Aargh. I hate being woken by bright sunshine on my face. Oohh. My back. Where the hell am I? I see through one half opened eye that I am on the porch. Didn't even make it inside to bed. Where have I been? What did I get up to last night? I'm trying to move but I feel like my body has been stretched out then pummled into a ball. Like water skiing through mud then pounced on by the local Rugby team, and here I am trying to force myself into movement... I don't even have any clothes on, just wrapped in the dog's blanket that was on the porch.
I'm trying to get up but can only make it to all fours. Aching all over and a pain in my gut like a bowling ball - wrapped in barbed wire... and the taste in my mouth. What did I eat last night? It tastes of rotting meat, off fish and stale milk - with hot chillies. Oohh, I just threw up in my mouth. I have to get to the bathroom. I'll just crawl.
Vomiting helps a little. Now to throw some clothes on. I can just about walk now. What's that noise? Sounds like a car coming up the driveway. Geez, I moved out of town to get away from people and I really don't feel like entertaining visitors this morning. It's a cop car. What the hell...?
The cops have been here twice before. About a month ago, and then a month before that. Both times they were investigating wild dogs, or something attacking stock on the neighboring properties. I wasn't well those times either but this time I feel so much worse. As the thought of wild animal attacks occurs I have a sudden flash in my mind of distressed horses, loud growling and blood all over the place. I want to throw up again.
I meet the cops on the front porch - lucky they didn't arrive before I woke up. "Hi guys. Don't tell me something's been eating livestock again."
"Hi Dan. Afraid so, but it's a bit worse this time. Something got into your neighbor's and mauled two of their cows and a horse."
I had another quick flash of dead animals, growling and blood. I had to catch myself so I didn't vomit on the cops.
"You OK Dan?"
"I'm not feeling the best this morning. Sorry." I tried to gather myself together. "Sounds like the same as last time, didn't they think it was dingos or something?"
"It was a bloody big dingo if it was. It gets worse too. What ever it was knocked the back door down, got in and attacked Susan and her little one year old."
The pain kicked in my gut and I had another flash of growling and screaming and blood.
"There wasn't much left of them. Was horrible."
As he spoke I could hear their screams in my mind, I could see them cowering on the floor, I could see the pieces of them that were left lying in pools of blood. I couldn't keep it in any longer, my gut convulsed and I threw up right where the cops stood.
What was I remembering? Could it be? Was I the animal responsible?
No.
It can't be.
It's impossible.
I couldn't be the cause of all that death. The cows... the horses... Sue... that poor sweet precious little kid.
No.
Not me.
The cops took a step back from the vomit. "Geez Dan."
We all looked down at the putrid pile on the porch. And all at once we noticed something in the mess. It was unbelievably gruesome, but amidst the bile, blood and undigested remnants was what looked like a small child's finger. More flashbacks, more vomit. I can't take this. I lunge for the cop's gun. He grabs it first so I grab his hand with the gun and pull it up to my chin.
"Do it. Shoot me. Kill me. Stop me. It was me. I'm a killer. That poor baby. That poor woman. Don't let me do it again, kill me!"
Bang.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
A Timeline in the Steet
I was in an old hotel. All marble and sandstone. There were so many doors along the front of the building. Enormous doors that were so heavy and hard to open. When you could get them open they opened directly out on to the street, but the street was like a giant high speed conveyor belt. As you stepped out on to the street you expected to get whooshed along with the fast moving motion of the street, but instead you immediately end up on the opposite side of the street, on the sidewalk which ran along the side of an ocean wall with a very calm ocean behind it.
Once across the street all hell was breaking loose. Planes were coming in to land across the ocean to an airport that I presumed was on the other side of the city. But none of them made it. Every plane that came in low over the ocean edge, over the city, crashed into one of the many skyscrapers that lined the city's edge. They would hit towards the top of the building then fall down to the street. The crowds on the street all started to move away from the crashed planes to a park away from the buildings. I saw the occasional familiar face in the moving crowd. There seemed to be an unusual amount of famous actors in the crowd. Ben Kingsley bumped into me in the confusion and I asked him what all the actors were doing? He quickly, urgently yelled that Ron Howard was making a movie with a large ensemble cast and then he was gone. I couldn't handle all the drama so I tried to get back to the hotel.
I managed to get back into the same door that I had exited earlier but the foyer looked different to how it was when I left. I saw some of the faces about to leave the hotel that I had just seen on the other side of the street. I saw Ben Kingsley again so I walked up to him to see if he could shed light onto what was going on. He didn't remember me even though it was only moments earlier we had been speaking. He told me that he was told that the street out front was a "timeline" and you never knew at what stage you would enter it or leave it. I thanked him for the information and let him know that Ron Howard was in the crowd across the street making a movie with a large ensemble cast. He thanked me and left the hotel through one of the many large doors.
I walked to the edge of the foyer to a small theatre where there was about ten people watching what looked to be a circus performance. There on the stage was a woman in a sequined costume connected to a harness and safety line that hung from above. She was laying on the stage and, from her movements, I presumed she was trying to raise herself above the stage. She kept trying but was not able to get off the floor. The other people watching all turned away dejected like she had been trying for some time and was never going to raise up. As soon as they left she started to rise and even did a few tumbles in the air - but nobody witnessed this except me. So I ran towards the stage shouting "You did it!" She turned around to see me as she hung mid air and looked disappointed that she now had an audience of one. As I walked closer to the stage I recognised the aerial acrobat - it was Suzy Quatro.
