Author: Alexander Fawn

She had forgotten how comfortable these single decker buses were.

Twenty minutes and she’d be at the airport. He can have the car. Her suitcase is all she needs. It took time to arrange things. Looking back, her three-month plan had gone well, despite it being made difficult by doing it all in secrecy. She thinks about his reaction when it dawns on him. He’ll be angry; very angry. There again, it was his anger that brought her to this. He always said he was sorry afterwards. There was no sorrow on her part, only joy. Joy in the thought that he, and in fact no one at this point, knew where she was or where she was going. Her research into the continent, country and town that would suit her best had been the subject of many pleasurable hours surfing the internet.

The site she found that had given lots of really helpful tips on the subject of how a person could quietly disappear was an absolute godsend. This, together with the fact that he spent most of his evenings with his mates in the pub, made her organising things that much easier.

She took the tickets out again, just to look at them. In half a day she’d be a whole world away. Then she’d be on another bus. She’d be sitting, just like this, on another bus, heading to a town that she had chosen. A new place. A new life. She had no regrets, despite leaving one precious thing behind.

In all of it, she only has one concern.

She only hopes that he remembers to feed the cat.

Leaving the office that evening, he had stopped for a drink with others from the office.

Arriving late at the station, he’d missed the 7:40. He felt he would miss his connecting train if he caught the 8:15. He checked the time, then walked over to one of the new booths that had been appearing on railway platforms around the country. The Quick Trip Corporation had apparently been given a contract to provide their ‘one person – one time’ booths for quick time hops between stations. They weren’t cheap, but there was no doubt that they’d have to be a good thing when you really had to cut corners, timewise. They hadn’t been operating long and he’d not heard any feedback about them. He stood, thinking about it. He supposed he could afford it, just the once. It would be nice to get home that little bit earlier.

He stepped into the booth and read the large sign that said: ‘Welcome to Quick Trip, we hope you enjoy your travel experience.’ Then he read the instructions. Most of it was pretty straightforward. There was a list of all the local stations; you just pressed the red button next to your destination and paid the fee that appears on the screen. Underneath, there was a notice that said it was advisable to place your feet on the two marked outlines on the floor and to hold onto the booth’s two handles that were fixed to the walls. It stated that transportation would commence when the large green button was pressed.

Beneath this was another notice that listed the four known possible side effects. It read: A mild headache, a tingling sensation in the limbs, diarrhoea and blindness.

He stepped out of the booth.

He’d catch the 8:15.

As he entered the room with his cup of coffee he heard a whisper.

Not wishing to be rushed, he settled himself into his armchair and took a few sips before answering. He knew his companion was fond of complaining about things generally and wanted a few moments of relaxation before hearing him wine about something. He looked across at him.

“You said something?”

“I did.”

“A complaint, no doubt.”

“Well, yes, I suppose it is.”

“Go on. I’m listening.”

“It’s about the room, I guess.”

“The room? What about it?”

“It needs, I don’t know, sprucing up a bit. Don’t you think?”

He looked around before answering. “What sort of sprucing up? It looks fine to me.”

“The walls are what strikes me as being really drab. Don’t you think a few things hung on them would at least give the place more character?”

He eyed the room again and stood up. “What, pictures, you mean?

“Well, yes, absolutely anything, I guess.”

He moved across to where his housemate sat and tried to read his expression. Was he having him on, he thought?

At this point, he gradually realised he was staring into the tank with his nose pressed against the glass.

In a creepy moment he became aware of the fact that he was talking to his lizard!

Life had not been good to him of late.

He stood holding the sledge hammer. He felt the weight of it. It felt good. He let out a long sigh before swinging it. He couldn’t believe how bad things had turned out. So many things had gone wrong that he’d lost count. It was his job, his marriage, the bank, the neighbours, his car… it just went on and on. He was on his own now, so despite everything, he’d do a bit of home improvement before the bank took the house away from him. He’d always had it in mind to put a connecting door between the two bedrooms. Well, now was the right time to do it. Knocking a big hole in a wall was going to be a form of therapy for him. He was in the right mood for smashing something to bits.

He stepped back and took a mighty swing. The impact and the tremor up his arms felt good. He’d gone right through the plaster and knocked a brick clean out. He moved forward and peered through. All he could see was darkness. It didn’t make any sense. It was a single brick wall; an internal. He dropped the hammer and went out into the hall. He stood looking at the two bedroom doors before entering the second bedroom. He went in and checked the wall. Nothing! Not a mark on it. He ran his hand over the spot where there should be a hole. There was not even a crack. It was smooth and flat.

He went back into the other room. The hole was still there. After gaping at it in amazement for a while he picked the tool up and gave the wall three mighty whacks. Four more bricks were gone, but he didn’t hear any of them fall.

Back in the room next door, he stood in a daze looking at the untouched surface. Slowly he returned to the hole and peered in. All he could see was blackness. He put his arm through and waved it about. Nothing. Finally, he stuck his head in. He did his best to focus on what he was looking at. Slowly, he saw that he was taking in vast distances… and there was a great swirling pattern of stars.

