Fading into the Floor by Luke Hannon
September 24th, a very regular Tuesday for most, but for Sadie Greenfield everything was about to change. Her old way of life was about to abruptly end, and something new and strange was about to grip her in its otherworldly claws. For Sadie Greenfield, today was the end.
Sadie awoke to her shrill alarm at a quarter past eight and dragged her drowsy form out of bed and into the bathroom. She started work at nine and couldn’t be late again this week. Although she felt like being late. Even just walking to the bathroom mirror felt like a chore, like she trudged through shallow mud. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. "You can do this," she told herself. She trudged back to bed after using the toilet and began to dress. One sock, two socks, sensible shoes, pencil skirt, all good, yes. She stood up and it was only then did she realise she no longer had feet. Huh? She thought, maybe she hadn't actually woken up yet at all. If this is a dream, it's a rubbish one. But when she lifted her left leg, her foot reappeared out of the floor. She repeated this with the other leg too. What the hell is going on?
Sadie was twenty-eight minutes late for work. She had struggled with the idea that her feet were now beneath the floor as she walked, but she didn't think a doctor could help, and anyway if it was a dream then she would wake up eventually. By the time she had reached work, however, even more of her legs seemed to have sunk into the ground. She was now almost a foot shorter than she had been last night.
"Can you see my feet?" She asked the then bewildered secretary upon reaching work.
"Your feet? Oh... new shoes?" The secretary asked.
Sadie looked at her with a frightened look on her face and walked away, confused.
So, nobody else knows I'm sinking? She wondered. No one can help?
By mid-afternoon, Sadie was utterly terrified at the thought of leaving her office chair. What if I sink again? She worried. But I can't just stay in work forever. She decided then that she needed some real help. Maybe the police could help? They're good in emergencies right? So, she called the police and asked them to come to her home. Then she steeled herself and plunged herself off of her swivelling office chair and down into the floor. Up to her waist she now sank, and all the way home she waded, as if through water, to meet the police when they came. As she went, she tried to meet the eyes of other passers-by, for them to notice her plight, yet nobody did. She was alone.
Ding-dong, the doorbell rang, and Sadie rushed through thick carpet and cement to answer it. When she opened it, a policeman stood on the other side, staring straight ahead, as one might expect.
"Down here," Sadie said, and yet his eyes only dropped slightly, to around where my normal eye level with be, she reckoned.
"What seems to be the problem here?" He asked in a questioning manner.
"Can't you see?" Sadie pleaded. The policeman looked around narrowly. "I'm sinking, and I don't know what's causing it," Sadie told him.
"Ma'am? I'm not sure I understand," the policeman replied.
"I'm sinking into the floor!" Sadie was feeling frustrated now. How is it that no one can see?
"Ma'am, I can call a psychiatrist if you need someone to talk to? Have you taken anything? Any pills?" This is no use, Sadie decided.
"No, sorry... I must have panicked," she told him. "I'm sorry to have been of bother."
It was eight o' clock and Sadie had tried pulling herself up onto her bed, only to find that she lacked the requisite upper body strength. Why is it just the ground that I sink into? She mused worriedly. This makes no sense, this makes no sense at all! She felt like screaming, but she knew it wouldn't help. The tops of her breasts now sat below the floor-line. What would happen when her head was under? Judging by the increasing speed at which she seemed to sink, that wouldn't take long. What then? She waded over to the phone with some great difficulty and, standing on her tippy-toes, she reached her arms upwards and pulled the receiver off the wall. Then she grabbed a wooden sweeping brush from nearby and used its pole to press in the numbers required.
"Mum?" She asked, once the ringing tone had ceased and she heard a click.
"Yes honey? What is it?"
"Mum... mum, there's something happening to me and I can't explain it. Just know I love you okay?" Sadie said, tears beginning to run down her cheeks and pattering on the floor just above her chin.
"What's going on dear? What is happening to you? Is something wrong?" Her mother responded. Sadie wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Nothing mum, I'm sure it will all be okay, don't worry. I just love you, okay?" Her mouth would soon be beneath the floor tiles too.
"...I love you too honey. Are you sure everything’s okay there?" Her mother sounded concerned.
"Positive," Sadie forced a smile, even though her mother couldn't see it. "I'll see you see mum, goodbye." And with that, Sadie mouth retreated below the surface, and she said no more.
Sadie watched the world she knew slowly recede from her for the next ten minutes or so until her eyes were slowly covered, and everything went black. She felt like she was swimming at night, except it was warm here, not cold. Her sinking proceeds much quicker now and she was soon surrounded by the darkness. It consumed her. She could feel herself sinking further and further, for how long she couldn’t tell, and she dwelled on all that she could have done differently with her life. Some people get hit by busses, or fall down the stairs, she told herself, life is short, and I had a good one while it lasted. She thought about all the people she left behind. Will they notice I'm gone, or will they see me normally like that policeman did? She wondered. It didn't matter. They would grieve her and move on. Suddenly she felt a panic rise up in her chest, what is going to happen to me next? Will I grow old down here? Or starve? Will I fall forever? She closed her eyes and breathed deep. No... She knew this somehow. I won't fall forever. Everything will be okay eventually. I know it in my heart. She relaxed and she fell.
“I trashed this story because my first alpha reader didn't like it and honestly I'm not even sure why I wrote it. It seemed like a fun story in my head, but it might just be a bit too nihilistic.”
Luke Hannon (He/Him) is an aspiring author and poet from County Meath, Ireland. Find him on Twitter @lukehannonpoet and Instagram lukehannonpoet