Once across the street all hell was breaking loose. Planes were coming in to land across the ocean to an airport that I presumed was on the other side of the city. But none of them made it. Every plane that came in low over the ocean edge, over the city, crashed into one of the many skyscrapers that lined the city's edge. They would hit towards the top of the building then fall down to the street. The crowds on the street all started to move away from the crashed planes to a park away from the buildings. I saw the occasional familiar face in the moving crowd. There seemed to be an unusual amount of famous actors in the crowd. Ben Kingsley bumped into me in the confusion and I asked him what all the actors were doing? He quickly, urgently yelled that Ron Howard was making a movie with a large ensemble cast and then he was gone. I couldn't handle all the drama so I tried to get back to the hotel.
I managed to get back into the same door that I had exited earlier but the foyer looked different to how it was when I left. I saw some of the faces about to leave the hotel that I had just seen on the other side of the street. I saw Ben Kingsley again so I walked up to him to see if he could shed light onto what was going on. He didn't remember me even though it was only moments earlier we had been speaking. He told me that he was told that the street out front was a "timeline" and you never knew at what stage you would enter it or leave it. I thanked him for the information and let him know that Ron Howard was in the crowd across the street making a movie with a large ensemble cast. He thanked me and left the hotel through one of the many large doors.
I walked to the edge of the foyer to a small theatre where there was about ten people watching what looked to be a circus performance. There on the stage was a woman in a sequined costume connected to a harness and safety line that hung from above. She was laying on the stage and, from her movements, I presumed she was trying to raise herself above the stage. She kept trying but was not able to get off the floor. The other people watching all turned away dejected like she had been trying for some time and was never going to raise up. As soon as they left she started to rise and even did a few tumbles in the air - but nobody witnessed this except me. So I ran towards the stage shouting "You did it!" She turned around to see me as she hung mid air and looked disappointed that she now had an audience of one. As I walked closer to the stage I recognised the aerial acrobat - it was Suzy Quatro.
Friday, September 13, 2013
I Met the Doctor (Continued)
A few people had run into the building being renovated across from the record store. We ran in as well. There were a multitude of corners and nooks and crannies and piles of building materials to hide behind. But, by the sound of the crashes, I didn't think anywhere would be very safe. Particularly when everything is made out of wood - if Godzilla is coming...
"It's not Godzilla" he said as everyone found their own place to hide.
I cowered in a corner behind a pile of rubbish that I tried to pull closer and over me to keep from being seen. The crashing was close now. The room suddenly went dark and I looked up to see something was now covering all the windows along one side of the building. It looked like green blue scaly skin, and at one window I saw a gigantic eye peering in to try and find us. More loud crashing moved around each side of the building and all the windows darkened. Then, what sounded like marching, hundreds marching along the boardwalk out side.
One of my fellow cowerers in the same room loudly whispered, "It's sending in the soldiers!"
"Soldiers?" I thought, "What sort of monster sends in soldiers?"
The marching stopped then started in through the front door of our building. Marching from room to room, stopping to look in then moving on to the next room. I heard the marching enter my room. I couldn't just lie there and wait. I picked up a metal bar and a lump of wood from the pile and jumped out from behind my protection, ready to take on anything that was in front of me... and I saw... nothing.
I tiptoed closer to the door, I don't know what made me look down but I did and there, just inside the doorway I could just make out the microscopic figures that were making all the noise. I squinted to try and get a better view as I leaned forward. What looked like a dark stain on the wooden floorboards was a microscopic army of hundreds of medieval Japanese soldiers, dressed in full armour with swords held high. They marched forward, sounding thousands of times larger than they actually were. An old man who had been hiding in the next room caught a glance of them as he rushed past the doorway. He stepped into the room and, without hesitation stamped his boot onto the miniature soldiers as if they were a pesky insect. He lifted his foot to inspect the damage and as he was trying to wipe away the sticky remnants of the microscopic army the man with the bow tie saw and scowled.
"Oh no. You didn't have to do that. What were they going to do? Stab your big toe? Oh that's horrible and completely unnecessary. I bet you're a spider stamper too."
"But they were ..." the old man tried to think of a convincing excuse, "scary."
"I suppose the big green thing at the window is scary too."
"Well... ah... isn't it?" the old man asked.
"I think you'll find," said the bow tie man as if concluding an important lecture, "that it is just a projection!"
At which point all noise ceased. What was at the window had disappeared. A group of us circled the outside of the building. I found a small metal version of the monster that appeared at the window. It looked like a wind up mechanical toy. It seemed safe enough so I picked it up and brought it back for the others to see. The man with the bow tie continued his lecture:
"Yes, it is a monster. Yes, it is alien. No, it wasn't going to hurt anyone."
"But the noise, and the size of it." I reminded him.
"Just a projection. That is its natural ability, and its defence mechanism."
"And the miniature Japanese soldiers?"
"Well, they aren't Japanese. Something acquired along the way to help protect our little metal monster projector. I don't think they quite got the scale of things. Still, not a reason to squish them into the floorboards." again he scowled at the old man.
"Can I look after it?" A young boy asked pointing at the little mechanical monster. I passed it to him and he ran off as if it was Christmas morning.
