Dimensia

by Steven Thornton, Jr

  Chapter: Eight.

  It wasn't long until I reached my destination and saw, yet again, a familiar picture. There stood an old and abandoned building, located in the middle of nowhere. I quickly scanned the building and surroundings but saw no signs of apparent life, other than a couple of homeless people seeking shelter from the cold. As I turned off my car, I killed the headlights and continued to survey my surroundings. Something felt strange. Realizing there were neither businesses near by nor cars parked on the street. The neighborhood looked as if it had experienced some Katrina-like disaster. It was as if the government had yet again turned a blind eye, leaving any and everyone involved to find their own escape or refuge. It was like a ghost town.

  After taking a deep breath, which I held in as long as I could, I exhaled. I repeated this process a few times, hoping to help calm my nerves as I reached for the door handle. All this while I was revisiting my conversation with Dr. Scott and what he had told me. 'Stop while you're ahead.' Only I felt I needed to move forward, though, in hopes of maintaining the ability to survive or keep my sanity, so-to-speak. As I grasped the handle of my car door my hand trembled and my palms became clammy. 'I could still leave and it will be okay,' I thought. Only couldn't. Hesitantly, I opened my car door and cautiously stepped out. Standing next to it I strained to listen but heard nothing except eerie silence occasionally interrupted by a few blackbirds that cried into the night sky.

  The streets and surroundings seemed unnaturally muted. As I closed my car door, I heard rustling of branches and leaves from a nearby bush, correlating the noise to have derived behind me. I turned to look, straining my eyes in hopes of piercing the darkness. I heard the noise again. I froze, on edge, locking my legs as I do when I'm scared or nervous. Staring between the sets of bushes, I suddenly heard a hissing noise and saw something dart across the grass to another nearby bush with another object tailing closely behind. Curious and scared, I slowly approached the bushes. I wanted to catch a better glimpse. With each step, I edged myself closer and closer to the bushes, trying to be as quiet as possible. I imagined myself a soldier, trying to sneak up on an enemy armed with machine guns, my trigger ready. Within ten feet of the bushes, in a flurry of motion, I saw something come barreling out of the bush towards me. Frozen in fear, I worried that whatever it was, was now mad at me for intruding. It was dark, so I couldn't make out the object in its entirety. I then felt something brush my pant legs that sent my adrenaline through the roof and my heart into overdrive. I nervously looked down, with the object looking up at me from my feet. I realized how funny this would have been had I brought along a camera. If I could have captured that moment and sent it in to America's funniest videos, I believe I would have won the hundred thousand dollar grand prize. Looking down, I realized it was a cat. 'A freaking cat' I thought, as I let out the breath trapped in my lungs. I laughed to myself as the cat wondered off. Letting out a sigh of relief, a reflection of light shining against the leafless trees emerged. I turned and saw Order walking towards me, nearly a hundred yards out. As I looked closely, I realized she was not walking, but gliding. Then I felt a cool breeze as the fallen leaves became levitated. Order, with her arms extended and wrists angled to the ground, appeared as if she had strings attached to her arms allowing her to glide. Weightless as a feather, she descended softly and with grace to the ground. I stared mesmerized as she slowly dropped her arms to her side in approach. Astonished and fixated, I stared while my mind raced. Who is this lady? Not-to-mention, how is such an act possible? Within twenty yards, I couldn't stand to look anymore at the intense incandescent glow she was emitting. Having to turn away and blinking several times, I felt as if I had been temporarily blinded. I saw nothing but traces of white. Seconds later and regaining my sight, I noticed the light behind me beginning to fade. As I turned to look, I saw Order standing about fifteen feet in front of me with her right arm fully extended towards me. As I started to walk toward her, I felt captivated by her grace and beauty. I then reached out for her hand and felt a sudden comfort and calming wash over me as we walked hand-in-hand into the abandoned building. We said nothing to each other.

  "What is it that you want or need of me?" I asked, breaking the silence. She reached up with her right hand, extended her index finger, placing it firmly against my mouth and covering my lips,

  "It's not safe," I heard, but didn't see her lips move and realized she had telepathically said that. Amazed. Crazy. Cramazed. My eyes grew to the size of ping-pong balls as she smiled.

  "Look the other direction," Order said, but once again, no lip movement. As I turned to look in the opposite direction, I felt a subtle reaction of movement. However, there was no motor activity, but it felt like I had jumped without jumping. More like the act of jumping, or the effect of jumping, but no conscious thought. As I looked around, I realized I was in a room near what I assumed to be the rear of the abandoned building. Teleported. What? In the blink of an eye, we ended up in this room, but how? As I looked around the room, I checked outside and realized it was indeed the abandoned building, with my car parked out front. As an invisible fog settled in my mind, a bright flash of light entered my peripheral that redirected my focus back to inside the room. I saw Order with her arms lifted towards the ceiling with a ball of light blazing between her hands. Madness! The ball of light was as bright as the sun, causing me to close my eyes. Soon after I felt an intense rush of heat in a blast of wind that was so intense I nearly stumbled. I opened my eyes and saw the light sweeping across the vicinity. The light resembled what I had always imagined a nuclear bomb to look like upon detonation. It spread fast like wildfire across the surrounding vicinity. I then turned to look at Order and saw her glow, not as blinding, slowly beginning to fade. As her image began to focus in my mind unveiling her magnetism, candor, purity, and knowledge.

  "How are you able to speak to me, without speaking? And what did you just do?" I asked.

  "I can also hear your thoughts," as she grinned. Like a biscuit fresh out of the oven, hot, my skin crawled, embarrassed. Realizing: she knew that I knew that she knew that she knew how beautiful I thought she was, and not exactly sure what else I had thought, she maintained her grin.

  "It's safe now, we can speak aloud." However, I felt troubled that something inappropriate would pop into my head and I couldn't think of anything to say. She simply grinned. Then it dawned on me, I was trying to not think, but was thinking of not thinking. Then I really felt embarrassed. Order, taking a step toward the center of the room, extended her arms vertically towards the ceiling, and in a swift fluid motion dropped to her knees. From a kneeling position, she slowly began to stand into an upright stance, with her hands out in front of her, palms flat and parallel to the floor. I watched in disbelief as simultaneously a tree began to grow from the floor of the room. As she slowly stood, the tree grew in size. The tree slowly began to blossom, revealing beautiful blooms illuminating purple. Standing with her arms extended toward the ceiling, I saw the tree in its full magnitude. I experienced a feeling one can only vaguely hope to describe. The tree itself had some sort of strange property which made one feel comfort. It was not just beautiful but incredible as well. What is logic without reason, reason without logic? It was such a parallel. As Order turned towards me I stared, drenched with contentment shadowed with disbelief.

  "Fisher, I know how difficult all this must be for you to believe, but the time has come and we need to move quickly." Order said with a caring smile.

  "It's not hard to believe," I said feeling like a turtle out of its shell.

  "I just have a few questions, that's all."

  "Well, what are your questions?" Order asked, revealing her beautiful grin. I began scratching the top of my head as I do when I feel uncomfortable or in an attempt to stall while my head didn't really itch.

  "Well, what is all this? Why me? I mean, I'm a nobody."

&nb
sp; "Someday you will understand," Order said in a calm, reassuring way. Not realizing I had rolled my eyes, I looked in the opposite direction. When I turned back, Order was right in front of me just inches away. Staring face-to-face with her, it caused me to feel very uncomfortable.

  "You are special, as is everyone. You have been chosen from birth." As I listened with the utmost attention, I grinned and repeated,

  "Birth, huh?" Yeah right, I mused, not wanting to accept her story.

