Dawn of Tomorrow

by Kevin Douglas

  Despite their just being friends since high school he always thought she was beautiful. Her golden eyes followed his intently as they spoke. Their interests were miles apart, but Leo was glad they stayed friends and kept in touch. Willy’s cries intruded on his thoughts, so he went to see what he wanted.

  He excused himself and opened the screen door. No cat went running. He looked under chairs and couches but could not find his buddy anywhere. He heard Willy’s cry again. It came from the kitchen.

  When he entered, Willy was sitting on the island calmly staring down at the tablet. Willy looked up for a second at Leo and let out a loud bellow. The tablet was on again, its screen shining upwards and Leo could see movement on the screen as he moved closer.

  How in the hell is this thing on again? I know I turned it off.

  He stood over the counter and peered down. The tablet gave off a sound as well, like a sonar ping.

  Willy jumped at this and held up a half- cocked paw sideways ready to strike the screen. The words, Leo are you up, scrolled across the screen and ended with a blinking question mark.

  Leo gaped perplexed and decided to press his palm and fingers on the tablet. An imprint of his palm showed on the screen in red followed by a twirping sound as the imprint turned green.

  Leo, good evening, Lesson 1? The question mark blinked again.

  Question marks were going off in Leo’s head. Lesson 1? He was about to touch the screen for Lesson 1, when Willy decided he needed to show this thing he meant business. He ferociously tapped the blinking question mark, letting out a perturbed hiss.

  The screen turned black and a large triangle showed on the screen. In the center of the triangle an exclamation point in yellow appeared, a background flashing red, then white with the words, unauthorized access, appeared below.

  “Great, you fur ball. Leo ran a hand down Willy’s back. “What the hell bud?” Willy remained on alert and Leo lowered his other palm down toward the tablet.

  “Leo you get lost in there?” Sarafina asked from outside. “You’re not ditching me are you?”

  “No, I’m coming, sorry,” he yelled back.

  He quickly pulled the tablet away from Willy’s fury and put it in a hanging fruit basket. He returned outside where Sarafina remained at the table finishing her last slice of pizza. She smiled at him as he sat down.

  “Sorry, Willy was going nuts. Somehow, he got that tablet on and he was all worked up over it,” he laughed. Leo had an early art class and just wanted to relax for the night.

  He did not want to seem disinterested, but his hammock was calling his name.

  “Hey, I would challenge you to a game of two-person solitaire, but I’m beat. Do you mind if we just relax?”

  Sara quickly answered, “Sure, Leo. I don’t have to be entertained, I enjoy your company.”

  “I love the rain. It is so peaceful. Maybe it will fall all night and wash off all that mud on my car.”

  She chuckled “I doubt it, but that would be nice. That mud is thick.”

  Leo glanced past Sarafina to see the squirrel on the porch railing, intently looking on, probably waiting for an opportunity to raid the box of crusts.

  “Hey, your buddy is back,” he said.

  She turned around slowly and dramatically and let out a fake high-pitched scream, “Aaah!” The squirrel startled and ran down the railing, up one of the poles and jumped onto an outstretched tree branch, disappearing into the darkness.

  “What a meanie you are,” Leo said, overdramatically. “What if he needed that crust to feed his squirrel family?”

  “Phst! He needs to go back to squirrel foraging 101 if he needs my pizza crust.”

  Leo humorously answered, “Yeah true, but you don’t want to piss those guys off. Haven’t you seen those Cluster’s commercials?”

  They both laughed. She had a quiet laugh unless something really floored her. Only then did she have a loud high-pitched one.

  “Well we’re all alone again now.”

  A stiff breeze picked up making the wind chimes sound off, even the heavy bamboo ones. The wind played with their paper plates, sliding them across the wooden tabletop.

  It also sent the spitting rain under the porch overhang. The breeze caught Sarafina mid swig on her soda, and she shuddered for a second.

  Leo smiled a little, “Cold there huh? You’re going to be in trouble, its only August and you are already chilly.”

