1

THE FIRST THING I REMEMBER

My head was pounding with excruciating pain, but very quickly and much to my relief it faded to a dull memory.  I found myself sitting on the front steps of  the hospital.  I thought it was extremely bizarre that without looking at the sign I knew I was at St. Joseph’s, but I had no idea how I got there.  I couldn’t remember ever being there before.  Then I realized that I didn’t remember anything before that moment.   I was a teenaged girl wearing a posh halter dress and some glam jewelry, of that I was sure, but I didn’t know who I was.

Most people would find the situation extremely disturbing,  Oddly enough the foremost thing on my mind was the cemetery across the street.  Why would someone build a hospital next to a cemetery? It seemed very inappropriate. I began to wonder if I was the only one who felt that way.  I wondered how many people visited or drove passed St. Joe’s saw the cemetery and thought to themselves, “What were they thinking?”
I then thought it was strange that no one had driven by. I checked the watch on my wrist.  It said 9:48 but the second hand wasn’t moving .  I wound it and held it to my ear.  I even gave the face a little tap but it still didn’t work.
Too bad it’s a really nice watch., I thought.

I couldn’t tell what time it really was.  The sky was misty and gray.
Could be morning could be late afternoon, I thought.

It didn’t really matter what time it was, there should be people driving or walking by, but everything was perfectly still.  I wondered what I might find if I went inside the hospital; perhaps an abandoned last stand against a plague, full of long dead bodies or the aftermath of a massacre of some kind.  I may find more nothing; that might be just as bad.  I walked down to the sidewalk and looked down to the left where there was an intersection.  I watched as the light turned from red to green and back to red again but  there was no one in sight.  Uncertainty began to creep over me.  I began to dislike the silence.  It made me uneasy because I had no explanation for it.  I was standing on what should have been a busy street,  in front of what was supposed to be a busy hospital.  I crossed my arms over my chest, I found it some what comforting, but what I really needed was to find another human being.  If something had happed to everybody in town, why was I left behind?
As I stood on the sidewalk trying to decide whether I should enter the hospital or not, something in the cemetery got my attention.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw something darting behind the headstones on the far side of the graveyard.  I was sure it was a small animal, but it moved so fast I couldn’t tell what kind it was.  I couldn’t get a good look at the peculiar creatures, but they had moved close enough to be heard.  They squawked like bickering hens, but they also growled and hissed like reptiles.
My heart began to pound and I became tense with anticipation. The creatures scurried across the cemetery again, weaving in and out among the headstones.  This time I got a better look at them.  There was a group of ten or more. They were small, the size of chickens, with skinny featherless bodies covered in leathery hides the color of charcoal.  The strange animals disappeared into some underbrush near the outer fence of the cemetery.  I  heard them rustle through the leaves, but it was soon quiet again.  The cemetery was lined by businesses on that side, restaurants and the like. I hope that the creatures had moved on.  With any luck they found themselves a dumpster full of kitchen scraps to keep them busy.
In any case I didn’t want to stay out in the open if they came back.  Just as I took a step back toward the hospital  when one of the creatures hopped out through the cemetery fence onto the sidewalk, directly across from me.  My heart jumped into my throat as I froze in place.
It had eyes like a snake but they were bright blue and seemed to glow.  It cocked it’s lizard like head from side to side as it watched me. I knew that whatever that thing was it was fast, and I had my doubts about being able to outrun it.  I hoped that if I stood real still that it would get bored and go away, but my hopes were dashed when the menacing little beastie was joined by two more.  They resembled small prehistoric reptiles, but they had long fingered hands that were disturbingly human in appearance.  They also had long pointed ears that laid flat against their lengthy slender necks.  The three bobbed and cocked their heads as they continued to gawk at her,  twitching their whip-like tails eagerly as they wrung their humanoid hands.
No matter how I wished the creatures would go away, the way they held me in an unwavering gaze told  me that they weren’t going to lose interest in me anytime soon.  The glint in their eyes also gave me the impression that this standoff might not end well.
