Author: Alexander Fawn

He got on the bus snapping the band on his wrist.

He’d read this article on the web about people, like him, who suffered from having a bad memory. It had been quite successful so far, especially for things around the house or in the warehouse where he worked. This one would be a major test. In this case it was there to remind him to call in at the newsagents when he got off the bus. Snapping it from time to time helped to keep the thing in his mind. So far, so good. As he got off the bus he headed straight across the road to the shop. He was feeling rather pleased with himself until he was walking between the aisles, wondering what he was doing there. It was the newsagents, wasn’t it? He was sure it was, but what did he want from here? He couldn’t imagine. He snapped the band a couple of times, hoping it would jog his memory. It didn’t help.

He felt foolish when the guy behind the counter called out, asking if he could help. He lied, telling him he’d forgotten his shopping list and hurried out. On the five minute walk to his house he continually snapped the band and asked himself what he needed from the shop. Again, it didn’t help. When he got home he went around from room to room, hoping something would jog his mind. He was becoming so frustrated that he was snapping the band harder and harder, until finally, it broke. His first thought was to throw it in the bin and forget the idea entirely. After all, it hadn’t worked! Then he had second thoughts; he should persevere. It had worked on smaller things. He’d keep a band on until it came back to him. He would sleep with it on if he had to. He went to the drawer to get another one.

That’s when he remembered.

He approached the room with trepidation.

He knew that the man working here would have made the most of his time, without people seeing what he was doing. He was a strange one; that was for sure. He wasn’t happy when the boss took him on. He opened the door. He stood for a moment just inside the doorway, reluctant to turn the light on. He flipped the switch. Bodies and parts of bodies were scattered around the room!

He knew it. This new guy was so untidy. He’d probably been in here looking for something. He didn’t tidy up after himself, obviously.

He let out a long sigh. He could be sure of one thing.

The new window display of manikins wasn’t going to be easy.

If he’d known, he would have hired somebody else as Payroll Clerk.

In the end he had to let him go. He felt really bad about it. But, he should have questioned it when, on only the second day of his employment, he passed him three times in the corridor, during the day, each time being greeted with a “Good morning.” He was an exceptionally nice guy, got on with the rest of the staff, always polite. Such a pity about his narcolepsy. So many things were being repeated. Administration activities being performed twice. Then there was the week that he dozed off and when he woke up he paid everybody again.

Sleeping on the job was bad enough, but asking the employees for the money back was embarrassing to say the least.

The call that the student received was from his elderly uncle, a man he hardly knew.

He knew that he was extremely old, that he had been a university professor for most of his life, that he had lived like a hermit for a number of years after retirement and that he was now terminally ill. The call was made from the old man’s hospital sickbed, asking him to come as soon as possible.

No sooner had he arrived, after a nod and a brief handshake, the dying man came straight to the point.

“They tell me I have days, but it could be hours. That is why my summons was urgent. I have never been too fond of pleasantries, today, even more so. I know that you are about to gain your degree in medicine. Of course, I knew your father. We were quite close at one time. The fact is, you are not my only living relative. For reasons of my own you are my free choice, in the matter of what I have to say. When my will is read you’ll find that you are the sole beneficiary of my estate, such that it is.”

He wheezed and squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again before going on.

“A modest sum of money, the house, of course, and some small investments. There will be no mention of what you take away from here today.” He smiled. “I ask you to be patient. What I am about to tell you, as well as I am able, is a brief summary of my many years of research.”

He took a sip of water. “Yes. I need to tell you about my research, the fantastic nature of which will soon become apparent.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “As far as anyone knows it all started back in 1753 in a shop in London, owned by an apothecary. Nobody knows his name. It’s all lost in time now. This man of medicine had a friend who was a sailor, and returning from a voyage, he brought back several, small jellyfish in a jar. These came from Mediterranean waters; as a result of the ship taking in water to fill the ballast tanks. Anyway, what he brought with him was the legend that these little sea creatures lived forever!”

At this point he shook his head and grinned. “What we now know, of course, hundreds of years later is that these tiny creatures, were in fact Turritopsis dohrnii; tiny sea creatures that are often referred to as the immortal jellyfish. These amazing life forms manage to turn back the clock by reverting to an earlier stage of their otherwise quite natural life cycle. You could think of it along the lines of a butterfly nearing the end of its life, then changing back to a caterpillar, repeatedly, as I’ve said, forever!”

