Avoid the Darkness

Keep moving. I lifted my right leg one step up. Now, the left. The right. Eight floors. Up and down. The lights can’t go out, or they get me. I could hear them scratching the wall in the dark, two floors up and two down. I kept walking. They kept moving. Two hours until sunrise. My left thigh was cramping. My right buttock wanted to explode. I kept walking. They kept scratching the wall. Two hours. If I’m lucky today. Left. Right. Left. Right. A lamp switched on. Left. Right. John wasn’t lucky. Yesterday the sun didn’t rise. Left. Right. Two floors down a lamp went dark. Claws scratched the wall. Keep moving.