Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)'s Posts - Authors.com
2024-03-19T06:01:33Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
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A new controversial write by novelist Chuck Keyes...
tag:www.authors.com,2012-10-11:3798404:BlogPost:157006
2012-10-11T17:46:17.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Sucked Away!</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">Mom, why do you hate me?</span><br></br> <span class="font-size-5">I was part of your flesh and blood.</span><br></br> <span class="font-size-5">What did I do to cause such…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Sucked Away!</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">Mom, why do you hate me?</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">I was part of your flesh and blood.</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">What did I do to cause such insensitivity?</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">Creation entrusted you with our kindred.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">I will never perceive the light of day,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">no trees, animals, flowers, or an ocean.</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">I will never experience a pleasurable payday,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">for a week's work of my chosen profession.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">I will never win a sport's trophy,</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">and I will never be lovingly kissed.</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">My future wife will never find me,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">and my children will never exist.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">I cannot forgive you for my death,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">and there will never be another me.</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">I will never experience my first breath,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">through this abortion tube of no empathy.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">A controversial write by novelist Chuck Keyes</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">© October 2012</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
Coming soon, within a few weeks… 'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story'
tag:www.authors.com,2012-10-01:3798404:BlogPost:156180
2012-10-01T00:21:17.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b> <span class="font-size-5"> Coming soon, within a few weeks… 'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story' ...Written across the front cover, are the words: 'It's Like Reading a Three Dimensional Sci-fi Horror Movie Within Your Mind', which is a bold statement of pleasurable reading. The shocking action will jump into your mind's eye.</span></b></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> As if they're being turned into vicious serial killers, our lovable pets are viciously…</b></span></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b> <span class="font-size-5"> Coming soon, within a few weeks… 'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story' ...Written across the front cover, are the words: 'It's Like Reading a Three Dimensional Sci-fi Horror Movie Within Your Mind', which is a bold statement of pleasurable reading. The shocking action will jump into your mind's eye.</span></b></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> As if they're being turned into vicious serial killers, our lovable pets are viciously murdering their human caretakers, which happens to be the new murder cases that Dallas Homicide Detective Rusty Rockwood is investigating. To understand why the animals are acting like crazed serial killers, Rusty collaborates with Forensic Veterinarian, Doctor Maggie Hanson.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> Rusty and Maggie each have a troublesome past that's mysteriously connected to the notorious Texas serial killer, the Mesquite Ripper, and their opposite personalities mix like gunpowder and fire. However, they do have a committed goal to figure out why our pets are killing their masters by any means possible. They're investigation takes them on numerous weird and wonderful sci-fi adventures that'll blow your mind right through a cosmic wormhole. Will Rusty and Maggie solve the mystery before every animal on earth viciously kills off our human race? There's plenty of romance, horror, mystery, and comedy within this must-read sci-fi adventure thriller. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561439509?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="500" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561439509?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="500" class="align-center"/></a></b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b>Cover designed by Chuck Keyes</b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p><b> <span class="font-size-5">My objective as a novelist is to offer the readers enjoyable sci-fi stories that are not over everyone's heads with deliberate uncommon words and concepts that only an Einstein can comprehend. Exciting, easy to read stories, offering everyone much more than just science fiction. I love twisting comedy, love, drama, adventure, horror, action, and mystery into my stories. I truly hope everyone will enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoyed creating them for the world. I plan to continue offering the readers new novels, such as my upcoming, 'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story!'</span></b> <span class="font-size-5"><b>It's like reading a three dimensional action movie within your mind. Thus being a bold statement of excitement, adventure, romance, and mind boggling horror.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><b> </b></p>
Fire in the Morning Sky... September 11th
tag:www.authors.com,2012-09-09:3798404:BlogPost:153615
2012-09-09T22:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Fire in the Morning Sky</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">Fire in the morning sky,</span><br></br> <span class="font-size-5">upon many hearts that cry.</span><br></br> <span class="font-size-5">For there was no…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Fire in the Morning Sky</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5">Fire in the morning sky,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">upon many hearts that cry.</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">For there was no prophesy,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">to battle the devil's lullaby.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br/> <span class="font-size-5">An evil flight of a dragonfly,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">who spies from the bird's-eye.</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">A fallacious theory to terrify,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">the eagle that flies so high.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Demons who dare to damnify,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">spreading fear like a vile fungi.</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Biblical passages read awry,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">to hate with a blooded outcry.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Panic upon a land to petrify,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">but hidden pride stood by.</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Evil disciples shade to espy,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">the eagle's symbol to unify.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">A Poem by Novelist Chuck Keyes</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">© Revised 2012</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span style="color: #800000;"><span class="font-size-6">Vote for freedom, save our liberties, elect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.</span> </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span style="color: #800000;"> </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"> <span style="color: #0000ff;">…GOD Bless America… </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"> </span></p>
'If You've Got a Business, You Didn't Build That. Somebody Else Made That Happen.'
tag:www.authors.com,2012-08-02:3798404:BlogPost:147402
2012-08-02T16:22:36.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p><span class="font-size-6">Being a sci-fi novelist, I consider myself to be a small business entrepreneur, and I don't like Obama saying: 'If You've Got a Business, You Didn't Build That. Somebody Else Made That Happen.' Damn Obama straight to the pits of hell where he belongs, I sit in front of my computer twelve to fourteen hours a day, using my imagination talents to write two to three novels per year. Please check out my eNovels, and their all priced under three dollars so everyone in…</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-6">Being a sci-fi novelist, I consider myself to be a small business entrepreneur, and I don't like Obama saying: 'If You've Got a Business, You Didn't Build That. Somebody Else Made That Happen.' Damn Obama straight to the pits of hell where he belongs, I sit in front of my computer twelve to fourteen hours a day, using my imagination talents to write two to three novels per year. Please check out my eNovels, and their all priced under three dollars so everyone in Obama's miserable economy can afford a great read. My Chuck Keyes eNovels are at the Amazon Kindle eBook Store, B&N Nook eBook Store, The Reader Store, Smashwords, and the Google eBook Store… I'm a proud Tea Party member, a Birther, and I hate the media who thinks Obama is our savor, when in reality he's the worst president in US history. Wake up America, Obama is an evil person who doesn't give a hoot about our American way wonderful of life. The life we have because many patriots gave their lives fighting for our God loving freedoms. The same freedoms Obama has been trying to take away from us! </span></p>
It's now out at Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Smashwords, and many other eBook stores around the world
tag:www.authors.com,2012-06-27:3798404:BlogPost:138756
2012-06-27T00:21:07.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p>'The Mysteries of Fuller Park' a new exciting eNovel by Chuck Keyes, Athens, Texas. It's now out at Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Smashwords, and many other eBook stores around the world</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'The Mysteries of Fuller Park' is a sci-fi mystery novel associated with the Devil-worshiping urban legends about Fuller Park, and the small city of Athens, Texas. Follow the two main characters as they meet, rapidly fall in love, and set off on many fantastic hair-raising adventures. Police…</p>
<p>'The Mysteries of Fuller Park' a new exciting eNovel by Chuck Keyes, Athens, Texas. It's now out at Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Smashwords, and many other eBook stores around the world</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'The Mysteries of Fuller Park' is a sci-fi mystery novel associated with the Devil-worshiping urban legends about Fuller Park, and the small city of Athens, Texas. Follow the two main characters as they meet, rapidly fall in love, and set off on many fantastic hair-raising adventures. Police officer Morgan Blackstone and the mysterious American Indian, half-breed woman he found on New Year's Eve in the old abandon Fuller Park. Her name is Cheyenne White Cloud, and she's gorgeous, built with a fabulous sexy body that highly surpasses a number ten. Learn what's really buried under Athens, waiting for over ninety-five thousand years to rise up out of the earth and destroy the small Texas City. <br/> Science fiction at its best, from the author who gave you 'They!' and 'Epic Marvels', comes this imaginary captivating story filled with sizzling romance, mind-boggling mystery, and spine-tingling fear. Follow Morgan and Cheyenne's grandiose adventures to uncover the mysteries of Athen's urban legends. Learn why the Athens town folk from the mid eighteenth century worshiped the black arts, founded the town of Athens, Texas, and sacrificed hundreds of their virgin daughters upon an altar made of human bones. Experience the comedy, meet strange evil aliens, and a strange friend named Task, who's older than our universe.</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561442074?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561442074?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-center"/></a> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p>Some of the Reviews:</p>
<p></p>
<p>A fantastic read...</p>
<p></p>
<p><b>The Mysteries of Fuller Park captivated me from start to finish. This was a fantastic read. The hot romance sparked my heart, the mystery and suspense thrilled my emotions, and the comedy made me laugh until my stomach hurt. The characters were fantastic, I fell in love with all of them, especially Task the robot. What's under the town you live in? I suggest this story for anyone who loves to read. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p>A thrilling read... </p>
<p></p>
<p>The Mysteries of Fuller Park was a thrilling read. The main characters, Morgan Blackstone, Cheyenne White Cloud, and Task, the twelve million year old robot, were such a delight that at the end of the story I was saddened to leave them. The mysterious and adventurous story-line enthralled me, and what happens under this East Texas city could occur under any small city. The many surprises within the story excitedly attacked my brain like a striking Cobra. Even if you're not into sci-fi, you're going to love this exceptional story. It's filled with knee slapping comedy, mind boggling mystery, and boiling hot romance. If you want a great read, I highly suggest The Mysteries of Fuller Park.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I've been waiting for this book... </p>
<p></p>
<p><span>I've been waiting for this book to come out and it didn't disappoint! The main character Morgan Blackstone is a strong male presence.Meeting Cheyenne White Cloud wasn't your usual girl meets boy.Finding someone in an underground cave from a different century isn'a normal date, but when she's stunningly beautiful, that's another matter. One never knows what is underground, until you see for yourself! The mystery and suspense was riveting. I chuckled over the character, Task, which is a 12 million yr old robot, who knows just about everything, was a favorite character. What he can do with a telephone book could help the world cure it's financial woes. The comedy was awesome and rib ticklingly funny. Oh yes, it had romance! Having a body like Cheyenne's and a libido like Morgan, I couldn't put the story down and didn't want the story to end. More Mr. Keyes, a most enjoyable novel...and I'm usually not a SciFi reader, but have definitely become a fan.If you like to laugh and be off your seat wondering what will happen next...read this book.</span></p>
'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story!'