  "Yes, birth." she replied,

  "You are chosen to be a Light Worker, to spread the light. You are what we call, a Light Warrior. It is our destiny to battle the dark forces that grow stronger with each passing day." I staggered back in disbelief.

  "Destiny, battle, warrior," I stammered,

  "What are you talking about? I'm just a dude that wants to blend in. I have little to no importance or significance. I'm normal, sorry lady."

  "So Fisher, you have never wondered what the big picture of life is? You're telling me, you believe we live and die and that's it? You think you work, you die, there's no after life, no purgatory? Normal is it?" As she squinted her eyes, I sensed sarcasm in her voice.

  "There's no such thing as a normal life, there's just living." she said with a solemn face. As I took a few steps back I tried to gather my thoughts for a brief moment, then replied,

  "Yeah, okay. I sometimes wonder about that stuff, everyone does. That's just human nature, the human condition to want something different and better, to think that someday we will see our loved or lost-loved ones again. I want to believe that there are answers to questions that are unanswerable, I do."

  "That's what is known as the horns of dilemma, Fisher. It's when you feel you are complete on your own and don't want to accept the abstract reality. Perhaps seeing people act and think a certain way, which is not by design, has clouded such an individual's outlook. It's a conundrum, but most humans have no compunction. Instead, they seek to justify their lifestyles with their own deception and perception of reality. Most people never stop to listen, or search for truth, or strive to attain that which is beyond the beyond. However, the facade with this philosophy is that there is a day on the distant calendar when the abstract reality will prevail, and then what will these people do? When they can't change that which is done? Fisher, show me a heart and I will show you scars. From your perspective I understand such questions, but know that NOTHING is impossible, and what you CAN achieve is boundless, despite the human disposition. Take comfort in knowing that one just has to ask. It is inside you, and it is all around you. It is all that you are and all that you are not. The choice, I cannot stress enough, choice; is yours. In the grand scheme of things, compare this life to a dream or a memory." I felt my eyes glaze over from emotion.

  "Is all this you speak true? I mean have you seen it first hand?" I was compelled to ask.

  "Yes, and I have." she smiled.

  "I too, was once in your shoes and had to decide. There was once a Prince of Light who revealed himself to humanity, but nothing he could do ever seemed to be enough to satisfy the craving of certainty, even among his followers. As foretold countless times, and facilitated in exact perfection, this Prince was martyred for his controversial, tyrant, blasphemous and heretical beliefs. But facilitating this prophecy accomplished so-much more. More than most can even begin to understand. It's your life and your choice. But understand, seeing isn't believing, more accurately, believing is seeing." I was present but absent, I felt an intense rush of energy surge into my veins that sent chill bumps flooding throughout my body. Experiencing a paradigm shift, lost, I fell to my knees in understanding that everything I knew and had been taught or learned up until this point was incomplete. I ran through my mind everything I had just been told, and felt grateful to be among them, willing and eager to learn. As Order placed her hand on my head, my thoughts came to a head, and decided to stand.

  "What do I need to do?" I asked as she extended her right arm. I turned to look in the direction she had been pointing and watched a chair positioned across the room begin to slide across the floor to my feet completely by itself. Telekinesis, what? Amazed, I accepted the gesture and absorbed the seat. When Order extended her arms towards the ceiling, she started speaking aloud in a different language. Seconds later I saw another light appear in the sky, heading in our direction. The light seemed to be moving quite fast as the glow intensified as it approached. Looking at the unknown light I felt another sudden intense rush of energy as the wind stirred with turbulence. I directed my attention outside and witnessed the trees swaying recklessly to and fro. Seconds later, I felt an intense gust of heat as my sweat began to prickle, and I had to close my eyes until the intense light began to fade. Seconds later, I opened my eyes to see, and saw Truth standing in the room. Truth was the other lady. The Middle-Eastern woman I had met on the prior visit, with the dreads. In disbelief, her glow was very similar to that of Order's. It too had every color I had seen previously with my gift. Within seconds Truth's glow began to fade until it diminished into nearly nothing. Staring at one another, she smiled. Order, now in the middle of the room, plucked a leaf from the tree of life. She then made her way to the sink located in the other room. Moments later she returned with a mug in hand that was filled with what I assumed to be the drink I had on my first visit. Everything happened so fast, and as much as I tried to absorb each and every moment, I couldn't. Order, having walked towards me, extended the mug to me. I accepted it, raising the mug to my nose to smell the familiar scent and took a sip. The drink, I'm sorry, can't be described in any other way than happy. Swishing it around in my mouth it seemed better this time than the last. With my taste buds exploding, the tea tasted sweet but exotic and I smiled in appreciation. Order, standing next to me, also smiled. She seemed so mysterious. A Lightess. I didn't understand, but was ready to try. Her smile was radiant, beyond radiant. And I felt something each time in her presence that I could not place. I then realized I had been mindlessly staring at Order and had forgotten that she could read thoughts. I again felt compromised. Embarrassed, I quickly turned away. They say, 'everything happens for a reason?' Well, I couldn't wrap my brain around the reason why any of this was happening. It felt too good to be true. What was the cause, the purpose? Naturally, I couldn't begin to understand, but I needed to know. I had a raging passion to learn, to find answers to questions I've had my entire life. If it was destiny, I was prepared. Truth, standing at my side, extended her arm and snapped her fingers as a chair materialized. In disbelief, I thought, 'man this is some good tea!' The chair appeared directly in front of me. Truth taking a seat in the chair, looked at me.

  "Are you ready to begin?" she asked as I smiled.

  "Yes, yes I am." I looked up at Order who was standing next to me and smiled, lost in the forest that is her eyes. Truth reached into her pocket, retrieving the familiar chain that had granted my gift. As Order placed her hand on top of my shoulder, Truth began speaking aloud in the other language, swinging the necklace back and forth in a pendulum motion inches from my face. I watched the chain in a hypnotic stare and entered a state of somberness, becoming very relaxed. After a few seconds the cross dangling from the chain began to glow. A bright, white trail of light shadowed the swinging cross, as Truth swung it from left to right, speaking aloud in the other language. Feeling my eyelids begin to weigh, darkness overwhelmed my mind.

  The next thing I recall was waking up to the sun shining through the blinds of my apartment windows. I looked at the clock that read nine-thirty and realized it was Monday. At least I hoped it was Monday? I scanned the room suspiciously; unable to remember how I arrived at my place? What happened last night? Could it have been a dream? Am I in a dream, dreaming? Or going off the deep end? Six of one, half-dozen of the other. Expecting to be able to see differently, unfortunately, nothing of the sort was evident. I then rolled out of bed, ran to t
he window of my apartment and opened the blinds fully expecting something different to present itself. But everything seemed as it always had. As a guy walking on the sidewalk entered my vantage point, directly below my apartment. I stared in observation of his red glow. I strained my eyes and cleared my mind with the idea of being capable to access his thoughts; only couldn't. I then raised my right hand and pointed towards the pedestrian and thought to myself, 'pedestrian, stop walking.' I closed my eyes and focused on the thought, then opened them seconds later. Nothing had happened. At the time, the pedestrian kept with his pace, but with a blank expression inhabiting his face. His eyes enlarged, looking up at me through the window. He must have felt me staring and looked up to find me pointing at him. I quickly jumped out of his line of sight. Embarrassed, I tried to hide until he had passed. I realized how ridiculous I must have looked and slid my back to the floor. I tried to remember what had occurred last night. 'Why did I keep forgetting everything after the cross necklace? Had I been roofied?' Struggling to remember, everything seemed a little watered down. I couldn't seem to piece together the puzzle of what exactly had happened, or was about to happen. I felt the exact same.

