Dream of the Vision

Tom had just ended his shift at work, he was a late night cashier at the local take-away shop, starting from eight o'clock in the evening and staying late till twelve in the morning. He sighed heavily as he locked the front door, collected his items and exited the shop.

'Long night?' came a voice from close beside him.

Tom held his breath wide-eyed, worried who was following him. Not long after having asked the question, his workmate Barry stepped out from the shadow, holding a cigarette.

'Jesus Barry, you scared the living shit out of me,' exclaimed Tom, releived to find it was his friend.

'Been staying up too late, have you? You seem knackered,' he replied.

'Psh, doesn't help when you've got people jumping out at you from corners either!' laughed Tom, 'well it's good to see you anyway, I figured you'd be asleep at this time.'

'Nah, I came to check on you, seeing as you work by yourself all night in that deserted shop.' Barry said as he took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke.

'Hah, thanks man. I appreciate it, but I'm really worn out, I might just head off home and call it in.'

'Hm, alright, well I just came here to have a quick chat anyway, been wasting my time with these ciggies while I was waiting for you,' he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and offered one to Tom, and laughed as he screwed his face up.

'Eugh, still smoking that junk are you?' Tom replied disapprovingly.

'Always,' Barry said with a grin, 'well, it was good talking to you, catch you tomorrow pal, have a good night.'

'Good night bud, talk tomorrow.' Tom said as he waved goodbye to Barry who had already started walking away, then headed in the opposite direction towards his car.

He clicked the remote to his car, listening to the bleep bleep and watching as the headlights filled the empty car park for a split second with light. He pulled the door open and slumped inside, placing his items on the passenger seat. Tom sighed and rubbed his eye with his hand while he used the other to turn the key in the ignition and start the car up.

Once the car roared into life, Tom put both his hands on the steering wheel and started to drive out of the parking lot, he then sped towards the exit only to slam on the brakes just before a car roared past him. His heart pounding, he pushed on the accelerator and started to make a right turn, just before a truck screeched towards the car and slammed into it's side.

Tom was hurled around inside the car as it flew across the road, metal flying off and glass splaying everywhere, cutting into his skin. Tom screamed as the car flew, and right after it's last topple, the truck once again roared up to the car and smashed into it.

Tom awoke sitting at the shop counter. His eyes widened and spit pooling beneath his chin. He got up and wiped the saliva off his face and looked around.

'I must've been dreaming,' he chuckled to himself, 'thank god for that.'

He looked at his watch and the time read eleven fifty-one.

'Hm, nine minutes left till my shift ends. Well, nobodies probably coming in anyway, best to just lock up then.'

Tom collected his things and locked up the shop, starting from the front door before making his way to the back entrance, pre-locking it and closing it behind him as he stepped out into the alley.

As the door closed, a voice came abruptly from within the alley's shadows, 'Long night?'