tag:www.authors.com,2012-06-12:3798404:BlogPost:137351
2012-06-12T03:23:09.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Another awe-inspiring eNovel coming from The Chuck-Master of</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Science Fiction Fantasy!</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><b>'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story!'</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><b> …</b></span></p>
<p></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Another awe-inspiring eNovel coming from The Chuck-Master of</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Science Fiction Fantasy!</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><b>'It's Not A Lovable Pet Story!'</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">Your beloved pet might be a parrot, a chinchilla, a sugar glider, a cat, a dog, a python, a rabbit, or a another wonderful species of animals that inhabit our earth. Without a warning, your pet becomes a homicidal maniac, it turns on you, and viciously murders you by any means possible! Pets murdering humans is the trend of murder cases that Homicide Detective Rusty Rockwood is investigating, along with his new partner, Forensic Veterinarian Dr. Maggie Hanson. Marty and Maggie do have their troublesome pasts to deal with, and their personalities mix like gasoline and fire, but they do have a committed goal to figure out why our pets are killing us. Will they solve the mystery before every animal on earth viciously kills off our human race? </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561442189?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561442189?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-left"/></a></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p></p>
Coming Soon: 'The Mysteries of Fuller Park' by Chuck Keyes, Athens, Texas
tag:www.authors.com,2012-02-28:3798404:BlogPost:128160
2012-02-28T19:38:24.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><b><br></br></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Coming Soon:</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><b><u>'The Mysteries of Fuller Park'</u></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><b>by Chuck Keyes</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> 'The Mysteries of Fuller Park'…</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><b><br/></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Coming Soon:</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><b><u>'The Mysteries of Fuller Park'</u></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><b>by Chuck Keyes</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> 'The Mysteries of Fuller Park'</b> <b>is a sci-fi mystery novel associated with the Devil-worshiping urban legends about Fuller Park, and the small city of Athens, Texas. Follow the two main characters as they meet, rapidly fall in love, and set off on many fantastic hair-raising adventures. Police officer Morgan Blackstone and the mysterious American Indian, half-breed woman he found on New Year's Eve in the old abandon Fuller Park. Her name is Cheyenne White Cloud, and she's gorgeous, built with a fabulous sexy body that highly surpasses a number ten. Learn what's really buried under Athens, waiting for over ninety-five thousand years to rise up out of the earth and destroy the small Texas City.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><b> Science fiction at its best, from the author who gave you 'They!' and 'Epic Marvels', comes this imaginary captivating story filled with sizzling romance, mind-boggling mystery, and spine-tingling fear. Follow Morgan and Cheyenne's grandiose adventures to uncover the mysteries of Athen's urban legends. Learn why the Athens town folk from the mid eighteenth century worshiped the black arts, founded the town of Athens, Texas, and sacrificed hundreds of their virgin daughters upon an altar made of human bones. Experience the comedy, meet strange evil aliens, and a strange friend named Task, who's older than our universe.</b></span></p>
<p><b><span class="font-size-5"> What you don't know about your quaint, small Texas city may kill you deader than dead! </span></b></p>
<p><b><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="font-size-5">COVER:<br/></span></b></p>
<p><b><br/></b></p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561431079?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561431079?profile=original" width="638" class="align-center"/></a> </b></p>
Epic Marvels, Short Sci-fi Stories (Engineering Write)
tag:www.authors.com,2012-01-26:3798404:BlogPost:120783
2012-01-26T20:12:19.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><br></br></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Epic Marvels, Short Sci-fi Stories is dedicated to all the wonderful technical engineers throughout the world……</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><br></br></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561431888?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561431888?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a></span></p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Epic Marvels, Short Sci-fi Stories is dedicated to all the wonderful technical engineers throughout the world…</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561431888?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561431888?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">A world of sci-fi inventions for humans,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">miracles imagined from wondrous visions.</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Complex thoughts conjure up contraptions,</span><br/> <span class="font-size-5">sparking a true wizard of detailed notions.</span> <br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Technical maps of futuristic strangeness,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">are perceived as manufacturing blueprints.</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Prototypes are fabricated for analysis,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">creating the first of numerous footprints.</span> <br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">With the pulses of electrical power,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">or a simple manual stroke of a hand.</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">These wondrous devices lessen our labor,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">thus freeing time for a life more grand.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">From the imaginations of science fiction writers,</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">brings fourth fantastic innovations of futurisms.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">What was perceived by science fiction storytellers,</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">has now been engineered into amazing realisms.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">Within the past, our electronic eBook readers were only fantasized within the enchantment of science fiction stories. </span></p>
<p> </p>
Creepy Crawlers ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-12-26:3798404:BlogPost:115991
2011-12-26T18:36:31.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><b><span class="font-size-6">Creepy Crawlers</span></b></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective Stone, you need to come down to autopsy right away," said Dr. Herbert Eckerd.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alright,…</span></p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
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<p align="center"><b><span class="font-size-6">Creepy Crawlers</span></b></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
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<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective Stone, you need to come down to autopsy right away," said Dr. Herbert Eckerd.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alright, doctor, I'm on my way," replied Travis. He slid his cell phone into his pants pocket and headed for the nearest elevator.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis hates to visit the autopsy lab. It's not seeing the blood and gore he dislikes. What troubles him is the smell of death, but to maintain his Dirty Harry image, he would never admit this to anyone. Every time he walks into the autopsy lab, he imagines the death smell is mingling with his clothing, contaminating every thread with the dark evils of the underworld.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Stone stepped into the autopsy lab. "Dr. Eckerd, what do you have for me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The forensic doctor waved his hand toward the four stainless steel autopsy tables containing the Delaroca family. Each family member has had the top of his or her skull removed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I see the Delarocas family, so what the hell killed them?" sputtered Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Each family member is missing a large section of their brain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Say what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Their each missing a section of their temporal lobes, which is associated with recognition, perception, memory, stimuli, and speech."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy monkey shit, Herbert…how can they be missing large sections of their brains? There were no head wounds, no blood, and no signs of a struggle!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I found traces that something entered their nostrils and burrowed tunnels to their temporal lobes," replied Dr. Eckerd.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Something…something, what the hell does something mean?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It means I don't know what entered their nostrils. I've never seen anything like this. I don't think a medical instrument was used to remove the same sections of each brain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Weren't mummies made by sliding a hook up their nose and yanking their brains out through their nostrils?" asked Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, but the mummy hook and pull method removed their entire brain, and what I'm seeing is a clean surgical removal of most of their temporal lobe, which is located on the underside of the brain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So what we have here are four murder victims?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes," replied Herbert along with a sharp nod of his bald head. "Did the older Delarocas daughter say if she saw anything?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "As of yet I haven't had a chance to question Nancy Delarocas. She's currently under her doctor's care for shock. Doctor, for what reason would anyone surgically remove a person's temporal lobe?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know. The temporal lobe has no value."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I believe an ugly green insect has something to do with killing my family," sputtered Nancy Delarocas. She's standing in the doorway, wearing a Dallas metro police officers uniform.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Excuse me, Miss Delarocas, but you're not supposed to be down here," voiced the doctor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm a cop, and they're my dead family," she said while pointing her index finger at the bodies. "I have a right to be here!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis and the doctor quickly approached Nancy to block the gory view of her family with the tops of their skulls removed like large open jars of pickled pork brains in milk gravy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Miss Delarocas, please, let's step out into the hallway and talk," said Travis. "It's really not a good thing for you to see your family laid out on the autopsy tables."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She backed out of the doorway. Travis and the doctor joined her in the hallway.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you the detective investigating my family's death?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes…I'm Detective Travis Stone." He paused to roll his eyes slowly from her face down to her enormous breasts. She's a very attractive woman for being a redhead, and being extremely tall, maybe over six feet. "I'm in the process of determining if your family was murdered. At first we thought they past away from carbon monoxide poisoning."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I've heard about you, Detective Stone. You're the hero who single handedly shot and killed five of John Delaney's top hit men."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis offered Nancy a half grin. "It was either them or me, and I don't consider any day being a good day to die. Are you all right, Miss Delarocas? They said you were in shock."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "At first I was in shock, but I got over it, and now I'm royally pissed off. I want to know who or what killed my family!