jchrisobrien (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jchrisobrien) wrote2002-08-23 09:33 am
jchrisobrien) wrote2002-08-23 09:33 am
System error
I could hear people clamoring even before I got into the office. The network must be down again, I thought. I swiped my card, then had to slide it in again before I was rewarded with a click and an opened door. People were walking around a little more than usual, clustered around cubes and talking in whispers. The air seemed electric.
Rounding the corner into the data applications area, where my desk is, I saw the full extend of the chaos. My former help desk person was slamming his fist onto his PC, apparently it had crashed for the fifth time in as many minutes, and he couldn't read his e-mail. The light in the office was an odd hue, which I realized was coming from outside. The light was changing to a pale tan color, almost yellow, reminiscent of the time we got all that ash from Canada. A few programmers were watching streaming video on the television from New York and Chicago. Fear paralyzed me: the last time I felt something like this was when the WTC came tumbling down. Are we under attack? I asked. Something's wrong, they said. Something's changing. Don't you feel it?
And I did. A creeping sense that the world was not RIGHT, not behaving in a normal and rational way. The floors seemed to tilt slightly as you walked on them. My cube didn't have right angles, and then all was well again. My computer screen filled with strange images. I looked outside the window. The water of the river were freezing over but there was no snow. And overlaying everything this creepy tension on my skin., hitting every nerve ending, filling me with a fight or flight response. I could hear a crash and screams as a scuffle broke out somewhere on the floor. Some started crying. I ran through my cube, grabbing CDs and movies, taking anything that mattered to me and running for the exit. I had to get home, I had to get out of here, my family was waiting for me.... I went out into the streets, but there were empty. A few cars were parked nearby, but no people. No one I could see, that is. The smell was stronger, nothing I could place, garbage and perfume maybe, a congress so strong as to blot out any comprehension of it. The sky remained a deep even tan. And people appeared at last, falling from windows, the screams trailing behind them as they fell.
Rounding the corner into the data applications area, where my desk is, I saw the full extend of the chaos. My former help desk person was slamming his fist onto his PC, apparently it had crashed for the fifth time in as many minutes, and he couldn't read his e-mail. The light in the office was an odd hue, which I realized was coming from outside. The light was changing to a pale tan color, almost yellow, reminiscent of the time we got all that ash from Canada. A few programmers were watching streaming video on the television from New York and Chicago. Fear paralyzed me: the last time I felt something like this was when the WTC came tumbling down. Are we under attack? I asked. Something's wrong, they said. Something's changing. Don't you feel it?
And I did. A creeping sense that the world was not RIGHT, not behaving in a normal and rational way. The floors seemed to tilt slightly as you walked on them. My cube didn't have right angles, and then all was well again. My computer screen filled with strange images. I looked outside the window. The water of the river were freezing over but there was no snow. And overlaying everything this creepy tension on my skin., hitting every nerve ending, filling me with a fight or flight response. I could hear a crash and screams as a scuffle broke out somewhere on the floor. Some started crying. I ran through my cube, grabbing CDs and movies, taking anything that mattered to me and running for the exit. I had to get home, I had to get out of here, my family was waiting for me.... I went out into the streets, but there were empty. A few cars were parked nearby, but no people. No one I could see, that is. The smell was stronger, nothing I could place, garbage and perfume maybe, a congress so strong as to blot out any comprehension of it. The sky remained a deep even tan. And people appeared at last, falling from windows, the screams trailing behind them as they fell.
no subject
All of this should have happened five years ago anyhow.
not quite up there with the dismemberment threats, but...
Re: not quite up there with the dismemberment threats, but...
I didn't think the entry was that particularly long, and I've certainly seen longer. By the last few entries you've seen that this was all a dream I had.
no subject
I know a lot of times no-one will say anything - it's important to play it cool, no-one wants to look like the basketcase, overreacting, get met with a *shrug*. Not that big a deal - to be accused of taking mere writing a little too seriously. They're only words, after all...
I just thought that maybe that wasn't quite the best forum for this particular form of melodrama. No-one can force you to be sensitive to anything you don't want to be. I don't know what kind of effect you were going for - I just wonder if you got it. I would be surprised if you didn't - you're a good writer - and I don't really feel good about that.
Re:
I wasn't going for any effect at first. I had a bad dream and needed to pour it out. As I started to write it, I did then choose to not label it as a dream, to let the events of it unfold as normalicy and slowly turn to madness. As it grew and grew, I assumed (my big mistake!) that the fictious nature would win out.
We all know what they say about assumptions...
My intent I suppose, was to share this nightmare in the vein of a story. I honestly didn't expect it work as well as it did... and for anyone who was caught off guard, I apologize for that.
the dangerous life of writers
Very well written, btw.
no subject
Re: