Crocodile Queen

by Phil Armstrong

  Across town, Dan woke suddenly, he was drenched in sweat lying face down on the carpeted floor of his bedroom, "Aww no, not again," he moaned, rubbing his dry eyes and rolling over onto his back. He tucked his hands behind his head to make a supportive pillow and stared at the blank ceiling, as he exhaled loudly. That familiar foul smell wafted through his room again; he felt strange, totally drained of energy, weak, and dizzy. He lifted himself from the floor as a sharp pain shot through his side causing him to flinch and fall back hard to the carpeted floor. "Ouch!" he mouthed the words so as not to alert his Mum. Dan gazed at the source of his pain, he could see deep bruises between the gaps of his ribs. He was a skinny kid and didn't have any extra padding on his body, he looked at the black and purple bruises covering his left side extending around onto his lower back. "What the hell?" he said, softly twisting his body like a circus contortionist trying to see the extent of his injuries. On his lower back he saw flashes of red as blood oozed from open scratches that raked across his lower body. They were sore to the touch; he was trying to understand how this had happened? Did he get them falling out of bed? Did he do this to himself? He couldn't even reach some of the scratches on his upper back! A variety of different thoughts raced through his inquisitive mind as he stumbled to conceal his wounds underneath a large oversized black t-shirt. He hurried to the bathroom hoping his Mum wouldn't see him.

  "Good morning love," she said, hearing her son's door open and expecting his customary dash to the bathroom.

  "Good morning," Dan managed to stammer a response as he ducked into the bathroom closing the door behind him. He ran the water into the washbasin as he stripped off his t-shirt to further examine the scratches and bruises more closely in the mirror. The bruises were deep, purple and black blotches that started under his armpit, moved down his ribs, and extended across his lower back. They were sore to the touch and moving his body caused him to wince in pain. The most unusual part of his injuries, were the deep scratches. They were thin, bleeding, and evenly spaced like the talons of a bird, or the claw of an animal, or perhaps a woman's long nails had raked his body. How was he going to explain that to his Mum? Sheer panic crashed over him like a large wave hitting a rocky cliff, how on earth was he going to explain this to Ally! Dan held his hand out in front of his face and studied his fingers carefully. When Dan was nervous or stressed, like school exam time, he would inevitably chew upon his nails. They were well bitten down, and they looked darn ugly. There was no conceivable way he could have done this to himself. Dan tried to rake his nails across his forearm to scratch himself; his attempts were futile.

  Dan turned off the running water and flushed the toilet trying to buy him some time. He was having difficulty, wincing in pain every time he moved his body, he knew he'd have to hide his discomfort from his Mum; she would worry and blame this on Raj's death. Lately, whenever Dan appeared down, frustrated, or nervous, due to his impending school exams, Liz had over reacted and made overtures that linked his behavior to his handling of Raj's death.

  Dan was really shaken by Raj's death, but he knew he didn't need therapy, Raj had lived his life to the fullest and had enjoyed the adventures of his final days immensely. Dan attended Raj’s funeral, which was a small family affair. As is customary for Raj's religion, Raj was cremated, and he’d asked that his ashes be transported to India and disbursed within the flowing current of the river Ganges. Dan was saddened by Raj's death, but thought he'd handled it well, he worried about the Dream Cane and what would become of this precious powerful artifact should it fall into the wrong hands. He needn't have worried, Raj specified within his last will and testament that his walking cane be left to Dan. Dan's Mum thought it an odd gift to leave to a young healthy boy, but Dan seemed very pleased to receive it, no doubt happy to retain a memory of his recently departed friend. Dan kept Raj's walking cane safely hidden away in the back of his bedroom closet.

  Dan put his black t-shirt on and attempted to flatten his hair, he hurried back into his bedroom wondering how he was going to mask this from Ally today? The shrill ring of the phone interrupted his thoughts, he could hear Liz’s footsteps as she moved towards the wall phone, her muffled voice was inaudible as she talked to the caller; Dan guessed it was probably Brian. Liz walked towards Dan's bedroom door stopping outside, "It's for you Dan; it's Ally," she stated raising her voice slightly.

  As much as he loved her, Dan was in no mood to hear Ally's cheerful voice this morning; he was dog tired, sore as hell, and unapologetically irritable. He opened his bedroom door, smiled at Liz and retrieved the phone, "Hi," he said greeting her as cheerfully as he could manage.

  "Hey, how are you?" inquired Ally.

  "I just got up, I’m dog tired," responded Dan truthfully.

  "Listen, I'm not feeling too good today, nothing serious, but I've got a bit of a tummy bug and it's raining pretty hard out there today, I can see the rain bouncing off the street below. I'm sorry to have to do this to you Dan, but I think I'm going to have to beg off the park today and stay at home. I might work a bit on my essay, but likely I’m going to take it easy, have a lazy day and sleep this off, hope you don't mind?"

  Dan was delighted, "That's ok Ally, it's supposed to be crappy weather all day today, so you might as well keep warm and rest up" he reassured her, making it up as he went along, "If you're not feeling too good, then you'd be best staying at home and getting plenty of rest. I'll see you at school on Monday yeah?"

  "Thanks Dan, I'd be no fun today that's for sure," she sounded sad.

  "Don't worry Ally, get that rest and take care." Dan could hardly speak; the pain was ripping through his bruised ribs.

  "Ok, bye for now," said Ally, ending the call the same way that she always did.

  Dan heard the receiver click and breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "What was that all about?" inquired Liz, having heard every word.

  "Ally's not feeling too great, tummy bug I think - there's a lot of that going around at school," added Dan, embellishing his commentary.

  "Aww that's too bad, I hope she shakes it off soon," said Liz, moving towards him. She reached out and touched his shoulder as he braced himself for the stabbing pain, "what are you going to do with yourself today then?"

  For a moment he panicked before answering slyly, "Well it's peeing it down outside, so I thought I'd have a bit of a lazy day, get some rest and work a little on my school essay."

  "Great idea; I'm meeting Brian, so I'll be out of your way," Liz sauntered into the kitchen to refill her coffee cup from the brewed pot.

  Dan walked to his bedroom, acting as normally as he could; he hoped to continue this act until his Mum left to meet Brian, later that morning. Dan couldn't help but smile as he entered his room, finally allowing himself to wince from the rising pain. He lay on his bed listening to the driving rain tapping upon his window, "Good one Ally, you really came through for me today girl."

  Ally had decided that she wouldn't inform her Mum of her cancelled arrangements; her Mum didn’t care too much anyway, and didn't pay too much attention to her relationship with Dan. The morning proved to be busy with Ally spending her time doing laundry and organizing her research within her essay paper. She kept glancing at the clock as it drew closer to 10.10am, the time she had set to leave the house and start her journey to the park. The rain had eased, but it was still spitting lightly as she prepared to leave. She grabbed her black waterproof coat, the one with the large hood. She wore tight blue jeans and white Nike sneakers that she'd found on sale. She pushed the coat over her navy-blue t-shirt and headed for the door. Ally's mum had left thirty minutes earlier to run some errands. Ally had planned her route in advance, if she kept to the north side of the street, she could duck under the pedestrian walkway, cut through the alley near the shops, leaving a quick run for about three minutes in the rain uncovered.

  Once Ally arrived at the park she would head towards the old pavilion. It was a wooden structure, a throw-back to the older times, when people gathered in the park t
o play lawn bowls and have afternoon socials. The old, weathered, rotting wooden buildings were poorly maintained, but they would provide enough shelter if she used the rickety veranda to hide from the rain. From that location she would remain out of sight but directly in line with the walking path that led to the drinking fountain. Was she being stupid? Would anyone come to meet her at 10.30am? Perhaps she should stand close to the fountain, so she could be observed. Would her absence be interpreted as a no-show?

