Читать книгу Short Stories and Nonsense - W.R. Lacy - Страница 9

To the Moon and Back

When I was younger and had more energy, I could go all night or all day long at whatever I was doing. As I have gotten older, everything has slowed down. So before I got too old to enjoy myself, I decided I would take a road trip. I started on my trip, and I was really looking forward to it. I had always dreamed of going to the wild, wild west. I started out with a packed car and an excited little dog. I was thrilled that this trip was finally going to happen. Everything started out at a good clip. Things seemed to fall into place. So far, I was having a great trip. The scenery was beautiful! The weather was beautiful, and everything was going according to plan.

I planned to just take my time and stop whenever I wanted and to look at everything I wanted to look at. I stopped at a roadside park for a break and a snack. I was walking my little dog and enjoying the cool breeze and the gorgeous mountains when suddenly Tink started barking and pulling at her leash. I figured she saw a squirrel or a rabbit. I looked around, and at first, I didn’t see anything. Suddenly, a flash of bright green light burst in front of my face! I was blinded for a few seconds. When my vision returned, nothing seemed the same. I didn’t recognize anything. My car was gone, and none of the buildings or other cars were there. The road was now a narrow trail. Thank goodness, Tink was still with me, but she was scared to death! I picked her up because she was shaking to beat the band.

Since nothing looked the same, I decided to take a walk down the trail and see what I could see.

I walked for some time, and the terrain stayed the same. Soon, I came to a large clearing. In the middle of this clearing was an old-fashioned log cabin. There was smoke coming out of the chimney even though it was ninety degrees outside. There was no one around. Some chickens were pecking and scratching in the yard, but other than that, nothing stirred. I walked a little further into the clearing, thinking maybe someone was in the cabin. I yelled, as was the custom, but got no answer. Tink had not tried to get out of my arms, and as I started to put her down, she got clingy. So I continued to hold her. We walked around the house, but apparently, no one was home. A well sat in the middle of the yard, and as it was a hot day, I decided to get a drink. I put the bucket down into the well and pulled up a half bucket. A dipper hung by the well, and I used it to get a drink. The water was cold and sweet. Perfect! I gave Tink a drink from my hand, and she lapped it up. Apparently she liked it also.

We started to go up on the porch and sit in the shade until someone came home and we could find out where we were. Just as we started up the step, a loud clanging came from inside the house. It sounded like an alarm clock in a bucket. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I was surprised when a giant of a man came to the door. Long black hair and a beard were part of his attire. He looked at me and acted as if I weren’t even there! He walked up to the bench, took a dipperful of water, and drank deeply. As he finished with his water, he turned to me. He looked me up and down as if he had never seen a woman before. He never said a word. He snapped his fingers, and before him, a table appeared. It was loaded with all kinds of food, main courses, and desserts. It smelled heavenly too! He motioned me to sit down, and a dinner chair appeared. I sat down and was suddenly ravished! He handed me a plate and proceeded to pass all the food to me. I took what I liked, but some of the food I didn’t recognize. Still, he didn’t speak. I waited for him sit down, but he just motioned me to eat. By that time, I was ready! He motioned me to put Tink down, but she would have no part of it. She growled at him, but he appeared not to notice.

I held her and ate until I could hold no more. It was probably the best meal I have ever had. When I could hold no more, he looked at me and raised his bushy eyebrows. I nodded, and he snapped his finger. All the food disappeared! I sat with my mouth open. Still he had said nothing to me. I started the conversation with, “Where is this place?”

At last, he spoke, “This is on the far side of the moon.”

I laughed out loud. I had never heard of anything so preposterous.

His expression never changed. “Why do you laugh?” he said.

“I have never heard of such,” I replied.

“Well,” he said, “this is so.”

I told him what had happened to me and wondered how I got where I was. He chuckled and stated that this sometimes happens. “A stranger will be picked out to discover our secret.”

“What secret?” I asked.

“You will find out soon enough,” he replied.

Now I was really interested! Just what was supposed to happen?

