That New Jeans Feel
It moves. Beneath the sidewalk. In the subways. In the tunnels. In the sewers.
You can hear it at night. The loud rustling that never goes away. No one dares come out at night. You hear stories sometimes about men going out to get food for their families and never returning. I would never go out there. Not at night.
You can hear it at night. The loud rustling that never goes away. No one dares come out at night. You hear stories sometimes about men going out to get food for their families and never returning. I would never go out there. Not at night.
I remember when the rustling first started. People knew. It was almost hidden. A slight white noise. No one really thought they heard it, but they knew. It’s the way you can hear the TV set when it’s on, but you don’t notice until it’s off that it was there…or how the refrigerator makes that humming sound, but when it’s off, there is a silence left. Well this was like that, except it was so gradual that it blended in to the rest of the city sounds. Nothing is ever completely silent in the city. What better place to take up root than a place that never sleeps. There is always noise. The only time you may hear it is if you go outside at night. Alone. On a dark street. Or in a dark park…and how many of us are doing that frequently?
Those that did hear the rustling would mention it in idle conversation. “You know Joe? Does it seem like the city is a lot louder than it used to be? I don’t remember it always being so loud.” And Joe would reply “Awww it’s just more people, more cars, more dogs…” and Joe would laugh.
I remember when I first realized the low rustling noise that had begun to emerge. I was sitting on my front stoop outside of my building. It was pretty late at night. I had gone out to grab a quick smoke. Didn’t want to do it in the apartment. I was sitting there and it seemed as though the cars had just stopped coming down the street. It was just quiet. That’s when I heard it. That low rustling noise. It was much lower than it is now of course, but it was there. It almost sounded like leaves may have been blowing. The only problem was…there was no wind.
The city tried to say that the noise was just interference. Interference? From where?? No one would give an explanation. It was because no one knew. It wasn’t until people started disappearing that anyone started to truly care. It started with there being a lot less rats in the city. No one cared. Good job city!! You cut down on the rat problem! Then the pigeons and squirrels. More pests gone! Great job city!
When the joggers started going, the first thought was “serial killer.” No one wanted to go out to the parks. There was a person missing every month! This was an outrage! Why aren’t you doing anything city!?
The rustling got louder, but compared to an epidemic of people going missing, this was nothing. Only the scientists paid any mind as people were urged to stay in their houses. Not to come out at night unless absolutely necessary. Then the vigilantes came out. They just knew justice had to be done. A lot of innocent people died for the sake of Justice. I wonder if any of them feel remorse for what they did now?
What was I doing during all of this? Well I was tuning into every science debate I could. I was reading any articles on the rustling I could get my hands on. I knew something was wrong even then. I knew something was wrong that very night on my front stoop. I didn’t say anything though. I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know what was wrong. I just knew something was not right.
So here we were. Kidnapped people and chaos. Curfews and house arrest. People stopped working. Kids stopped going to school. People started going missing from the subways. No one knew who would be next and the city was in fear. What will we do city? Where can we go?
No one knew what the rustling was, where it came from, or why it was here. One thing we did come to realize was that the rustling had something to do with why people were going missing. It came about the day a girl ran into her home screaming that a plant had taken her puppy. Now why in the world was a little girl was out walking her dog when we were in the middle of a crisis is beyond me, but it happened. Turns out that little girl’s dog brought our ending even closer.
The science community went a flutter! “This explains the rat disappearances, Carl!” “The people! They must also be getting attacked by these things, Steve!” They suddenly knew what the cause was, and we were going to fix it. Go city! Let’s fight this infestation!
Once the problem was pinpointed, they sent their best fighters into the sewers, subways, and tunnels. They sent 200 good men and women down there to fight this plague on our beautiful city. Exactly 200 never came back to tell us what they saw. After those 200 men disappeared, the rustling was no longer just noticeable, it became a part of the city. At night you could hear it loud and clear. Loud and clear. The sidewalks began to crack and the streets too…
At this point I am sure you are wondering what it was. If it wasn’t a plant then what was it? If it was something that could snatch people away in the night and bring a city to it’s knees, what was it? It was something that could take out 200 men. That’s what it was. Something that could take out 200 heavily armed men.
I will get to the end of this soon. Mostly because the sun is going down and we aren’t allowed to have the lights on after that. Summer time is always the best time since the sun is up longer. It keeps the rustling down. It means It’s not moving as much. So in the end it was not a plant. In the end it was not a vegetation infestation. In the end it was something more horrible than that.
