The rain flooded earth in choruses, the footsteps of a
figure trudged across puddles simultaneously to the claps of thunder. Lightning
flashed again and again revealing his appearance with each stroke of light. For
a long time, the person stooped, staring up to the monument that was a hotel as
he ignored the chill in the air. This
was a natural chill which comforted, not that unnatural chill that prowled from
inside the windows of the establishment. The look of the site raised every hair
on his body and made the skin prickle in dismay and coldness. The sky cried out
thunder through the heavens shaking everything abruptly. His hands rose, catching
it’s teardrops for a while. Failing to ease
him and distract him from the cold that slithered down into his core making him
feel numb, he went against his discomfort of the hotel and strode towards it,
sleeping somewhere cold didn’t appeal to him. Suddenly, despite his first
thoughts, the double doors blew open by the push of his palms and a breeze
whirled in, bringing with it the smell of decaying things that had once clung
to the furniture. The stranger slipped
into the darkened hotel, his hair stuck up in every direction from the wind
tossing it about. The man doddered his
way into the lobby and collapsed in a chair near the fireplace where no sign of
kindle rested. Realising his rashness, he struggled out of the chair and aimed
himself somewhat erratically for the front desk. The sounds of thunder and
lightning faded away as he descended further into the building. The main hall
was rather old-fashioned in appearance and disused air filled his lungs. The
hotel had an empty feeling to it, the air stale with undefined kitchen odours
that lurked nearby. There was dust in the corners, and a spider web drooped
from the ceiling. Stains lingered on the curtains and other fabrics. He
carefully inspected the desk, the walls and the floor, but I heard no voices,
nor footsteps. Other than a
discolouration of papers and wood, there was no sign anywhere suggesting people
had been there for some time. It was the
lack of human presence that caught his attention. Curious, he materialised from his
investigation behind the desk and he went out into the open part of the room to
peer over the railing by the staircase to the hallways above. Regardless of whether the aromas or scenery
plunged a sense of fear or disgust in his stomach he creped on up the staircases
of the hotel towards its lodgings that reeked of abandonment.
No comments:
Post a Comment