  I looked across the hall to Comfort's apartment and found her in bed asleep, in a statue's pose. I grinned to myself and thought, 'she is beautiful even in her sleep.' Then it dawned on me; I was supposed to be in computer class in an hour. I decided to hop into the shower and prepare for class. In the shower I tried to recall last night's events and what Order had told me of the Light Workers and of my role as a Light Warrior. I wondered, if there was such a reality? If someday there would be a battle, or was I simply going crazy? I then proceeded to get dressed for class and made my way downstairs to find my car, looking exactly like I had parked it myself. Strange, but what isn't? I hopped in and headed for campus.

  After about five minutes, I arrived to campus and was greeted by all the magnificent colors of people's auras. In awe the sight was breathtaking. I observed a sea of college students, each of their auras having a specific color. I found parking, exited my vehicle and arrived to my computer class ten minutes early. This allowed a brief moment to converse with my buddy Rob. Although nothing profound, he described his love interests with the ladies, then I explained how I had went back to the Dimensia Lab and spoke with Dr. Scott.

  "I'm surprised you went back, that's pretty ballsy," Rob said with a laugh. Just as the professor entered, in which we quickly took our seats and prepared for class. Midway through the class period as I was doing some research online for a term paper the professor had just assigned. I watched the monitor of my computer begin to fade in and out. 'Perhaps it's a short or a power surge,' I mused. Becoming aware of something in my periphery: something or someone was hovering over my shoulder breathing profusely and bearing an odor of disgust. Frightened, I looked down and acted as if nothing were there. Doing this, I saw something abnormal. It had gigantic, unworldly feet; each with four toes, and long, sharp, prehensile claws. Momentarily frozen in shock and disbelief, I slowly raised my eyes to the left to make out the creature. With skin like that of a reptile: scales, hard and tough exterior. The creature appeared wet, I assumed from sweat, as I continued to raise my head. I acted calm, like nothing was there. I slowly straightened up fully to see the creature in its entirety. The creature had a large upper torso, with long arms and well-defined forearms and biceps. With large hands, each finger was like an iron claw that looked to be razor sharp. The creature bent down to look me square in the face. With my palms becoming clammy, I felt all the hairs covering my body standing at end. Unable to contain my fear, I could only stare at the creature, thinking 'my mind is deceiving me, or I'm officially delusional.' Observing more thoroughly, it looked like the creature's face was disfigured and covered with puss-filled boils. Its head was huge in proportion to mine. It had a long snout with two large jaws and abundant teeth running the length of its jaws. At the end of the creature's snout I saw two larger teeth, similar to a sabre-tooth. As I examined closely there were two, six inch-long teeth. One set on the upper jaw, the other set on the bottom jaw, and they overlapped each other. Bug-eyed in disbelief, I observed the creature starting to breathe heavier. I sensed its excitement as it leaned forward, closer and closer. It extended its neck, coming to a stop within inches of my face and inhaled, as if smelling me. I could not breathe, nor did I want to. I felt my heart ready to burst out of my chest. I concentrated on its eyes, eyes the size of billiard balls. The creature blinked, and I realized its eyelids ran vertically. I tried to gauge its intentions but couldn't. The creature derived a perverse form of pleasure having smelled me. Result, shivering uncontrollably, as it opened its mouth, emitting a low raspy vibration. Its tongue was similar to that of a snake: forked in the middle as it extended out of its mouth, appearing to be feeling the air. It had two rows of teeth, sharp and covered with slimy green mucus. I cannot stress how scary this actually was. Not knowing what to do and still in my classroom chair, I leaned backward as far as I could to distance myself by pushing my feet against the floor. Rolling backwards in my chair, my classmates stared. Too worried to be embarrassed, I looked back at the creature as it let out a bone chilling, horrifyingly loud scream. Scream isn't the word. It sounded more like a high-pitched shriek echoing in my eardrums. I strained in pain and felt my brain throb, my ears still ringing. The creature took a step back, went down on all fours and began to violently jerk its head from side to side, left to right. Worried I had upset or offended it, I feared for my life. I was concerned that at any second it would determine that I was prey and would pounce on me. Certain I would be no match, or meal for that matter, the monstrosity stared me in the eyes. It stood upright and made a low growling noise, then turned its back to me and took off running, jumping through the wall of the classroom and disappearing from sight. I sheepishly stood up. Breathing hard and trying to catch my breath, I had a moment of pissteria; I had pissed myself in the event, and now had the entire classroom's undivided attention. Everyone stared. For seconds there was silence. Mortified and staring at the blank wall, I tried to recover my breath in spite of drenched pants. A few of the students began to snicker and laugh, with others covering their noses, pointing in disgust. Embarrassed, I quickly grabbed my belongings from beneath the desk and barreled toward the door. Outside, running at a break-neck pace down the hall, I didn't look at anyone in passing. To be more accurate, no one I passed registered in my mind as I focused on trying not to think about what I had just seen. I then heard someone call out my name. I turned to look and saw Rob standing in the hallway in his denim jeans and red t-shirt, holding up his hands expressing a look of confusion. I motioned him away with a simple arm motion. He shook his head and yelled,

  "Call me." I turned back around and continued running until I located my car in the student parking lot. Arriving to my car, I opened the door and quickly jumped in, closing it with a sense of urgency. I was worried that I had been followed. In a paranoid panic I surveyed my immediate surroundings to make sure the coast was clear. After scanning the surroundings and finding nothing to fear, I took a couple of deep breaths to help calm my nerves. I thought to myself, 'its okay Fisher, get it together. Get it together man. Get it together.' Seconds later, I noticed a little girl pointing at me looking as if she had been crying. I examined her closer as she approached to see her dragging an old dirty teddy bear by one of its hind legs. Startled and feeling displaced, I stared as she drew closer with each step. Perplexed, due to the fact that she had no aura and staring in disbelief, I saw a college girl begin to walk toward the little girl, as if she had seen her. I let out a sigh of relief while sitting in my car, motionless and watching intently. The college girl continued to approach the little girl, but now walking faster. 'She's going to run right into the little girl,' I mused. I witnessed the college girl pass right through her as if she were a mirage. In shock, I shook my head
a couple of times, closed my eyes, and began to slap my face. 'I must be dreaming. Just wake up, it's only a nightmare.' Seconds later, I opened my eyes to see the little girl, but . . . something was different about her. It was her eyes. They were enchanting, as beautiful as much as they were bewitching; a piercing shade of blue, like water in a rock quarry. With my nerves running wild and feeling scattered, she walked to within fifteen feet of my car and stopped. She lifted her teddy bear close to her chest, wrapping both arms around the ragged teddy while swaying from left to right. Having not looked away, she smiled and I saw tears in her eyes. Her clothing had worn holes and she looked as if she had been abandoned for days. Standing before me, she possessed no shoes or proper clothing for the cold, and had dirty little feet with a bevy of sores and cuts. Her legs were dirty and her hair was ratted, with large portions of it missing. Hypnotized, I watched as the little girl lifted the teddy bear over her head and laughed in a peculiar way. Simultaneously, her eyes turned from blue to solid red as she hurled the teddy. The bear, aimed right at me, came much faster than I had anticipated. Entering the front window of my car and barreling right towards me, in a turkey-jerk motion I ducked down at the last second, and witnessed the teddy bear pass right through my car and land on the ground behind it. I slowly sat up and looked at the little girl, who now had her arms extended, reaching towards me as if she wanted me to hold or give her a hug. Despite feeling scared, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for this seemingly orphaned child. Moments later, standing next to my car, the little girl's eyes were no longer red but blue again. On her dirty face one could see the trails of tears. Slowly, I opened my car door and reached out to lift her up. As I tried to grab her, it was like she had been a projection, an illusion. My hands simply passed right through. Although I could see her clear as day, I couldn't touch her. In affect, she started to cry aloud.