  “It was just the breeze that blew through, it gave me the chills,” she said rubbing her arms keeping them crossed for a minute as she looked out inquisitively.

  “Well I could get you a blanket if you’d like,” he offered.

  “No, it’s all right I’ll get it, I have to use the ladies room anyway. Where is the bathroom?”

  “Off the office and the gallery. I don’t have blankets downstairs though. They’d be up in my room in the big chest at the end of my bed.”

  “Okay. Back in a jiffy,” Sara said.

  “Oh…okay, that’s fine,” he said nervously, hoping the room wasn’t too messy.

  She went inside, without Willy’s attempt at escape. Leo walked by the screen door to see if his cat was up to no good. Willy sat on the counter perfectly still, staring upward at the tablet resting in the basket above. His tail curled back and forth playfully, the rest of his body frozen.

  What a weirdo, Leo walked over to his hammock and eased into it, fluffing the small pillow he had in it.

  “Ahh, nothing like lying in a hammock.” Looking up now, the rain fell downward toward the ground, the view of the drops was hypnotic, and he fought his heavy eyelids.

  He heard the distant faint sound of a creaking door.

  “Leo that’s the cleanest bathroom and bedroom I’ve seen in a while.” He pulled himself back to consciousness at the sound of a voice, identified it and pretended to be awake as Sarafina approached.

  “Yeah? Well I do try.”

  “You look so cozy where’s mine?”

  “Uh, you know I think I have an extra one in this outside storage closet,” he pointed behind him.

  “What, are we going to go double-decker style like in the Navy?”

  “No, you’ll fit right in next to me.”

  Leo swung out onto his feet successfully and opened the closet. He grabbed the other hammock and Sarafina watched him tie it off, his arms and chest flexing, tying it tight high above his head. She stood watching, a blanket over her shoulders, the bottom fringe touching the deck floor.

  He held the hammock taut and motioned for her to get in. She got in with the blanket and they relaxed, clacking together occasionally. Leo thought Sarafina looked like she was in a cocoon, the hammock with its contouring shape and her blanket over the top, her voluminous hair crammed into the small space only revealing her face.

  She blew at a hair tickling her face and nose, then slipped off her boots and stretched her toes.

  Leo shut his eyes and drifted off, lost to the sound of raindrops; his mind was a black, dark void. It snapped to a view of him watching himself. He laid asleep, eyes shut, peaceful.

  From over the edge of the hammock came metal legs and arms, first one set then two, which were attached to the tablet propelling it forward until it was fully atop his leg. The tablet crept its way up his thighs slowly to his stomach, all eight legs moving with precision.

  A loud noise came from above and the legs disappeared into the casing with a scratching sound. It laid motionless, concealing its true nature, until it seemed certain no one was watching. To Leo’s horror the legs slowly sprouted back, and it continued its ascent up his body. He wanted to move but he was asleep, eyes closed, paralyzed.

  As it crossed onto his chest, the tablet pushed itself vertical, the screen vaulting upwards. Arms sprouted from its sides. At the end of each arm was a ball, resembling a dandelion made of metal. The screen, now completely vertical, flashed on and pushed closer, the balls opening to reveal hands that flexed and opened.

  Leo squirmed but foun
d himself unable to move. His breathing was becoming erratic and sweat formed on his forehead and arms. He had no idea what this thing had planned, and he was freaking out.

  As the screen glowed white, moving toward his face, the small, balled fists craned down and pushed outward toward his face. The arms pushed closer, three inches, two inches from his eyes; his hands began to twitch but would not budge.

  He wanted to rip off the arms when finally, both the legs and arms stopped, the hands a half inch from his eyelids. He anticipated the worst, the tablet and his limbs stayed frozen.

  Leo then heard a sound like something unlatching within the hands as they began to unfurl dozens upon dozens of tiny metal fingers, which methodically grabbed each side of his eyelids and peeled them back with a wet sound. His lids were forced wide open, the deep pink of their underside upturned, and his eyeballs solid white. His pupils rolled slowly into view from the back of his head.