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You said something about an ugly green insect?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She brushed her long red hair away from her attractive face. "On my way home I stopped by my parent's house for a quick visit. When I walked into the parlor, I found my father dead. He was sitting upright in his favorite chair. When I approached my father, a green hideous insect crawled out his right nostril and swiftly scurried away. I've never seen an inset like it. It was long, with many legs, and a bulbous clear rear end that's filled with what looked like brain matter. Its head has pinchers attached, like earwig pinchers, and it has two large red eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, that would explain the burrowed tunnels," excitedly said Herbert. "Nancy, did you see more than one of these bugs?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I saw only one, and as I said it was in hurry to leave the murder scene."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Doc, are you thinking these bugs ate their temporal lobes," asked Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It is a possibility, and from what Nancy described, the clear bulbous area maybe a storage area for the temporal lobe brain matter. Similar to a plump mosquito full of blood."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've never heard of an insect that burrows into someone's head and eats their brains."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nor have I," voiced Herbert, "and what's puzzling, is that within each victim the exact amount of brain matter was surgically removed, as if for a purpose. To accomplish this task, the insects would have to be somewhat intelligent."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The detective's cell phone played to his attention with the ringtone, 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown', and he swiftly answered it. "Yeah, Detective Stone here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis listened for a few minutes. "Okay, Chief, I'm on it." He slid his cell phone back into his pocket. "We have another dead family."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where?" asked Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Not too far from your parent's house. I need to head out there right now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm going with you," demanded Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…I work alone."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because I don't like babysitting pain in the ass partners!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She stepped closer to the detective and pressed her large beasts against his broad muscular chest. "Please, Detective Stone, as you can tell, I'm a fully developed woman. You won't need to babysit me. I need to know who or what killed my family!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, all right, but I know I'm going to regret this!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She gave the detective a quick kiss on his bristled cheek. "Thanks for helping a grieving officer of the law seek justice."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy followed Travis out to his truck, they jumped up into the cab, and Travis drove out to the crime scene. "Nancy, we're only a few miles from your parent's house. Do know who lives here?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No." She shook her head. "This house was built after I moved out to Dallas."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A waiting police officer lifted the yellow crime scene tape over their heads. "Detective Stone, the meat wagon is waiting for you to release the bodies," voiced the officer. "There are three bodies in the house. The mother is in the kitchen, the father is in the front parlor, and their teen son is in his bedroom. We didn't touch anything but to verify their deaths."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Did anyone see any strange looking green insects?" asked Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't think so," replied the officer. "There's really not much to see in there except for the dead bodies. There are no signs of a struggle. They just died."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis and Nancy entered the house. The officer was correct, there wasn't much to see. No evidence to indicate foul play. They checked out the father, the mother, and now their standing in the teen's room. The young man is sitting at his desk in front of his computer, and his head is leaned back, as if he fell asleep. On the computer monitor's screen, the teen's FaceBook account is open. His right hand is still positioned on top of his computer's mouse. Travis leaned forward to see how many friends the boy has. "Shit, I hear something in the kid's head!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What?" asked Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Quiet." He placed his ear closer to the teen's head. After a long moment, he hurriedly backed away. "I can hear a sloshing sound."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Travis, give me two of your forty-five bullets," demanded Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just give them to me!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He removed two bullets from his extra clip. "Here, take them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She grabbed the bullets and shoved one each up into the young man's nostrils as far as she could. "Damn, I need something to hold the bullets in place." She looked around the room, and then she removed a framed picture of Britney Spears from the wall.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell are doing?" Travis asked while expressing a puzzled expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I want this nail" She wiggled it and pulled it out of the sheetrock.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I need to hold the bullets in place." She took the nail and shoved it through the side of the teen's nose, entering and exiting each nostril, just under the bullets. "Hopefully that'll prevent the insect from escaping."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, Nancy! Piercing the dead kid's nose with a nail was a gory thing to do."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, it was the only thing I could think of doing. The insect may decide to push an eyeball to escape, so we need to have the ambulance rush the teen's body to the autopsy lab."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, with a creepy crawler surprise sealed in the kid's head," said Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With the truck's blue emergency lights flashing and the siren screaming, Travis followed the ambulance to the hospital. He asked Nancy to call Herbert to prepare him for the teen's body. She explained there might be one of those ugly green insects trapped within the kid's skull.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Again, Travis is in the autopsy lab, surrounded by the smell of death. He figures if he spends too much time in autopsy, there won't be enough water or detergent in the world to wash the smell of death out of his cloths.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Who the hell pierced the young man's nose with a nail?" asked the doctor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I did," admitted Nancy. "The nail is retaining two forty-five bullets that I shoved up his nose to prevent the insect from escaping."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Herbert began to cut off the top of the kid's head when surprisingly the teen's left eyeball popped out of his head, followed by an ugly green insect.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy reacted quickly by scooping up the creepy crawler into a glass specimen jar and capping it off. Two more insects crawled out of the teen's eye socket. They scurried off the bloody stainless steel table and jumped onto the floor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis stamped on both of the creepy crawlers at once, but when he lifted his highly polished cowboy boots, the insects were only dazed for a moment. He drew his forty-five and rapidly fired twice, hitting each of them. "Holly cat shit, did you guys see that. I stomped on them with all my weight, but the tough buggers didn't squash!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I see that you’re an excellent marksman," said Nancy. "Sometime we will have to do battle at the police shooting range."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Any time your man enough."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, Stone, my ears are ringing," sputtered the doctor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy held up the specimen jar to examine the creepy crawler. "I've never seen anything like it. Its red eyes seem as if their glowing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Herbert moved in closer to view the insect. "Yes, the creature has a storage sack full of brain matter, and I think it uses its front pinchers to surgically slice up the temporal lobe. I'll learn more after I dissect it, but right now I'd dare to say this insect is an alien."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Stone cynically chuckled. "The insect traveled here from Mexico?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No." Herbert shook his head while pointing his index finger upward. "This insect might be extraterrestrial."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Again, Travis chuckled. "My murder suspects are alien creepy crawlers!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It does explain why you couldn't crush the weird insects under your boot," chimed Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, I just remembered something that may explain the alien bugs," Travis excitedly voiced. "About a month ago a few dozen people reported seeing a UFO over the vicinity of your parent's house, but the Air Force confirmed it as being a small meteorite that didn't fully burn up in the atmosphere."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If something extraterrestrial landed in the vicinity of my parent's house, than there could be many more victims." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah." Travis nodded his head while rubbing his bristled chin in thought. "What needs to be done is a knock on the door of every home within the area."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I agree," said Nancy. "Can you arrange it?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Without having a good explanation, I might be able to get a few door knocking teams out there. If I tell the chief we're being invaded by green alien insects that crawl up people's nostrils and eat a preferred section of their brains, he's going to demand I see the department's shrink…everyday for a month of Sundays."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I see your point," said Nancy. "I think there's more to these alien insects than what we're seeing, and our investigation needs to discover what that may be, which means we need to go knocking on doors."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Our investigation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, this is our investigation?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I'm not going to argue with a dead nose, six-penny nail piercer practitioner."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's awesomely funny!" Nancy faked a childish giggle. "Now let's go knock on those doors."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's more than an hour past my lunch," whined Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Ah, the poor hungry baby detective," she said while pinching his left cheek. "We can pick something up to go. I know a great new fast food restaurant. It's called McWongs, and they serve a fantastic pork burger with a special spicy sauce."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…okay, let's go!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They munched out on their pork burgers and rice fries, and then Travis drove to a ranch house not more than a half mile from the second death house. Travis knocked on the front door. "There's nobody home."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Somebody has to be home. There's a truck and a car in the driveway."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Perhaps they're out riding their bicycles," sputtered Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective, move out of the way." Nancy raised her right leg and kicked open the door."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Impressive power kick, but we don't have a warrant."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alien insects don't give a shit about a warrant."