  "What's your name sweetheart?" I asked, as her eyes turned back from blue to solid red again.

  "My name is Walter Manfred Fitzgerald Common," she answered in a deep, demonic and masculine voice. Startled, I jumped across the seat with my door still open and did not want to believe this was happening. The little girl dropped her head and looked at the ground below. Uncertain, in a slow fashion, she lifted her head with her eyes locked hard on me. Then in an explosion of energy, she jumped toward me with her mouth ajar and arms raised, her violent scream of anger promising harm. I froze, paralyzed with fear. I closed my eyes anticipating pain, only to open them seconds later. Scanning my body, had I been hurt? Thankfully no. I saw the little girl outside of my car. I turned around to get a better angle to find her hunkered down on her knees, hiding her head between her legs. She growled like a rabid animal, stood and walked towards the rear of my car. I saw the little girl bend down to grab the teddy bear she had thrown. With her back toward me she began to walk away, distancing herself from me. Having not taken my focus off her, at a distance of fifteen yards the little girl turned her head one hundred and eighty degrees without moving her body. Her body faced forward, the direction she continued to walk. She smiled blankly as I watched her eyes turn from red to blue once again. Her smile seemed devious and evil, as she squinted her eyes as if warning me. She then turned her head back around and vanished into thin air.

  Here, I came to the realization that Order and Truth had done something to allow me to see into the spirit realm. I also recalled the conversation with Dr. Scott, and how he had explained the fifth dimension as the ability to see into the spirit world. I did in fact receive something last night, and not cool! After a few moments of somewhat gathering my composure, I reached into my pocket and retrieved my car keys. Beginning to drive, I felt troubled. I kept revisiting what I had just seen and experienced, all the while wondering what the significance could be.

  Halfway home, stopped at a red light, I casually observed my immediate surroundings and focused on a man digging vigorously through a trashcan on the sidewalk. The man appeared to be in his mid-forty's, or perhaps early-fifties. An older guy, he had a thick grey beard and rags for clothes. He resembled that of a homeless man. Next to him I saw a shopping cart containing an assortment of various cans, plastic bottles, and glass. I jumped to the conclusion that he was rummaging through the trashcan in search of recyclables. What caught my eye was the fact that the man had no aura. Waiting for the light to turn I mindlessly stared, when all of a sudden he stopped digging through the trashcan and looked up, as if he felt me staring at him. Locking eyes with one another, he grinned deviously. He began to wipe his mouth with his forearm. His hands were dirty, with cuts. He stood motionless, staring me square in the eyes and possessing an ominous demeanor. My eyes were drawn to a scar on the left side of his face, causing him to have a lazy eye and disfigured mouth. In an explosion of energy, he began jumping up and down, pointing at me with his right arm. Not wanting to believe what I had witnessed, the homeless man lowered his head but kept his eyes locked on me. Feeling uneasy, not exactly sure what to expect. Like a bullet leaving a chamber, he charged towards my car like a bull focused on a matador waiving a cape. I heard the car behind me honk their horn, due to the fact the light had turned. I floored it, pressing my foot against the gas pedal as hard as I could, causing my tires to squeal. When I checked my driver's side mirror, I saw the homeless guy standing in the middle of the road. He hadn't dropped his focus from me and now slowly lifted his right hand. I felt terrified but was unable to look away. The man with his thumb extended, raised his hand diagonally across his upper chest, and slowly drug his thumb across his neck as if to slit my throat. I watched in disbelief as his eyes turned bright red. Now feeling extremely nervous, I tried to ignore the unsettling gesture and encounter, and drove a few blocks with urgency, frequently checking my rear view mirror. I released a deep breath thinking I had successfully dodged a bullet. Having not seen the man, I decided to check my rear view mirror one final time and saw the homeless guy running and jumping on all fours like an animal. With each jump, he would extend his hands out in front of him. Unbelievably he was gaining on me, and I gave it some gas hoping to distance myself. Traveling at a speed of fifty-five in a twenty-five, the relentless homeless guy was somehow gaining on me, with his jumps getting more and more frequent. With each jump I saw him in midair exceed a height of thirty feet, land, then repeat the process. I wanted nothing more than to escape the prolific jumper. Just as the car in front of me began to apply their brakes as I quickly pumped my brakes, hoping to avoid an accident. I resorted to slamming on my brakes and engaging my emergency brake. This sent my car into a tail slide causing my steering wheel to violently shake and tires to scream. Coming to a speedy halt, smoke began to rise from my wheel wells. Stopping almost sideways in my lane I was just inches shy of the car in front of me. I took a quick breath as the person in the car in front of me stared into their rear view mirror. The driver, a female, began to shake her head in aggravation. I waved to apologize, hoping to smooth the curves of the situation, as my eyes focused on a car seat strapped in the backseat of the car. I mouthed a 'sorry' to the lady hoping to ease the situation. I looked into my rear view mirror and could no longer see the homeless guy. Thankful, I began thinking I was in the clear and settled into my seat trying to regain my composure. Taking deep breaths, I waited at the light when, out of nowhere, the homeless guy landed on the hood of my car with a loud crash. I jumped. He was on all fours staring right at me, with only the window between us. Possessing an evil grin, his eyes felt cold and dark while glowing a piercing red. Scared, I realized I was sitting buckled in my car about to die. Drooling from exhaustion, he mustered some growls. His long greasy hair covered some of his disfigured face. In a flash of movement he pushed his weight from his front two hands to his rear legs, changing his stance as if he were about to jump. With my heart racing and experiencing a shortness of breath, I stared, but couldn't look away. His eyes maintained a trancelike stare back at me
. He suddenly jumped while extending his arms out in front of him, reaching for my neck as if he wanted to strangle me. At the last second I closed my eyes and turned away, lifting my arm in a defensive attempt to shield my face as I thought: 'this is it, I'm about to die.' I can't say where I was, but I had elevated myself to a different place, a different plane, and perhaps a different reality. As I opened my eyes, I had forgotten where I was and what had unfolded. As the present circumstances assembled into my thoughts, I quickly scanned my body to find no harm inflicted or pain felt. As a pair of eyes appeared in the mirror I stretched my neck, to find nothing wrong. I turned around and saw the homeless guy now outside of my car, walking away. I could hear his laugh echo in my mind. Confused but thankful that I was unharmed I quickly said a prayer, considering it a blessing to still be alive as the light turned green. Beginning to drive, my hands trembled uncontrollably and my foot shook erratically against the gas pedal. Looking to my right, a small group of onlookers at a bus gawked at me with eyes bulging out of their heads. It would seem their necks raised two feet and they all became giraffes. Not knowing what else to do, I grinned and waved as I passed. Realizing that for certain the giraffes thought I was crazy. In fact, so did I. I also realized how funny it must have looked to them. Checking my rear view mirror, I saw the homeless guy staggering back and forth down the middle of the road but somehow not getting hit by the cars . . . they were passing right through him. Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