The old man seemed to wince with pain for a moment or two before going on. “The apothecary quite naturally began to experiment with what he’d been given. It seems that he was able to extract something from these jellyfish that allowed him to produce a potion. From reports at the time, it became apparent that after some twenty years the man’s physical appearance had not changed. At this point he left the city and took up residence in a small village in the country.”

He wriggled in his bed for a while, making himself more comfortable, before continuing.

“My extensive research has allowed me to follow this man, from country to country, around the world, over a great many years. All of this lengthy research shows me that today we have an immortal, living among us!” His eyes watered. “The truth is, I believe that my old age has made me weak both physically and mentally, and for this reason I have not acted on my findings.”

He reached for a paper tissue and dried his cheeks. He said, “All of this research… my papers, maps, recordings, and so on, are to be found in a large, steel trunk in the basement of my house. The clasp is secured by a robust padlock, the six digital combination of this is written on a piece of paper that I give to you now.”

He took a small slip of folded paper from under his pillow. He handed it to his visitor, saying, “My research has now become my legacy to you.”

With that, he leant across and pressed a button. He slowly laid back and closed his eyes. He began to breathe heavily as he drifted off to sleep.

A nurse appeared. She told him that visiting hours were over…

He was looking forward to checking his emails when he got home.

As soon as he got in he went straight to his laptop and opened it. He was impressed with the fast response. He had logged into the dating agency a few days ago and provided his personal details together with his preferences. He was happy to read that five of the women who had seen his agency posting where happy to arrange a date. To maintain confidentiality, the woman there referred to them as Two, Six, Eleven, Twelve, and Fifteen.

Nominating a particular bar in town, along with the preferred weekday dates and times he had listed, she arranged the meetings for the following week. On Monday the 8^th, he would meet Six at 09:00pm, on the 9^th, Twelve at 7:30pm, on the 10^th, Two at 8:00pm, on the 11^th, Fifteen at 08:30pm, and on the 12^th, Eleven at 8:00pm. He confirmed the dates with the agency, then, considering the complexity of it, and to avoid any possible embarrassment, he decided to sit and carefully draw up a calendar. After checking it over several times, he relaxed, feeling that everything would work out just fine.

However, on the Saturday before, he received an urgent email from the agency explaining that the times had to be adjusted. He was asked to swap Fifteen at 08:30pm with Six at 09:00pm, and would he mind if Two made it 8:30 and not 8:00. Also, as Twelve had requested that she moved to the end of the week, how did he feel about Twelve changing places with Eleven? His head was spinning.

As it happened, the girl next door was a secretary, well versed in scheduling. He asked her for help. He went round with his calendar, now showing a number of coloured additions. They sat for a long time trying to work it all out. They both agreed that the whole thing was simply too complicated. He went online, withdrew his requests, and cancelled his membership. He thanked her for her help and they agreed to meet in the bar on Monday night at 08:00pm.

They hide among the twigs and leaves,

Never seen by human kind.

Through untraveled parts of woods they go,

Leaving not a trace behind.

–

On unknown whiles come festive days,

Great gatherings found from near and far.

In common rings they merrily dance,

Each group knowing what they are.

–

Pixies, gnomes and leprechauns,

Spinning in delirious trance.

Fairies, goblins, elves and sprites,

All giddy in their silent dance.

–

With soundless laughter, around they go,

Tiny hearts that beat, without a care.

Discovery is never of concern,

For no one knows that they are there.

Myth and legend point the way,

But no one knows that they are there.

The cloud seeding project on Venus was never going to be easy.

It being the hottest planet in the solar system with no clouds as such, only a dense, yellow layer of sulfuric acid that shrouds the planet permanently. This heavy layer is so thick that it traps the heat, which on average is around 464 degree Celsius. Yet scientists were convinced that a special form of cloud seeding could be used to cause enough high level cloud cover and associated rainfall to dilute the acid slowly over a long period to the point where only rain would fall. This would be an amazing breakthrough for future plans involving food production and colonisation. Whereas most within Earth’s international scientific community postulated that it would be a disastrous failure, the professor leading the team was quite adamant that it could be done.