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis used his forty-five to lead their way into the house. Sitting side by side on the sofa are an elderly couple, each with a big book in their lap. Travis pinched off his nostrils with his fingers. "From the smell, I'd say Ma and Pa have been dead for three or four weeks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my god," voiced Nancy, "the old man must've lived an uninteresting life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What makes you say that?" asked Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He's was reading <i>'War and Peace'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Perhaps he started reading it when he was in his teens."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They hurriedly did a walkabout through house without finding any more dead bodies.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If they died as far back as four weeks ago," said Nancy, "than that's around the time the UFO was sited."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Stone gave Nancy a broad handsome smile. "Thus meaning they could be the first victims."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow! We do make a good team."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You can't make a statement like that without having sex with me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I meant we're a good investigative team."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Not being specific can confuse people."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We need to check out their giant barn."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I didn't see a barn."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I saw it when we we're approaching the house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They strolled around the house to the barn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, this is a big ass barn," voiced Travis. "Why would anyone want to build a steel barn big enough to house a jumbo jet?" He attempted to slide open the enormous steel door, but it won't budge. "Superwoman, do you want to try your power kick on this giant door?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Excuse me, did you say superior woman."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, that'll be a cold day in hell."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective Stone, there must be a side entrance into this barn," Nancy said as she walked away.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, wait for me!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They walked along the left side of the barn without finding an entrance. Travis and Nancy's eyes widened in surprise as they rounded the corner to the rear of the barn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This has to be the UFO's landing site," voiced Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, something did land here," agreed Travis. "It slid a few hundred feet across the pasture, digging up this enormous gully, and then it burrowed under the barn's cement base."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis and Nancy climbed down into the deep gully and looked into the huge burrow under the barn's cement slab. Nancy removed a small flashlight from a pouch on her metro police belt and shined the beam of light into the cave-like hole. "There's a large object lodged in there under the barn. I can't make out any details of it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe it’s a large meteorite."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Or it could be an alien spaceship."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Don't be silly. Those green alien bugs don't have any hands for constructing a spacecraft, but they may have somehow hitched a ride inside a meteorite. Come on, Nancy, let's check out the right side of the barn for a normal size door."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They climbed out of the gorge and walked along the right side of the barn until they came upon a locked steal door.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The property owners are dead…and their month old dead bodies prove they don't have any close kin, so blow the damn door open with your forty-five," insisted Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay! Stand back in case bits of the bullets bounce back." He rapidly fired five rounds into the lock. "Okay, now impress me again with your power kick."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy kicked the door and it flung open with a loud bang.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis stepped inside the barn and located a row of light switches on the wall. He flipped up every switch, igniting many rows of overhead lights. "Holy Henry Ford, this giant barn is full of classic muscle cars from the fifties and sixties. Nancy, come in and check them out. There's dozens of cars and they're all showroom perfect."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my God, they're so shiny and archaic. The old man must've restored them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis yanked open the driver's door of an orange GTO Judge, and then he ran along a line of cars, frantically opening and closing the drivers doors. "Just as I figured, none of these historic beauties have over a hundred miles on the speedometers. The old man bought these cars and they went straight from the car dealer's showroom floor into this big old steel barn. He collected these cars like having a private collection of great masterpieces of art."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He was obviously a screwy nutcase who wasted tons of his money on cars that he never drove," sputtered Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, but these aren’t ordinary cars. They're famous muscle cars!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, look, there's a hole in the floor," announced Nancy as she pointed her finger.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Stone's eyes followed to where Nancy is pointing. Sure enough, between a Z28 Camaro and a Boss 429 Mustang is a perfectly round hole cut in the cement floor. It's about four feet in diameter, and there's a greenish glow of light shining up through the hole. Travis nervously drew his gun from his chest holster. "Let's go check it out."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I wish I had my gun," cried Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've been meaning to ask you where your gun is."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They took it away when they notified me about the death of my family. I suppose they were afraid I was going to use it to commit suicide."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll give you my backup piece if you promise not to blow your brains out with it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm mourning with revenge and I have no intentions of killing myself!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He lifted up his pant leg and removed a snub-nosed thirty-eight from a holster strapped around his leg, just above his boot. "This is the reason why I wear old man baggy pants."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, and I thought your reason for wearing baggy pants was to house your extra large heroic manhood."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well…that too!" He handed her the thirty-eight. "Maybe we should rethink this and call in for backup."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No! Perhaps the thing responsible for killing my family is down in that big rabbit hole, and I'd like to be the one who kills it!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The alien creepy crawlers are most likely responsible for all the deaths," said Travis. "What we need is an army of Terminix men."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm a deep seeded science fiction buff; therefore, I believe the alien insects are being controlled by a higher power."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis chuckled. "Does this mean you're a Trekkie? On the weekends do you dress up like a Klingon female in heat and travel to all the Trekkie conventions?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not an extremist! I enjoy all science fiction equally, and that big rabbit hole over there is a science fiction reality," she voiced, and then she bravely headed toward the hole with his backup gun pointing the way.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Stone followed Nancy to the edge of the hole. Just below the one-foot thickness of cement is a green glowing disk that's slightly smaller than the diameter of the hole.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell are we looking at?" asked Travis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "An elevator!" Nancy stepped down onto the disk and her body lowered into the alien vessel.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Travis frantically attempted to grab Nancy, but her downward departure was too rapid. The green glowing disk returned without her. "Oh shit balls of fire! I knew I'd regret taking her on as a partner," he said aloud as he bravely stepped down onto the disk. Travis stepped off the disk to find himself standing next to Nancy within a weird alien room. The overhead lighting is glowing bright green. Laid out before him is an oddly shaped chair mounted in front of an angled control console that resembles a large computer touch screen containing many unfamiliar symbols.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is totally awesome! We're standing in the control room aboard an alien spacecraft."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I personally wouldn't classify this terrifying situation as being totally awesome! How the hell did you know the green glowing disk was an elevator?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's a typical imaginary concept within many science fiction stories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Overly stupid of me for not being a science fiction enthusiast."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Come on, let's search this alien ship." With their guns in hand, they were about to step through an open hatchway when a weird sounding voice erupted from behind them. "Human trespassers!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy and Travis spun around on their heels to see a strange hairless, purple skinned creature, with a round head attached to a foot long muscular neck. The tall alien has three tripod legs, two long snaking arms, large green glowing eyes, and a wide lipless mouth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Freeze, alien, or I'll blow your ugly head off your long neck."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Excuse me," said the alien, "But it's not cold enough in here for me to freeze. Besides, I've rendered your weapons useless with an invisible matter bonding beam."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy attempted to pull the trigger, but it wouldn't budge. "Yeah, the components within my gun are like welded together."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, my sweet pumpkin princess, you'll always be Daddy's little girl," voiced the alien.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sweet pumpkin princess," Travis voiced along with a bewildered expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's what my father calls me!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, I worry so much about you," said the alien. "Dear, I wish you'd quit your hazardous job as a Dallas metro police officer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Travis, those are my mother's exact words from a few days ago."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy Delarocas, I recognize you." voiced the purple alien. "That's because I possess your parent's memories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You murdered my family!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I didn't personally murder your family!" snapped the alien. "It was my robotic knowledge collectors who abruptly ended their existence. For me to obtain knowledge of an alien race requires sacrificing lives. My insect robots collected your family's brain matter, and upon their return I consume their delicious brain matter, thus obtaining their memories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You’re an evil murdering alien asshole," shouted Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my dear pumpkin princess, there's no compromising with you. I do what I must do in the name of universal science." The alien turned his attention toward Travis. "Human male, did you enjoy my collection of muscle cars?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Those muscle cars don't belong to you," said Detective Stone. "They belong to the old man your robotic creepy crawlers murdered for you to steal his lifelong memories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're the first person to visually enjoy my private collection of muscle cars. I've never shared them with anyone else besides my dear wife, Beatrice."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, this damn alien is crazier than Sybil! He's obviously suffering from a multiple personality disorder."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Stone, you’re an idiot!" sparked Nancy. "Sybil and her cohorts faked everything to rapidly advance their book to the top of New York Times best selling list."