I'm about to tell you a brief story... of an event from my not-too-distant past. I feel as though this particular event partly symbolizes why I like horror movies... well... some of them anyway. But I like night. I like being out at night. Despite that I am afraid of the dark, I like the thrills of being in certain places. There are aspects of this event that I would've liked to have seen happen along with this (full moons, which I really like, being with a friend, etc.) but this was a pretty memorable and fun experience for me nonetheless and I will tell you exactly what happened to the best of my memory. Take a read: It is a cloudy, chilly night, approximately 6 p.m. according to the time on the screen of my smartphone. It's interesting because based on how dark it is out here, I could've sworn we were in the 8:00 hour. I know I'm probably in the minority but I love this kind of weather... and that we're in that season when nightfall occurs during the late afternoon hours (around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m.). I step off the 102 Trolley at Lansdowne Avenue, walk down Lansdowne Avenue (passing Bonner and Prendie High, Upper Darby High, and Delaware County Memorial Hospital) and I wait at the nearby shopping plaza for the bus, which I then ride up to Pilgrim Gardens Shopping Plaza, which was unfortunately the last stop—I'd gotten on the wrong bus... well, I had the correct route but I failed to notice it wouldn't take me all the way to my destination. Standing at the bus stop outside a closed Chickie and Pete's restaurant, I dig my phone from my pocket and open up my Google Maps app to see the fastest possible route to the Marple Crossroads Shopping Plaza. It recommends I walk down to a bus stop for the 110 and 111 buses which is located outside a gas station at State and Township Line Roads, and so I do exactly that. Here's where things get a little sketchy: I walk down Township Line Road, a street which has only one sidewalk. Its other side has only a median and a vast lush of trees right next to it. A few minutes later, complete, eerie, creepy silence. No cars are zooming past. The road is dead empty. No other pedestrians but me. This is like a haunted ghost town. It's almost like something out of a horror film. Especially when I hear something or someone approaching me from behind. The ticking sounds are faint but clearly sound like footsteps. Believing someone is following me, I pivot around very fast. To my relief no one is there. It was just a leaf on the ground being blown around by the chilly gust of a windy breeze this comfortably-cold night air had to offer. I feel my heart rush. I can feel tingles on my tongue, like I could taste the adrenaline rush! I smile to myself, enjoying that thrill it gave me, turn back around, and continue down the street. I wonder to myself if I should include it in a horror film I plan to produce. It feels good to be out in the dark nonetheless. I am not scared or nervous. Motor traffic begins to resume on Township Line. I make it to the bus stop near the gas station. As I do, I lean my lower back against the steel median, which feels nowhere as chilly as this outdoor air. I also carry my smartphone in one hand, feeling the smooth, soft pink silicone of my phone case. I like how the protective case feels on my phone. To pass the time I wait for the bus, I watch various clips of a game show called Greed, which features creepy music and sound cues. I eventually reach my destination, the Springfield Mall. As I step off the bus, I can feel very-ignorable, small, light drizzles of rain sporadically tapping my head. I could even smell the rain as I walk across the parking lot to the mall. Oh, and I love how the streetlights light up the mall’s parking lot whereas there’s no full moon to do that job, which I would’ve liked a lot better. CREDITS:
Springfield Mall parking lot: Renee Hogan on Twitter.com Springfield Mall and Ruby Tuesday storefront: zippyshell.com
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I am someone...
who sees life as a giant canvas, on which an artists paints her portrait. What will you paint on your canvas of life? Archives
December 2018
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