After a long day at work I don't want to go straight home, so I decide to walk. And of course, halfway there it starts to rain, and I don't have an umbrella with me.
The lousy scale of today is approaching record levels.
But it wasn't the nasty October rain that broke my scale, knocking it to a thousand points out of a possible ten, but my decision to take a shortcut home and go through the park.
This is what becomes my fatal mistake.
For some reason, the lights on the familiar path I have chosen are not on today, and I turn onto another one, which, it seems to me, is brightly lit.
That's right: it's illuminated.
As soon as I realize what I'm seeing, a chill runs through me and my eyes widen in horror.
The light on the path falls not from lanterns, but from some silvery thing that very vaguely resembles a flying saucer from the movies.
The device is standing in the middle of a large clearing in the park and appears to be preparing to take off.
With my heart pounding, I watch as women enter the gangway, one after the other, as if in a chain, following each other at a distance of about a meter.
"Enter" is a strong word, it's more like the movement of programmed robots or dolls – the movements are somehow mechanical and the same for everyone – lifeless.
A line of women climb up the ramp and disappear into the brightly lit circular opening of the silver contraption. After which its doors close silently, and the clearing is immediately plunged into pitch darkness.
In confusion, I try to blink, then rub my eyes with my hands and shake my head to drive away this strange vision.
Probably the previous sleepless night affected me so much that I see God knows what!
My ex was right after all when he said that I should read less science fiction! The plots of my favorite books and my ordinary, unremarkable life are already getting mixed up in my head and before my eyes.
The sidewalk I'm walking on is plunged into darkness, as if all the lights had been turned off at once with the push of a button.
Scolding myself for letting my imagination run wild, I take my phone out of my purse and turn on the flashlight.
I try to calm my heart pounding in my ribs, convincing myself that I'll be home soon and will go to bed right away.
And no science fiction at night!
Not a line!
Illuminating my way with a flashlight, I manage to walk a few meters before its light snatches two suspicious silhouettes from the pitch darkness.
They seem to be male, but with some kind of wrong heads and arms that are too long.
An alarm signal is pounding in my brain: "Danger! Danger! Run immediately!"
I stop hearing the beating of my heart, it seems that it is not beating, but rather humming hoarsely like a broken motor, so much so that my ears are blocked.
Adrenaline is injected into my blood in huge, almost lethal doses, overwhelming me with an extreme sense of danger.
I swallow hard and take a step back. But it's too late to retreat, two huge silhouettes are moving towards me, clearly noticing me.
The skin is disgustingly chilled with fear, the heart sinks into the heels and, it seems, is not going to return from there.
There is something so eerie about the two of them that I feel an unbearable urge to run, but I can't take even half a step, my legs are giving out on me. Now I understand what the expression "feet rooted to the ground" means, that's exactly how I feel, trapped in a body that no longer obeys me.
I stand and watch in silence as two strangers move towards me completely silently.
Mommies! They don't walk, they levitate! Or what is this movement called, without touching the ground with their feet?
Panic washes over us in waves.
And I can't even scream, I can only hear my heart beating furiously.
A thick fog envelops me, penetrates under my skin, deprives me of the will and strength to scream and resist.
- Load this one too! - As if through the thickness of the water I hear the voice of one of my kidnappers.
- Where to put her? Our hold is full, we won't take off! - the second one objects.
- You can't leave her! She saw everything!
Mommies! I didn't see anything! And I'm ready to forget everything right now! For my own peace of mind! I try to tell them about it, but my lips won't obey, bound by horror like a seal.
"We can recycle it!" another one suggests indifferently.
And at this moment I feel how the fog around me becomes denser, squeezing me in a vice, not letting me breathe. Is it really going to choke me now? From the realization of this, I freeze in an instant, my body is shaking violently. I don't feel my arms or legs.
- "Do you smell her?" - the first one hisses, coming close to me, inhaling the air around my neck. - Shax would pay huge sums for her!
- "She smells like trouble! You know I hate it when things don't go according to plan!"