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No shit! I didn't know that, and I somewhat enjoyed the Sally Field movie."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I know who I am," sputtered the purple Alien. "My name is Poddernick, and I'm famous on my world for discovering many intelligent life forms throughout the universe. Now that I've obtained the lifelong memories from of over a hundred human beings, I'm planning to return to my world and document a science thesis pertaining to your human race. In the future, my race may decide to enslave your race as our servants, and as a new food supply."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Poddernick, what are you planning to do with us?" asked Detective Stone.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> For a moment, the alien scratched his bald purple head in thought. "Returning home with a captive human male and female may be extremely rewarding, plus to observe and study you're animalistic mating methods would be interesting."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unexpectedly, Nancy raised her little flashlight and shined the bright beam of light into Poddernick's green eyes. The alien screamed in pain, and like a raging animal, Nancy jumped on him. They fell down, hard onto the deck, and she locked her hands around his long neck. She squeezed with all might until she felt the alien's snake-like neck bones crake and crush. Poddernick gasped his last breath of air.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy vicious redhead, you killed the alien asshole! You courageously saved us from being kidnapped as lab rats."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy rolled off Poddernick's dead purple body and stood up. "Hey, Stone, I told you I was going to kill whoever was responsible for the death of my family! There's nothing more fearful than the revenge of a red headed female."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I was bravely thinking of physically attacking Poddernick, but he's naked, and I didn't want to accidently touch his weird looking private parts!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I was thinking of a way to crush them along with his neck!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How did you know Poddernick's eyes were light sensitive?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's another typical imaginary concept within many science fiction stories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I'll make it a priority to start reading science fiction novels."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy giggled. "You better start with teen science fiction novels."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Adult science fiction will most likely be above your intelligence level."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I suppose I deserve that. Nancy, to be honest with you, I've never meet a magnificent thunder woman like you, and I'm drawn to you like powerful magnets to metal. Do you like me just a little bit?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is this your way of asking me out to dinner, a science fiction movie, a wild night of lustful sex, and a pancake breakfast with fresh Columbian coffee?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I suppose it is."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…it’s a date."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Fantastic! …Well, we better call this in."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If I were you, I'd just call in about the dead bodies in the front parlor and let someone else find this alien spacecraft."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So we can avoid months of having the men in black crawling up our assholes with never ending questions and unrealistic demands."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, are you saying the men in black really do exist?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They are a typical imaginary concept within many science fiction stories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">© December 2011</p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p> </p>
Super-Cross, the Invincible Conservative ...A short sci-fi comedy story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-12-20:3798404:BlogPost:114571
2011-12-20T01:01:18.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p></p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b> Super-Cross, the Invincible Conservative</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi comedy story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unbeknown to Detective Durgin Cross, an unidentified object is hovering over his ranch house. He woke up, hearing his little dog…</span></p>
<p></p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b> Super-Cross, the Invincible Conservative</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi comedy story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unbeknown to Detective Durgin Cross, an unidentified object is hovering over his ranch house. He woke up, hearing his little dog barking, which is unusual for Jasper to be so riled up.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jasper, is there something outside?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The little shaggy brown-haired Chihuahua and Shih-Tzu mix continued to bark vigorously.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin rolled out of bed, quickly dressed, and grabbed his forty-five Smith & Wesson off the bedside table.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What is it, Jasper, do you smell a pack of mangy coyotes out there?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin stepped out into the hallway and headed for the front door. Jasper ceased his barking, jumped off the bed, scurried along his master's path, and briskly wagged his tail when he caught up to Durgin in the front parlor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Cross looked up at his big wall mounted mahogany clock hanging over his mahogany fireplace mantel. "Damn, Jasper, we've only been sleeping for less than an hour!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, little buddy, I'm not letting you outside if there's coyotes prowling around. They'll tear you up into little doggy tidbit coyote treats. Durgin switched on the outside lights and gazed out the door's etched glass window for a long moment. "I don't see anything. Were you having a doggy nightmare? I bet you were dreaming about being chased by twenty ferocious housecats." Durgin chuckled as he picked Jasper up and swiveled around on his bare heel to head back to bed. After taking a few steps, a bright blue light engulfed him.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The alarm clock radio blasted on to the song <i>'I've Got You Babe'</i>, and Durgin slammed his fist down on the snooze button bar, crushing the entire clock radio into bits and pieces. Upon remembering the strange bright blue light, the detective quickly sat up to see Jasper curiously inspecting the smashed clock radio. "Jasper, did I do that? Cheap Chinese manufactured electronics! Now I'm going to have to buy a new clock alarm radio! What happened to us last night, and why am I bare ass naked? The last thing I remembered is walking back to the bedroom to go to bed." He reached over to pat Jasper on his head. "Where's your new silver spiked Bull dog collar I bought you last week?" Durgin searched the bed and the only thing he found is his Roku remote. "Your collar and my clothes are missing!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He leaned over the edge of the king-size bed to search for his clothes, and to his surprise, there's an oversized silver briefcase sitting on the floor, up against the bed. "Jasper, what the hell is this?" He jumped out of bed, knelt down, and examined the strange briefcase locks. They each resemble an electronic finger scanner. He placed both of his index fingers on the scanners and the locks automatically popped open. The detective slowly opened the briefcase. "Wow! Jasper, check this out." He reached into the briefcase, grabbed a strange looking gun, and closely examined it. "Hey, little buddy, I don't see any place to load the bullets into this futuristic Buck Roger's gun." He started to rummage through the briefcase for bullets. "Holy bonanza, here's a new collar for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper moved closer to the edge of the bed so Durgin can clip-on his new silver collar. "There you go, little buddy, is it comfortable?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, Durgin, it fits perfectly," said the little dog.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin's mouth fell open as if someone hooked the Titanic's anchor onto his lower jaw. His blue eyes bulged, his brain feels like its trembling, and he wants to speak, but his voice box has failed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Durgin, your new Buck Roger's gun doesn't require any bullets," voiced Jasper. "It fires a special laser beam designed to dissolve the bodies of controlled humans who have been merged by evil aliens."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jasper, how the hell can you be talking. Your just a dumb dog."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've altered to be super intelligent."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But you don't have a voice box."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I must have a voice box if I'm talking to you, and now that I can talk there will be no more beer drinking before going to bed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why not?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm a dog! I have a powerful nose for smelling, and your beer farts are repulsive!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I'm sorry, but I've always thought dogs enjoy rude smells. That's why I always pull the sheet up over your head before I let the invisible beer monster out."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No more for this little dog!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin stared over at his wife's picture, remembering when he bought Jasper for her on her twenty-fifth birthday, about eight months before she was killed in the line duty. Jasper was a puppy than, not much bigger than a rat. Sandy loved him so much that she hired a young Mexican woman to check up on Jasper twice a day while we were working."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper noticed Durgin eyeing Sandy's picture. "Yeah, I miss Sandy too. That's why I'm overly joyful that we've been assigned an important case that may lead us to her killer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jasper, what the hell are talking about?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sandy's investigation into illegal dealings among high level democratic officials was stepping on alien toes. I believe that's why they killed her. On the day she was murdered, Sandy had a nine AM appointment with Congresswoman Betty Obeany, but her office claims Sandy never showed up for the meeting."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you saying illegal aliens killed my Sandy?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, I'm not referring to illegal Mexicans, I'm talking about aliens from another planet who for the past few years have been merging with government officials to eventually take control."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you serious? These aliens merge with people like in the movie <i>'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'</i>?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Similar, but instead of using pods they merge and blend their own alien body directly into the person, thus retaining only their victims outer shell and all their knowledge. Within your briefcase, you'll find a gadget that looks like a pair of eye goggles, and they'll allow you to see the aliens. When a person has been taken over by an alien, there's no coming back. They're now more alien then they are human."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How high do these government officials go?" asked Durgin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Possibly as high the president," replied Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do you mean this is our assigned case? Who gave us this assignment?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're superhero partners, although I'm the one with the super intelligence."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah right. I'm not going to take orders from my pet dog."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, in the past I've never complained about taking orders from you. You tell me when to go outside to do my bathroom business, when to eat, when to go to bed. Half the time you forget fill my damn water bowl, and by the time I get your attention to refill it, I'm near dying of thirst."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I'm sorry, but we've been good friends for a long time, and I'm the guy who feeds you people food instead of disgusting dog food."