow looming over me. Looking to the aisle again, I saw the same man staring down at me with his piercing blue eyes. He was breathing heavy enough that I expected to feel his hot breath on me, yet I felt nothing.
I lowered my sunglasses, only to realize that he was missing in the parts outside of the sunglasses.
"Who are you?" I asked in a lowered voice, hoping to avoid being looked at weirdly. "And why are you staring at me?"
For a few moments, he just continued to stare at me. I was feeling incredibly uneasy at this point, panicking internally. I knew I had to hide it, otherwise the others around me would see me as crazy.
"You found my sunglasses," he said, his voice low and monotone.
I had so many question running through my head, yet none of them could escape my lips. I just watched as he continued to stare down at me. It was hard to tell if he was angry with me or what. I only knew that his eyes never once looked away from me.
I took the glasses off of my face and put them back in my purse. I figured that if I couldn't see him, he would eventually just go away.
Several minutes had passed and I had almost forgotten about the mysterious invisible man. That was until I heard his disembodied voice in my ear. "You can't escape me."
My head jerked to the side, where the voice was coming from. I somehow expected to see something but still, there was nothing.
"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly, looking down at my phone, as to not draw attention to myself. "If you want the sunglasses back, I'll give them to you."
"Why do you not look at me?" the man asked in his dry, monotone voice. "I grant you sight, yet you do not look?"
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Mentally, I was asking him to go away. I hoped that if I didn't acknowledge him, he would possibly lose interest. This, unfortunately, was not the case. He continued to beg me to look at him for what felt like an eternity. I put my headphones on, hoping it would drown out his voice. I closed my eyes and found myself getting lost in the soft melodies. I leaned back in my seat and relaxed.
"It'll all be over soon," I told myself. "I'll take a nice, warm shower when I get home and feel ready to take on the day when I wake up for work tomorrow."
"That's what you think," the man's voice boomed over my headphones, startling me awake with a gasp. I ripped the headphones from my ears and turned to where I knew he was at.
"Leave me alone!" I shouted.
Immediately, I had drawn the attention of the flight attendant, "Is everything okay over here, ma'am?"
I nodded, looking around to find that all eyes were on me. I noticed a few people whispering to the person next to them, their eyesight narrowly escaping me.
I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. I'm a yoga instructor after all.
"If there's anything you need, just ask, okay?" the flight attendant said politely before walking to the back and disappearing behind a blue curtain.
After I made sure the attention was away from me, I carefully put my sunglasses back on. "What the hell is your problem?" I asked in a hushed voice.
"You have my sunglasses," he said.
"I know, you've told me that already," I said. "I found them at the airport and nobody wanted them. I'm sorry sir, do you want them back?"
"No!" his voice boomed, sending shivers down my spine. "You've found them, now they're yours forever."
"What does that even mean?" I asked. "Are you just going to follow me around with them, or what? Why are you here?"
In hearing those words, a burst of cruel laughter escaped his lips as he threw his head back. "It is not just I that will follow you," he said. "These sunglasses are a beacon to the undead. You can hear them. You can see them. They will forever be all around you."
I had spent the last few days exploring New York City. I'm traditionally a yoga instructor, but after a year and a half, my higher-ups allowed me a week's vacation. I had decided that the one place I'd always wanted to go was to see the big apple. Exploring Time Square and seeing so many phenomenal Broadway shows, was all incredibly expensive, but it was an amazing experience. Especially with the friends I'd made there in that short time. I have to remind myself to go back next year.
After a while, the taxi finally pulled up to the airport. The building stood over me, casting a dark shadow, reminding me that my 'fun in the sun' had come to an end.
I reached for the cool glass door, noticing that there weren't many people inside. It was strange. You'd think that, with it being the middle of summer, more people would want to be traveling. I didn't mind though. That only meant that the plane wouldn't be so crowded on the way back to my home town of San Diego.
The woman behind the desk was friendly, greeting me with a warm smile as she asked for my ID before letting me get a plane ticket. As our exchange occurred, I couldn't help but notice the blue chairs in the waiting area, most of which were empty. The one chair that drew my attention was one that wasn't quite as empty. From what I could tell, there was a pair of sunglasses, sitting perfectly folded in the center of the chair. It piqued my curiosity enough that after I got my ticket, I sat down in the chair next to it.
I'd waited patiently for several minutes to see if anyone was going to come back for them. Nobody did.
I can't really explain why these headphones drew my attention so much. Perhaps it was how out of place it felt for them to have a seat all their own. Eventually, They called for my flight to be boarded. With nobody else coming to claim the sunglasses, I took them and put them on. There wasn't anything too special about them, looking through. Surely, it was a relief to not have the light intruding on my vision, but with the lenses being scuffed, they were far from favorable to be wearing.
I took them off as I sat down, placing them in my purse, just next to me.
Roughly an hour into my flight, I grew bored. I needed something to do to keep my mind busy, and the music I was listening to was boring me even further. I decided to give the sunglasses another examination. They were wire framed. The shape of them looked like something from the 80's, like something a cop would wear. The lenses were dark enough that you could barely see anything through them from the front. When I put them on, they felt extremely comfortable, as if they fit my head perfectly. It was a surprise, as wireframe sunglasses usually cut into my skin just behind my ears.
