The Man in the Red Hat

It was a windy day in Manhattan, and the streets were empty. There was no noise throughout the whole city, but the sound of my feet stomping on the ground while I’m walking. I look around, wondering if I’m dreaming the quietness, then I hear a plea for help. I sprint, to follow the sound of the women’s cry, to find a man, in a red hat, beating her with a baseball bat. I was mesmerized by the blood erupting from her head. Then I snap out of it. I couldn’t bear to see this, so I went up to the guy and punched him in the eye. He fell to the ground. I turn him over so I can see his face. He has no face. I couldn’t describe it even if I tried. All I knew is that there was no flesh on it. He wasn’t human. I turned and made a mad dash for the door. I stop, because I smell my mother’s homemade pancakes. But she’s dead. How is that possible? I turn around, only to find the man, with the bat. The next thing I knew he was beating me, and I blacked out.


I woke up on a white floor, and I have no idea where I am. But for some reason that place seemed really familiar. Then I hear someone call my name, “Michael, follow my voice. I have a surprise for you…” Of course I follow him, what do I have to lose?
“Where are you?” I asked the voice from above.


“I’m across the crystal bridge. Just go to the end of it and walk down the steps.” I walked down the bridge. He wasn’t kidding. The bridge really was crystal. It was shiny see through crystal, and it was so beautiful. The sun shined right through it to make a bright rainbow across the whole floor. “Where are you? I went down the steps and you’re nowhere to be found.” I exclaimed.


“Turn around.” I slowly turn around, and scream at the top of my lungs. I find a man, in a white robe, white sandals, and a beard flowing in the wind. The beard smells pretty delicious. It smells like….like…..my mother’s pancakes! Why do I keep smelling them? Anyways, the man kind of reminds me of Jesus. “Hello young man, my name is Jesus,” well that makes sense.”I would like to welcome you to Heaven.” Jesus steps a little to the side, and there’s my mother. More beautiful and stunning than ever before.


“Mom!” I run over and give her the biggest hug you could ever give someone. She hugs back. I feel like I’m alive again! Then she slaps hard in the face with a brick, and I wake up. In a hospital. On the floor.


“He’s alive! I can’t believe this! You’re a lucky man, Michael.”


“I know I know.” I sprinted, out of the room, out of the hospital, all the way to my apartment three miles away. “I can’t believe this is happening to me again. After all these years, it’s happened again. Why now? Why at this time? This doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve gotta leave town again, and change my name, and get a new home. How’d he find me? The man in the red hat, that evil little…” I hear a knock, a loud knock. So loud my eardrums are pounding, and I can’t even hear myself breath. I follow the disturbing noise, and it leads to the patio door, so I know the sound is coming from something on my deck.


I stick my head out the door, and there he was, Jesus was eating some peanuts and throwing the shells at my wall. Which you wouldn’t think was too loud, but it was crazy loud. “What are you doing here?” I said, with a scared tone. I wasn’t expecting him any time soon.


“Saving you. You’ve been through too much, and I’m sorry about Chad.” I had no clue who Chad was. I never even heard of the guy. “Who’s Chad?”


“Don’t you remember? Chad Loopy, you guys used to be best friends, until he went loopy, and now he’s ‘the man in the red hat’ as you call him.” And I freeze. Every muscle in my body stops functioning right, and I can’t move. My heart feels like it stopped, and I can’t breathe. My lungs are closing, as I’m gasping for air. The room starts spinning, and I fall. I can’t control what I am doing or feeling. All of a sudden, everything is a blur. The last thing I saw was the man in the red hat, with a knife with dark red blood dripping off of it, and him laughing. “That’s what you get Michael; you always knew it was coming.”