I turned back to the bow tie man, "I know who you are," I said pointing, "You're the..."
"Doctor", my daughter had just returned and completed my sentence for me.
"Maddie," he heartily yelled as she ran up and gave him the biggest hug. "And Bella," who hugged him too. They had told me about this Doctor character who they met while visiting some friends in London. He was a friend of Clara and the kids they befriended on our last visit. I never believed the stories they told me but now it all seemed completely possible.
"So girls, like to go for another ride? All of space and time."
He didn't have to ask twice and they ran off.
Leaving me trying to come to terms with the day's events and the fact that I have time travelling daughters.
"It's not Godzilla" he said as everyone found their own place to hide.
I cowered in a corner behind a pile of rubbish that I tried to pull closer and over me to keep from being seen. The crashing was close now. The room suddenly went dark and I looked up to see something was now covering all the windows along one side of the building. It looked like green blue scaly skin, and at one window I saw a gigantic eye peering in to try and find us. More loud crashing moved around each side of the building and all the windows darkened. Then, what sounded like marching, hundreds marching along the boardwalk out side.
One of my fellow cowerers in the same room loudly whispered, "It's sending in the soldiers!"
"Soldiers?" I thought, "What sort of monster sends in soldiers?"
The marching stopped then started in through the front door of our building. Marching from room to room, stopping to look in then moving on to the next room. I heard the marching enter my room. I couldn't just lie there and wait. I picked up a metal bar and a lump of wood from the pile and jumped out from behind my protection, ready to take on anything that was in front of me... and I saw... nothing.
I tiptoed closer to the door, I don't know what made me look down but I did and there, just inside the doorway I could just make out the microscopic figures that were making all the noise. I squinted to try and get a better view as I leaned forward. What looked like a dark stain on the wooden floorboards was a microscopic army of hundreds of medieval Japanese soldiers, dressed in full armour with swords held high. They marched forward, sounding thousands of times larger than they actually were. An old man who had been hiding in the next room caught a glance of them as he rushed past the doorway. He stepped into the room and, without hesitation stamped his boot onto the miniature soldiers as if they were a pesky insect. He lifted his foot to inspect the damage and as he was trying to wipe away the sticky remnants of the microscopic army the man with the bow tie saw and scowled.
"Oh no. You didn't have to do that. What were they going to do? Stab your big toe? Oh that's horrible and completely unnecessary. I bet you're a spider stamper too."
"But they were ..." the old man tried to think of a convincing excuse, "scary."
"I suppose the big green thing at the window is scary too."
"Well... ah... isn't it?" the old man asked.
"I think you'll find," said the bow tie man as if concluding an important lecture, "that it is just a projection!"
At which point all noise ceased. What was at the window had disappeared. A group of us circled the outside of the building. I found a small metal version of the monster that appeared at the window. It looked like a wind up mechanical toy. It seemed safe enough so I picked it up and brought it back for the others to see. The man with the bow tie continued his lecture:
"Yes, it is a monster. Yes, it is alien. No, it wasn't going to hurt anyone."
"But the noise, and the size of it." I reminded him.
"Just a projection. That is its natural ability, and its defence mechanism."
"And the miniature Japanese soldiers?"
"Well, they aren't Japanese. Something acquired along the way to help protect our little metal monster projector. I don't think they quite got the scale of things. Still, not a reason to squish them into the floorboards." again he scowled at the old man.
"Can I look after it?" A young boy asked pointing at the little mechanical monster. I passed it to him and he ran off as if it was Christmas morning.
I turned back to the bow tie man, "I know who you are," I said pointing, "You're the..."
"Doctor", my daughter had just returned and completed my sentence for me.
"Maddie," he heartily yelled as she ran up and gave him the biggest hug. "And Bella," who hugged him too. They had told me about this Doctor character who they met while visiting some friends in London. He was a friend of Clara and the kids they befriended on our last visit. I never believed the stories they told me but now it all seemed completely possible.
"So girls, like to go for another ride? All of space and time."
He didn't have to ask twice and they ran off.
Leaving me trying to come to terms with the day's events and the fact that I have time travelling daughters.
I Met the Doctor
I was holidaying with my daughters in a strange little sea side town. The whole town was built on the cliffs leading down to the ocean. All the buildings were made of dark brown, almost black wood looking like they were from ancient medievil japan. Every building was inter-connected with wooden stairs and boardwalks so that you could walk all the way from the cliff tops down to the sea. Inside these ancient looking buildings were modern stores - fruit and vegetable markets, clothing boutiques, craft shops. About half way down from the cliff top it all leveled out a little and there were two large buildings on either side of the boardwalk. One was empty due to being renovated to be turned into a new shop. The other was a giant second hand record store. I had never seen so much 12 inch vinyl. I told my daughters to continue shopping - this is where I would be for the rest of the day.
There were rooms leading off other rooms, all filled with trestle tables covered with boxes and boxes of vinyl records. There was even a section of rooms devoted to second hand musical instruments with hundreds of old and quirky electric guitars and amplifiers. This was heaven. I wanted to move in.
