Twenty Three Fifty Nine {HWC2013}

I guess when you are twenty eight miles from the coldest city on Earth it would be fair to say you get a 'colder' sensation rather than a 'cold' one.

Izor Kjiski felt the blood quit his head and neck as a thousand needles tapped at his skin and run procession up his spine. Wolves had evaded the humble town of Ritsk and surrounding spruce forest sine the diamond camp had been built. It was not their distant cries that harassed him tonight. Nor was it the increase in what he put down to 'government experiments'.

The threadlike crescent moon and scant slithering of snow, combined with worsening visibility offered no light with witch to assess his destiny. His pistol sat gathering dust near his sleeping colleague. His radio communicator lay propping up the halogen heater in the lookout.

Kjiski just stood there. Unable to move, unable to look. His eyes melded to a point, fiercely refusing to budge.

The sweat that manifested on his forehead froze. It had no opportunity to form trickles. A slitting headache heightened every sound. His heartbeat in his ear was thunderous. Grit tickled the back of his throat. No amount of willpower could force a swallow. His breathing almost stopped as the stars paths merged. The first surge of nausea booted him in the guts.



Just twenty minutes previously Kjiski had sat, legs elevated, passing messages of nothing to his new wife. They had both been tired recently and rarely saw each other anymore, due to his job. Sometimes he would be so exhausted that he would resent the messaging but would never admit to it. Her mother didn't help much either. She was always pointing out chores that hadn't been completed and mentioning is growing list of shortcomings. There was already a divide creeping up between them.

Work panned out like every other aspect of his mediocre life. He took bs from everyone else. Being the butt of the jokes was bad enough without receiving the majority of the chores. Sometimes he would miss the days of drinking and unemployment. With envy he would look at others that had control over their lives and pray. He had decided that when the government link Yakutsk to the Trans Siberian at Tynda he would get a job there.

Kontska stirred in his sleep as Kjiski took his soggy sausage and mayo sandwich from the foil and poured a soup from a cracked flask. Kontskas Russian Spaniel curled up in front of the inadequate heater and lifted a floppy ear in anticipation. She was a good dog and Kjiski would have taken her home if he could. Her cowering in front of her master was reason enough he thought. Sausage flavored crusts and the convector were the highlight of the graying dogs life.

The siren startled both Kjiski and Putz, the spaniel. Another defector no doubt. Sad eyes looked up at him and he left the doggy jacket on the back of the chair.

Being careful to slip his vodka into his pocket (the one thing he would never leave behind) he covered his coats with a high visibility vest and tried in vain to wake his lazy drunken peer from a vodka induced deep sleep. Giving up he began the arduous task of reacting to the alarm and searching for the escaped Korean 'worker'.

Long, the camp supervisor and Korean national, was waiting with a troubled expression.

Ever since the last 'incident' Long had become increasingly jumpy. All of the digital clocks had set themselves to 23:59 and refused to budge. Three separate fires the week before had everyone on tenterhooks already. So scared must they have been as one a week had disappeared from the camp. This in the full knowledge that their families would be severely punished for the defection. No-one would tell him or his seniors just what they thought was happening and could not be scared into speaking.

HQ had anticipated Pyongyangs reaction and had cleverly deceived them into believing the missing workers had expired from exertion. This pacified, if not pleased, the ally.

Kjiski had always felt pity for long, and the others too for that matter. He fancied himself the only guard that did. He fully denied the rush he would feel as eyes dropped upon his sight.

The look in Logs eyes told him it was bad news. Another worker gone AWOL. Kjiski could not understand it. Between the late fifties and last month there had been two or three a year on average, now it was more like one a week. A genuine confusion and unease had began to fill the mini Korea as to what was really going on. Why would they put their loved ones in danger? Even Tan, a man with a broken foot went walkabout before the trip back to the homeland had been planned. It was quite unnerving.

Long uttered an apology that fell to the ground as frozen moisture, missing Kjiskis ears altogether. Kjiski shook his head in response and turned to the 'Circular', a path circumnavigating the village and bordering the mines.

