The Alarmist

Red lights. Somnambulant courage pushing him on. Uchenna pauses when he feels an edgy pain in his abdomen. The bottle of whisky drops from his schizophrenic palm, splintering all over the wet green terrazo, the red lights fading off in the dusky nimbus. He turns his visage away from the lights. Then he hears a screeching ofbrake coming toward him. His heart thumps. These undying foes, he screams in his medulla. He turns left just when an impact is certain. Thank the heavens, I'm alive, he rejoices in his spirit. Then he turns to go the way he must take, and lo he sees the car, its red lights beaming across the exteriors of the warehouse where he stands.

Culled from "THE ALARMIST," an unpublished novel by Onis Sampson.