  When I arrived home I rushed up the stairs to my apartment, slamming the door. I looked towards Comfort's room and saw that she had already left for work. Tired and feeling drained, I decided to lie down and take a nap in hopes of catching up on some lost sleep. As time passed nothing I did seemed to help. I could not sleep. Lying in bed, I heard a loud noise as someone or something hit my door or wall with a great deal of strength. Opening my eyes I sat up in bed, quickly scanning the room but saw nothing out of the norm. I then decided to check the apartment building, but saw no signs of anything abnormal. As I sat in bed I ran all the possible scenarios in my head, ready to settle on one. 'I was officially going crazy.' With nothing making sense, I decided to lie back down. Focused on the sky, I saw something peculiar in the clouds. As I began to focus on the object, I realized it was like nothing I had seen before. With cirrus clouds present in the blue sky, the object soared angelically. It seemed peaceful and calming as it soared aimlessly through the sky. With complete focus on the unidentified flying object, I realized it was nothing short of abnormal. Assuming it had to have been something from the Other World, the mythological-like creature had a wingspan that reached out three times its body size. Each time the creature would flap its wings, it would soar a distance in excess of a hundreds yards. The creature had a long tail and large torso that was covered in a metallic armor. The creature had the face of a mountain lion with a beak of a bird. I stared captivated, and noticed its muscular arms covered in short golden brown hair. Having five-fingered hands much like ours, the creature's legs were somewhat normal, with each leg bending at the knee. The mysterious creature did however have different feet, like that of a bird. It had three large toes, each the same size as the other. One was centrally located and the others angled out at a forty-five degree angle. Each toe had long sharp claws and could move each of which independently.

  Fully immersed for what must have been five minutes, admiring the flying creature of mystery as it soared upward and displayed incredible spinning and twirling aerobatics. Maneuvering flawlessly through the sky, at the climax of the climb it would tuck in its legs and withdraw its wings. It would then spin over the top of its head and descend into a dive, picking up speed to eventually barrel into a free-fall dive. It repeated this a few times. Then in a sudden explosion of energy, it extended its legs and simultaneously spread its magnificent wings, slowing the speed it had gained from the dive and bringing it back to a glide. The creature had such spectacular flying ability. Time ceased to exist as I stared with complete contentment. Dropping focus, I turned to look at the door and saw Comfort standing in the hall. Quickly tossing aside the covers, I headed for the door and opened it to greet her. Smiling, she jumped toward me landing a big hug. It was something I needed at this point. Instantly I felt more relaxed. I looked toward the sky hoping to see the creature, but it was no longer present. Comfort and I continued to the bed and grabbed seats. She began drilling me in a typical girlfriend fashion.

  "Where were you? How long? Why didn't you call? Are you sure? I was worried." She finished it with an empathetic favorite,

  "I'm glad you're okay."

  "So, what's new? I mean, can you fly, read my mind, guess my weight, what?" All grins, she folded her hands in her lap. I couldn't help but grin back. Her smiles were contagious. I was seized, beguiled and riveted. Everything else was irrelevant at this point. I then began to explain the fifth dimension, and how I was able to exist in the spirit realm. I also expressed how it was crazier than I had imagined and what I had encountered thus far.

  "Is anything in the room now?" she asked.

  "I mean, do you see anything here?" she iterated, wearing a solemn but serious face. Sensing a serious tone from her, I scanned the room,

  "Comfort, don't move. Seriously, don't move," as I slowly stood up off the bed and cautiously walked towards my computer and reaching for a pen. I slowly turned toward Comfort to see her holding her breath, completely still with eyes bulging out of her head.

  "It's right behind you." I mouthed.

  "What is it?" she mouthed back. Taking a deep breath, I positioned myself to look behind her, and froze. Her reaction was that of a deer in the headlights. I raised my hand with my index finger extended, and in a circular motion directed her to look behind her. Leading with her eyes, she turned her head ever so slowly. As she did, I lunged towards her, grabbing her with my arms,

  "Raaahhh." I screamed. She shrilled, jumping from the bed and ran toward the door. Only to stop, turn back to find me laughing hysterically, completely unable to contain my laughter. Standing at the doorway, her face changed from pale to blood red.

  "You're freaking hilarious, just so funny spirit boy," she yelled while making quotations with her fingers, clearly aggravated. I tried to catch my breath to respond, but couldn't. She then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, making her curtain call. After a couple minutes, I had regained my composure and decided to walk across the hall to Comfort's place. At the door I knocked with my signature rhythm and saw Comfort in her room, listening to music. I yelled, hoping to get her attention, knowing she was upset.

  "Comfort, I'm sorry, open up." I yelled, but received no response. Just as my neighbor, Ms. Andromeda, emerged at the top of the stairwell, grocery bag in hand. She shot me with daggers in the form of a confused expression as she made her paranoid approach.

  "Good Afternoon, Ms. Andromeda," I offered, trying to act normal. It was awkward, and as she passed she failed to acknowledge my pleasantry and instead looked on with suspicion. Standing in front of Comfort's door I decided to knock a couple of more times, but this time louder. I watched as Comfort got up off the bed, walked to turn off her Ipod deck then head for the door. Standing in the hallway, I saw her open the door while standing with one hand on her hip and the other on the door handle.

  "Yes, can I help you?" she inquired, clearly upset.

  "I'm sorry for scaring you. I wasn't planning on doing that. It's just, well, you set yourself up for it," beginning to chuckle, replaying in my head how it went down, then watching the door slam in my face as Comfort stormed off. Great, now, I really ticked her off. I then saw her walking toward the door as it slowly became open,

  "Oh, I'm sorry about that, you set yourself up for it," she grinned. We laughed at one another, lost in the moment. Only to return to my place where I resumed bringing her up to speed.

  I explained what had happened last nig
ht, how Order had told me about a battle between light and dark, and filled in the Oreo center. At first I got the vibe that Comfort wasn't excited about the specifics, but I explained how I felt I needed to do this for my own reasons. She seemed disinclined, but eventually seemed to come around. At this point we both agreed that we would not talk about it for a while. Conversations seemed only to produce more and more unanswerable questions leaving us only to frustratingly speculate.

  As night fell we planned to get out of the house and go to see a movie, just the two of us, with no interruptions. It was a beautiful fall night, and we wanted to take advantage of the tranquility. We agreed to walk to the theater in hopes of enjoying each other's company as well as wanting to make memories. It was one of those nights. The crisp smell of autumn was in the air and the leaves had begun to change colors. Stars were out and the night was truly heart stirring. Each person we passed smiled, and our conversations were stimulating as always. Mixed with the occasional warm breeze, one could stop, close their eyes and imagine being on a tropical beach near an ocean somewhere, albeit a scentless ocean. I swear, it was almost alarming, because everything felt so perfect. The moon was a harvest moon, the first I had ever seen and was filled with a vibrant orange. It was much larger than normal and felt very close. It felt like we could hop in our car, drive to the horizon and jump to the moon. It tauntingly danced along side us as we walked. Within a few blocks of the theater, we saw a line forming out front.

  "You want to go inside and order us some over-priced popcorn and soda?" I asked, extending a Jefferson.

