Silent Hill Soccer

Wandering through a dilapidated hospital with a small group of friends. We all had different weapons, myself wielding a handgun. A sense of urgency, and hyper awareness on the cusp of panic coursed through the group. My heart hurt in my chest it was beating so fast. Having survived the horrors of the previous night, made anticipating the next ones that much worse. Stumbling from room to room, finding nothing but abandoned hospital equipment, corpses, and dead monsters, the tension built, always waiting for the other boot to fall, but it never came.

We found our way outside, and saw a huge structure looming in the distance. The twilight giving away the building's profile against the darkening sky. Being outside calms the group, and we all take a moment to catch our breath. The street lamps come on, sodium buzzing in our ears and illuminating the disrepair on a two-lane highway. Scattering to navigate the large pot-holes and uneven surfaces, we resemble a search party more than a survival group. The structure grows faster than I anticipated and soon we discover that the structure is a football stadium.

Cautiously walking past the broken wrought-iron gate, we enter the crumbling stadium. The field is brown and moss covered, but still level and the two soccer goals still have the majority of their tattered nets. The field is soft and spongy, and the seats are inaccessible as they are raised at least 12 feet above the field. While I notice no lights the open air stadium seems too bright for what is now night. Even the full moon cannot explain the full illumination. Two teams come out from the locker room. The University of Michigan men's soccer team and some other nameless university. Fans appear in the stands but attendance is low and the stands appear largely empty. The teams have changed into Hockey jerseys with the nameless U in Detroit Red Wing jerseys and Michigan is some other pro hockey jersey, the same brown green colors found on the field. Nameless U scores in the first minute of play. I'm torn between cheering for the Wings jersey and cheering for my alma mater. Making up my mind, I cheer for Michigan as they streak down the field and almost score.

Our group decides that we need to get off of the sidelines and into the stands. We exit through the tunnel with the broken gate and are walking around the stadium's perimeter. The night is warm and the moon is beautiful.