dream threads

the man stopped in the middle of the road, and started walking toward us. henry and i glanced at each other uneasily, both wondering what he could possibly want. the man walked steadily forward, slowly drawing closer to where we stood. he kept his eyes on us, never breaking his stare. his footsteps echoed through the empty neighborhood, feet scuffling against cracked asphalt. i reflexively took a step back, stumbling away from the mysterious man. henry stepped back with me, but our eyes never left our pursuer. the man's pace quickened, his worn brown trench coat lifting in the wind to reveal equally tattered boots. henry called out to him, trying to suppress the fear in his voice. "hey," he wavered, "what do you want?" the man said nothing. i was getting a very bad feeling about this. suddenly, the man broke into a run. henry grabbed my arm, hauling me toward a vacant house a couple hundred meters away. "come on!" he yelled, breathlessly dragging my body behind him. i finally recovered from my frozen state, and we stumbled up the rotting porch steps into the desolate house. i stole a glance over my shoulder and my heart lept in my chest. the man was right behind us. henry and i struggled to close the heavy wooden door. i reached to close the lock, fumbling with the latch. either the lock just kept turning and wouldn't latch, or the door wouldn't meet the door frame and there was a huge gap, making it impossible to lock. we struggled for a few more seconds but it was no use. he was here now.