by Dave Welch
“Hey!” I shouted as my hand throbbed away.
The Colonel didn’t stop. He just kept floating by.
He reached the door and peeped over his shoulder.
“I have a meeting to attend.” He answered.
The door opened quickly.
On the other side of the door stood two beings.
One of the beings resembled the black-skinned creature that I saw during my so-called, hall drag. The only thing was that his skin wasn’t black; it was gray with a hint of green speckles. His eyes were squinted with a blur of yellow and a pair of antennae sat atop of his head. He was taller than me. And his heavy attire had an Earthly influence.
He had on a horrid, rust-orange bubble vest that reeked every time it moved. It stunk so bad; you could see the odor coming off it. He wore some dingy brown gloves, a pair of thick khaki cargo pants, and some Timbs?
He also wore a long necklace that stopped about his midsection. The necklace came with a charm that looked like two exclamation points side by side. One upright, and the other upside down. I don’t know, but this jewelry looked extremely costly. And what made the alien even more quirky was that he had a toothpick in his mouth.
Now, the other being looked totally human. The sheik must’ve got into a fight with death and won by unanimous decision. He just looked so scruffy and beat up.
His skin was like brass and full of ancient scars, especially around his forehead. His hair was thick as lamb’s wool. As a matter of fact, his beard hadn't been cut in forever. But his eyes were like balls of fire. And his hands stayed hidden within the sleeves of his old, dilapidated robe.
Considering the floor's density, I may have been mistaken, but I believe this man was barefooted.
This assimilation was hard to perceive. I mean, all of these individuals were standing upright against this cataclysmic force of gravity. I was absolutely deluded.
“Is that him?” The creature gestured.
Colonel G nodded.
As the barefooted man peered into me, the alien took the toothpick out of his mouth.
“Oh…he bout to get fucked up!” He blurted as Guitussami drifted out of the room.
“How about that tea.” The Colonel insisted.
The doors shut quickly.
“Somebody needs to bayz dey’ ass.” Phlaxlur whispered.
I took a deep breath, and I glanced up into the ceiling. Just that fast, I forgot about the horror brewing above. I redirected my attention to the hologram overrunning the room.
My hand ached anew.
Suddenly, the transparent diagram disappeared.
Doctor Phlaxlur flipped a nearby panel over to its opposite side. Then, he pushed the panel into the wall, and the entire room flicked to a blue hue.
Phlaxlur spun around with a smile on his face, speaking in revelation. “Get ready.”
I smiled because I knew I was about to die.
But before I could even respond…
************************************************************
I was sitting on my front porch on a sunny spring afternoon.
I had just got out of rehab. I felt as if I had won my battle against my crack addiction. So, in celebration, I decided to smoke a blunt.
My life was alright, I guess.
My mom passed some years ago, leaving me this house in her will. And I didn’t have any kids or girlfriends. It was just me and a few of my friends who were either still in high school or college at the time.
I was just enjoying my freedom, watching time roll by as I lit my blunt.
I took a few puffs.
Then, a car came speeding down the street.
The driver must have been mad as he drove recklessly in nature.
The man riding shotgun rolled down his window. He sat on the door ledge, plucking an object from his mouth.
He spat the remains into the road and launched the item over to my house.
The object bounced against the door and then to my wooden porch, rolling under my late mother’s rocking chair.
I was high, so I didn’t jump to see what the object was. But my curiosity grew expeditiously.
I sat up in the old folding chair, pinching the blunt with my lips. I glared at the object, and for a second, I couldn't figure out what it was. Then, it hit me…
“Grenade!”
My adrenaline soared as I sprinted off the porch, spitting out the blunt. I waited too late.
The explosion forced me into the air.
I flew out of the yard, smashing into the road.
And just like that, the entire neighborhood was in the streets. Some people were already calling the authorities. My neighbor reached my side in record timing, crying as I laid on the ground. I peered up to the car as it sped away.
Taking a picture with my eyes, I saved the image in my memory bank. Then, I glanced over to my house, and the front porch was demolished. I could see right into my backyard.
The next thing I knew, my setting changed…
It was an early Sunday morning.
Bookie and I lounged freely at the kitchen table of my second home. She sat in front of me eating cereal, and I just sat there staring at her. She was only two or three. And at that time, she had changed my life so much. I lost my will to rage against the odds of humanity and couldn’t even think of committing any crimes. I just refused to put her life in any type of danger.
Then, Canieya walked into the kitchen.
She had gotten out of the shower wearing her favorite, white house robe and her white stiletto mules with the fur at the top.
Her toes were always pretty. I mean… always— You hear me? And her calf muscles were so sexy. The way the back seams of her sheer white nylons traveled about the contour of her delicate, ladylike definition— Man!
She sure knew how to be a lady, so elegant and feminine.
She stood at the refrigerator when she began to untie her house robe. She looked seductively at me for a second. Then she opened her robe, displaying a small portion of her lingerie.
I started to think about our first kiss…
That thought shattered quickly as Bookie’s death interrupted my scenery.
