Light of the Morning

It was Saturday. May 19. Christophe had given Julius the day off. Actually, a note had. He hadn’t seen Christophe in a couple of days. Something wasn’t right. Someone who runs an orphanage cannot just take multiple days off.

He watched the shiny, black tv, slightly slumped on the couch. Nothing new of her. Just memories.

His leg started to vibrate. “Hello?” he said.

“Are you ok?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s May 19.”

“No shit.”

“We’re moving you. Don’t worry about the Orphanage anymore.”

Great. Good thing I don’t have much to pack Julius thought. Before packing, he went back to the Orphanage. He wanted to at least leave a note. Mom would take care of the formal stuff, but he liked a personal touch.

The door handle to Christophe’s office was slightly warm to the touch. The switch for the fan was turned on. Christophe knew it was broken. Something wasn’t right. Then again, nothing ever was on May 19. Christophe had left a note.

The smell was rank. Worse than above. There were 19 rungs down the manhole. What the hell is it with 19 he thought. Sewage gas seethed out of the water. The shimmering gas made the tunnel look like it was covered in glass. A real house of mirrors. Random debris passed slowly by him. A tire, a shoe, a jacket. Normal city trash.

Scush scush scush. The noise echoed off the glassy tunnel. He wasn’t alone. Could it be Christophe? Mom said don’t worry, but too late. He followed the splashing noise. Soon, something overtook the sound of the splashing. It grew from a soft rumble, to a loud roar. Like a train barreling down the tracks. Gushing out steam and frothing with power. A waterfall.

A man stood at the cusp of the waterfall. Then was gone.

“Holy shit.” he whispered.

He approached the edge. Taking care to watch his footing and moving slowly. Peering over the edge, he could see the man swimming through the muck. A lucky man on his unlucky day.

He sat watching the man climb out of the water. He wasn’t going to tempt fate with the waterfall.

The darkness of the tunnels kept time from Julius. 30 minutes might have passed or six hours. He didn’t know. The man hadn’t come back. The waterfall became white noise, a constant rumble throughout the tunnels. No clanging of metal. No footsteps. Nothing.