  Despite his opened eyes and his pupils looking into the tablet, he remained in slumber everything unfolding. The screen now displayed words, but he strained to focus. The screen tilted toward his face, the legs rising. The words began to come into focus now, Leo why do you ignore your instincts?

  After a moment, the words faded away and new ones appeared. Your legacy awaits appeared, again fading away.

  The screen began to ooze a cold viscous liquid, which dripped down onto his checks, mouth, and nose, which made everything even more unpleasant. Lessons unfold cryptic mysteries, appeared and then faded. You must persevere, also faded away.

  A loud noise began to fill his ears, the noise becoming distinguishable. “Leo” came a voice. “Leo.”

  The screen flickered with another message, but he couldn’t make the words clear due to his attention to the sound.

  He fought to read the words coming in and out of realization.

  “Leeeeo!” the voice said again.

  The legs of the tablet dug into his skin stinging his flesh trying to make him focus. Find…way!!!

  He wanted to see the message; he fought off the voice.

  “Leo,” now louder.

  You…a way, the message almost clear as the tablet dug its legs deeper, drawing blood, the fingers stretching his eyelids even tighter, painfully so. Eager to end it all Leo finally focused enough to read the last message. You must find a way.

  “Leo, dammit!” said in full volume.

  The entire tablet melted down onto his face stinging his flesh.

  “Holy shit it burns, ahhh!” Leo screamed.

  Leo came to, flinging his arms to this face and chest, swinging the hammock violently he crashed onto the deck gasping for breath, knocking over Sarafina in the process. She fell on top of him knocking the wind out of him and rolling off. He coughed and fought for a breath.

  Leo’s barely cognizant first thought came in a blur. Was that just a dream, or a warning of something to come?

  Chapter 12

  “Leo gees take it easy already,” Sara stated. “I was trying to wake you. The hail and rain were hitting you hard and you were twitching like crazy.”

  “Sara, phew, you okay? I’m so sorry. You wouldn’t believe the dream I just had. How long was I out?” he said surprised.

  “A while I think. I dozed too, that is until the garden lights popped on. They woke me and that’s when you had just started twitching.”

  “Let’s get out of this hail and rain, I’m soaked.” He got up and looked out to see a scene that looked like winter, his lawn covered in a light layer of white.

  Willy rubbed his face and side down Leo’s legs pulling back after he realized Leo was soaked. They sloshed toward the kitchen when Leo realized he had no idea how late it was; he would still have to drive Sarafina home. Unable to shake his grogginess, he was not crazy about the idea. Outside the storm rumbled on; a walk in the hail and muddy conditions did not sound fun.

  He looked at the clock, “12:25. I’d better get you home,” he said in an exhausted tone.

  “Leo it’s late. I’m not making you drive anywhere. I’d like to stay here, if that’s okay with you?”

  “Yeah I don’t mind. I don’t have a guest bed, but I do have a very comfy couch. I’ll get you dry clothes to sleep in.”

  Leo went to the closet and pulled out some towels, he came back and handed one to her. She stripped off her socks and wiggled her toes, her nails painted dark blue.

  “I’m gonna head upstairs and dry off as well. I’ll leave your clothes on the desk.”

  He went upstairs and changed into a dry pair of PJs, then grabbed some shorts, shirt, pillow and blanket, and carefully walked downstairs to lay the items on the desk.

  He could not wait to get in bed and fall asleep. He was a little anxious though. His dream had been so vivid and real. At the top of the stairs, he realized Willy did not weave through his legs. He once again made the trip down and checked on him. Willy was not in the office or the kitchen. When he checked the couch, he saw Willy laying on Sarafina’s chest running his head through her hair.

  He laughed, “Well it looks like the two of you are getting along. Goodnight. I’ll wake you in the morning.”

  “Okay. Goodnight, Leo.”

  His trip back up seemed long and as he crossed his bedroom floor, it creaked before he hopped into bed. All was dark except for the muted maze lights reaching his room through his curtains. Just as he slipped into slumber the light outside dimmed away.