  Thoughts raced frantically through her head, Ally navigated her way to the park as planned. The rain had almost subsided, but the wind was fierce, blowing the damp moisture into her face as she rounded the bend along the path leading to the park. She'd lost some time and she glanced at her watch hurriedly. She had one-minute remaining to get to the fountain, so she decided to avoid the rickety pavilions and head straight for the fountain as directed. It started to drizzle; droplets of rain fell from the hood of her coat and onto her face. Her jeans felt heavy, her denim-clad thighs were soaking wet and the dark denim clung to her legs as she walked. As she approached the drinking fountain the slender figure of a woman came into view. She was tall, the wind created undulating waves blowing her straight black hair. The black strands whipped her face as she struggled to protect herself from the fierce wind and lashing rain. Ally noticed the woman’s coat; she looked like a model wearing vintage clothes from another time. As nice as she looked, she was woefully underdressed for this drenching rain. The woman appeared to be oriental and hovered impatiently around the drinking fountain. Ally was confused; she’d expected to see the little girl in her dreams. If she were truthful, she’d expected to see nothing but a wet deserted drinking fountain.

  What should she do now? What should she say? How do you approach someone who you don't know and ask them if they were the voice in your dream? Ally decided to play it cool; she approached the disheveled figure intending to casually walk by. Her movement caught the woman's attention as she continued to brush long strands of wet black hair from her face. "Ally," she shouted over the howling wind, "Ally."

  Ally continued to walk towards the woman, should she turn and run now? Ally turned her head to inspect the pretty face of the slender woman. Ally's hair was safely tucked away under her waterproof hood allowing her a good opportunity to examine the windswept woman, "Who are you?" Ally shouted.

  The woman moved closer, she grabbed Ally’s arm through her coat sleeve, "I'm the girl in your dream, the one who gave you these bruises," she said squeezing Ally’s right arm.

  Ally's eyes widened, she tried to process this startling information, "How do you know about that? What do you want with me?" shouted Ally.

  "Where can we go to talk?" suggested the woman, "Dan is in great danger, and he doesn't even know it, only you can help him. I have so much to tell you, but you have to trust me; I've travelled far to help you understand."

  Ally sensed the genuine concern etched across her pretty face, she recognized the intensity burning behind her narrow fiery brown eyes and decided this strange woman was telling the truth. She couldn't work out how she would know intimate details of her dream, or if this was some sort of manipulative trick, but Ally trusted her female intuition. She heard the panic running through this stranger’s voice, she believed in this woman’s concern, and for some strong strange compelling reason, Ally desperately needed to hear what she had to say. “There's a small coffee shop not far from here, let's go there and we can talk.” The woman nodded her head; she seemed relieved that she'd convinced Ally to listen to her. They walked together to the coffee shop with Ally leading the way.

  Once inside, the woman looked completely lost, like a tourist in a strange land unaware of the language, culture, and local customs. Again, Ally took the lead to ease the awkwardness of the situation. The young man behind the counter said, "Next," without diverting his eyes from the till as he sorted coins into their appropriate trays.

  "Two medium sized coffees please," ordered Ally, as she fished for her money from within the wet pocket of her jeans. She handed the teenager some money and he dispensed her change from the till. With maximum efficiency, he delivered the change, grabbed two paper cups, filled the cups with coffee, and slid them across the counter, like a well-rehearsed choreographed dance routine. Ally retrieved her change sliding the coins back into her pocket, she grabbed each cup and turned to face an adjacent counter containing the sugar, milk, plastic lids and stir sticks. "What do you take in your coffee?" she inquired. The woman looked totally lost and not prepared to offer a reasonable answer. Ally smiled politely before turning to pour a little milk into both coffees. Ally nodded in the direction of a corner that housed an unoccupied table for two. She placed the coffees on the table and sat down pointing towards the other chair. The slimly built woman sat then stared at the strange steaming brown drink placed before her. Where should she start? How was she going to explain all of this to Ally?