After an hour or so of flicking through the records and finding more than a few that I would like to buy the general ambiance was rocked by a loud crash. All the record buyers looked up from the box they were perusing, all with a terrified look of pure horror. Some quickly headed for the front door. Then there was a second loud crash, it sounded like something large and heavy had crashed into the wooden levels below us. Then a further crash and everyone exited the shop and frantically climbed the stairs, all in a panic to get to the top of the cliffs and all yelling indecipherable things about giant monsters. I was alone in the shop. I worried where my daughters were and if they were safe. As I moved to the next room to make my way out I saw one other person, standing there looking puzzled. He was dressed in a tweed coat with a bow tie that he straightened as he thought about the situation.
"I know you," I said, "you're the..."
"I know." he replied before I could finish.
"Everyone's scared out of their brains. What do you think they mean by monster?"
"Well, loud crash, people screaming, Japanese architecture. Haven't you seen a Godzilla movie?" He didn't seem as concerned as I thought he should be.
We both ran out of the second hand record store to see what we could see. Nothing but scared, confused people. More loud crashes... getting closer.
There were rooms leading off other rooms, all filled with trestle tables covered with boxes and boxes of vinyl records. There was even a section of rooms devoted to second hand musical instruments with hundreds of old and quirky electric guitars and amplifiers. This was heaven. I wanted to move in.
After an hour or so of flicking through the records and finding more than a few that I would like to buy the general ambiance was rocked by a loud crash. All the record buyers looked up from the box they were perusing, all with a terrified look of pure horror. Some quickly headed for the front door. Then there was a second loud crash, it sounded like something large and heavy had crashed into the wooden levels below us. Then a further crash and everyone exited the shop and frantically climbed the stairs, all in a panic to get to the top of the cliffs and all yelling indecipherable things about giant monsters. I was alone in the shop. I worried where my daughters were and if they were safe. As I moved to the next room to make my way out I saw one other person, standing there looking puzzled. He was dressed in a tweed coat with a bow tie that he straightened as he thought about the situation.
"I know you," I said, "you're the..."
"I know." he replied before I could finish.
"Everyone's scared out of their brains. What do you think they mean by monster?"
"Well, loud crash, people screaming, Japanese architecture. Haven't you seen a Godzilla movie?" He didn't seem as concerned as I thought he should be.
We both ran out of the second hand record store to see what we could see. Nothing but scared, confused people. More loud crashes... getting closer.
Friday, July 12, 2013
The House
So I live in this house shared with three others. I don't really know why. They are all much younger than me and the place is like a dump. There are so many layers of old carpet and rugs on the floor that I can't tell what the original flooring looked like. The house is quite large with rooms going off in all directions from a central huge living room that morphs into the kitchen up one end. The kitchen is piled high with unwashed plates and bowls. I sometimes
manage to find a reasonably clean mug to make a cup of coffee but every
time I only drink half as I discover something floating in it and have
to tip the rest out in the sink.
The living room has a diverse range of miss matched furniture. Anything that can be sat on is strategically positioned around a central television that is propped up on boxes. There is an old olive green leather lounge, with rips and stains, where the central cushion must be the most comfortable as it is squashed in more than the cushions either side of it. There is an orange, timber framed arm chair straight out of the 1960's. There is a patchwork bean bag, I don't know if it started out as patchwork or has just been mended many times over the years. I usually go for the bean bag. In one corner there is a Lowrie organ, you know the type with the different sound settings and the rhythm accompaniment. I can see I will have to get my sound equipment out so we have something to listen to apart from the TV and the organ.
The other residents of the house come and go with not a lot of interaction. They all seem to be glum or angry or tired. Nathan is a very large young man mountain and is an apprentice electrician who I only seem to see when he is just about to leave for work or is just getting home from work. Either way the routine is the same: he noisily strides into the kitchen, rummages for the cleanest bowl he can find and a spoon, fills the bowl with breakfast cereal and sits at the organ to eat it. When finished he throws the bowl on top of the pile in the kitchen and, if it is morning, leaves for work, if it is evening goes to his bedroom.
Synthia (yes with a "S" and a "Y") is a model who I really only see at various times of the day when she stumbles out of her room and asks what time is it. She will invariably be hiding beneath a bush of unkempt, uncontrollable bad bed hair and about three layers of baggy shirts but will still be looking gorgeous with a beautiful face that says "Yes, I'm a model".
Anthony is the loudest member of the house. He never stops talking. He has an opinion on everything and will loudly explain his opinion even if no one is listening. He can usually be found bounding from his bedroom to the living room to the bathroom and back again expounding his ultra-conservative views on the news, politics, the nation, the world, the neighbours, anything, everything. I usually disagree with everything he says but it takes too much energy to debate him so I will just let him go. He works in advertising or promotions or something and is never seen without a shirt and tie and immaculately styled hair.
Anthony's father Jack often visits and usually ends up arguing with him. He is in his sixties and used to work in the music business back in the seventies and eighties. I get on well with Jack. One time Jack was sitting in the 60's chair waiting to talk to Anthony, I was on the bean bag watching a show on the TV showing old music videos. He made a running commentary about every video that came on: how he worked with them, or hated her, or he drank too much. So much so that I thought that it would be interesting to sit down with him one day and find out everything he knows.
So Nathan has trudged off to work in his work truck, Synthia has bussed into the city to a photo shoot, Jack has taken Anthony to some important meeting with some influential music people he is introducing him to while I sit in front of the TV in the bean bag and think about setting up something to allow us to listen to music in the lounge room. Maybe I will make a cup of coffee - maybe not.