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I do love people food, especially hamburgers and hotdogs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, am I crazy? I'm standing here naked talking to my dog! How can this strange shit be possible?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Last night we were abducted and altered by a friendly alien race that wants to help us to defeat the invading alien race that call themselves trivicks," explained Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, right! It all happened during the blue light sales abduction! I'm off to the bathroom to get ready for my day off. I'm planning to dress up and go shopping at the mall so I can check out the attractive women."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin put on his favorite light blue shirt, dark blue tie, and gray suit. He found Jasper in his home office dancing his two front paws on his computer's keyboard while reading information on the monitor. "Hey, you're worse than a rug rat! What the hell are you doing in here using my new Hewlett-Packard?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've been reading news articles. I'm trying to figure out whose being controlled by the trivick aliens. The evil trivicks society is governed by an insect rule, similar to communism; therefore, I believe they would preferably merge with democratic officials, thus turning them into far-left extremists."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow! That would explain our current chaos. I don't understand how you know all this stuff. Your doggy brain is too small for you to be this intelligent."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "During our good alien abduction my doggy brain was enhanced with super intelligent nanos containing and a great deal of helpful data we'll need for our covert investigation and elimination of the infiltrated trivicks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How are we supposed to eliminate these trivick controlled democratic humans?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're going to eliminate them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can't walk up to government officials and murder them." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're no longer real people. There are many hundreds of trivick aliens infiltrating high ranking government positions for controlling your American society. They've been slowly taking away your freedoms. They'll turn everyone into slaves, and everything the human race owns and manufactures will belong to the evil trivicks! The good aliens believe there may be friendly ties between the alien trivicks and al-Qaeda. They killed Sandy because she was close to discovering their existence. She was the love of your life! Your laser gun is designed to eradicate the trivicks along with their entire physical bodies."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's good. No body, no proof a murder has been committed." Durgin deeply sighed. "Yes, Sandy was the love of my life, and I miss her, but we're just one man and a little dog, so how are we going to stop their alien invasion through the means of merging with people?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're super heroes!" shouted Jasper. "We have the power and the tools to save your human race from being ruled by the communistic leftist trivicks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin chuckled. "I don't feel like a superhero."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You will," snapped Jasper. "How come you're not wearing your superhero outfit?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What superhero outfit?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There are seven identical superhero outfits hanging up in your walk-in closet. I personally designed our superhero emblem."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I must've not seen them. Wait here and I'll go look."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Bring back my super doggy outfit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You have one too?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Of course I do. We're superhero partners!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin returned to his home office wearing a black skin tight body outfit made out of an unknown material. Situated in the middle of his chest is a large emblem of a gold detective's shield with a silver cross centered on the shield. The outfit also includes black boots, black gloves, a black hooded mask, and a black utility belt designed to carry his superhero gadgets and his Buck Roger's laser gun. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you like your superhero outfit," asked Jasper?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I love it. I know the silver cross on my gold shield represents my name, but I'm afraid people are going to think I'm a super priest."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Who cares what people think as long as you accomplish your job!" barked Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin slid Jasper's black superhero doggy designed shirt over his head and placed each of his front paws through the proper holes. The emblem entered on Jasper's back is the same gold detective shield with a silver cross that's centered on Durgin's chest."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How do I look?" excitedly asked Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You look fantastic; however, because our emblems are identical, don't expect me to call you mini-me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just call me what you always call me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The detective giggled. "I generally call you Jasper, little buddy, or little half-shit, which doesn't mean you're half Shih-Tzu."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's about as funny as day old road kill," sputtered Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin pointed at the computer monitor. "That's Congresswoman Betty Obeany."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, and we need pay her a visit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you think she's a trivick?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's a good possibility. She's a far-left extremist who believes in a huge controlling government, and her purposed ideas go against your United States Constitution, which was set forth by your great forefathers. Many humans throughout history have given their lives to uphold your freedoms based within the Constitution." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, now that I'm a superhero, what am I supposed to do about my job as a Dallas homicide detective?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like Superman as being Clark Kent, you'll still keep your detective job. Today's your day off, so we have all day and tonight to do superhero stuff."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "With two fulltime jobs I'm not going to have much time for sleeping," whined Durgin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper laughed along with his tail whipping about. "We're super heroes. Our bodies have been altered so we no longer require any sleep."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Really?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup," the little dog replied along with a sharp nod of his head. "No more wasting your time by sleeping away a third of your life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What other altering surprises have the good aliens done to my body?" asked Durgin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't want to overwhelm your male human brain," responded Jasper. "You'll have to learn about them as you go. Congresswoman Betty Obeany will be in her Dallas office today preparing for her big push to support a major increase in your taxes, which will pay for their bad investments, such as the five hundred and twenty-eight million dollars lost on the California-based Solyndra loan. Damn, I'm a dog, and I wouldn't have loaned this risky green company my water bowl! Betty Obeany's office is on the twenty-third floor of the Morgan Finberg building. I think it would be best that we land on the roof and work our way down."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How the hell are we going to land on the roof?" asked the detective along with a snide chuckle. "Are wings going to magically sprout out of my back?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Please pick me up and carry me out to Sandy's horse barn."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin did as he was told. "I haven't been in here since I gave Sandy's horses to her father," he said as he unlocked the side door. He opened the door to see the interior of the barn remodeled into a superhero's lab and office. Off to the right is a large computer station with six giant monitors mounted on the wall. On the left is a fully equipped forensic lab. Beyond the lab is a strange looking alien vehicle about the size of a large van."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy bonanza, this is way beyond awesome! The good friendly aliens remodeled Sandy's barn into the Batman cave. What the hell type of vehicle is this?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's an amazing all terrain alien vehicle," replied Jasper. "It'll travel on land, in the water, on top of the water, and it flies. You'll need this alien vehicle to help you eliminate the far leftist trivick controlled humans. So what do you think of our Cross headquarters?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's beyond fantastic, little buddy. I only see one little problem."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's that?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Who's going to fly that alien vehicle? I'm not a pilot."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You are now," muttered Jasper. "Operating the vehicle has been preprogrammed into your human brain. When you sit down in the pilot's seat, the operating program will pop up in your brain like double clicking on a computer operating system icon. That's the same for operating everything else in our Super-Cross head quarters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's doggone amazing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, I'm not gone. I'm still here," said Jasper. "Come on, Durgin, sit in the pilot's seat. We need to go.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, but I don't see a door handle on this door."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The door is voice activated by your voice only."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Abracadabra!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Try saying open!" Jasper gruffed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Open."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Like the doors on a DeLorean, they opened upward like gull wings. Durgin sat Jasper down on the passenger seat, and then he sat down on the pilot's seat. "Close." The doors closed, sealing them within the alien designed vehicle. "Yes, I now know how to operate this Buck Roger's vehicle!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It’s called a Super-Cross vehicle," announced Jasper. "Safety first and you need to buckle my doggy harness seatbelt!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After ten minutes of struggling to figure out how the doggy harness works, the little dog is finally buckled in. "Damn, maybe it'll be easier if you ride in the glove compartment."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not going to ride in the damn glove compartment!" snapped Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Settle down…I was joking."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Not funny!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin powered up the cold fusion electric engine, and then he pressed a button on the control panel. The barn doors automatically slid open. The Cross vehicle sped out of the barn and by the time it reached the end of Durgin's quarter mile driveway, short stubby wings extended outward and like a giant bird, the Cross vehicle lifted off into the clear blue sky.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is remarkable, little buddy. I'm piloting this alien vehicle as if I've been doing it all my life." He banked the vehicle right, on a heading toward Dallas, Texas.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Within a half hour, the Cross superhero partners stepped out onto the roof of the Morgan Finberg building. Jasper closely followed Durgin around a steel building housing the elevator motors.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Stop," Jasper cried out. "I can hear someone coming."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Two armed security guards rounded the corner of the building and quickly withdrew their guns from their holsters. "Raise your hands," shouted one of the guards.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay," responded Durgin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why are you on the roof and what's the deal with the superhero costume?