  "I'll wait out front and get the tickets," I said, as Comfort smiled and continued inside to the awaiting concession stand. The line out front was large with approximately twenty guests that formed along the sidewalk. Moments passed when I took note of an older guy next to the line that had stopped and began to stare at me. He began pointing at me as I turned to acknowledge him. Sizing him up, his clothing was old and grungy. He was unclean with no teeth, causing him to smack gums when he talked. I couldn't mistake his yellow aura. His eyes were dark brown with grey hair revealing his age. I thought to myself, 'here we go, I'm the only one that can see him and I am about to look ridiculous, yet again.' With such thoughts I watched the older guy begin to feebly approach me. Unable to overlook a limp in his step, my eyes focused on his right foot being drug against the ground. I took comfort in what I felt was a safe distance, fifteen or so feet away. Now the distance became an uncomfortable five feet as he hobbled with diligence. Feeling uneasy, my nerves began to set in as people around me embarked on distancing themselves. 'It's going to be okay if they can see him,' I thought. Stopping a few feet shy of me the man reached out with his hand palm up, fingers extended, revealing what seemed to be a solid black marble. Looking the homeless guy in the eyes, only feet away I said,

  "You want me to have your marble?" He smacked with his mouth, opening his jaws and shaking his head up and down. I skillfully reached out with my right arm as a grin emerged on his face. I felt nervous, since as history had been showing lately, situations could pop off at any second. I waited for whatever was next. With shaking hands I grasped the marble with my index and thumb fingers. I slowly retracted my arm, placing the marble safely in the front pocket of my jeans.

  "It will help if you need it . . . it will," he said, revealing a Southern drawl. He winked at me before turning to look at the crowd, squinting his eyes and conversing with himself.

  "Thank you," I said to be polite and turned to move forward in line. At about that time a guy turned around in front of me,

  "You better give that back, I don't think he can afford to lose many more of those," he muttered under his breath. I forced a smile knowing that the gift had made no sense to him. I suspected that it would to me someday, and so it made sense to me now. Moments later, I turned around looking for the guy who had given me the marble to find him now on the other side of the street, where he fished for cars as they passed. It was kind of funny, actually. He would crank with his left hand as if it were a reel and would cast with his right as if it were a pole. With each cast, he would yell in a monotone voice,

  "You-you. What-what?" repeating this with each cast, over and over. I was thankful that he didn't appear ready to run on all fours or wish to kill me. Finally at the window, I ordered a pair of tickets. With tickets in hand I walked through the entrance of the theater to find Comfort patiently sitting on a bench eating popcorn. She stood and smiled as I extended my arm to escort her to our movie.

  As we entered our theater, we grabbed a couple of seats a few rows shy of the back. The movie was surprisingly full for a Monday night. Actually I take that back. I'm not sure what day it was to be truthfully honest. Watching the previews I noticed a light blinking in my pocket. I pulled out my cell phone thinking that was what it was, but my pocket kept blinking. Digging further into my pocket, feeling nothing other than some loose change and a tube of Chap Stick, I located the marble with my hand, now spinning. It was spinning so fast that the friction from the marble warmed my hand. I quickly stood and whispered,

  "I'm going to the restroom, I'll be right back." Once outside the theater, I located the restroom and made my approach. Upon entry, I counted eight different stalls, as I entered the nearest one. I reached into my pocket and formed a cup shape with my hand, as if I were gingerly trying to catch a bug without inflicting harm. I overlapped my fingers and surrounded them around the marble. With the marble in my grasp spinning rather fast, I slowly retracted my hand from my pocket. Taking a seat on the toilet, I opened my hand palm up and extended my fingers while lifting the marble up to have a look. As I did the marble began to ascend off my palm, defying gravity. Floating a few inches from my face, it suddenly stopped spinning and was now only levitating. As I stared in amazement, the marble began to flicker in and out as a tiny beam of white light emerged from it. The white light provoked the similarity of a laser. I continued to gaze, mystified. Unanticipatedly the light began to stretch horizontally, beginning to take the form of a figure right before my eyes. I watched dumbfounded as the shape slowly took the form of a woman. Receiving or transmitting some type of frequency, within seconds it had transformed into a full-on three-dimensional hologram figure of Order. Forthwith the three-dimensional hologram of Order began to speak to me.

  "Are you enjoying the movie?" I heard. In astonishment,

  "What?" I whispered.

  "Are you enjoying the movie?" she repeated. I mustered a reply,

  "Well, kind of, it hasn't started yet. What is this thing," I asked, as she grinned.

  "It's a marble silly, what did you think it was?" I forced a corny smile, not appreciating her humor at all. She advanced toward me as I witnessed the beam of light follow the action, similar to a moving flashlight.

  "This will be our way of communicating," Order replied.

  "It holds everything you visualize and experience, as well as a much more sophisticated version of what you call global positioning system."

  "How can I send you a message like you're sending me?" I asked enthusiastically.

  "You can't, but someday you will be able to," she said with a sincere smile.

  "How?" I posed, naively,

  "Unfortunately, we don't have long. Soon the Dark Siders will figure out you're a Light Warrior and will come at you with everything."

  "What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

  "The animisms and demons, I believe you saw one earlier today, no?" I nodded my head in agreement.

  "Well they can't hurt me or anything right?" I asked. In understanding that which would be my ultimate demise had already been decided. Not to mention, my guardian angels, which had always steered me through certain aspects of falling into. In a sense, I had already jumped off the cliff, knowing the water would brace my fall.

  "No, they're not supposed to. We have boundaries, but sometimes they are crossed, and if t
his happens . . . Well, let's just say it's becoming a problem, they have been acting out and growing stronger."

  "Acting out, you mean like hurting people, like me? Because this last time I did indeed feel a physical threat, more intense than the others." I posed. As Order's smile began to fade, expressing uncomfortable mannerisms and body language. She bit her bottom lip, looked down, crossed her legs and nodded her head yes.

  "We make sure they don't act out but they have been trying to overthrow our authority. Fisher we have arrived at an impasse. Which is part of the reason we have chosen to intervene and present ourselves to certain individuals, and with a different presentation. If you allow them to, they can damage your mind, and that is everything. The creator of all things allows such a reality to exist, although they have taken on a delusional drunkenness on what they can achieve, and how they can achieve it. And it is not with fairness, kindness, love, compassion, or any stage for advancement. They have taken many lives; they have attached themselves to aspects of the human realm; all in the name of their disillusions. The more active the Dark Sider, we will track but that takes time. I must leave for a while. You will have to fend for yourself. I know you have what it takes and I apologize, but I have no choice in this matter. I will tell . . ." The image abruptly flickered and was gone. Within seconds the signal was gone and the marble fell into my palm. I was now just a guy holding a marble. Shaking the marble a couple of times, I had hoped the signal would reappear, but to no avail. It yielded no reaction. I then stood up and placed the marble safely in the front pocket of my jeans and opened the door of the bathroom stall. Greeted by a man dressed in the military fatigues of a young Confederate Civil War soldier. His uniform was filthy and covered in dirt. He had a belt draped over his right shoulder and was unshaven. His forage hat had worn holes and he held a black powder rifle that rested at his side. Standing at the end of the stall, a few feet away I realized he had no aura. With my heart racing, I felt a bit out of breath as I looked him square in the eyes. Only, it was as if he didn't see me; he simply stared forward as if in some sort of daze. I cautiously raised my arm and waved my hand in front of his face, but received no response. I then noticed another person present. It was a normal movie patron with a yellow aura standing at the entrance of the restroom, and he was staring at me. On pause, he stood motionless, mid-stride, wearing a look of disbelief. I smiled, and felt a bit embarrassed. I then turned back to face the young Civil War infantryman who had moved, and was now right in my face and growling. Grinding his jaws, saliva ran from his mouth. His eyes were blue and crazed. He slowly raised the barrel of his gun towards my face, angling the bayonet at my neck.