The original reptilian creature shifted its weight from one foot to the other like a little dance.  The other two chirped eagerly.
The voice in my head said,  Get ready to run.
The rest of the group started to come out of hiding, and I was taken aback to find there were twice as many in the ghastly swarm than I had thought. Thirty altogether, at least.  They all chirped and squawked and hopped around until their racket became a deafening drone, all except the leader.  He never took his eyes off me and I never looked way from him.   He stretched his skinny neck, and released a long raspy scream.
The voice in my head shouted, Run, Run, Run!
I let out a scream of my own as I took flight, and the pack of screeching monsters were right on my heals.  I could feel them nipping at the hem of my skirt as I took the hospital steps two by two.  Once I cleared the stairs, one of the tiny terrors leapt up at me.  I felt it brush passed my arm barely missing me. I squealed and sidestepped away from my attacker.  I could see the hospital door ahead of me.  All of my former worries of what might be inside had disappeared.  Instead I was consumed with the desire to escape and find shelter from these horrible little creatures.
The electric sliding door opened revealing a pitch black entryway.
“Help me,” I shouted into the darkness, “Help.”
I ran head long through the doorway and was hit in the face by a violent deluge of cold rain.  Stunned, I came to a stuttering halt just short of the hospital stairs.  I was outside again in the middle of a stormy night.  I quickly took a guarded stance and scanned my surroundings for my menacing assailants.  They were gone and I was alone again, much to my relief this time. I had barely begun to process the inexplicable events when a blinding flash of lightening slit the night sky accompanied  by a loud clap of thunder that I actually felt in my chest.  Without giving it much thought I dashed back into the hospital.
Instead of  a patient registration desk head and a gift shop off to the side, I found myself looking up at a bright blue sky full of billowing white clouds.  I could hear the twitter of birds and could smell the perfume of blossoming trees.  The sun’s warmth caressed my face as fresh air filled my lungs.  Everything was light and beautiful and everything would be right with the world if it wasn’t deserted.  All would be well if I hadn’t found myself in a real live Twilight Zone. Moments ago I had been in a torrential downpour, but my hair and dress were completely dry.  Before that I had been running for my life from crazy little man-eating dinosaur thingies.  It was all too much, and I had reached my breaking point.
I ran down into the street, shook my fists at the sky, and  screamed, “What the hell is going on!”
Then I slumped on the curb and cried hysterically. There was something seriously wrong with me.  I couldn’t remember who I was and probably needed medical attention, which I obviously wasn’t going to get because the hospital had turned into a time warp that kept spitting me back out onto the street.  I was alone and disoriented.  I needed some comfort and most importantly some answers.
My out burst had done me some good and I felt more calm.  I wiped away my tears and took a cleansing breath.  As I did so, I began to hear the subtle jingle of metal.  The sound grew closer so I quickly got to my feet and prepared to run if need be. The jingling sound was accompanied  by the patter of  quickly moving feet and it was only a matter of seconds until the responsible party came into sight.  Much to my surprise a small black dog ran through the intersection I had taken an interest in earlier.  It was a Labrador mix but little, probably 45 pounds at the most.   The jingling sound was coming from the tags on its hot pink collar and as the dog got closer I could hear it panting as well.
The Lab came to halt in front of  St. Joseph’s and stood perfectly still, frozen at attention, except for its panting pink tongue.  With its ears perked it stared at me with sparkling brown eyes.  The dog was young almost a puppy.  Finally the little dog let out a little woof ,and with a hop it was off again running like it was on fire.  I quickly ran down to the sidewalk trying to keep the little dog in sight.  I didn’t have a reason to stay put, that I knew of, so I decided that I would follow the dog.  I can’t explain why but I actually felt that I needed to follow it.
I needed answers, but I would settle for companionship.  Following the only living thing I had encountered that hadn’t tried attacking me seemed as good a plan as any.  For now it was the only plan I had.