Sundown had taken the faint orange hue from the bodies of the spruces and replaced it with a black matching the underground caverns deepest recesses. Legends had been told of the 'Dragons in the Sky' blamed for the tint for decades. It was normality for people in these parts and everyone enjoyed a good old myth.

Kjiskis state of perma-fatigue was starting to dissipate now as it always did on these forays around the camp. Every sound would have him jumping like a flea so he was thankful that very few animals graced the area.

As he neared the far end of the village he considered the possibilities. Not realistic possibilities, rather those that come with nightfall and solitude. Most ideas stemming from the nervous glances between the laborers. What were they hiding? Were they fearful of more than just retribution?

The gas lamps hanging at the theshold to the mines were dimmed considerably. Kjiski followed the wider dirt road towards the mouth of the caves. Fog had started to descend too, making them even more difficult to see.

The trees were sparse near the mine entrance allowing a view for miles in the daytime. By now it was hard to see at all. Kjiski had been waiting for a 'comet as bright as the Moon' but that had failed to materialize yet. Increased meteors to entertain him on his rounds, yes. But no comet to brighten his path. And only a hairpin of a moon to guide him.

The gas lamps were invisible entirely now.

Kjiski persevered.

Wondering why he had not used the toilet before he came out he toyed with the idea of relieving himself on the roadside. His quickly disappearing resolve saw him turn back. No-one would use the entrance until dawn anyway. Kicking himself for his cowardice he gulped as he considered what he could be turning away from. Then he shuddered at the thought of what he were turning toward.

"F this. I'm not doing this anymore."

The fog was denser now. The vast expanse seemed to grow in his mind. His stomach felt like it had just digested a vindaloo. He chuckled to himself nervously. He considered how it could be that he felt he was being watched when he could not see his own hand in front of his face.

Continued...

A faint shriek of joy parted his lips as he remembered the vodka. Pleasure dissipated just as fast when he dropped the lid after lifetimes of fumbling and cussing.

He had barely started to bend at the knee. Then came the sound. Then another. He froze in position. Silence. No owls. No wolves. No breeze. Even the Lena seemed to stop flowing in it's tracks.

Panic jolted Kjiski into a brisk run. No sooner than he had taken twenty meters the sound came again.

Closer.

This time from his left side. Meters away.

Tears froze on his face. Ice crystalised in his veins.

Bile rose in his throat as tides of despair washed over him. Realisation came late as the dark knowing from the back of his mind came flooding forth, connecting themselves in the process. Muscles contorted and pained in fear.

The fog lifted.

Slowly and steadiy the urine escaped his body as his fate became known.

reply to post by Tsu322


Beautifully written. You can really feel the anxiety of the character, and the coldness of the environment. S&F!

reply to post by swanne


Thank you so much.

I originally wanted to call it 'Fear' but changed my mind at the last min.

This is exciting isn't it? I have never entered a comp like this, it's a great idea!

reply to post by Tsu322


Yes, it is my first time too. Fear would have been a great name too, though.

reply to post by swanne


Thank you.

I'm irritated now that I entered so quickly, I have a hundred and one new ideas for halloween stories lol. I can't wait for the Xmas comp!

Tsu322
reply to post by swanne

 

Thank you.

I'm irritated now that I entered so quickly, I have a hundred and one new ideas for halloween stories lol. I can't wait for the Xmas comp!

Hehe, just don't forget that there's no witches or werewolves in Christmas...

Or are there?

reply to post by swanne


Happy Halloween!

Hmmm, maybe I could write one about Izor Kjiski looking down on his wife and daughter on xmas eve.

Plenty of time to plan the next episode so I can get it just right.

Tsu322
reply to post by swanne

 

Happy Halloween!

Hmmm, maybe I could write one about Izor Kjiski looking down on his wife and daughter on xmas eve.

Plenty of time to plan the next episode so I can get it just right.

Yeah... as for me i'm not sure if I'll participate to the christmas writing contest.

Happy Halloween to you too, BTW.