Travel to Sockland

Chapter 7

He walked and walked for what felt like hours, and yet the village didn't seem to be drawing any closer. Occasionally, a basket-person would run past, quickly fading into the distance ahead. After seeing this a few times - he realised that they never came back

More time passed and the village still didn't seem any closer - so he looked back. Shock! He hadn't gone anywhere. He looked at his feet and they were moving. The gold ground gave the apparency of passing by, but when he looked up again at the village in the distance and back at the mountain of socks, he wasn't moving. He glanced at the flourescent green sky, and it remained unnaturally still. He was on some kind of immense treadmill.

He stopped walking just as another basket man dashed past. He stood still for a moment and thought about the problem. He decided to turn back and start walking the other way and see if he could get back. He couldn't. No matter the steps he took or the speed he went, he remained in the same place. He tried to jog and tried to run, but it was all the same. He stopped again and turned to face the village once more. He could see it hazily up ahead.

After thinking it over for a few minutes, he decided to try moving onto the path. He looked to make sure there were no basket men coming and stepped onto the path. He started walking towards the village again. He kept as close to the side of the path as possible so he wouldn't be in the way as he walked. He looked at his feet, they were moving and the ground appeared to be passing by. He chanced a look up at the village and to his immense relief he found he was moving closer. He felt cheered by his movement and he carried on going.

After 10 minutes or so, at least that is what it felt like to him, he had a strange feeling and looked behind him. Coming up the path at a rapid speed was one of the basket men. He squeezed himself to the side of the path to keep out the way as it passed. It was coming quickly along, gaining on him rapidly.

Just before it reached him, some unseen and unexpected force from behind pushed Arnie towards the middle of the path. He struggled with the feeling, but he couldn't avoid falling into the center of the path just as the basket man arrived. The way he fell, he collided with the front of the creature and fell forwards, somehow managing to roll over completely and landing in the basket on his back, on a pile of socks. He struggled to wriggle up, but the force caused by the basket man's running speed kept him down. Luckily the sock pile was comfortable.

"Hey!" he shouted loudly. But the only reply above the rushing air, was the sound of hysterical laughter.

"STOP MOVING" He screamed! But the laughter continued and the speed remained constant.

When he managed to lift his head slightly, he saw the village was drawing rapidly closer. He put his head back on the pile once his neck began to ache from holding it up and he lay quite still.

It wasn't long until he felt the creature begin to slow down and then it stopped. He raised his head and found himself in what seemed to be a village square. Surrounded by little buildings. The ground was the same gold colour - and there was a large number of the basket people standing perfectly still, all looking towards the center of the square.

The buildings were small, circular buildings. Arnie estimated they would reach only to about his shoulder height. They spread around the square and into the distance, with four little roads at each point of the square going off in a straight line.

The buildings were many coloured, some shining blue and others silver, gold, green and yellow. All had a similar, triangular, round roof, made of something like straw. The buildings themselves seemed to be made of a cardboard type of material, from the looks of them. There was no sign of life, except for the basket men, who were standing still, kind of what you would expect from a basket.

He turned his attention to the center of the square, where they were all looking. There was nothing there.

He managed to clamber up and out of the basket. He straightened up and brushed off his clothes to straighten out the wrinkles.

"Excuse me." he said to the basket man who had carried him, "what are we waiting for?"

There was no answer, it's eyes were firmly fixed upon the center of the square. Arnie moved a bit closer and looked, but there was nothing there.

He wandered back towards the buildings on one side of the square, but kept his eyes on the basket men and the center of the square as he did so. When he reached the building he had been walking to, a bright blue one, he touched the wall. Despite it's appearance, it felt nothing like cardboard. It was solid, yet spongy. It felt like ginger bread that had been left a little too long and thus hardened, but a bit more solid. He moved a little way around the building and found a small door, closed. It had an oak colour, with a small handle. He didn't touch it.

There was a crashing noise behind him in the square and he turned quickly.

The basket men hadn't changed but were standing still and looking at the center of the square. It was no longer empty. Rising up, as though from the ground came an imposing structure. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Two large, hairy legs were rising up from the ground. The knees had just become visible and already they were twice the height of him.

There was something off about those knees. He squinted his eyes and looked again. Each knee had on it a clock face. Shining, reflective black, with only one clock hand on each.

There was also only one symbol on each clock. On the left knee, where the number 12 should be was a picture of a sock. On the right knee was the same image, but where the 6 should be.

The right clock hand was pointing at this symbol, the left hand clock was pointing to the same position on its clock.

Two feet had arrived on the ground. Giant, human feet. The legs had stopped rising from the ground at this point and stood towering over the basket men. There was no shadow, the gold ground gleamed unaffectedly.

Suddenly, a black line appeared across the left foot, above the level of the toes. Then, Arnie noticed in horror what was happening. The line formed and then parted to form a thin mouth. It had black lips unlike any he had seen before, and in a sonorous voice, the foot spoke.

"You know the time of day!" The voice rang out.

"We know the time of day!" The basket men shouted back in unison. They had adopted the deep, sonorous voice of the foot.

"Then let it begin!" Commanded the foot.

"Then let it begin!" They chanted back and the mouth opened wide.

The baskets moved rapidly forward, each one in an organized, clearly well-rehearsed, routine, tipped the contents of itself into the mouth and dashed off down one of the roads giggling.

Arnie watched in amazement as each of the seemingly hundreds of baskets emptied its contents and dashed off. What a sight to behold!

When the last basket dashed away, the mouth seemed to smack it's too thin lips in apparent satisfaction and the legs began to sink away. Arnie was transfixed.

Then the legs were gone. There he stood at the edge of an empty village square.

Any fear he had felt had vanished and had been replaced with a keen interest. He turned away from the square and looked over the rows of small houses.

He decided that he would explore.

There seemed to be no signs of life outwith any of these houses, but houses were for living in. So, with that thought, he approached the door of the nearest house again and knocked loudly.

Please remember to vote if you like it! Let me know your thoughts so far by commenting too!