  Morning came quick and he slapped the snooze button extensively. First his friend then his foe, he finally relented as he sat up in his brightly lit room, the sunshine bringing to light every corner. He realized that his now necessary last-minute preparations were fine, but Sarafina was another story.

  He raced down stairs to tell her to get a move on, but she was not on the couch. He saw the blankets folded on the arm, then he looked up and saw her sitting at the table outside already drinking a cup of coffee. He quickly got ready, grabbed the tablet out of the basket, and met her outside. As Leo exited, he saw her taking her last sip.

  “Hey, are you ready to leave?” he said.

  “Always.”

  He locked up and they made their way to the muddy car and their drive to campus, where he dropped her off and thanked her for a good time. He headed to his early art class energized by his love of art. He hurried to arrive early and seated himself half way up in the auditorium style classroom.

  He was 15 minutes early, so he reached in his backpack to get his notebook and pen. He saw the tablet illuminating his backpack with a blue indicator light and figured what the heck; let’s see what it wants now. He powered up the tablet and saw a message, Lesson 1. Below it the words: Lesson 1 will expire in 24 hours.

  His interest was piqued, and he had a few minutes before class began. He pressed his hand on the screen and it turned green with his print.

  Leo good to see you, your Lesson starts now, 24 hours to finish.

  He didn’t know what the hell this was. Was this his Geology lesson?

  Making code is art, making code and hiding it is state of the art. Your lessons are tests in each type. Consider it your test into computer science, should you accept. The screen cleared then a row of symbols appeared.

  How in the hell did it know my major? This thing is crazy.

  What the hell is this? He had enough to do with his busy schedule let alone work on this code. He was a sucker for a challenge though and began working on decoding the symbols.

  “What’ve you got there, Leo?”

  He looked up and saw it was Tyler. “Hey man how’s it going, it’s a symbol cipher.”

  “This for class?” Tyler asked.

  “Well, not exactly. You any good at these?”

  “Sorta, I’m good at spotting patterns,” Tyler said.

  “Well, we have ten minutes. Let’s see if we can crack this.”

  Tyler was a very positive, good spirited friend; you just had to catch him at the right time.

  “Let’s do it!”

&
nbsp; Leo used word form necessities such as vowels as a key indicator. Cracking one letter had the domino effect and he knew it would progress rapidly from there. He explained this to Tyler and he began to study the patterns.

  What was slow and frustrating soon gave way, and they had the first word and a vowel in each word thereafter. They worked quickly to try to get the last of it before class started. Tyler saw the patterns of the remaining words and solved it in his head.

  “Huh, simple, well not exactly,” Tyler said.

  “What’s not simple? Oh, I just figured it.” The Simple Symbology.

  “What’s that all about, is that a game?” Tyler asked.

  “No this is actually my textbook for Geology class.”

  “Geology?”

  Leo sighed. “It’s a long story. What in the world are you doing in an art class? This is the last place I thought I’d ever see you.”

  “I love art.” Tyler chuckled. “No, I’m kidding, I could care less. I’m here to make sure the new wiring in this auditorium works properly when the lights are out. When I know everything’s working with the slide show and sound, I’m outta here.”

  “I knew you weren’t here to learn, you don’t know what you’re missing out on though. Art is amazing.”

  “I’ll leave it to you, Leo.” He patted him on the back and glanced one more time at the tablet.

  The professor came in the room at the bottom of the auditorium. She had long frizzled hair, a slender build, and thick glasses.

  Leo couldn’t resist, “Hey she’s just your type. She looks like she put her finger in a light socket.”

  “Whatever dude, just ‘cause I’m an electrical engineering major doesn’t mean I’d want hair like that,” he said in lighthearted tone.

  The professor clicked on her microphone and said, “Good morning everyone! I hope everyone is ready and excited for this semester of Art History! I’m Ms. Daumier! Let’s get started!”

  Tyler sat in total disbelief.

  “Dude, dude, that peppiness is so unnatural at this hour,” Tyler said. “I’m convinced she did put a finger in a light socket because she’s definitely holding a charge. I’m outta here this is too much.”