With them still on, I looked all around me. The fade from the sunglasses made the world around me feel somewhat crisper, like watching your favorite movie in high quality for the first time.
I continued turning my head until it reached the aisle, where there was a man. He was standing in the aisle, staring down at me, slightly hunched over. The sudden closeness made me jump.
I took the sunglasses off my face and began to ask what he was doing, but when they were off of my face, he was nowhere to be found. In looking around for him, I noticed a couple of weird looks coming from the few people in the cabin around me. I returned my eyes to the sunglasses and shrugged. Maybe he knew I noticed him and he ran away.
Slipping the sunglasses back on, I noticed a familiar shadow looming over me. Looking to the aisle again, I saw the same man staring down at me with his piercing blue eyes. He was breathing heavy enough that I expected to feel his hot breath on me, yet I felt nothing.
I lowered my sunglasses, only to realize that he was missing in the parts outside of the sunglasses.
"Who are you?" I asked in a lowered voice, hoping to avoid being looked at weirdly. "And why are you staring at me?"
For a few moments, he just continued to stare at me. I was feeling incredibly uneasy at this point, panicking internally. I knew I had to hide it, otherwise the others around me would see me as crazy.
"You found my sunglasses," he said, his voice low and monotone.
I had so many question running through my head, yet none of them could escape my lips. I just watched as he continued to stare down at me. It was hard to tell if he was angry with me or what. I only knew that his eyes never once looked away from me.
I took the glasses off of my face and put them back in my purse. I figured that if I couldn't see him, he would eventually just go away.
Several minutes had passed and I had almost forgotten about the mysterious invisible man. That was until I heard his disembodied voice in my ear. "You can't escape me."
My head jerked to the side, where the voice was coming from. I somehow expected to see something but still, there was nothing.
"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly, looking down at my phone, as to not draw attention to myself. "If you want the sunglasses back, I'll give them to you."
"Why do you not look at me?" the man asked in his dry, monotone voice. "I grant you sight, yet you do not look?"
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Mentally, I was asking him to go away. I hoped that if I didn't acknowledge him, he would possibly lose interest. This, unfortunately, was not the case. He continued to beg me to look at him for what felt like an eternity. I put my headphones on, hoping it would drown out his voice. I closed my eyes and found myself getting lost in the soft melodies. I leaned back in my seat and relaxed.
"It'll all be over soon," I told myself. "I'll take a nice, warm shower when I get home and feel ready to take on the day when I wake up for work tomorrow."
"That's what you think," the man's voice boomed over my headphones, startling me awake with a gasp. I ripped the headphones from my ears and turned to where I knew he was at.
"Leave me alone!" I shouted.
Immediately, I had drawn the attention of the flight attendant, "Is everything okay over here, ma'am?"
I nodded, looking around to find that all eyes were on me. I noticed a few people whispering to the person next to them, their eyesight narrowly escaping me.
I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. I'm a yoga instructor after all.
"If there's anything you need, just ask, okay?" the flight attendant said politely before walking to the back and disappearing behind a blue curtain.
After I made sure the attention was away from me, I carefully put my sunglasses back on. "What the hell is your problem?" I asked in a hushed voice.
"You have my sunglasses," he said.
"I know, you've told me that already," I said. "I found them at the airport and nobody wanted them. I'm sorry sir, do you want them back?"
"No!" his voice boomed, sending shivers down my spine. "You've found them, now they're yours forever."
"What does that even mean?" I asked. "Are you just going to follow me around with them, or what? Why are you here?"
In hearing those words, a burst of cruel laughter escaped his lips as he threw his head back. "It is not just I that will follow you," he said. "These sunglasses are a beacon to the undead. You can hear them. You can see them. They will forever be all around you."
***
Yoga teaches you many things in the form of relaxation. Finding your inner peace, and being able to truly center yourself. And somehow, in the madness of my situation, I have slowly been able to find peace. With the voices haunting me, saying things in varying tones, following me everywhere I go. Somehow, I have found peace with it. It took a lot of practice, locking myself away from the world. There's no way I could continue work as a yoga instructor, pretending to relax, as to not alarm any of my students by the random agitation of trying to shoe away voices that only I can hear.
And as for the sunglasses, I think I've figured out a way to get rid of them. I just need to give them so someone else. To get them as far away from me as possible. Oh, sweet freedom, oh, how I crave you.
Yoga teaches you many things in the form of relaxation. Finding your inner peace, and being able to truly center yourself. And somehow, in the madness of my situation, I have slowly been able to find peace. With the voices haunting me, saying things in varying tones, following me everywhere I go. Somehow, I have found peace with it. It took a lot of practice, locking myself away from the world. There's no way I could continue work as a yoga instructor, pretending to relax, as to not alarm any of my students by the random agitation of trying to shoe away voices that only I can hear.
And as for the sunglasses, I think I've figured out a way to get rid of them. I just need to give them so someone else. To get them as far away from me as possible. Oh, sweet freedom, oh, how I crave you.
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