The living room has a diverse range of miss matched furniture. Anything that can be sat on is strategically positioned around a central television that is propped up on boxes. There is an old olive green leather lounge, with rips and stains, where the central cushion must be the most comfortable as it is squashed in more than the cushions either side of it. There is an orange, timber framed arm chair straight out of the 1960's. There is a patchwork bean bag, I don't know if it started out as patchwork or has just been mended many times over the years. I usually go for the bean bag. In one corner there is a Lowrie organ, you know the type with the different sound settings and the rhythm accompaniment. I can see I will have to get my sound equipment out so we have something to listen to apart from the TV and the organ.
The other residents of the house come and go with not a lot of interaction. They all seem to be glum or angry or tired. Nathan is a very large young man mountain and is an apprentice electrician who I only seem to see when he is just about to leave for work or is just getting home from work. Either way the routine is the same: he noisily strides into the kitchen, rummages for the cleanest bowl he can find and a spoon, fills the bowl with breakfast cereal and sits at the organ to eat it. When finished he throws the bowl on top of the pile in the kitchen and, if it is morning, leaves for work, if it is evening goes to his bedroom.
Synthia (yes with a "S" and a "Y") is a model who I really only see at various times of the day when she stumbles out of her room and asks what time is it. She will invariably be hiding beneath a bush of unkempt, uncontrollable bad bed hair and about three layers of baggy shirts but will still be looking gorgeous with a beautiful face that says "Yes, I'm a model".
Anthony is the loudest member of the house. He never stops talking. He has an opinion on everything and will loudly explain his opinion even if no one is listening. He can usually be found bounding from his bedroom to the living room to the bathroom and back again expounding his ultra-conservative views on the news, politics, the nation, the world, the neighbours, anything, everything. I usually disagree with everything he says but it takes too much energy to debate him so I will just let him go. He works in advertising or promotions or something and is never seen without a shirt and tie and immaculately styled hair.
Anthony's father Jack often visits and usually ends up arguing with him. He is in his sixties and used to work in the music business back in the seventies and eighties. I get on well with Jack. One time Jack was sitting in the 60's chair waiting to talk to Anthony, I was on the bean bag watching a show on the TV showing old music videos. He made a running commentary about every video that came on: how he worked with them, or hated her, or he drank too much. So much so that I thought that it would be interesting to sit down with him one day and find out everything he knows.
So Nathan has trudged off to work in his work truck, Synthia has bussed into the city to a photo shoot, Jack has taken Anthony to some important meeting with some influential music people he is introducing him to while I sit in front of the TV in the bean bag and think about setting up something to allow us to listen to music in the lounge room. Maybe I will make a cup of coffee - maybe not.
Friday, June 21, 2013
I Can Fly
So I can fly now.
It first happened last week - I was having lunch at an outdoor cafe and I took too long. I looked at my watch and was late to get back to work. I quickly stood up, a bit too quickly, the chair fell back behind me and, once I was standing, I didn't stop rising. I was gently rising up higher and higher above the cafe, above the street, above the surrounding buildings, above the surrounding 3 story buildings. Way below me one or two of the others at the cafe were looking up at me and pointing.
It was more than a little frightening - to be that high above the ground, unsupported, nothing below me, nothing stopping me from falling. Just this gentle force lifting me. I kept my body dead still, I was too petrified to move even a little, in case I fell but I had to do something to try and stop the continuous upward motion. Leaning forward to look directly below me I started moving in the direction I was leaning. So I leaned in the opposite direction and I started moving that way. I leaned forward again and I moved that way. Which ever way I leaned I moved - I just felt some sort of push in the direction I wanted to move.
So I started doing zigzags in the sky - I could actually control the way I moved and the direction I traveled. In a moment of confidence I stretched my arms forward in a "Superman" pose and flew along through the sky as if I had a red cape flailing out behind me. I flew all around. Up, down, around for hours and hours. Nothing stopped me, nothing slowed me, nothing stopped this sensational feeling of flying unsupported above the city.
As darkness started to fall I thought I should head for home and flew to my street and lowered gently on to my front lawn. But my legs were not exactly ready for the weight after hours hanging in the sky and they collapsed under me as I fell in a heap in front of my house. And there I lay in a crumpled heap but with the biggest smile on my face - I had just been flying.
The next day I arrived at work to try and explain my absence from the afternoon before. There waiting for me was a very official looking group of people. They all had matching dark blue suits and stood upright and to attention. As I approached the only female in the group stepped forward to confront me. She had blonde hair in a tight ponytail, a very serious look on her face but eyes that looked like they just wanted to burst out and have some fun, betraying the official nature of the rest of her look. She took me aside and told me about what has been happening. All over the world the same thing that had happened to me has been happening to many other people. About 1 in every million people had experienced the same sensation of flight and could now fly at will. They wanted to take me and train me to be some sort of special investigator, to help the governments of the world, to find other people like me to make sure no one used their new ability in some sort of evil way.
I couldn't handle it. I ran out the door into the street, jumped and flew into the sky and away from the city.
It first happened last week - I was having lunch at an outdoor cafe and I took too long. I looked at my watch and was late to get back to work. I quickly stood up, a bit too quickly, the chair fell back behind me and, once I was standing, I didn't stop rising. I was gently rising up higher and higher above the cafe, above the street, above the surrounding buildings, above the surrounding 3 story buildings. Way below me one or two of the others at the cafe were looking up at me and pointing.
