#fotoflash: Signs

Here is my contribution to this week’s Friday Foto Flash challenge…

Gray skies gave way to jagged streaks of lightning. The wind whipped the growing puddles into waves as the rain escalated. He spotted a drier spot under an overhang and increased his pace. The store he now stood in front of was closed. In fact, all the stores he’d passed had been closed but he’d paid no attention to them, intent on his destination.

Pulling out his mobile phone he paused to shake his hat to halt the water that had been cascading from the brim. He studied the directions, looked at his surroundings, turned the phone horizontal, then back to vertical.

According to the GPS, he was still on course. He sighed as he stuck the phone back in the pocket of his drenched jacket. The email had been explicit. Show up at the precise date and time instructed or suffer dire consequences.

He’d left early to allow for delays but this storm had come out of nowhere. When he left the sun was bright and there hadn’t been a cloud in sight. He’d taken the bus to the first major cross street in the directions, walked ten minutes to the next bus stop, took it to the next stop, then walked another fifteen minutes.

He looked at his watch. The storm was less than five minutes old but the area looked like it had been in the middle of a hurricane. The street in front was flooded, the water raging past him. Debris was tumbling in the air, raining down like crazed confetti.

He had to keep moving. He had no idea what the consequences might be, but he felt a sense of urgency. Heck, he couldn’t get any wetter than he already was. His jacket was soaked through, his shoes squished with every step.

Holding his hat against the winds threatening to add it to the swirling debris, he pushed onward, sporadically checking the directions on his phone as he shielded it from the weather. Another fifteen minutes, he thought. He’d arrive almost exactly on time.

He rounded the final corner and stopped. The street – no, the alley was completely dry. No debris. No wind. No rain. His steps slowed as he approached. There were no windows, no doors, nothing to indicate life in the city. He continued onward. When he spied a street sign, he picked up his pace.

He noticed something happening. It was only two in the afternoon but the further he walked down the street, the darker it got. It was almost completely dark when he reached the sign.

END CENTURY

“What the heck does that mean?” he muttered.

He jumped when a voice behind him answered. “Just what it says.”

He spun around and found himself facing a shapeless black robe, its identity obscured by the hood. Nevertheless, the scythe was a dead giveaway.

Everything faded to black as he heard, “Your century has ended…”