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is my preferred costume to wear when I'm doing superhero stuff," replied Durgin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The other security guard chuckled. "Hey, Dave, check out his cross. He must be the super Pope."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, but shouldn't he be wearing the Pope's silly hat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe he forgot it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper walked up to within a few feet the guards and made a barking sound.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, super clown, you need to call your little dog before I kick it off the roof."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jasper, you better back away."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper again barked at the two guards.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The guard who threatened to kick Jasper off the roof, raised his foot, and swung it forward. Jasper grabbed the guard's pant leg and yanked, causing the guard to accidently fire his gun as he flipped over backwards, landing hard onto the roof, flat on his back.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The thirty-eight caliber bullet hit the right side of Durgin's chest, just above his heart, but instead of penetrating into his body, it bounced off.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy bonanza! I'm just like Superman…I'm bulletproof! Jasper, why didn't you tell me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I told you you'll learn your super powers while on the job." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The bewildered and frightened guard bent down to check out his unconscious partner. "Your damn little dog knocked him out cold!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin stepped toward the guard.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Stop, or I'll shoot," cried the guard.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your bullets can't hurt me because I'm invincible," said Durgin as he reached out quicker than a blink of an eye and disarmed the guard. He threw the guard's gun, and to his surprise, the gun disappeared as it flew beyond the earth's horizon. "Geez, I don't know my own strength. I hope the gun doesn't hit anyone!" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve, the perplexed guard backed away. He unclipped a police walkie talkie from his belt, but before he could bring it up to his mouth to call for backup, Jasper jumped up and grabbed the walkie talkie, crushing it useless between his powerful jaws.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve the guard stood there examining his damaged walkie talkie. "You and your dog really do have super powers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, we're real super heroes," said Durgin, "and I'd like you to handcuff yourself to your unconscious partner."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve did as he was told.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper destroyed the unconscious guard's police walkie talkie and gun by crushing them between his jaws as if they were made out of soft balsa wood.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin and Jasper continued toward the roof door that'll lead them down into the building.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This door is locked," announced Durgin. "We need to enter a security pass code."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're super heroes!" cried Jasper. We don't need a pass code. Use your super strength!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin punched his fists right through the metal door. He took hold of the door, yanked it away from the steel framework, and gently leaned it against the wall. "My super strength is awesome!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They passed through the doorway and walked down a flight of stairs to the top floor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Let's take an elevator down to the twenty-third floor," commanded Jasper. "You better put on your special eye goggles so you'll know which humans have been taken over by the trivicks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin wrapped his special electronic goggles' strap tightly around his head and Velcro fastened it. Now he looks more like a bug-eyed alien than a superhero. He pressed the button to call for the elevator. After a few moments, the doors slid open to reveal four surprised security guards curiously looking at him.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin jumped into the elevator cab. Within a minute, he disarmed the guards, connected them together, back to back with their own handcuffs, and then he rolled them out of the cab. "Sorry, guys, but my superhero dog and I need to use this elevator."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They traveled down to the twenty-third floor. As they stepped out into a huge lobby with three long hallways running off in three directions, everyone's eyes shot toward the strange superhero partners. One guy chuckled. "Hey buddy, I see your little hairy rat is wearing a matching Halloween costume."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin grabbed hold of the guy, lifted him three feet off the floor, and like bowling, he slid the guy more than forty feet along the length of the hallway. "I'm Super-Cross, and this little dog is my superhero partner. I suggest everyone vacate this floor…now…before you get hurt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone ran away except for six guards and a brave news crew with a video camera.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jasper, there seems to be a lot of guards here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The guards pulled their weapons and pointed them at Durgin. "You're under arrest. Remove your masked hood and place your hands on top of your head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper walked out towards the news camera. "We're here to eliminate an extreme leftist threat against your freedoms…everyone's precious freedoms…and your weapons cannot stop us."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone awed and ooed to hear the little dog talk.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He's a devil dog," screamed a freighted guard. He aimed his thirty-eight at Jasper and fired.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jasper snapped at the approaching bullet, and he spit the slug out onto the floor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Durgin approached the guard who fired the gun, yanked his gun out of his hand, rolled it up into a perfectly shaped round ball, and gave it back to him. "You should be ashamed of yourself for shooting at a cute little helpless dog."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The terrified guard ran away along the hallway, screaming like little girl.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The remaining guards repeatedly fired their guns at Durgin. After the guards empted their clips, the superhero detective opened his hand to show them that he caught every bullet. "Are you guys ready to give up?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nobody answered him. They just stood there with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Since you men have nothing to say, then please line up facing the wall, and think about how close you all came to having your arms and legs tied into square knots."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They silently lined up against the wall.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Would someone please point me in the direction of Congresswoman Betty Obeany's office?" asked Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Betty isn't in her office," said a female Fox News journalist."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where is she?" asked Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "As usual, she's in her luxurious conference room, having a closed door secret meeting with five democratic congressmen," replied the pretty, blond-haired female reporter. "They're most likely planning ways to steal more of our money and more of our freedoms."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, they conduct all their corrupt business behind closed doors," voiced Jasper. "That's how Obamacare was forced down every American's throat!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and every one of their secret meetings destroys our American way of life," sputtered the female journalist. "They're destroying our great country from within!" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Did you hear that, Super-Cross?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, we may have hit the jackpot!" Cross walked over to the female reporter and extended his hand. "What's your name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Donella Paxton." She boldly shook his hand.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Donella is beautiful name, thus rightly matching your unique beauty."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She smiled along with happy twinkles in her deep green eyes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm Super-Cross. I'm invincible, extremely handsome, single, in my late twenties, and I enjoy late evening meals in front of my enchanted rock-faced fireplace."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell, Super-Cross," barked Jasper. "This isn't the dating game! We have superhero work to do."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, yeah. Donella, if you'll be kind enough to show me the way to Congresswoman Betty Obeany's conference room door, I'll allow you to be my exclusive Super-Cross correspondent."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh yes…Okay, follow me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Cross and Jasper followed Donella and her cameraman along the hallway to the right. She stopped in front of a large double door made out of solid oak.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Super-Cross withdrew his Buck Roger's laser gun out of his black holster. "Donella, please stand back while I use my superhero strength to kick open these hardwood doors. I wouldn't want you to be hurt from flying wood splinters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Donella and her cameraman stepped back out of the way.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Cross kicked the doors open and ran into the conference room. Through his special goggles, he can see six ugly trivick aliens sitting around a large oak conference table. The aliens like red-haired gorillas with human size cockroach heads. He fired his laser gun, and each democratic government official reverted to his or her ugly trivick form before fading away into nonexistence.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Stew, please tell me that you've capture everything on video?" Donella excitedly asked.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes," replied her Fox News cameraman."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's flipping fantastic," Donella joyfully cried. I'm going to have a Pulitzer wining news article, she thought, and a real superhero lover that'll pleasure me for hours instead of a few minutes. She stealthy unbuttoned a few more top buttons on her blouse, thus allowing for an improved view of her deep valley of the kings, and then she turned her attention toward the superhero detective. "Super-Cross, what were those horrible creatures?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They are the true evil behind our far-left extremist government. Their trivick aliens who have merged with our democratic leaders. Today, we've eliminated seven of these monsters, which is a damn good start, and killing off the trivick aliens is a hell of a lot easier than trying to vote them out of office."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This explains the terrible mess our country is in," excitedly voiced Donella. "Now we can show these democratic far-left alien monsters to the American people, thus waking them up to once again fill their hearts with the same American pride our great forefathers felt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "God bless America and everything wonderful she stands for," said Super-Cross.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Super-Cross, do you think this trivick infiltration goes all the way to the top?" asked Donella.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes we do," chimed Jasper, "and after we've eliminated all the trivicks, your America will once again be the greatest country in the world. They'll be jobs for everyone, and everyone will be able to choose their own healthcare insurance program."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Cross walked over to the conference table and wrote down his telephone number on a small notepad. He tore the sheet off the pad and returned to the female reporter's side. "Donella, being new at being an invincible superhero, I haven't had time to print up some decorative superhero business cards, so I wrote down my cell phone number."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She accepted his note, folded it up, and slid it down into her bra between her majestic mountains. "I'm going to keep your number warm, right here next to my heart", and I'll be dreaming about our naked late night evening meal in front of your enchanted rock-faced fireplace."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy bonanza! I love being an invincible superhero," shouted Super-Cross.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, Cross, don't let it go to your little head," sputtered Jasper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jasper," said Donella, "I bet you'd love to meet my adorable white-haired Chihuahua. Her name is Eve."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "And my new doggy name is Adam," voiced Jasper while his tail vigorously danced.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">© December 2011</p>