It was more than a little frightening - to be that high above the ground, unsupported, nothing below me, nothing stopping me from falling. Just this gentle force lifting me. I kept my body dead still, I was too petrified to move even a little, in case I fell but I had to do something to try and stop the continuous upward motion. Leaning forward to look directly below me I started moving in the direction I was leaning. So I leaned in the opposite direction and I started moving that way. I leaned forward again and I moved that way. Which ever way I leaned I moved - I just felt some sort of push in the direction I wanted to move.
So I started doing zigzags in the sky - I could actually control the way I moved and the direction I traveled. In a moment of confidence I stretched my arms forward in a "Superman" pose and flew along through the sky as if I had a red cape flailing out behind me. I flew all around. Up, down, around for hours and hours. Nothing stopped me, nothing slowed me, nothing stopped this sensational feeling of flying unsupported above the city.
As darkness started to fall I thought I should head for home and flew to my street and lowered gently on to my front lawn. But my legs were not exactly ready for the weight after hours hanging in the sky and they collapsed under me as I fell in a heap in front of my house. And there I lay in a crumpled heap but with the biggest smile on my face - I had just been flying.
The next day I arrived at work to try and explain my absence from the afternoon before. There waiting for me was a very official looking group of people. They all had matching dark blue suits and stood upright and to attention. As I approached the only female in the group stepped forward to confront me. She had blonde hair in a tight ponytail, a very serious look on her face but eyes that looked like they just wanted to burst out and have some fun, betraying the official nature of the rest of her look. She took me aside and told me about what has been happening. All over the world the same thing that had happened to me has been happening to many other people. About 1 in every million people had experienced the same sensation of flight and could now fly at will. They wanted to take me and train me to be some sort of special investigator, to help the governments of the world, to find other people like me to make sure no one used their new ability in some sort of evil way.
I couldn't handle it. I ran out the door into the street, jumped and flew into the sky and away from the city.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
The Ladders
Was I in love with her?
Was I in love with her because she was so beautiful?
Was I in love with her because she was so different to anyone else I had ever met?
Was I in love with her because she was so happy to be alive and loved everything, including me?
Was I in love with her because she showed me the ladders?
She was younger than me, she was petite, blonde and beautiful. I had only known her for a day or two. In everything she did she seemed to know just a little more than everyone else, like she had done it all before. We were up in the hills above the city at a look-out, looking out over the city but she wasn't looking at the city. She was scouring the view for something...
"There's one," she yelled and immediately jumped over the fence and down the rather steep hillside. I followed her, trying to keep up and not slip and fall down the slope and end up in a heap way down below. She suddenly stopped and looked straight up.
"I found one," she screamed at me without diverting her gaze from the clouds.
"Just what have you found?" I asked, wondering what could have caused all this excitement like she was five years old on Christmas morning.
"Come here, can you see it? Here!" She was holding the end of a piece of string that she handed to me. The string was hanging vertically, it appeared to stretch all the way up to the clouds.
"No one sees them unless someone points them out to them. Then you see them everywhere."
"But what are they connected to? How high do they go?" I was full of so many questions.
"Pull it down," she said while giving a demonstration of what I should do.
So I started pulling and, as I pulled, the string became rope and when I looked up I could see the rope was pulling some sort of shiny aluminium ladder from the sky. After a while the ladder had reached the ground at our feet and stretched all the way up to the clouds. Each rung was like a large silver inverted "U" shape.
"Well, let's climb." she said as if it was the most obvious course of action.
"But where... how... This can't..." I could not form sentences let alone thoughts. It was all so unreal. It was all so impossible.
She started climbing, not worrying that her short summer dress was not really appropriate for a long ladder climb. So I followed, of course. The unreality, the strange phenomenon, the adventure, the excitement, the girl... I just climbed, not knowing what was to come, but there was no way I wasn't going to find out.
Was I in love with her because she was so beautiful?
Was I in love with her because she was so different to anyone else I had ever met?
Was I in love with her because she was so happy to be alive and loved everything, including me?
Was I in love with her because she showed me the ladders?
She was younger than me, she was petite, blonde and beautiful. I had only known her for a day or two. In everything she did she seemed to know just a little more than everyone else, like she had done it all before. We were up in the hills above the city at a look-out, looking out over the city but she wasn't looking at the city. She was scouring the view for something...
"There's one," she yelled and immediately jumped over the fence and down the rather steep hillside. I followed her, trying to keep up and not slip and fall down the slope and end up in a heap way down below. She suddenly stopped and looked straight up.
"I found one," she screamed at me without diverting her gaze from the clouds.
"Just what have you found?" I asked, wondering what could have caused all this excitement like she was five years old on Christmas morning.
"Come here, can you see it? Here!" She was holding the end of a piece of string that she handed to me. The string was hanging vertically, it appeared to stretch all the way up to the clouds.
"No one sees them unless someone points them out to them. Then you see them everywhere."
"But what are they connected to? How high do they go?" I was full of so many questions.
"Pull it down," she said while giving a demonstration of what I should do.
So I started pulling and, as I pulled, the string became rope and when I looked up I could see the rope was pulling some sort of shiny aluminium ladder from the sky. After a while the ladder had reached the ground at our feet and stretched all the way up to the clouds. Each rung was like a large silver inverted "U" shape.
