The warehouse was much like any other. Rows of racking from the ground to the roof. All containing boxes of product on pallets. Pushed into the racking on rolling racks. The first product lit dimly by the overhead fluorescent bulbs, 40 feet in the air. The boxes in front were the only things visible in the darkness created by the low light and the deep caverns created by the racks.
Kal’s pallet jack made a soft mechanical noise; he rode it through the aisles of the warehouse. He enjoyed the warehouse. It gave him a sense of calm. Driving around the warehouse early in the morning. It wouldn’t be long before everyone else was here and it would be like grand central station with pick up. But for now, he was alone. Until he wasn’t.
Kal pulled into an aisle and noticed a pallet jack with a picking plate on the back. Nothing unusual about this. It was common for others to come in early and rake some overtime. As he pulled closer, he noticed the owner of said pallet jack standing to the side of one of the bigger box locations. Kal honked his horn as he drove by and scanned the location he was sent to. After he loaded his piece, he looked up and noticed the man had not moved. He was staring into the darkness of the racking. He seemed to be breathing hard. Kal walked up to him and looked into the blackness only to see nothing. He looked back at the man. The man’s eyes were blood shot and surrounded by black circles. He did not appear to be blinking. “You good, man?” Kal’s voice was just a little annoyed.
The man’s voice was shaky, raspy in between breaths. “Don’t you see it?”
Kal looked again into the blackness. This time really looking. He squinted his eyes to focus in the dark. His scanner beeped at him, informing him of the time running out. He looked down and back at the man. Kal decided he would leave and let his supervisor know there is someone that might be on something. For now, he figured it was safer to let him ride out his high without being on a machine. As he passed the man’s pallet jack, kal pulled the plug from the batter. As he rode through the warehouse continuing his pick-run, he could not get the image of fear the man had on his face out of his head.
Kal’s last location was at the far end of the warehouse. He pulled alongside the location and prepared himself for a heavy box. Before he could grab it, he heard a small sound coming from behind the boxes.
He looked into the dark only to believe it was his imagination due to the events that just transpired. His attention once again to the box he began to lift. As he did so he heard the strange noise again. He kept his head down trying to figure out what it was. It began to grow louder. He finally realized what it was. It was growling. He looked into the dark and it stopped. He searched frantically. Nothing. He took his flashlight out and what little did penetrate the dark he saw nothing.
Finally, he looked away. The growl returned. He turned his head into the dark and saw a shadow of a form. An outline. He saw a shape in the darkness, it was big. He backed away slowly. As soon as he lost sight of the figure the growling became louder. He would swear he saw eyes in the dark. He took a step closer to the dark and the growling stopped. The figure just stood, stood and watched kal. Kal was unable to move. Fear froze him. He understood why the man hadn’t moved. He now knew what he saw.
Sleepless Oblivion 
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