He sat on the floor for a while, with his back to the wall.

He decided he’d sleep on it.

The next day he went back into the room with sand, cement, plaster and paint. He set to work with renewed purpose.

He had enough going on in his life without having to explain to the rest of humankind that he’d discovered an interdimensional portal into another universe… it was just too much for him!

Everything was in order.

The day had finally arrived. This would see the years of preparation come to fruition. His parents felt the excitement building. How much did he know? How much could he know? He must have heard the whispers; comments inadvertently made in his presence. This year, his thirteenth, had him asking about the strange hieroglyphic on the calendar. He had only been told that it was a very special day, a day that they would celebrate. He too was excited, but disappointed when told that none of his friends were invited.

All was in place for the great celebration. The room had been prepared, the sleeping draft made ready and the members of the sect were all on standby. The supreme offering to their deity was at hand…

He was a taker, there was no doubt about that.

Every chance he got, he would take. At school, he took other pupil’s lunches, their answers from exam papers and stuff from school bags. In shops he took sweets, and later, CDs and cell phones. He took any money that happened to be lying about; piggy banks, purses, and later, banks. He took the hearts of women and broke them. He hot-wired cars and took them. He took anything of value from people’s homes in the dead of night.

Finally, after setting off a house alarm, he took off at speed when he heard police sirens. He took a corner too fast. He was not wearing a seat-belt; he hadn’t taken a moment the think about it. In the frozen moment before hitting the truck and being propelled through the windscreen, there came a gentle tap on his window.

The bony jaws of the hooded figure said, “I’m here to take…”

She has spent so much time trying to understand the world around her.

Now she is in this strange place where she is left alone with her thoughts most of the time. There are a lot of them. They have told her she’s in a safe place now. They all wear white in this place. The man who comes to talk to her is very nice. She is learning that she can trust him. She listens to his words and his ideas. Nearly all of his ideas are about her. She’s been told she’s making progress. She likes it when they talk about the weather. She likes talking about the weather because it is a safe thing and it is always there. She listens carefully so that what he says makes sense. She finds it very hard, but she is trying. She wants to understand. Sometimes they show her pictures, but she prefers talking. The man who visits her has a nice voice. She likes listening to him. When she is alone, she gets confused by so many different emotions.

She wants to understand herself… she is trying.

The family were all huddled up watching the television in the evening.

It had been a miserable day with rain coming down for most of it. It was nice for all of them to settle down in the warmth of the lounge room for a while. Mum, dad and the two boys were waiting for their favourite fortnightly big game show. There was a sadness about the occasion because the boys’ uncle, only recently deceased, had been an absolute whiz at it. He always came up with the right answers. They all missed him, particularly the oldest boy. They had been especially close. The boy was reflecting on the fact that when he was alive he never missed an episode. It was just a few minutes before the start of the show when the doorbell rang. They weren’t expecting visitors.

The oldest son said, “I’ll get it,” and got up. He went to the front door and opened it. A strange, hardly human figure, dressed in a filthy smock and spattered with mud, stood swaying slightly. The boy gaped at the figure in a state of shock and confusion. Finally, he said, “Uncle?”

The thing worked its jaw a little before it managed to croak, “No. I’m a friend of his, from the same cemetery. He sends his apologies. He couldn’t make it. He’s feeling rather poorly tonight.” Then, with what might have been a smile the creature turned and walked back out into the night.

After a minute or so, the boy, still in a daze, returned to the lounge.

As he entered, his mother said, “Who was that, dear?”

In the back garden he witnesses the miracle of the moon’s presence.

He absorbs the power that it radiates. He imagines he is naked; imagines that he can feel the moon rays entering his pores, through his skin, throughout his body, filling him with the ancient energy she had been endowing folk with throughout countless millennia. He stands perfectly still and with upturned head whispers his thanks to she who rules the night sky. By doing this he declares his love for her as so many others have. His arms raise slowly in an act of worship and submission. He is filled with wonder.

A sharp voice pierces the lunar silence. “Have you put the bins out?”

Sometimes, reality sucks.

She finally decided to tell him.

They had been childhood friends for such a long time. They did so many things together. They shared secrets, lots of them, things they would never tell others. The truth of it was that she had one that she had never told him about. She had no idea how he would take it. She had never taken the plunge on the grounds that it could end their very special relationship. To admit that she had kept the truth from him for so long wouldn’t be easy. On the other hand it would be a defining moment; a test to establish just how good their friendship really was.

It was a warm summer evening when she climbed over the fence. It was late. She saw his bedroom night-light was giving off a soft glow.

She threw pebbles up at his bedroom window. This was a thing she had never done before. There again, what she was about to tell him was very special. He heard the sound and looked out. In a few short minutes he climbed out of bed and joined her on the back lawn.

“I have something to tell you,” she started.

“Wow! It’s late.”

“I know, but it’s important that I tell you.”

“OK”.

She took a deep breath. “I’m not real.”

He laughed… of course, he just didn’t believe her.