He looked at Tink and said, “Do you love your dog?”

“Very much,” I replied.

“Well,” he answered, “she might be changed.”

“I don’t want that! She is the only stable thing in my life, and I don’t, I won’t allow her to be hurt in any way, form, or fashion!”

“So be it,” he replied.

“Now what happens?” I asked.

“You probably won’t be aware of anything actually happening, but some things will be slightly different.”

I think I could handle that, I thought.

I think you can, I heard from a voice in my head. So far, so good! No horns growing out of my head, or links.

We didn’t talk anymore but just sat on the porch enjoying the day. As the sun slowly began to sink into the horizon, I wondered where we were going to sleep.

The man cleared his throat and said, “You will sleep in the cabin tonight. You and your dog will be safe here. Nothing will happen to you.” It seemed as if he were reading my mind. He got up and left without another word.

The night was getting cooler, so we decided to go inside the cabin. Finally, Tink would get down. She had a heyday smelling every comer of the cabin. The inside of the cabin was not what I was expecting, much larger than it looked from the outside. The floor was covered with thick, soft carpet.

Beautiful drapes hung from the windows. And the bed, the bed was so large it took up most of the room. Heavenly days, what a bed! The covers were plush and thick. Everything was arranged in an orderly manner. There was a bathroom that did not seem to be there from the outside of the cabin. I carefully opened the door. To my surprise, a large tub was filled to the brim with warm, inviting water! There were even bubbles! I couldn’t resist. Slowly, I undressed and stepped into the warm water. Heavenly, I could have stayed there all night, but Tink let her needs be noted. Slowly, I got out of the tub, and there was a large, warm, fluffy towel. I dried off, and by that time, bed clothes were ready for me to step into. I dressed and went outside with Tink. After she was finished, we came back into the cabin and went to bed.

As I lay there, I thought about what had happened to me on this day. Unbelievable! I drifted off to sleep and had the wildest dreams ever. I dreamed that I was back where I had been. It seemed so simple. I was in the car driving down the highway, happy as a lark. I wondered where I would be when I woke up. After an extremely good night sleep, I awoke to the sun shining through the window. Tink was ready to go outside. I slipped into clean clothes that were not there last night. They were a perfect fit. We went outside, and Tink was ready to be put down. She smelled and ran all over the place. She felt comfortable here, and so did I. When she came back, ready for her breakfast, it was already in a bowl on the floor, and she went right at it. It must have been her regular food because she did not smell or refuse it. We walked outside, and a table was set with every breakfast food available, but first, coffee. Even the creamer I liked was there. No one else was about, so I helped myself. The food was delicious! I could really get used to this. When I finished eating, the table and chair disappeared.

Nice. No dishes to wash.

We wandered around the cabin and found another trail that looked nice. Tink seemed to like it but stayed close. As we walked, things started changing. At first, just minor things, but the further we walked, the changes were more noticeable. The trees seemed to change color, not green, more blue. The grass was also changing to red. When I glanced up at the sun, there were two suns! Surprise!

Surprise! I glanced down at Tink, and she was still sniffing and walking around. She didn’t seem scared or anything, just very comfortable. The further we walked, the more changes we noticed. Now the sunlight seemed to be more purple and the terrain had slowly been changing, more rugged, rough mountains. We came to a pool, and the water was bright orange. Tink went to smell but did not drink. I felt we should turn around, but when I started to leave, the trail was gone! Again, nothing seemed the same; maybe we were beginning to get the secret of this place.

Suddenly, a small childlike creature appeared! It came up to us and looked us over. “Human person and creature,” she said.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Come with me,” it said. We followed her down a path I did not see earlier. This time when we came to a clearing, there was a dilapidated building; it looked like it belonged in a ghost town.

“Follow,” the creature said, so we did. Inside the building, it was dark, damp, and cold.

Tink stopped and looked up at me. I reached down and picked her up. She looked at me and whispered, “I’m scared.” I almost fainted! I thought I misheard her, but no. She said, “Let’s go home. I don’t like it here. It is not like the other place.”

