Liquid Misfortune

Prompt: At first, we thought the black liquid was oil, that we’d struck it rich and that we’d be able to retire and live in leisure. We actually started writing down all the ways we’d spend the money. Our first choice…

...was to buy a house on the beach somewhere in the Caribbean and live out our lives in lazy bliss. Maybe snag a couple of local ladies to keep our beds warm. We were giddy despite the dry sun and beading sweat on our foreheads. We thought the world was ours, so it was easy to miss the escalating hiss that followed the surge of oil. Or what we thought was oil.

It was Jones who cried out first, we wiped our heads to the oil, sure that his cry was due to the drying up of our luck. If only that were it. To our horror Jones had black liquid streaming from every hole on his body. All we could do was watch and back away as he choked and gurgled as he fought to breathe over the liquid. It didn't take long for him to lose. We noticed now, with fear and adrenaline heightening our senses, that the hissing from our well was ear splitting. One by one, each of our men choked rapidly on the black liquid. So I ran. I could feel the hiss on my neck as I fled the scene.

I stumbled through the open landscape, feeling much like a lowly rabbit fleeing from a fox. If I could make it to the tree line I know the town was north of the stream that was there. I quickly forgot I was a man and focused on being prey. If I could get in the stream maybe lose my scent the unnatural hiss would leave me alone and I could escape to civilization.

So I jumped in, not caring so much to look where I was going. I plunged beneath the surface and quickly panicked. By the time I was swallowing air, I was swiftly down stream. I don't remember the current being this strong but I sure as hell wasn’t complaining as long as it got me away from the death that wanted to bear down on me.

I could hear the hiss grow faint as if it did indeed lose me once I jumped in the water. I couldn't see anything of what made the hiss but I don't even know if my eyes could even detect what hellish thing came for me. Instead of backtracking up North, I decided to follow the current down stream. I wanted nothing more than to never look back at this place.

It took a few hours and it was starting to get dark. I had been in the water for so long I began to worry about the cold but to my relief a glistening of my salvation was on the horizon. What a sight that town created. I felt a swell of hope and exhaustion as I now felt safe enough to relax.

Once I was close enough to spot the docks I climbed onto the shore. Although I have only but the clothes on my back I felt extremely lucky. I spent some time working for the railroad in my youth so I decided to go west, not only to put more distance between me and the nightmare I escaped but also to find work in the boom that was happening. Anything seemed better than the fate I merely happened to escape.