There I was, in my front yard, watching helplessly as the killer gripped Bookie about her tiny neck with one hand. In his other hand, he held that 357 Magnum.
Blam!
Everything went black.
And the sound of that boom rocketed through my soul.
************************************************************
A rigid cold followed with a presence so dire that it trounced my dreamy state, quivering me to a stir…
I opened my eyes to find myself curled up on the ground in the fetal position.
I heard a low airy sound, resonating through my eardrums. It sort of reminded me of an air conditioner.
I was completely naked and very afraid to stand because of what happened to me the last time. However, I had to get off this floor. It was constantly dropping my body temperature, speeding up my freezing.
“AAAAaaaaaggghhhh!” I screamed as I started to stand against my established belief of this altered gravity.
I looked around, waiting on that crushing feeling to advance my death. I assumed it probably took a nap or a minute to calculate. I honestly couldn’t remember how bad it was the first time in that dense room with Okani. But after a few seconds of freezing temperatures, I realized the pain wasn’t coming.
Freely, I stood as my lips and teeth chattered out of control. I could see my breath evaporating into the cleaning cold.
I was freezing to death.
Suddenly, a hint of light grasped my attention— the origin of the light came from behind me.
I glared into the thermal emissions bouncing off the wall in front of me. The lights drew my interest, but my confines had not been inspected.
In the midst of my turning, I glanced to the floor and the ceiling to see them full of circular vents. The walls were tall, maybe about twelve feet h
igh. But the width of my space was only about six feet. The floor and the ceiling were both flat. The sides, however (front and rear), were curved like a cylinder.
I was not in the laboratory anymore. And this cold and scary tube had me all to itself. Or did it? Was I alone? And if so, how long had I been in here?
“Hello!” I shouted.
No one responded.
I decided to creep over to the light.
I ducked down to avoid the soft beam of illumination. I wasn’t sure if it would trigger an alarm or something, but I had to see what was happening.
The hope of the light, providing me with warmth, curing my irrational distress. But then, I noticed a window in front of me.
My eyes leveled with the edge of the pane. And at this moment, I was highly interested in my developing perspective.
As I continued to stand, the threat of the crushing force retreated from my reality. And at the height of my perplexities, I stood boldly to a resplendent sight.
A magical and mystical setting, so harmonious and breathtaking, came through the window of my cold confines. The logical coherence of this landscape took my mind hostage. This creation made Earth’s splendor look sad. In comparison, Earth was the ghetto version of this planetary formation. For this developmental production, God would’ve required some aid. The beauty demanded days to perceive.
Hundreds of planets, distant stars, and beautiful sunsets, trickling colors of stress singing hues over at least fifty different massive waterfalls.
The bodies of water continued with infinity as the streams never ran dry. The elegant fall of rivers showered with what I thought to be layers of water. But the liquid derivative traveled at a horizontal calm, only to rise and feed into another body. They traveled up into a space of no end. The ascending eminence repeated like steps on a ladder until the magnificent sight vanished into the colors of my stranger skies.
Equally intriguing as the escalating waters was the periphery around this water. Nothing contained it, not even a structured boundary. It flowed freely with no restraints. It had a mind of its own as if this impression of water-controlled gravity.
I was surprised, but I wouldn’t put the abilities of this place beyond me. I must’ve stared at this phenomenon for at least an hour before I even noticed the rest of my awakened surprise.
Amid spectacular fates, several misshaped moons, asteroids, and another host of millions and millions of different colors (that I couldn’t readily comprehend) repeated. Into a far distance of incomparable beauty did this glory persist.
On one side of my sighting was a variety of red colors. On another side was a form of orange. Then directly in the middle was a blend of the colors that all mimicked the saturations found on Earth. There were thousands of unforeseen colors influencing my ocular aid.
This image was as grand as any sighting I had ever seen.
Everywhere I looked, I engulfed more beauty.
As far as my eyes could discern, this beyond pleasing sight repeated itself over and over. The view was so beautiful that I began to cry. But under the frigid circumstances, my tears froze on production. This was indeed a reward of elegance. I smiled as I embraced the moment before my imminent death.
Stepping closer to the window, I cautiously reached out to the glass.
The window rippled like waves in a puddle.
“Whhoooaaaa…” I mumbled as I stepped back, staring at my hand.
My wrist was like new.
As my stomach growled, I glanced over my confines and the glorious setting all at once.
“Where am I?”
Just then, a being floated outside, directly in front of the capsule. It was about three feet tall and full of computerized parts. It seemed to be an android, but it moved with so much fluidity.
A small transparent diagram popped up next to the being’s head. It typed into the hologram. Then, the diagram zipped away as the mechanical being jetted off into the glorious settings.
I walked back over to the window, and I looked down. I couldn’t see a bottom. That’s when I looked even harder for some sort of explanation.
I walked to the far end of the window to see if I could capture anything behind me. I studied the area harshly.
This capsule of mine was attached to something large in proportion.