  "Ok," said Ally, sensing the uncertainty mounting from across the small round table, "what is this all about? Why is Dan in great danger? How do you know Dan, and where have you travelled from? How did you know about my arm? As you can see, I have many questions and I think it's about time you started talking, you need to give me some answers, you've got some explaining to do." Ally leaned forward with her elbows propped upon the table; she wrapped her hands around her strong steaming coffee cup.

  The lady opposite nervously glanced to her sides, ensuring her next words would remain private and unheard, "This may sound strange to you, but I'm not from your world. I visited you in your dream as a child; I pinched your arm so tightly because I wanted to leave a mark, I needed a tangible way to convince you to follow my instructions, I needed a way for us to meet. I’ve come from another place, another time, and I live far away from here, I’ve travelled so very far to talk with you."

  Ally leaned in closer and lowered her voice, "So you’re an alien or a crackpot?"

  The young woman straightened her back, "I'm not from your world, but I can move between worlds, between dimensions, I have a gift. I can will myself to exist in other worlds, and if I concentrate, I can even exist between worlds, like the space in your dreams.” Ally thought this woman was a complete nutbar, but she was still intrigued, how did she know about the child, and the bruises on her arm?

  “I can take on different forms, different appearances, but I lose my powers, which makes me very vulnerable. I’ve placed myself in great danger coming here to your world.” Ally smiled, sure, great danger; everyone is in great danger – total nutbar.

  "Why?” questioned Ally, “who's after you and what does this have to do with Dan?" Ally still couldn’t be sure if this woman was serious or if she'd fallen victim to an intriguing scam by an eccentric fraudster. So far, she hadn't asked for any money.

  "I'm a monk from another world, and another time, I’ve travelled from deep in the past before you were even born. My life's vocation is to gain powers and use them to fight the evil forces that exist in all of our worlds; Dan had a friend, a wise Indian man called Raj, did you know him?"

  "Yes, Raj," affirmed Ally.

  "Raj walked with a cane, but this was no ordinary cane, it possessed a mystical and ancient power designed to transport two people to other worlds, and other times; it's known as The Dream Cane. This intricate cane was engineered to exact dimensions, with precise specifications, crafted by the finest artisans in India. It has managed to survive intact and undamaged for hundreds of years; it was originally commissioned by a wealthy and devoted Maharaja as a gift for his wife. The cane allowed them to experience fabulous adventures together. The cane creates a portal, a tear in the fabric of time, to allow access to other worlds, and to travel across dimensions that exist in the different planes of time; it's a bit hard to explain. Dark evil forces constantly surround us, they always exist, and you’ve seen them in your paintings, art, movies, songs, and literature. These evil forces are real, and the fight between good and evil, light and dark, is most certainly ve
ry real. The darkest of forces would love to locate, and seize, The Dream Cane. It’s up to us to stop them. In his will, Raj left his cane to Dan, this makes Dan a target for every evil demon, goblin, spirit or dark entity that exists. Dan could try to hide, fading away into anonymity here within your world, within this current time-period."

  "But there's a problem with that, right?" suggested Ally, warming up to the credibility of this woman’s story.

  "Yes - a serious problem," she diverted her eyes cautiously towards her cup of steaming coffee, "when Raj was alive, Dan would partner with Raj in the eternal fight against evil. Dan assisted Raj in a specific mission that was personally important to me, and they fought side by side to release an honorable knight that had been trapped, turned into stone, by an evil witch's spell. I know what you’re thinking - it sounds incredible, but it's all true, and you must believe me. As soon as Dan managed to free the knight, by breaking the spell, the evil forces of this world knew of Dan's existence, and eventually his location. They knew a gifted person, equipped to fight evil, was active and residing right here in this part of your world. His selfless act made him an instant target, alerting every evil force and dark entity to his presence. Dan is in grave danger, but he doesn't realize what he's now up against, and just how much danger he's in."