Ambient 06 - Going, Going, Gone

Throwing it open, she stepped outside into her small concrete front yard. I came up behind her, and slipped my arms around her waist. She didn’t pull away. »What’s up?«
    She didn’t turn around to look at me; but kept her eyes focused on high, on that long, broadening stripe. It seemed to lie on top of the clouds, but I didn’t see how that could be possible; as I squinted my eyes and gave it a closer onceover, though, I could see that the clouds were simply vanishing as the line touched them – that the line was, in fact, something that nearly seemed solid. »All readings confirm theory,« she said, turning and stepping back inside.
    »That means –«
    »Spatial displacement, as I tried to detail last night.«
    »It’s happening now?« I asked. She nodded. »So what’s happening to us?«
    »We’re –«
    Eulie stopped dead in the middle of her word as if she’d suddenly choked on something. She fisheyed the table and I looked over to scope what brought her up short. The coasters she’d been using, trying to explain what was happening; none of them were touching the table, contrary to her theory. All floated slightly above the surface of the glass, and I couldn’t figure out what kind of magical trick was making them levitate.
    »Godness,« Eulie said. »Walter, we’ve got to go. Fast. You’re ready?«
    »Anytime,« I said, yawning. »Go where?«
    »Your place, if possibled.«
    »No,« I said. »No, why?«
    »Come on,« she said, snatching up her bag and grabbing my arm, almost yanking it off as she pulled me out the front door. She had a grip like Chlojo’s when she chose to use it, I could tell. Streetlights were going on and off as if somebody was playing with the switch, and it sounded like half the people in the neighbourhood had decided to start honking their horns. She pounded at the side of her car, but the doors refused to open.
    »What’s happening, Eule?« I asked, hearing the oddest sound behind me; as if someone was peeling labels off cardboard packages, lots of them. »Eulie?« Turning to see what was making the racket, my brothers, I don’t have to tell you what kind of notions went through my head when I saw the paint on her little house literally stripping itself off the clapboards, and floating up into the air like ash, or dandelion fluff. » Fuck – !!!« I shouted, forgetting my manners; as I’ve never been one to use the vernacular around ladies.
    »Follow, Walter,« she said, pushing open the front gate; at least it didn’t seem to lock from the inside. »We have to position ourselves if we can chance. Come on.«
    When I touched the metal I felt an electric shock, but nothing too severe. Once we were out on the sidewalk she fumbled through her bag until she found a long flat blue rectangle, not much thicker than a chequebook. Hipping it open she looked at the inside top while running her hand over the inside bottom. If I shifted my head into the right angle I could just catch what she was looking at – some kind of map, with green lines, I thought – but couldn’t tell what she did with her fingers. »Five blocks that way, Walter. There’s a park. Run.«
    »What are we running to?« I asked as I started to let my feet do their stuff. »What’s happening? Eulie –?«
    »Run, Walter,« she shouted, taking the lead, »life depends. Our life.«
    I didn’t have to look up anymore to see the white line; it was directly in front of us, somewhere between ten and a thousand miles away. It was really starting to open up now; what was apparent in daylight was that it didn’t quite reach the horizon – it stopped just short of the treeline, so I couldn’t exactly see where it came to a halt. Thing was, I could tell that it wasn’t just widening, but lengthening as well, getting closer to the tops of the trees and the houses. Every horn in New Jersey sounded as if it were going off, every air-raid siren, every civil defence signal, every ambulance bell. Eulie’s neighbours poured out of their houses, trying to get their own cars started; I saw that some were trying to cut their way through their fences, or climb over – those were the ones whose gates must have kept them locked in. The air felt heavy, and full of electricity. The clouds were starting to swirl now, as if they were being mixed from above. A tornado, I thought, but there was no wind. I didn’t hear any birds, but when I thought about it, as I raced on, feeling my heart pound as I kept up with my little one,