UNKNOWN

III

Dale woke up with damped patches of sweat all over his shirt. He felt hot, but somehow cold on the inside. For a jiffy there Dale thought he was in heaven, finally meeting The Lord Himself. A pang of relief struck Dale. If I am dead, I do not need to give a duck about everything. Dale grinned foolishly and pondered on the reasons for his death. Then, the first earthly object came into his field of vision: an air conditioner that was either very old or decades overused.

But wait, doesn't the air conditioner look familiar? Old, cream colored ancient gizmo with strands of tape hanging down from its top, making it look as though it has hair. The strands were flapping and dancing in mid-air, causing yet another pounding in Dale's already aching head.

"You awake."
Dale snapped out of his daze and jumped from where he was lying. The voice, both cold and monotonous, blew across him like an eerie stream of ice-cold air. That gave him the goose pimples.
"Yahh!"
Dale grabbed the sides of the sofa and spun his head towards his right.
"Owh, it's you Caleb. Uhh, thank goodness. You always give me the scares." Dale was panting like a marathon runner at this point.
Caleb looked at Dale and brought his face close to Dale's. For a moment-just a brief moment-Dale couldn't move. He was stuck to the sofa. It was as though his soul wasn't there any more  But strangely enough, he was conscious. Soon, Caleb's round, freckles-clad nose was in contact with Dale's reddish one. Caleb had a serene and emotionless look on his face, but yet worried at the same time. Dale wanted to scream so badly he swallowed hard. His Adam's apple shifted so drastically he could practically hear them move. Beads of fresh, cold sweat popped out of his pores and slid down his chin. Caleb then shifted his face across Dale's and soon enough his mouth was close to Dale's right ear. Dale could hear the sound of Caleb's lips opening. Dale felt the air rushing out of Caleb's mouth as he whispered. The air was rather cold.
"They're here."
What happened next was so odd Dale could, and never would comprehend for perhaps the rest of his life. Caleb placed his petite and pale palm against Dale's fear-stricken face. For a split second Dale's vision was blurred and it eventually blacked out. Dale could see nothing but only hear a noise. A scurrying noise. The sound of little kitten paws scratching against dense layers of dried leaves. Dale could hear panting and was pretty sure that it wasn't his. Then, within what seemed to be a millionth of a second, two yellow, orb-like objects flashed across his vision.

Dale jerked frontwards and gasped for air. He looked around and grabbed his chest, struggling for oxygen to breathe. He turned his head around and saw Caleb sitting at the corner across the room, staring at a children's book. It was as though nothing had happened.

Dale lied back down. He was scared, although not sure of what.

But there was one thing he was sure of.

Those orb-like objects were the persimmons he saw earlier in the park.

Except this time they weren't persimmons.

They were eyes.