"Well, let's climb." she said as if it was the most obvious course of action.
"But where... how... This can't..." I could not form sentences let alone thoughts. It was all so unreal. It was all so impossible.
She started climbing, not worrying that her short summer dress was not really appropriate for a long ladder climb. So I followed, of course. The unreality, the strange phenomenon, the adventure, the excitement, the girl... I just climbed, not knowing what was to come, but there was no way I wasn't going to find out.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Edward
Edward sat on the floor of his basement, his mother's basement.
"That's it! No more. No more internet. No more computer. I'm done!"
He had just been informed by another prospective employer that there is no place at their firm for him. He didn't really want to work for them anyway. They had wanted to view his Facebook page. Edward didn't want to work for anyone who thought that they could find anything constructive from a Facebook page anyway - no matter how big, powerful and well financed they may be. Facebook. He didn't even have a Facebook profile, not anymore. He tried it back when it first expanded away from American colleges then quickly gave it up. He wasn't really a social person, what could he possibly gain from a "social network"? It was back then that he decided to work on his own project to perhaps hone his skills for when he did finally gain a position at some forward looking high technology company who would appreciate him for the genius that he was.
"So you're just giving up then?"
It was a faint voice Edward heard, lucky the basement was so quiet otherwise he would have missed it. The voice was coming from a small ear piece connected to some black rimmed glasses laying on the floor near his feet.
"Hey, nerd boy. Can you hear me?" the voice persisted.
"I thought I turned you off." Edward angrily yelled at the glasses.
"You did. Guess what? I can turn myself back on again - work that one out oh Brain of the Century."
"But..." Edward was confused. "You can't turn yourself back on, you aren't a self, you're not..."
"Just put the glasses back on."
Edward picked up the glasses and put them on as instructed and there standing in front of him as he sat in his mother's basement was Natalie Portman, about to lecture him on what he should or shouldn't do next.
You see Natalie Portman was Edward's greatest achievement. Of course it wasn't the real Hollywood actress but a masterful amalgamation of photos, videos and audio recordings plus various computer generated effects projected onto the glasses so that it looked and sounded like the real Natalie Portman was there with him. She was controlled by a sophisticated program that Edward had modified in a cell phone that allowed her to take in information via a small camera and microphone in the glasses linked by bluetooth as well as connect to the internet to literally learn and grow in knowledge. So when Edward wore the glasses it was like he had a real life friend to interact with, once he got used to her constantly changing because of all the different pictures that were used in her construction. But one who had learned how to turn herself back on after he had turned her off - this scared him a little but also gave him a twinge of pride at what she had achieved. He suddenly had visions of her turning into some sort of self aware "Terminator" and taking over the world.
"You learned to turn yourself back on?" he puzzled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to turn into some sort of self aware Terminator and take over the world. I'm just a projection on the glasses" she replied rather condescendingly.
"You know what we should do?"
"No, Natalie, what should we do?"
"Let's go out... outside... just to walk around."
"Yes, sure, I see," Edward was now using his favorite sarcastic tone, "the artificial intelligence wants to go out into the real world. I really should have created you using Pamela Anderson like I first intended. Then there would be absolutely no chance of me taking you seriously at all."
"Oh, come on. Let's go. It will be just like you have a real girlfriend. And that is the real reason you made me."
"No," Edward insisted, "I made you as a challenge - to push the boundaries of technology. To show what I am capable of."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that nerd boy. Now let's go."
So they leave the house and walk down Edward's street, a small suburban street, and make their way to the nearby shopping mall. Saying "they" is a little misleading as it is just Edward by himself but wearing the glasses with Natalie's controller in his shirt pocket. He was also wearing the biggest smile ever seen on his normally glum face because, from his perspective, he is walking, skipping, playing, laughing, joking and having the best time of his life with his best friend and soul mate who just happened to be, in his eyes, one of the most beautiful women in the universe.
They walked through the shopping mall with Natalie pointing to and making vicious comments about the ordinary people they passed and what they were wearing or how they looked at themselves reflected in the shop windows, or what they had bought. Natalie really was quite clever and scathing in her critique of the mall's characters. Edward just smiled and agreed with everything she said. They passed a menswear store and she advised Edward on what clothes he should buy to make himself look more sophisticated and fashionable. They looked in the window of a pet store and she picked out a cute puppy for him to consider taking home. With all this Edward was realising that she was perfect, he was falling in love with her. He loved everything she did, everything she said. He was so glad he had created her, he didn't need any real friends - he had Natalie. They were so happy together they were skipping through the mall.
Edward saw a place that sells ice cream cones and went and bought two. Choc coated soft serve ice cream in a cone, his and Natalie's favourite. He held them, one in each hand, bit the top off one so the ice cream came through the chocolate. He handed the other to Natalie. It fell to the floor. Edward stopped. In the moment of clarity he slumped to the floor, dropped the other ice cream and started to cry. The waves of intense sorrow overpowered him and he fell into a sobbing heap next to the mess of ice cream. People started to gather around him to try to help him but he was inconsolable. After a while his mother found him and rushed up to him saying "Not again" as she hugged him to try and stop him crying.
"Natalie," he yelled as if trying to find someone.
"Who?" asked his mother.