  "Back! Back!" The Civil War guy commanded, jabbing the bayonet wildly through the air. Fearing for my life, I complied and slowly stepped backwards, raising my hands above my head demonstrating that I didn't want any trouble.

  "Is everything alright?" The movie patron asked in disarray, showing a look of distress. Against the back wall of the stall, straddling the toilet, I can only imagine how I must have looked. The Civil War guy took a step back as his eyes turned red. He kneeled on one knee and screamed in anguish. His body trembled in pain. With his arms crossed flat against his stomach, he clinched his hands into fists. Seconds later he slowly raised his head, looking right at me, he laughed deeply and stood. He simultaneously raised the barrel of the gun, aiming it right at me. In an eruption of energy he screamed and lunged forward, the blade aimed for my stomach I gasped for air, held my breath and closed my eyes not wanting to believe what was happening. Seconds later, I realized that I felt nothing and opened my eyes to find myself surprisingly uninjured and very alive. As I looked down, the young soldier maintained his vigorous jabbing with his bayonet, screaming aloud with each forward jab. He continued stabbing maliciously, but I felt nothing. Seeing how angry and disgruntled the soldier truly was, reveled in his eyes.

  "Are you done here, because I have a life to live." The soldier looked up to face me as his facial expression changed from angry to pitiful. He laid the gun ever-so-gently on the floor of the bathroom stall. Then took a seat and began to ever-so-slightly cry, shielding his face with his hands. Instinctively I felt sorry for him, but felt glad at the same time. I mean, he freaking tried to bayonet me to death. I then directed my attention to the movie patron who hadn't moved, standing lifeless with his mouth agape. I saw his eyes bulging out of his head, staring from the end of the stall as if I were crazy. Uncomfortable, I smiled as he started to shake his head in disbelief. I laughed, not knowing what else to do at the time and exited the stall.

  "What's the matter? You've never seen a ghost before?" I offered. The movie patron, frozen like a statue, made a swallowing sound to clear his throat and looked into the stall, then back at me.

  "There was no one there," he announced. At the sink, I washed my hands while watching the patron in the reflection of the mirror.

  "There wasn't huh?" I grinned, turning off the water and began drying my hands with some paper towels. The patron, having not moved, was at a loss for words.

  "Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there," I said in passing, flashing a grin as I exited the restroom and made my way back to my movie. From below I scanned the crowd and located Comfort, her body language screaming, I'm aggravated. As I made my way up the steps and approached our row, Comfort crossed her arms and stared at me. Returning to my empty seat, I sat down as Comfort scowled in silence. Judging by her expressions and body language, I could tell she was not happy. I couldn't help but grin at how cute she was. Clearly, I couldn't tell her what had kept me so long. Beginning to settle into my seat, I reached for the tub of popcorn just as Comfort distanced it beyond my reach.

  "I'm sorry, I'll explain. Chill out crazy." I whispered as she smiled, then extended the half-eaten tub of popcorn.

  "What did I miss?" I whispered in her direction. Although Comfort was already immersed in the film and I received no response other than a loud 'shhh' from a person seated behind us. As I turned around to wave my hand in apology, I realized a woman was the shhh-sher, as she glared at me. I grinned, realizing she looked kind of upset, but over a whisper? Regardless, she maintained the bone-chilling stare when all of a sudden her eyes turned bright red. Instinctively, I jumped. I felt a wave of shock spread throughout my body, releasing instant chill bumps. I quickly turned back around and acted as if I didn't see her and stared through the screen. Seconds later, the movie patrons in the seats below ours turned around and begin to look back. Finding this peculiar, I next felt a strange feeling sweep over me. I counted at least fifteen or so movie patrons staring back at me. One at a time their eyes turned bright red, piercing the darkness. Sinking into my seat, I swallowed the popcorn I had in my mouth. I blankly stared at the screen trying my best to show no fear. Scared out of my mind, I quickly glanced over to Comfort to see her contently watching the movie as if nothing unusual was happening. Trying to be conspicuous I nudged her with my elbow, and she turned towards me,

  "What?" she mouthed. I pretended to wipe my eyes and pivoted a bit in my seat to look behind where I was sitting. Although, was as if no one was looking at me, to my (hesitant) relief. I looked at Comfort as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. She reached into her purse, sitting below her chair and pulled out her phone. Meanwhile, I texted,

  "Did u c all those ppl stare @ me?" Looking at her, I waited second after second for the message to be delivered. Reading my message, she sighed, rolled her eyes and shook her head no.

  "Seriously," I fired back. As her phone lit up and after reading my text typed away. Moments later my phone began to vibrate. I flipped open the face of my phone, the message read,

  "ur paranoid. ? All good, jsst watch the movie." Rolling my eyes, I quickly replied,

  "kk," and closed my phone, placing it safely in the front pocket of my jeans. I continued to try and watch the m
ovie but couldn't seem to get comfortable as thoughts took over; it seemed that everyone else was arrogant or ignorant. Then, one at a time, the same people slowly turned around to face me and renewed their stares. Seeing this, I lifted one of my hands to shield my eyes and took a couple deep breaths while trying to convince myself that I couldn't be seeing this and that it was not real. Seconds later, I spread a couple of my fingers apart to peek, only to find their collective eyes glowing red once more. I immediately elbowed Comfort in the arm and pointed below to the people staring up at me. Comfort appeared to look, her eyes opened wide to over-exaggerate the motion of looking, then looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. She was definitely annoyed. I lowered my hand down from my face revealing even more sets of red stares. Becoming aware of a presence between Comfort and I. In my peripheral vision, something had appeared. Frozen, completely rattled, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and slowly turned towards Comfort. I thought to myself, 'nothing is there I'm imaging this. Mind over matter, mind over matter.' Seconds later, I built the courage to open my eyes. By doing so I jumped clean out of my chair and landed in the isle, five seats down. Witnessing a creature of preposterous existence. An unworldly being that had long pointy ears like that of an elf. It was tall, lanky, and walked upright on two legs. It was now in my abandoned seat and seemed to want to watch the movie. Comfort looked at me embarrassed and turned upset. When the creature casually reached for our popcorn and shoveled some into its mouth. I couldn't help but notice the size of its hands. They were large; at least twice the size of an average adult male's and had long skinny fingers with sharp nails. I looked at its face, and it was any and everything one might imagine a monster to look like. Its skin was hard like leather, with large fly-like eyes; two horns protruding out of its head, each about six inches long and two inches wide. Observing what appeared to be three slits on its neck. I assumed they were gills, as they were fluctuating with each breath. Surprisingly, the creature seemed to have no interest with me and completely failed to acknowledge my presence. In the isle I continued to examine the specimen, and noticed it had long tiny braids of platinum hair with small bones intertwined at the end of each one. Not knowing what to do, I continued to stare at it, as the creature stood upright and positioned itself in front of Comfort. In disbelief and not knowing exactly sure what to do or to expect, I witnessed the creature bend at the waist and with a snap of its head look right at me. Confused, finding (D.) All the above, displaced. The creature bowed graciously at the waist while extending its right arm, as if gesturing an invitation to return to my seat. I cautiously stood and inched toward my seat.

