The Commute

Gloria sat, engulfed in the darkness. The calm, quiet emptiness of the void made an easy backdrop for her to clear her mind.

She slowly, steadily breathed in and out, relieving her mind of the endless traffic of her anxious thoughts.

In the darkness of her cleared mind, the silence of the void was broken simply by the sound of footsteps. It was like watching an old movie where the sound of every step is audible, every click of every heel connecting to the ground beneath.

Somewhere in the void of her consciousness, a stranger walked. It sounded like a businessman wearing his formal leather business shoes.

Gloria tried to brush his footsteps aside, but they only grew incessantly louder. She fought against the anxiety she felt whenever approaching a stranger. "Don't make eye contact. Give them no reason to notice you," she told herself.

As the sounds of the businessman's heels approached her, a second set of footsteps joined the fray. These sounded like a pair of high heels, probably stilettos.

Gloria's nerves were rattled further, then another pair of footsteps joined in, then another, and yet another joined the cacophony of footsteps crowding her in the darkness.

Gloria decided to try and elude the strangers in the void. So she began to flee into the unknown, feeling the rush of the chilly air against her face.

Then a new sound alerted her, a chirp, like an automated notification. It sounded behind her, and she spun around to face the chirping culprit in the darkness.

Then a metallic rattling grabbed her attention behind her once more.

Gloria spun around in the darkness, but the ground beneath her slid away when she stepped to flee.

She fell to the floor, still spinning on her way down. Gloria landed on her back, but the ground only met with the lower half of her body. She flipped backward off the little bit of support and fell further down still.

Gloria landed on her stomach. The wind knocked out of her amid the tumble. Startled voices filled the air. Then a light emitted, breaking the dark void. Gloria's heart raced faster than it ever had before.

In a dull office building, within the maze of tiny cubicles, a loud crashing sound erupted for all to hear.

Several workers, alerted by the sound, rushed to find the culprit.

Gloria lay on the floor in one of the many small cubicles, her chair tipped over just a couple of feet away.

Finding her comically sprawled on the carpet, her co-workers burst into laughter. A couple of them made witty comments she paid no heed to.

Embarrassed, she had dozed off daydreaming and fallen out of her chair. Gloria lifted herself off the floor, grabbed her purse, and pushed through the gathered onlookers.

All her life, Gloria had been subject to premonitions within her dreams; most of them depicted someone's death. She would watch from behind the eyes of the poor soul doomed to lose their life. Gloria would typically see the same vision three to four times before it finally manifested. This particular dream she had seen three times now. It still rattled her every time. It was a feeling she couldn't quickly shake. But she knew it would occur in reality soon enough. She wanted it to happen already so she could stop seeing the damned premonition.

Gloria wanted nothing more than to head home. So she exited her office building and headed to the subway station down the street.

Inside the station, Gloria saw only one other person, a homeless man fast asleep on a rather uncomfortable-looking metal bench.

She quietly made her way to a bench just past his, making sure not to awaken him.

Gloria sat down, trying to calm her nerves, a struggle she could not always accomplish.

She was slowly conquering her anxious mind when the clicking of a pair of leather business shoes disrupted the silence.

She turned in the direction they were coming from to spot a man dressed in a suit carrying a briefcase entering the station.

The clicking of his heels was not just noticed by her, for it had awoken the homeless man from his slumber. The businessman approached the bench the homeless man sat upon. The hobo climbed to his feet, averting his gaze from the suit and walking away.

The clicking of stilettos alerted Gloria that more people were entering the station. Within just a few seconds, a small crowd had begun to grow.

Gloria knew this was her vision coming true; she guessed it was the hobo whose time was coming to an end.

She didn't truly know why, but something inside of her made Gloria have to follow the homeless man. It's not that she wanted to see his death, but seeing her vision come true brought a strange sense of assurance and relief.

So Gloria followed the hobo.

An automatic notification chirped behind her. Gloria turned to see the woman in the stilettos checking her phone in response to the chime.

A metallic rattling sounded behind her. Gloria spun around to see the homeless man pushing a shopping cart full of garbage bags. But she didn't see his small cardboard sign fall from atop the trash pile and flutter to the ground below.

Gloria stepped forward, and her foot found the cardboard piece. It slid under her, and she began to spin around as she fell to the floor. She landed on the concrete, half over the edge. Gravity pulled her backward over the edge.

Gloria fell, landing on her stomach on the subway train's tracks.

The crowd's audible screams and utterings of "oh my God!" filled the air.

Gloria had seen over a dozen people die in horrific accidents throughout her life. Elderly, young adults, even a child once; that one had always haunted her. So she didn't want to see this one coming.

Gloria closed her eyes tightly as the train lights coming down the tunnel illuminated the track.

As she listened to the crowd and the squeals of the train breaking, Gloria felt that familiar sense of assurance and relief.

Her dream was finally over.