Imagine if you will, you were given the PERFECT pair of jeans. They fit you nice and snug and you loved it!, but let’s say these jeans started to get a bit too small, because you were getting a bit too big. How could you not? First there are the little snacks here and there. Then you realized that you had eaten them all and well you’re growing, your appetite is much bigger. Sooo you explore a bit and find out there is more food around! But the more you eat, the bigger you are getting and now your jeans aren’t fitting the same way they did before. When you move, your legs rub together and you hear that swish swish sound. You go for that one last BIG meal and with that, its time to get a new pair of jeans soon…
I have to find a way to get out of the city. I don’t want to be here when that new jeans feel is over.
Those that did hear the rustling would mention it in idle conversation. “You know Joe? Does it seem like the city is a lot louder than it used to be? I don’t remember it always being so loud.” And Joe would reply “Awww it’s just more people, more cars, more dogs…” and Joe would laugh.
I remember when I first realized the low rustling noise that had begun to emerge. I was sitting on my front stoop outside of my building. It was pretty late at night. I had gone out to grab a quick smoke. Didn’t want to do it in the apartment. I was sitting there and it seemed as though the cars had just stopped coming down the street. It was just quiet. That’s when I heard it. That low rustling noise. It was much lower than it is now of course, but it was there. It almost sounded like leaves may have been blowing. The only problem was…there was no wind.
The city tried to say that the noise was just interference. Interference? From where?? No one would give an explanation. It was because no one knew. It wasn’t until people started disappearing that anyone started to truly care. It started with there being a lot less rats in the city. No one cared. Good job city!! You cut down on the rat problem! Then the pigeons and squirrels. More pests gone! Great job city!
When the joggers started going, the first thought was “serial killer.” No one wanted to go out to the parks. There was a person missing every month! This was an outrage! Why aren’t you doing anything city!?
The rustling got louder, but compared to an epidemic of people going missing, this was nothing. Only the scientists paid any mind as people were urged to stay in their houses. Not to come out at night unless absolutely necessary. Then the vigilantes came out. They just knew justice had to be done. A lot of innocent people died for the sake of Justice. I wonder if any of them feel remorse for what they did now?
What was I doing during all of this? Well I was tuning into every science debate I could. I was reading any articles on the rustling I could get my hands on. I knew something was wrong even then. I knew something was wrong that very night on my front stoop. I didn’t say anything though. I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know what was wrong. I just knew something was not right.
So here we were. Kidnapped people and chaos. Curfews and house arrest. People stopped working. Kids stopped going to school. People started going missing from the subways. No one knew who would be next and the city was in fear. What will we do city? Where can we go?
No one knew what the rustling was, where it came from, or why it was here. One thing we did come to realize was that the rustling had something to do with why people were going missing. It came about the day a girl ran into her home screaming that a plant had taken her puppy. Now why in the world was a little girl was out walking her dog when we were in the middle of a crisis is beyond me, but it happened. Turns out that little girl’s dog brought our ending even closer.
The science community went a flutter! “This explains the rat disappearances, Carl!” “The people! They must also be getting attacked by these things, Steve!” They suddenly knew what the cause was, and we were going to fix it. Go city! Let’s fight this infestation!
Once the problem was pinpointed, they sent their best fighters into the sewers, subways, and tunnels. They sent 200 good men and women down there to fight this plague on our beautiful city. Exactly 200 never came back to tell us what they saw. After those 200 men disappeared, the rustling was no longer just noticeable, it became a part of the city. At night you could hear it loud and clear. Loud and clear. The sidewalks began to crack and the streets too…
At this point I am sure you are wondering what it was. If it wasn’t a plant then what was it? If it was something that could snatch people away in the night and bring a city to it’s knees, what was it? It was something that could take out 200 men. That’s what it was. Something that could take out 200 heavily armed men.
I will get to the end of this soon. Mostly because the sun is going down and we aren’t allowed to have the lights on after that. Summer time is always the best time since the sun is up longer. It keeps the rustling down. It means It’s not moving as much. So in the end it was not a plant. In the end it was not a vegetation infestation. In the end it was something more horrible than that.
Imagine if you will, you were given the PERFECT pair of jeans. They fit you nice and snug and you loved it!, but let’s say these jeans started to get a bit too small, because you were getting a bit too big. How could you not? First there are the little snacks here and there. Then you realized that you had eaten them all and well you’re growing, your appetite is much bigger. Sooo you explore a bit and find out there is more food around! But the more you eat, the bigger you are getting and now your jeans aren’t fitting the same way they did before. When you move, your legs rub together and you hear that swish swish sound. You go for that one last BIG meal and with that, its time to get a new pair of jeans soon…
I have to find a way to get out of the city. I don’t want to be here when that new jeans feel is over.
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