Tiny Shifts (Part IV)

--- Continuing From Here ---

“It’s midnight,” Tiny said, “We are leaving. The time shift is at hand.”

The air around Paul’s head vibrated, producing an actual hum. From the dark hallway, a series of eerie sounds erupted that he was certain were made by living beings, although they were unlike any sounds he’d ever heard before. Moans and grunts mixed with slurping, clicking, and barking. It was a raucous celebration by the damned creatures that boarded at Tiny’s and never left.

They were moving on to another place and another time and the celebration was beginning.

Maybe Paul had called Tiny’s here, and maybe Tiny’s had called him on this night, but it was a mistake. He didn’t want to stay with these things for the rest of his life. And Dana was innocent. She didn’t deserve to be here at all.

The whole building felt as though it was rising into the air and turning. Paul didn’t have much time. Still holding Dana’s hand, he pulled her along.

As quick and as agile as Tiny had proven himself to be, Paul slipped past the fat man with Dana in tow. The others seemed not to notice. They were too caught up in the time shift phenomenon. The front door was the only way he knew to get out. There might be a back exit, but that meant going down the dark hallway, past the creatures whose celebration was now at a fever pitch. Paul made for the front door.

Tiny turned and chased after them. Dana turned over some tables, slowing Tiny’s pursuit, but he was faster than they were. As they reached the poolroom, he was almost close enough to grab her.

Paul pulled Dana in front to get her out of Tiny’s reach. The maneuver saved Dana from the plump, greasy paws of the mutant. But they weren’t safe yet.

The cacophony of the time shift was deafening, and the effect on the bar was like that of an earthquake. Things shook and fell to the floor. The other patrons continued rejoicing.

How much time did they have left? Did they have any time left?

Dana was in great physical condition and she was a fine runner, so Paul didn’t have to urge her to hurry to the door. He matched her step for step, but he was concerned that Tiny was also matching them step for step, if not better.

He turned to see how close their pursuer was. When he did, he saw the big man launch himself into the air. Tiny flew in a calm arch amid the din of the shift and the creatures’ merriment. Paul instinctively put his hands on Dana’s shoulders to brace himself against the impact of the large man.

The whole of Tiny’s weight slammed into him, crushing him to the floor. With his last bit of balance before the fat man smothered him on the warped planks, Paul pushed Dana away to keep her from being taken under. Before Tiny’s rolls of blubber lapped over him, Paul saw Dana lose her balance also, and go stumbling through the clouded glass of the window next to the door.

Shards blew in, as the turmoil outside the bar was as pervasive as it was inside.

Dana went tumbling down the steps out front, then Paul was covered by Tiny’s girth, and he could see nothing else.

Everything fell calm. Tiny’s had shifted.

***

“Left hard!” Dana screamed, and the rafters on the left side responded with a flurry of paddling. The boat turned hard right, as Dana wanted it to.

She had seen the hydraulic to the left, and knew that it was a section of the river they should avoid. Anyone caught in the hydraulic would be flipped over, sucked down, and held there by the rushing water. They were death traps, and this one had only recently developed. It could have taken even the most experienced rafter by surprise.

“Let’s get to the bank,” she told her team, and she steered the raft over to the calm eddies near shore.

The second boat came around the bend at Murton’s point a few seconds later. From her position in the calm water, Dana yelled back to the raft as it approached the section where the dangerous hydraulic waited. “Keep it right! Keep it to the right!”

She got a thumbs up from the boat, and watched as the second raft negotiated the hydraulic, a bit too close for her comfort, but it made it past with only some minor rough spots.

“All right, let’s get back out,” she said to her team, and they paddled back into the fast water.
The second boat came up even with hers, the rafters high-fiving and laughing at the rush of coming so close to the dangerous hydraulic.

“Wow. I’ve never seen it that strong there before,” Tony said from the second boat.

“Yeah, some big rocks must have shifted underneath,” Dana said in agreement.

“That’s the spot Paul always took us over,” Tony said, wiping the spray from his face.

“I know,” Dana said.

And they drifted down the river.