I looked to my other side. And in the distance, I saw another shape that resembled my very own imprisonment. It was another capsule attached to the side of a mountain.
I stared into the other capsule, but I couldn’t see anyone.
By now, my lips were chattering so bad that I couldn’t think straight. I hugged myself and stepped back from the window, for the light brought me no warmth. I fixed my eyes on the heavenly sighting, and I waited patiently on my blood and bones to ice over, transfixed.
Time moved so slowly here.
I watched all sorts of godly events transpire before me. The scenery excited me so much until my enthusiasm pushed me to exercise.
The urge to keep my blood moving, the urge to stay alive, settled in my gut. I didn't want to miss anything. Eventually, I fatigued due to my dehydration. Plus, the small amount of sweat turned into ice, nearly freezing me stiff.
My thoughts and my memories cycled through my brain at an extremely fast pace. Then, they slowed to a stop as well.
I felt myself passing away.
“Fuuuccckkkkk…” I chattered.
“Daddy’s coming, Bookie. Daddy’s coming…” I expressed.
Suddenly, I heard a lock turn.
At first, I denied the sound because I hadn’t heard anything in a while. I just didn’t believe it. However, I scoped the scene, searching for whatever it could be.
A few seconds later, the smell of my confines changed. The smell wasn’t poisonous, but it was weird. This, of course, made my eyes travel more. I looked about my limited space again.
And that’s when I noticed it…
Ogling at the floor of my capsule, near the front and directly under the window, I saw it.
Slowly, it crept in… Some sort of… something.
I gazed at the thing. It was small (four inches in length) and thick, maybe about two inches in width.
It was moving slow.
I stepped back cautiously as this small thing had become the center of my attraction. Not even the immaculate landscape could take my eyes away from this thing… And as my setting claimed its throne of sumptuous, so did this small thing persist. I was so attracted to this thing that I forgot how cold it was.
“Hey!” I shouted.
The thing stopped. It acted like it heard me.
Then, a pair of antennae unfettered from the top of this things’ head. The antennae were no longer than the thing itself. They were in proportion.
“Wait! That’s a slug.” I chattered.
My fear immediately subsided as I backed up from the mollusk.
“Hey, fella… Now I don’t wanna step on y—”
-I was paralyzed, just like I was on that floating bed.
I immediately developed an overpowering migraine as the slug sat upright with its antennae erected.
“Aaaggghh!” I shouted with a frozen face of despair.
It was increasingly difficult to think. And every time I tried to move; my headache would get worse.
“Uuuuggghhhhh…” I mumbled in agony.
I felt the small slug tickling my toes. It slid its way onto my foot, traveling slowly up my leg. It climbed with no resistance, seeing that I had been rendered immobile.
The mollusk slid up my thigh, muscling over to the inner side. Then, it came around and up towards my buttock. I knew that this was only about to get worse. However, the unthinkable did not occur. The slug didn’t burrow into my ass. It continued its climb up the center of my back.
The mollusk stopped on my shoulder. It sat there for a moment before it started back crawling to its destination, which remained undisclosed.
Lightly did the slug scoot up my neck, to my jawbone, and then
along the side of my face. It slowed in its crawl when it reached my earlobe. I could feel the mollusk hanging like a heavy earring. It lifted to my ear canal. And there, it waited and waited as I stood in torment.
Suddenly, the slug thrust itself into my ear.
It felt like a table shoving into my head. I screamed like I was mentally insane.
Right then, my headache stopped, and my paralysis was released. I couldn’t tell if the mollusk was in my ear or not, but a violent internal pain erupted.
I went batshit crazy, digging into my ear to retrieve the small slug, but I couldn’t. The pain was too overbearing. It made me delirious.
I threw myself from wall to wall, then fell flat on my face, banging my head against the floor until my face bled.
I rolled and kicked, jumped, and squatted.
I grabbed my head and fell to my knees, screaming at the top of my lungs until I ran out of air.
I screamed again and again until my voice left. Then slowly, the pain ceased.
I shook uncontrollably, not from the cold but from my altered state. I wiped over my body fervidly to see if the slug was still there. I was delusional but clean as a whistle.
The blood on my face froze to a crust. I peeled it away just as my innards churned over inside me.
I breathed hectically while the organs I never knew I had, flexed and bent in ways that they shouldn't.
I fell lifelessly again to the floor, curling up in a tight ball.
“Fuck!” I yelled.
I felt my insides breaking down and reassembling.
Then, I experienced a bowel movement like none other, passing my own feces as well as several other objects that I believed to be my organs. I couldn't look at it.
My nose began to bleed profusely.
Then, I felt that mollusk returning as it inched into my nasal cavity. It had grown in size as it squeezed out of my nostril, slurping back up into the other.
“You! Fuck!” I hollered as I gulped the slug down.
Then the pain stopped, but I could still feel the mollusk swimming through my brain.
I rested on my feet, shaking my head and rocking back and forth with my hands propped up on my knees.