Ohio Gothic
⢠I walk down the hallway, several pairs of luminous eyes peer down at me from the shadows forever at the top of the cabinets. I smile at them, walking a little faster.
⢠The potholes bite at our tires as we drive down the road. We will need new ones soon. The dealerships are running low, the supply will not last long.
⢠We are chopping wood for the winter. Trying to keep the lurkers from entering our home as we do every winter with little success. A few of the moldy logs shake angrily and murmur when picked up; those are set back in the pile and not spoken of. Perhaps by next year they will be ripe.
⢠The coyotes have stopped howling. I wonder what theyâre afraid of?
⢠I stare into the corn field, I have been for the past 3 hours, or the last 10 minutes more likely. We have been driving too long, I have seen this field before. I notice the shadows in the corn following the car. I donât comment on it to my fellow passengers, we will arrive some day. Everyone has learned to be patient, they will tire of games eventually.
⢠There is something standing in the center of the road. As I pass I make eye contact with them, staring into the eyes of a plague doctor mask. I continue on my way. It will not rain this week.
⢠The buildings tend to come and go as they see fit. Today it is a dollar tree, 24 hour. This one will stick around for a while, it is of use to them, it will survive longer than the others.
⢠I have to venture out, the lock on the front door has been broken for the 3rd time this week. It is 4am, not a safe time, I will bring a friend for company. I arrive in the isle of locks in the Walmart (it was a petsmart last week). The floors are smudged and shelves knocked over, this one wonât last long. I pick out my lock but my companion has to go to the bathroom, fear flickers in my eyes but I have no power to tell him. He leaves, I continue to the checkout. My friend will not be returning.
⢠There is construction on 75. There is construction on 71. The empty vehicles sit dormant, the cones sneer at is as we wait. Theyâre cutting off our exits.
⢠I am in class, my phone vibrates in my pocket. Everyone knows better by now than to have the ringer on. Itâs from my father, a meme, I like it. He is still alive.
⢠It is raining, 40 degrees. I put on my jacket, knowing it will do little good. I step out of school, it is sunny, 95 degrees. I abandon my jacket, there will be another one waiting at home.
⢠I met someone from Cincinnati once, I pitied them. The potholes are so much hungrier there. The river demands much more than they could ever give it.
⢠I hear sirens in the distance. âItâs Wednesdayâ they seem to be getting closer, we wonât last long.
⢠A whisle in the distance. The tracks shake. I cannot sleep. The tracks are rusty, there havenât been trains in years. They say the 4am train still runs to Chicago out of Union Station. People talk but no one has ever known anyone whoâs taken the train. Everyone knows better than to try to escape.
⢠The workmen travel in packs. They mill around the roads. One man works while the others stand gaurd, ready to step in and take the last ones place. Theyâre always digging holes. They cannot satisfy the potholeâs hunger, they know their fate.
⢠The coyotes shreak in the night. I am in the middle of the city, I am in the middle of nowhere. It doesnât matter, I still hear their screaming. They are drawing closer.
⢠The snow whips around the car, little white dots coming out of the darkness. No time passes as we drive down the highway. Are we even still on the highway? No one knows. We continue driving. Anything is better than stopping, we know what waits for us just behind the snow if we do.
⢠I get on the metro bus. It is dusk, there is no one else on the bus. We do not stop, there is someone in the back of the bus. It was always there. I get off the bus, it is 5am, it is almost dawn. I am in a Walgreens parking lot, I have no memory of how I got here. The bus is gone. That went better than last time.
⢠I hear a scream from another classroom. No one flinches, no one asks, and most importantly no one goes to check if everythingâs alright, we all know it isnât. We continue with the lesson. The screaming fades. We are safe for now.
⢠I open my window, my cat looks into the woods and growls, I see nothing. I close the window and lock it. I was lucky, itâs always worse when I can see it. I mustnât forget to close the windows tonight, thatâs just asking something to come in.
⢠We hear distant gunshots. âItâs deer seasonâ We hear them again. âItâs rabbit seasonâ Eventually we ran out of animals. We stop noticing the shots, we know to stay out of the woods. We see movement from within the snow, the trees seem to shift, whisper. The snow forms shapes. We close the curtains and lock the doors. âItâs hunting seasonâ
⢠âKnee high by the 4th of July!â I cannot see the horizon. I donât mention this to anyone, we all already know. The saying is true. We do not know whoâs knees they are. we do not want to know.
⢠There has been a pothole there as long as I can remember. The city says it will be fixed, we know it never will, the city is just as afraid as we are. Theyâre multiplying. Growing. We have no power over then. Stay off the roads at night, thatâs when they hunt.
⢠The night highway screams. Something screams back. âItâs just semi-trucksâ but the highway is empty. I go back inside, it is dangerous to listen for too long.
⢠I listen, I hear nothing. Everything is too afraid to sing, I do not know what they fear, but I fear it too. It is a Quiet Night, those who are foolish and make noise or venture into the silence will join the wailing of the highway. I know well enough to heed the warning, I go back inside.
⢠People always talk about the corn, but never the soybeans, they are too afraid. The corn is tall enough to disguise the creatures that hide within it, it provides places for their eyes to peek out of. The soybeans do not. Donât underestimate the soybeans, they cannot be escaped so easily.
⢠We pass another truck stop. We stop, we have no choice. It is okay to use the bathrooms as long as you have a companion and donât linger. Never wander or buy any of the food. If you eat the food or take too long, you belong to them. Donât run to the car, walk, but not too slow. Donât show them your fear, donât look behind you, hurry, theyâre closing in. Drive away, never look back.
We pass another truck stop. We keep driving.
⢠I was born in Ohio. I was raised in Ohio. I have lived my whole life in Ohio. I have never met a single person with an Ohio accent, I fear the day that I do.
⢠Buy fruit from the vegetable stand man only before the !!!! of !!!!!. After that, the fruit is no longer yours to buy. It still disappears, but it is not for you.
⢠We bring out own lunch to school. Theyâre not allowed to feed us anymore.
⢠The fog is heavy tonight. The cell towerâs red light reflecting on the fog. Itâs eye is bigger. It is still watching. Always watching.
⢠I forgot to get the mail today. I have to get the mail, I have no choice. It was snowing outside, so dark. I was foolish, I went anyway. I didnât have a coat, only sneakers and a house coat. I went anyway. The snow seemed to form huge white walls on either side of the driveway, I cannot see beond the path, I do not want to. I can feel it watching, I stay on the path. The wind is chill, but I do not feel cold. I make it to the mailbox. The wind howls louder. I can feel it watching from the fields, the snow swarms around me. I return home. I canât believe I was allowed to make it back.
⢠Itâs the middle of summer. Something falls down the chimney and into the hearth. It sounded large and slimey. I do not open the doors.
⢠Huge dark birds circle overhead. I count how many I see each day. I see 2 one day and 43 the next. They seem to be trying to say something. I cannot hear them.
⢠Donât go into the gas station after midnight. You can no longer comprehend the difference in dimentions. Thatâll be $3.49, I hand over a bill in a language I donât recognize, I get no chance back. I leave. What did I buy?
⢠I was born in Ohio, I will die in Ohio, yet I have no idea what Ohio even is. It fades between the realms, and I can never truly leave.