To say that the mission was a failure is open to debate. The day that everything had been prepared on the second planet to begin the process of pellet scattering above the acidic layer, it was unanimously agreed that back on Earth it should be the professor who presses the button. This would send the first of many laser beams that would trigger the airborne distribution apparatus, setting the whole thing in motion.

With some fanfare, the button was pressed and dozens of technicians, supervisors and managers sat watching giant screens for some minor signs of change in the planet’s atmosphere.

Nothing happened for three days, then it snowed nonstop for a year!

It all started when she was coming home late from work and saw the fire.

Having done a couple of hour’s overtime, the woman who lived at number eleven was later than usual and it was quite dark when she got off the bus. She could see the glow as she started to walk. Turning the corner into her street she was horrified to witness a blazing house fire at number four. The owner, an elderly gentleman was standing in his front garden watching his house burn to the ground. There were lots of people in the street milling around, looking on. The word was that because the old boy didn’t have a phone someone offered to call the fire brigade for him. Nobody knows for sure why, but they turned up well over an hour later, too late to do any good.

However, that may not be when it all actually started, it’s hard to say. Around three months before the fire, the woman who lives at number eleven received a call from the old man at number four. It was early in the evening around her tea time. She wasn’t expecting the call. He rang to say he had seen her in town during the week and waved. Apparently, she hadn’t waved back. After a couple of questions and answers it was established that it must have been her he saw. She was where he said he saw her at that time. As it happened, she was delivering documents to another business. She explained that she was probably thinking about the errand she was on. She apologised and said she would look out for him in future. He seemed to accept her apology, but she wasn’t sure.

The following morning, knowing that she had seen him pottering in his front garden a couple of times, she had it in mind to look out for him. As she approached, she saw him standing in his garden. As she came up to him she gave him a merry wave. He stood there glaring at her. He didn’t wave back. This obviously upset her and she told one of her neighbours about the incident, who wasn’t surprised. She said that he was generally regarded by those who lived in the street as being an old misery.

Later, after the fire, when spoken to by the police, the homeowner was told that he was lucky to be out of the house when the gas leak in the kitchen ignited, blowing out two of the internal walls. Apparently, he was in the front garden at that moment seeing off two young boys who were making a racket by hitting his metal mail box with sticks. These boys were never properly identified. There was some interest shown, regarding the timing of these events, but nothing came of it. Soon after, the site was cleared and the land put up for sale. To the satisfaction of the people who live in the street, the old man was never seen again.

It has to be said, just how much bearing the waving incident had with regards to the whole affair, remains a matter of speculation.

The new man was being shown the ropes.

He was being trained as a conveyer belt operator at the mine site. The belt carried fine, fairly loose material to where it was tipped onto a pile. His manager was running through the safety procedures. He said that sensors along the belt may occasionally get a reading of some foreign object. This would set off an alarm and the belt would stop automatically. He explained that this was usually caused by an oversized object on the belt or some article causing a snag. He said that it didn’t happen very often, but when it did the operator would have to walk the length of the belt and remove the problem.

He went on to explain that on very rare occasions there could be an Amber warning. When this happened several red lights would start flashing. He said that this would only happen if the sensors detected biological material. He went on to say that the need for this warning came about after an incident. It was decided that programing the sensors to detect animal tissue was important as it may well be that one of the workers could have fallen onto the conveyer and lay there unconscious. The trainee looked puzzled.

The manager said, “Is there something you don’t understand?”

The trainee didn’t want to get into trouble on his first day, but felt he had to ask. “No. It’s OK. I just wondered why it’s call an amber warning.”

The manager laughed. “Ah! Yes, I see why you ask. No, the amber refers to our Amber, she writes up all of our safety procedures. Because of the serious nature of the problem and the potential risk to human safety, she was asked by the General Manager to write a very full and comprehensive safety procedure to cover it. He was so pleased with what she produced he said she could give it the title Amber Warning.”

The trainee shrugged, still looking perplexed. “And the incident that set this whole thing off, was it someone on the belt?”

The manager shook his head. “Nah! It turned out to be a dead possum.”

The trainee looked relieved, but couldn’t help mumbling, “Sorry, still seems a bit strange with all those red lights going off.”

The manager sighed. “I know but it could have been worse.”

“It could?”

“Oh! Yes. Her boss was away that day. If she’d been here, she would have written it!”

“So?”

“Her name’s Gertrude.”