Hot Day

It was a typical summer day, a Wednesday, one of the hottest day of the year. The sky was constantly threaten to rain but the heat never left the streets. The asphalt slathered in hot steams. Even with thick soles, the heat would still manage to slip inside your skin.

Sam wore her red flipflops that day, the ones that had the chocolate ice cream stains on the heel's surface. The brown had turned to gray since last summer. She painted her toenails a bright purple, her favorite color, the night before. She pulled her white baseball cap on and pulled the heavy, metal front door open and walked out to the streets with the sun beating down on her head. Her long red hair braided in two, down the side of her shoulders. Wearing a thin black t-shirt and blue denim shorts, Sam decided to head to the beach to cool off.

She frequently go to the supermarket for bottle waters and that particular day was no different. She waited in line behind a old couple bickering about pickles. She smiled at the old lady when she looked in her direction. Someday, Sam hope she will have someone to bicker about pickles.

She came out with the water, took a sip, closed the cap, looked towards the blue sky, then veered off to the direction of the beach. But she never got there.

When the storm came, she ran for cover under a cherry tree. But as the rain grew heavier, Sam knew she needed to go to some place with a real roof. The rain seeped into her skin as she ran.

As the sliding doors opened, she dived inside the supermarket. She walked up and down the aisles and felt someone was watching her. She turned her head slightly but couldn't see anyone. In the large round surveillance mirror, she saw only herself - a skinny thirteen year old, her red hair matted to her face. The music overhead was playing "Smoke gets in your eyes." Somehow Sam fell in love those oldies music through her grandparents.

Her thoughts drifted off to the sound of the water dripping off her clothes. She pulled off her cap and wrapped her braids in her hand, squeezing the water out. When she placed her cap back on her head, she noticed the market was empty.

The music suddenly stopped. Sam looked up at the small speakers in the ceiling. A tapping sound unlike a needle running around an empty space where a record should be, bounced on and off as if someone was deliberately pulling at the needle. Sam felt a chill running down her back. She thought maybe it was because she was in the ice cream isle. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked towards the cookie isle but the chill stayed with her.

The music started to play then stopped suddenly. Then it play again. Then stopped for the second time. Silence seem to enveloped the whole place and her mind. She could not hear any sounds, not even her own racing heartbeat.

The music suddenly started again causing her to jumped in fright. Sam still could not found anyone around. Not even the red-faced manager who usually follows her when she shops. She thought she saw a raven flew passed her her but when she ran after it, it seem to have disappeared.

Strange sounds came from the speakers. She looked up at the florescent lights as the chill slowly crept into her chest. She felt someone was behind her. She turned around but there was no one. Through the dark window shades, she could see it was still raining outside. She decided to walk around a bit and wait it out. The music started to scrambled, the words sped up, bunching together then slowing down, screeching to a halt.

She saw someone in blue ran passed her. She followed it but found no one only a blue apron lying on the white tiles, almost as if someone had left it there in a hurry. She dared not pick it up. Sam knew she should leave but the rain hasn't stop and her clothes were still wet.

She felt a chilly hand grabbed her shoulder. She wanted to scream but then it was gone. She slowly turned to look at her shoulder but there was nothing there. Over the speaker, she heard the music playing again. She turned round and round but the place was empty. A thick voice boomed from the speaker repeating, "Get out!" each time louder than before. She covered her ears with her hands but the voice continued.

Suddenly she couldn't move. She felt as if her feet were glued to the floor. She pulled at her legs trying to get them to move. She thought she saw white glue underneath her flipflops. Finally she got free and ran out of the supermarket holding the scream inside her. She felt relieved as the doors slide closed behind her.

The rain had stopped, the sun was out. Already the pavement was dry. No signs of rain anywhere. No signs of people either. She tripped on a sewer cover and fell down in the middle of the street, skinning her knees. One of her flip-flop flew off her feet.

She heard a ghastly voice calling her name but when she looked towards where it came from, there was no one there. She could still hear the voice echoing in the silent street. Not a single person to be seem. She got up without a sound and started to run, leaving her other flipflop behind.

It started to rain again but Sam kept on running, passed her house, passed the neighbors' houses, passed everything. Her feet burned from the hot pavement.

Sam never got home that day nor any other day. No one knew where she went. It was believed she melted into the asphalt as the heat got worse. Some even believed she got suck up into the sky when the storm came rushing down an hour before she disappeared.


Inspired by this photo and 3WW: Frequent, Open, Someday