dreambit

I'm in a mall, heading into a crowded, narrow little store. I'm not sure whether it's a bookstore or a music store, but its wares are shelved from floor to ceiling on the right wall and the rear, and in the middle, there's a long rack with more merchandise. The cash is on the left wall. Everyone is moving in the same pattern, since there isn't enough room to cross paths. It's like a Visa debit card commercial. You enter on the right, hope the people in front of you don't stop to examine something before you reach your item, then circle around the back into the lineup at the cash. It's busy, but not hectic by any means.

Suddenly, there's a huge crash behind us. I turn and look out into the mall; settling dust makes everything hazy. I've only just entered the store, so the few people behind me have already exited to see what's happening. Like a lot of malls, there are stores around the exterior perimeter, and the center is open, up to a skylight, with escalators and staircases running up and down at each end. Right in front of us, precariously perched on a staircase landing, is a silver Toyota Corolla, that has apparently crashed from the street, one level above. It must have reversed into the mall, since its nose is facing the hole it has just created. There are three passengers: two men in front, apparently unharmed, and a woman with light hair in the back seat, bleeding but not critically injured. They are trapped in the car and calling for help.

An ambulance driver climbs over the staircase railing, to try to reach a car door. He slips and somehow plummets down between the landings, as if the mall stretched several more floors below. People scream, including the woman in the car. As if on cue, dozen of people climb over the railing and jump as well, this time voluntarily.

*Note: That'll teach me to watch the preview to "The Happening" before going to bed.

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