  With each step I began to examine the creature more thoroughly, trying to gauge its intentions. As my eyes settled on a dagger tucked into its belt, a blade over six inches long and about two inches in width. Next, my eyes focused on the jar, much like a fruit canning jar, dangling from its belt. The jar's contents were at first a bit hazy, but with a few steps closer I could see it contained worms. Or so I thought. Closer still I realized they were not worms but baby snakes. Arriving at my seat I looked down at the empty chair and up at the creature as it acknowledged me with an assuring vertical nod of the head. Uncomfortable and unable to anticipate what may unfold, I sheepishly looked over to Comfort who now wore a look of disgust. Returning my attention to the creature it removed the dagger from its belt. I breathlessly watched as the creature raised the blade toward its mouth, holding the knife with the handle out and blade angled in. The creature slowly opened its mouth and extended a long, slimy tongue covered in boils. With the creature's mouth ajar, I got a good view of its small and snake-like teeth as the creature licked the blade while staring right at me. Unsettling, blood began to run the length of the blade, then onto the handle before finally dripping to the ground. I clinched my jaws and strained to watch. I was frozen in fear as the creature reached up with its free hand and grabbed the handle of the knife. With both hands it slowly raised the knife above its head, as if you would chop wood with an ax. In a sudden absurdness the creature released its stance and swung the knife through the air at Comfort. 'ENOUGH!' Adrenaline screamed, flooding my veins.

  "No!" I yelled aloud as I jumped out of my seat and into the air. Hoping to block the blade, I closed my eyes in anticipation of pain.

  "Fisher, what are you doing now?" Comfort voiced in frustration. I landed and opened my eyes, fully expecting to see blood, but there was none. What I did have was the entire theater's attention. I quickly ran my hands across my chest, then back, but felt no pain from any wound. I looked into the crowd of movie patrons and saw only auras. No demons, no red eyes, just movie theater people. They all looked at me with disgust as I lay, sprawled on my stomach across Comfort with my feet dangling in the isle. I then turned over to my backside and looked up at Comfort, seeing her face blood red with catatonic eyes. I knew that I was in trouble. She looked livid as I crawled, embarrassed, back to my chair. Slumping into my seat I looked down at the people in the theater, all still staring disapprovingly. Absorbing the vibe, I saw the creature I had just encountered down by the emergency exit. Offering a devious smile it jumped through the door, disappearing from sight.

  I sat in my chair and let out a sigh of relief. Realizing that I was sweating profusely, I wiped my forehead with the sleeve of my jacket and pretended I was interested in the movie. My eyes focused on the screen but my mind surged with questions. What had I gotten myself into? What more was to come? What was my purpose as a Light Worker? Up until this point, I saw myself as a needy person instead of a giver. What help could I possibly offer and to what accord? There was a storm brewing; the first raindrops had fallen.

  About thirty minutes later the movie was over, the overhead lights came on and were met with an abnormally quiet theater. Not one person stood up out of their seat, instead they all looked up at Comfort and I. Feeling the vibe, I looked over at Comfort as she buried her face between her hands. As I stood up and looked around the theater, Comfort nudged me with her forearm saying,

  "Just go Fisher. Let's go already." People were whispering amongst themselves and some began to laugh. Others stood in a bulldog stance, as if about to hand out a beat down. I tried to ignore them but couldn't. Everyone was glaring with abhorrence and pointing. It was awkward and it didn't help that Comfort was with me. I couldn't care less what these people thought of me, but when I looked at Comfort and saw how embarrassed she was, it struck an E chord within me. As we exited the theater and reached the concessions, Comfort shot off like a bottle rocket barreling toward the door. Picking up my stride, I called out her name to no response. Now outside the movie theater, I had to jog to catch up with her. As I approached I tried to place my arm around her shoulders, but she wasn't having it and shrugged away.

  "Comfort, are you okay?" I asked, revealing a repulsed look, her eyes full of tears.

  "Are you freaking kidding me in there? What was that?" she asked adamantly, tears streaming down her face. I realized that she was in no joking mood. Understand that I place great value in being honest, somewhat of a rare quality in this day and age; oddly, nothing rare has little value. I took a deep breath and began.

  "I'm sorry babe, it's this dimension thing. It's messing with my head. I mean, I see things that other people don't see and for the most part they're not good things." Approaching a dog spread out on the sidewalk with its front paws laid out in front of its torso with its hind legs tucked beneath its rear end, wagging its tail amusedly. I was almost sure that I had seen it a half-block earlier in the exact same position. As we continued to walk and converse, I saw it again and again, block after block, occasionally on the opposite side of the street. Each time it looked increasingly amused with this game. I interrupted Comfort who had been venting her frustration most of the way.

  "Babe, that dog, did you see it?" Comfort looked at me with crazy eyes.

  "Are you even listening to me? I
mean seriously Fisher, no. What dog? I don't care about a freaking dog okay," she replied. I decided to not press the issue since I didn't want to complicate matters anymore than they already were. We continued to walk, and there was the dog again. We had made a turn onto a different street, and the fact that I never saw it pass us, well here we go. As we approached it, I paused briefly, beginning to closely examine the dog but saw nothing extraordinary. Comfort, continuing to walk, stopped and turned around, as I examined the dog,

  "Okay, I see the dog. Are you happy?" she said, cracking the faintest of smile.

  "Yeah? Did you see it earlier as well?" I asked. Comfort rolled her eyes and turned to continue walking.

  "Yo, so you saw the dog?" I yelled, hustling to catch up,

  "Yes, I saw the dog," she answered.

  "How many times?" I asked, excitedly.

  "Twice dog whisperer," she smiled and placed her hand on her hip. I couldn't help but smile.

  "Comfort, I'm not a dog whisperer, I'm more like a . . ." stopping dead in my tracks, mid-sentence, recognition of the dog, yet again. I raised my left arm to get Comfort to stop or at least to slow her pace.

  "What?" she asked. Without speaking I lifted my right arm and pointed toward the dog. Comfort turned to look.

  "Okay that's weird, you're creeping me out babe, for real." We commenced walking, still focusing on the dog. Approaching the dog, it seemed peaceful as it watched us pass, wagging its tail. I examined the dog closely to see if its breathing pattern was abnormal, thinking that maybe it could have ran and beaten us. It wasn't panting, and my mind flashed to more mentally precarious alternatives.

  "Soooo . . . that was weird, huh?" Comfort softly whispered. I turned back to look, but saw no trace of the dog. I then looked across the street but saw nothing. When I turned back around, I saw it about thirty-to-forty yards in front of us. I was beginning to get freaked out at this point. I mean, I could see better at night than most people with my fourth and now fifth dimension, but animals didn't have auras. Comfort, in recognition of the dog, gazed upon it with eyes popping out of her head,

  "Git - git out of here dog" she yelled while waving her hands in the air above her head. To my amazement the dog obeyed. It quickly stood up, tucked its tail between it legs and shuffled off. I looked over at Comfort and smiled.

  "Old Yeller called - they want their dog back. That was weird, huh? How many times did you see it?" she asked. Looking down as we walked I pondered the question, then the answer.

  "I remember seeing it at least five, maybe, six times," I replied as she looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face. We continued walking until we reached our place. We decided to call it a night having had enough excitement and drama for the both of us for one day.

  Back to Contents

  Chapter: Nine.

  Upon entering my apartment I proceeded to get ready for bed with my nightly routine: I washed my face, brushed my teeth, jumped up and down 33 times, then turned out the lights. In bed I laid on my back and looked into the vast night sky, seeing the beautiful stars shining down, which seemed to dim and fade. I thought it was crazy that each yellow star could harbor one if not more earth-like planets? (Drake equation.)

  *

  Voice:

  "As vast and diverse as our solar system is, truth be told, it is but a drop in the cosmic ocean. Our Sun is one star, in a galaxy of two hundred billion. Our galaxy is but one of the hundred billion galaxies."