Sky

[I didn’t get the chance to post this up for The Daily Post writing prompt. But here it is and I hope you enjoy.]

I could feel the rays of the sun – high in the sky to show its mid-afternoon glow – scorching my bare back and shoulders. Sweat poured off my body like water as I tried to hook the bait yet again. My hands quivered from the constant effort. I let out a long sigh, letting both the hook and bait fall to the ground. I walked away, leaving my fishing rod and the now rotting catch behind. My body felt heavy and my mind was boggled from the incessant heat. I squinted my eyes as I tried to make out the person approaching across the grassy field. From afar, it looked menacing and dark. A shadow in the shape of a man or at least a human being. I could feel the fear rising up into my heart. My spine chilled. The closer we approached each other, the more I could make out the shadow. I let out a deep breath, my heart pounding in my chest. I bent over. I couldn’t move any further.

“Johnny. Hey, Johnny boy.” A man’s familiar voice ringed in the almost silent afternoon air. I tried not to look at the shadow for I knew what it was. What it used to be. I stayed hunched over. Shiny polished shoes glistening when the sun hits its surface and long brown britches too big for the small man, I knew who it was. He was long gone. Dead in the ground, at least supposedly. I closed my eyes quickly, praying for the thing to go away. Praying for the devil the spare my soul. And when I opened my eyes, it was gone. Gone back to the mysterious and dark place it called home.