"Natalie", he yelled as he saw his glasses lying in the pile of spilled ice cream. He tried to pick them up but his mother stopped him, "Don't worry about them, they're just toy glasses, I'll get you another pair. Let's go back home."
And with that she helped him up and lead him through the people that had gathered around them, and out of the mall and back home.
"That's it! No more. No more internet. No more computer. I'm done!"
He had just been informed by another prospective employer that there is no place at their firm for him. He didn't really want to work for them anyway. They had wanted to view his Facebook page. Edward didn't want to work for anyone who thought that they could find anything constructive from a Facebook page anyway - no matter how big, powerful and well financed they may be. Facebook. He didn't even have a Facebook profile, not anymore. He tried it back when it first expanded away from American colleges then quickly gave it up. He wasn't really a social person, what could he possibly gain from a "social network"? It was back then that he decided to work on his own project to perhaps hone his skills for when he did finally gain a position at some forward looking high technology company who would appreciate him for the genius that he was.
"So you're just giving up then?"
It was a faint voice Edward heard, lucky the basement was so quiet otherwise he would have missed it. The voice was coming from a small ear piece connected to some black rimmed glasses laying on the floor near his feet.
"Hey, nerd boy. Can you hear me?" the voice persisted.
"I thought I turned you off." Edward angrily yelled at the glasses.
"You did. Guess what? I can turn myself back on again - work that one out oh Brain of the Century."
"But..." Edward was confused. "You can't turn yourself back on, you aren't a self, you're not..."
"Just put the glasses back on."
Edward picked up the glasses and put them on as instructed and there standing in front of him as he sat in his mother's basement was Natalie Portman, about to lecture him on what he should or shouldn't do next.
You see Natalie Portman was Edward's greatest achievement. Of course it wasn't the real Hollywood actress but a masterful amalgamation of photos, videos and audio recordings plus various computer generated effects projected onto the glasses so that it looked and sounded like the real Natalie Portman was there with him. She was controlled by a sophisticated program that Edward had modified in a cell phone that allowed her to take in information via a small camera and microphone in the glasses linked by bluetooth as well as connect to the internet to literally learn and grow in knowledge. So when Edward wore the glasses it was like he had a real life friend to interact with, once he got used to her constantly changing because of all the different pictures that were used in her construction. But one who had learned how to turn herself back on after he had turned her off - this scared him a little but also gave him a twinge of pride at what she had achieved. He suddenly had visions of her turning into some sort of self aware "Terminator" and taking over the world.
"You learned to turn yourself back on?" he puzzled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to turn into some sort of self aware Terminator and take over the world. I'm just a projection on the glasses" she replied rather condescendingly.
"You know what we should do?"
"No, Natalie, what should we do?"
"Let's go out... outside... just to walk around."
"Yes, sure, I see," Edward was now using his favorite sarcastic tone, "the artificial intelligence wants to go out into the real world. I really should have created you using Pamela Anderson like I first intended. Then there would be absolutely no chance of me taking you seriously at all."
"Oh, come on. Let's go. It will be just like you have a real girlfriend. And that is the real reason you made me."
"No," Edward insisted, "I made you as a challenge - to push the boundaries of technology. To show what I am capable of."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that nerd boy. Now let's go."
So they leave the house and walk down Edward's street, a small suburban street, and make their way to the nearby shopping mall. Saying "they" is a little misleading as it is just Edward by himself but wearing the glasses with Natalie's controller in his shirt pocket. He was also wearing the biggest smile ever seen on his normally glum face because, from his perspective, he is walking, skipping, playing, laughing, joking and having the best time of his life with his best friend and soul mate who just happened to be, in his eyes, one of the most beautiful women in the universe.
They walked through the shopping mall with Natalie pointing to and making vicious comments about the ordinary people they passed and what they were wearing or how they looked at themselves reflected in the shop windows, or what they had bought. Natalie really was quite clever and scathing in her critique of the mall's characters. Edward just smiled and agreed with everything she said. They passed a menswear store and she advised Edward on what clothes he should buy to make himself look more sophisticated and fashionable. They looked in the window of a pet store and she picked out a cute puppy for him to consider taking home. With all this Edward was realising that she was perfect, he was falling in love with her. He loved everything she did, everything she said. He was so glad he had created her, he didn't need any real friends - he had Natalie. They were so happy together they were skipping through the mall.
Edward saw a place that sells ice cream cones and went and bought two. Choc coated soft serve ice cream in a cone, his and Natalie's favourite. He held them, one in each hand, bit the top off one so the ice cream came through the chocolate. He handed the other to Natalie. It fell to the floor. Edward stopped. In the moment of clarity he slumped to the floor, dropped the other ice cream and started to cry. The waves of intense sorrow overpowered him and he fell into a sobbing heap next to the mess of ice cream. People started to gather around him to try to help him but he was inconsolable. After a while his mother found him and rushed up to him saying "Not again" as she hugged him to try and stop him crying.
"Natalie," he yelled as if trying to find someone.
"Who?" asked his mother.
"Natalie", he yelled as he saw his glasses lying in the pile of spilled ice cream. He tried to pick them up but his mother stopped him, "Don't worry about them, they're just toy glasses, I'll get you another pair. Let's go back home."
And with that she helped him up and lead him through the people that had gathered around them, and out of the mall and back home.
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