The Road To Despair

The Dead End

 She walked down the beaten path, camera held tightly against her chest. She was going to be the first to capture the end of this road on video, and come back alive. The quiet rattle of the gravel beneath her feet grew louder as she neared the edge."It slowly becomes less like an actual road, and more like a gravel path the farther you go", her grandfather had told her. He had told her many stories of his adventures on the road, but she believed none of them.

Until he went down the road and never came back. After that, she had a sudden interest in the road, wanting to explore the entirety of it. She packed her bags and left home, not looking back. Her head was swirling in a tornado she couldn't quite understand. Would she find him? Would he even remember her?

Was he even alive? He was gone for so long, he might as well be dead. Should she just turn back? She shook her head. She wasn't going back, she had to find him! Even if he was in a coffin. She had made it to the end after quite some time. Yet, she never saw a trace of him.

Until today.

A small speck of light caught her eye as she inched closer and closer to the cliff-side. Breaking off her path, she makes her way to the light. Finally close enough to touch, she reaches down and grasps the item, only to find it was an old wristwatch. The glass had shattered, and the hands were stuck on 3:49. With shaking hands, she takes a picture, hoping to get a better look at it. 

Some etchings were carved into the side of the metal, and on further inspection, she concludes that it was her grandfather's initials.  Dropping the broken watch, she stumbles back a few steps, and falls to the ground, her camera now discarded. He was gone, she was never going to see him again. She pulls her knees to her chest. If he was gone, then why did she waste all that time, all those tears, on finding him? Tears began to cascade down her face like waterfalls, falling to the ground, dampening the dirt beneath her.

Then she heard a cacophony of rocks beneath feet, labored breath, and the patter of saliva hitting the ground. She wasn't alone. Reaching to her right, she grasps her camera, and flees. The sounds only get louder, almost deafening. Gravel kicked behind her and her pursuer, both nearing the end at an alarming pace. She skids to a stop, having run out of room to run.

Before her laid a sea of black, and a moon, that looked so close she swore she could touch it. It was mesmerizing, distracting her from whatever was behind her. Then, gravel rained down on her back. It was here. Its heavy breathing getting closer and closer, until she could feel its warmth on her neck. A mixture of hands and paws slammed onto her back, pushing her closer to the edge, almost asking for her to jump. Was it her thoughts? Was there really something there? She'd never know. The pushing, combined with her grandfather's death, gave her a sudden interest in whatever was below. The only way she'd see it, was if she jumped.

So she did.

That was the story everyone told me when I said I wanted to find the end. My best friend tried to stop me, to prevent me from leaving her. But I hadn't listened. It was just some urban legend, right? No way someone actually went all that way, only to jump. And let's say that this really happened, how would any of us know what happened? It wasn't possible. I pulled my phone from my pocket, it was getting awfully dark, and it was kinda unsettling when all you hear are the rattle of rocks underneath you.

As I was nearing the edge, a glint caught my eye. I make my way over, turning on the flashlight. Shining the light down, I realize it was a shattered watch that read 3:49, and a camera. Just like the ones from that story... Passing it off as a joke someone placed, I keep heading to the edge. 

A sea of ink black sky, with a pristine white moon lay before me. The moon was either really close, or really big, but it felt as though i could touch it. I open the camera on my phone. I want proof that I went all the way here and back. 

Behind me, loud footsteps can be heard, crunching through the gravel. Warm breath hits my neck. I take a sharp inhale, the cold air burning my lungs. Were the stories true? A mixture of hands and paws slam onto my back, making me drop my phone. The creature continues its barrage on my spine, drawing me closer and closer to the edge as I feel the oxygen get knocked out of my lungs. They weren't stopping until I was falling off the ledge. The only way it'd stop, would be if I jumped.

So I did.