The strange town of Auldesville

A clear day yet there are no fishes visible at the pond. Nature still showing all its beautiful green as the sky darkens. An anonymous voice whispers “I hear the wind coming towards us”. With every step the voice is becoming clearer, but suddenly it seems to fade away. Who goes there? There are movements in the dark. The trees seem pretty anxious today. Movements, definitely movements! They seem to come closer. Suddenly there’s a strange smell in the air. Sweat runs down all over her body, the air…it thickens! There’s a panther, about 13 feet away. It circles around the trees and slowly comes closer and closer. It’s hard to breathe. The air it’s….

The alarm buzzes. “Had another weird dream Angela?”. She nods in her reply. No breakfast today, but she doesn’t count the days without breakfast anymore. One quick look in the mirror, then straight to her Benz. The bus drivers are on strike again. The streets are not too busy today. She hits the highway, leaving the city far behind. The landscape is amazing but Angela’s not in the right mood to enjoy those little things. The car stops! Enough fuel, it’s the engine! It broke! She takes out her cell-phone and dials a number. No connection! Stuck in the middle of nowhere.

There’s a sign on the street “Auldesville”. There’s a small town visible in the distance, she moves towards it. Odd, it’s like a ghost-town. Not one living creature in sight, but wait there has to be someone. There are car tracks and some evening-post newspapers in front of some houses. But where has everyone gone? She spots a small path leading to the east. Angela walks along the path. More and more seemingly abandoned houses, but what’s that? It looks like a forest but completely devastated and burnt down to the ground. The remains after a forest fire. Being naturally curious Angela moves towards what is left of a once mighty forest. This place is weird but somehow appealing. Too bad there’s not much of it any more. There’s a small pond. Still and clear. No fishes! A small fisher-cottage, strangely it managed to survive the fire. An axe lying on the floor. Noises! They come from the other side of the cottage. Angela carefully comes closer.

A person, definitely a person! Just an old man murmuring, he looks like he’s trying to fish. “Excuse me but I don’t think you have big luck fishing today!” The old man gives her a quick look and turns around again. “Who ever did this had the wind backing him up!” – “Pardon me?” “The wind coming from the West turned this place into a raising hell, those poor bastards in a nearby town must have been surprised by the flames.” Angela has seen enough now. She moves back to her car. This time her cell connection is okay, she’s able to reach the breakdown service.

What a confusing day! Stressed Angie falls into her bed and kisses her husband goodnight. She closes her eyes. Another pond, a different place but rather similar. There’s this voice again. “Don’t you smell anything?” The panther stops in front of her and looks straight into her eyes, not moving. The sky darkens. Angela wakes up. She has some matches in her right hand…