Dread

It all started with a vague sense of something being ‘off’. As Davidson sat at his desk, grinding through the morning paperwork, it casually brushed his mind. He raised his head and looked around the open plan office. Everyone else was head down, and the clatter of keyboards and buzz of printers masked subdued telephone conversations. From that moment, he had a growing feeling that he was being watched.

The next few days blurred into weeks and then months. The sensation had seeded in his gut, and was taking root. His sleep was disturbed with forgotten dreams, which left him with growing doom. He checked and double checked his work; he locked, opened and re-locked his front door; he became secretive and more withdrawn. He felt his colleagues and strangers watching him as he moved through his day. He hurried down deserted passages, on the verge of flight.

His first panic attack was a surprise. He fled his desk in a flurry of papers, locking himself in the toilet stall. He gasped, trying to draw oxygen into his lungs. His heart was pounding, his hands clammy and shaking. After ten minutes of focusing on regaining control of his breath, he emerged, white and drawn. The rest of the day dragged in agonising discomfort, until at last, the clock on the wall released him. He fled through the tide of homebound commuters to the safety of his tiny apartment, and hid.

A week later, the Supervisor’s Office created an island of light at one end of the darkened, empty workspace.

“The project has been running twenty weeks now, Brown. When will we see results?”

There was a buzz on Brown’s cell. Reading the message, he smiled. “As of 15 minutes ago. Davidson has self-terminated by jumping from his apartment window.”

300 Word StoriesãKim Magennis 2016