As his body left the bus, and his foot struck the pavement, time slowed. His thoughts went immediately to the unknown man and he dreaded the unintelligible call “G.. y.. b.. i.. h…”, like a gong mechanically sounding the impending end of the world. The unknown man always appeared the same; raggedy unwashed hair, unshaven, old dirty clothing. His thoughts moved away from the unknown man, and he headed for the gate.
He walked along the path, early morning sunlight shining down through the criss-crossed metal gate, hitting the left hand side of his face. His eyes closed, seemingly by themselves to shield against the bright light. He contemplated the warmth of the sun on his face.
Reluctantly he willed his eyes to slowly open. They squinted and then closed again. Black bars rolled over his closed eyelids as he walked, in a hypnotic rhythm, the effect of the sunlight being blocked by the metal that formed the gate squares. He found it harder to will his eyes open as he walked.
When his eyes closed he could hear and experience parts of the world that were before drowned out by his visual sense. He heard the sounds of the people around him. Walking. Stomping. Stopping. Starting. Conversing. The birds. Cars. Buses. The cacophony was strangely familiar. He felt himself being pulled past the unknown man, as time began to slowly speed back up.
”G.. y.. b.. i.. h…” the unknown man intoned. He couldn’t make out what the man was saying, but the way the man spoke synced with his walking, the sunlight and black bars, the sounds. There was rhythm. Everything was moving together. It was coming again, he could hear it before the man began, “G.. y.. b.. i.. h…“.
And then suddenly it was all gone. As his body left the bus, and his foot struck the pavement, time slowed. He had the feeling that he had been here before.