I said, “Okay, we will in a little while.”

The childlike creature stopped and looked at Tink. “You want to go home? What if this was your home?”

“I don’t like it here,” replied Tink.

“Well, you don’t have to worry, because you will be going home soon.”

We proceeded further into the house, down a long hall. Soon we came to a large hall with lots of other people and machines in it. The creature spoke some foreign language, and the others came toward us. Tink started barking. “Be quiet!” I said.

“They are going to hurt us,” she said.

Surely not. But they did seem to have harm on their minds. “Do not be afraid” said the child. “We do not intend to harm you.”

Apparently, Tink did not feel that was the plan. She continued barking and growling. I was trying to get her to be quiet. “No,” she shouted.

The child creature raised her hand. Immediately, Tink quieted down. Not harmed. I asked if she was okay. “Yes,” she answered. The child motioned us to come forward. The big man was sitting on a big chair. He raised his hand, and everyone stopped what they were doing. I was surprised to see him. He smiled and motioned me forward. Tink quit barking and settled down. “I told you, some of your people are selected to learn our secret, and you are the one. Can you guess what it is?”

“Well,” I started, “everything is certainly different here. The colors are beautiful. Everyone that we have met has been very nice, and we have been treated very well. I guess your secret has something to do with that, perhaps?”

“You are right,” he replied, “but that is not all. We have taken humanoid features so as not to scare you. If we appeared in our normal state, you would die from fright! As you may have noticed, your animal is able to speak. This is a delight for you humans. I understand you have always wished this.”

“Yes,” I answered, “I was shocked at first, but now I find it delightful. Now I will have someone else besides me to talk to.”

He chuckled, but this time, it sounded different than the first time he did it. “The biggest part of our secret,” he stated, “is that we walk among you and have for many years. You don’t recognize us as anyone other than another human. We haven’t tried to change anything about you or your habits. Some of them are very pleasurable. We have never intermarried with your kind. We only observe. When your people landed on our planet, the moon, we didn’t want them to see the best features our planet has. So we made it impossible for them to come to the dark side. We haven’t been able to show you the better parts of our planet because you could not believe it. We have only shown you a small part of our planet. Some of the things, we probably take for granted. We will return you to your planet shortly. First, we would like for you to understand how we live. We do not eat food as your people do. We do not need to drink water.”

Wow, I thought. “That was a big drink you took at the other cabin.” He smiled.

“We do not have pets. Although, I wouldn’t mind having a Tink. We don’t need clothing. Our skin protects us. If we need something, we just think of it, and it happens. We thought if we lived among you, we might be able to teach you how to do these things so your lives would be better. But alas, you were not able to comprehend any of our thoughts. So we have moved to the other planets and have had some success. Still, occasionally, we try, as we did with you. Your animals are much better than your people are at thinking things through. That’s why your little dog can talk. We will return you to the present, and you will not remember any of this ever happened. However, your little creature will continue to talk, as you seem to enjoy it.”

I was so shocked. I couldn’t speak, but Tink did. “Come on, let’s go!” she said.

The next thing I remember was standing on the trail at the roadside park where I had stopped for lunch. I shook my head to clear it. I was still holding Tink in my arms. She was wiggling. “Please put me down,” she said. I still couldn’t believe she talked to me. It took me a while to reconstruct where I had been or thought I had been. Could it be real or just a weird dream? But still, Tink was talking, or was this just a figment of my imagination. I guess I’ll never know. The alien said I wouldn’t remember any of what I had been through, but some small bits and pieces of it came back to me. I tried to put it out of my mind. I turned and headed back to where the car was parked. Tink was walking beside me. I looked down at her, and she looked up at me and said, “Where are we going now?”

Since then, we have had lots of interesting conversations, not all of them about dogs. She seems to remember most of what happened to us and doesn’t mind filling in the details. We don’t often talk about what happened, but we do talk about everything else. She doesn’t speak when other people are around. This is just our secret from the dark side of the moon.