<p> </p>
The Disappearance Of Steven Dobbs ...A short sci-fi shocking romance story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-12-13:3798404:BlogPost:114050
2011-12-13T21:46:33.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b>The Disappearance Of Steven Dobbs</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi shocking romance story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steven Dobbs sat down on a rock to rest by a beautiful stream snaking down a mountain side. The mid-morning sky is clear and the air is so refreshing that…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b>The Disappearance Of Steven Dobbs</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi shocking romance story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steven Dobbs sat down on a rock to rest by a beautiful stream snaking down a mountain side. The mid-morning sky is clear and the air is so refreshing that Steve feels rejuvenated, as if the Houston smog has been cleansed from his entire body.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve's big city friends thought he was crazy to take a leave of absence from his high-tech engineering job to go by himself on a one month backpacking trip in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. They warned him about the dangers hidden in the wilderness, and he'd be risking his life. But being jilted by his long-term girlfriend a few days before their big wedding has made Steve highly determined to venture through the wilderness by himself. He wants to be alone with nature's wonderful gifts, and he doesn't care if these gifts include bears, snakes, poison ivy, and annoying bugs. He wants to sleep on the ground under the twinkling stars, next to a cozy campfire, far away from people like his heart stabbing ex-girlfriend who at the last moment realized she's a lesbian. He knows his walkabout through the wilderness is basically generated on self-pity, but it'll give him plenty of alone time to reflect upon his life, and it'll provide him the manly courage he needs to build up a new self-importance. It was a real downer being dumped and replaced with a woman.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve watched the crystal clear water swiftly flow by with sunbeams dancing on the surface. I've showed them all, he thought. This is my tenth day of backpacking here in the wilderness. I'm still alive, and I feel stronger than ever. He chuckled to himself. By the end of the month, I'll be commanding the wild animals like Tarzan the ape man.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve stood up, slid on his heavy backpack, and continued on his wilderness trek.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After hiking along the edge of the stream for more than three miles, he entered a beautiful wide valley where the stream flows into a small lake. He stopped and stood motionless to watch three bucks and six does grazing on the lake's grassy banks and drinking the fresh water. The deer are elegant wild animals, and Steve couldn't understand how a hunter can bring himself to shoot one. All of a sudden, the deer frantically ran off in different directions. Steve can hear a strange humming motor-like sound overhead, but there's no airplane in site. The noise grew louder and Steve could sense the presence of something overhead. In the field off to the left of the lake, a loud impact blast occurred, the ground erupted like an earthquake, and it parted as if a large object crashed. The invisible object slid a few hundred yards across the field, leaving behind a deep trench, and when it came to a stop, it became visible. To Steve's astonishment, he's gazing at an oddly shaped vessel with six short stubby wings, and a huge silver torpedo-like body.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The first thing that popped into his mind is perhaps it’s a spaceship filled with little green men from a planet made out of blue cheese. His second thought is it's a new type of aircraft on a maiden test flight that failed; however, it was invisible, and his knowledge about aerodynamics tells him the wings are too short to be an airplane. Maybe it’s a colossal missile with a huge atomic warhead, he thought, but why the hell would it crash here in the middle of no man's land?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve stumbled a few times while he walked toward the crash site without taking his eyes off the weird vessel. He nervously approached the rear of the vessel and touched the surface. It's extremely smooth, cool, hard, and he couldn't figure out what type of material the vessel is made out off. He marched up to the ship's nose, which is partially covered with a large pile of earth it plowed up during the crash landing. Steve ran his hand over the ship's skin, looking for a hatchway seam. He walked around to the other side of the vessel to find a thin door seam next to a small sprung open control panel cover.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Do I want to open this ship's hatchway? he asked himself within his mind while pressing the door's control panel buttons, looking for the right sequence to open the hatchway door. Swoosh, the hatchway slid open within a few nanoseconds. He unsheathed his bowie knife and held it out like a gun to lead his way through the hatchway into the vessel. After stepping inside and looking around, the peculiar unfamiliarity of the ship's interior proves it's a spaceship from another world. Steve turned right and entered the large cockpit. Strapped in what appears to be the pilot's chair is a beautiful alien female. The other three chairs within the cockpit are empty. The female looks human except for having six fingers on each hand, light bluish green skin, long yellow hair, shimmering like strands of weaved gold, and she has large lioness shaped ears. Steve leaned over and placed his ear against her body, directly under her large left breast. He can hear her heart beating normally, that is normally like a human beating heart. She's wearing a tight silver jumpsuit partially zipped up the front, thus offering a pleasurable view of what Steve considers to be sexually classified as a number ten cleavage. His deep curiosity about the attractive alien female forced him to touch her face. Her skin is supple and warm, feeling just like human skin. Her eyes are closed making her appear that she's simply asleep, just like Sleeping Beauty, other than there being a bizarre alien twist in the fairytale. Steve continued to stare at the alien female's beautiful face and attractive body. Yes, she is different, although different can be a good thing, he thought. He's thinking she maybe unconscious from the sudden harsh impact that was created when the ship crashed. He decided to explore the rest the spaceship to make sure there was no one else aboard. With his trusted bowie knife leading the way, he began his search. After nearly two hours of searching every weird and wonderful room on three decks, he's pleased that the female alien is the only one aboard the ship. Steve returned to the cockpit to figure out how to wake her up. He vigorously shook her shoulders, and he tried sprinkling droplets of cold water on her forehead, but nothing was working. Oh, the hell with it, I'll try the Sleeping Beauty method of giving her kiss. He placed his lips on her bluish-green lips and kissed her.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> It was probably a coincidence that her eyes suddenly popped open, and with an angry expression on her face, she raised her right hand and slapped him hard across his bearded face. "Oh, wow, that hurt, and you're awake." He noticed her huge emerald green, anime eyes, and their lovely uniqueness is way beyond the meaning of beauty. For over a minute they stared into each other's eyes. She seemed just as curious about him as he is about her. She reached out, grabbed his muscular hand, and then she slowly turned it while examining his five fingers. "Yes, I only have five digits compared to your six." He chuckled. "I bet with your extra digits you can probably type over three hundred words a minute."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With curiosity in her unique alien eyes, she stare at him for a long moment.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve pointed his right index finger at his mouth. "Can…you…speak?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She nodded, and then she danced her fingers on a glass keyboard attached to her piloting console. Two tiny electronic gadgets shaped like spiders metalized on her console. She picked one up and handed to Steve. He examined it for a moment. "What do you want me to do with this?" He couldn't help but notice her lioness shaped ears moving about along with her facial expressions. She placed her tiny gadget against her neck, under her long yellow hair, then she pulled her hand out from under her hair, and she's no longer holding the gadget.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve place his tiny gadget against his neck. "Damn that hurts like hell," he cried out as the spider gadget burrowed through his skin and tunneled toward the base of his brain where it attached itself.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Can you hear me speak your language?" asked the female alien.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I can hear you," Steve responded along with a wide smile. "Those tiny electronic spiders must be universal translators. What made you crash here in the wilderness?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The crash was caused by a time delayed disrupter bomb."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I haven't seen any damage to your ship's hull. What does a time delayed disrupter bomb disrupt?" asked Steve.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It disrupts the ship's internal power processes. I'm not familiar with this section of the universe. What planet am I on?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your on earth, which is the third planet from the sun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "When I woke up, why were your lips pressed against my lips?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh…oh, it's called mouth to mouth resuscitation. I was in the process of saving your life. It's similar to kissing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What is kissing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kissing is what people do when they care about each other."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "kissing interests me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I know, you slapped me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It felt as you were touching me in a rude manner."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your alien race doesn't kiss?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Within my human race kissing is a pleasurably necessity during sexual foreplay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My race of beings do not act like lower form animals. We do not physically engage with each other."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How does your species propagate?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The eggs and sperm required for reproduction are extracted from our bodies and grown within the confines of birthing labs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, that ruins all the fun of it." He paused to shake his head. "Do you have a name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My name is Zeena."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My name is Steven Dobbs, but everyone calls me Steve."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zeena, who planted a time delayed disrupter bomb in your spaceship?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zonist space pirates seized my ship within an anti-pulse web. I hid in a secret cargo hold while the pirates removed my robotic crew for salvage. When they disengaged my ship from the anti-pulse web, I fired up my trans-pulse engines and escaped. The Zonist space pirates are super villainous, and as a precautionary measure they planted the time delayed disrupter bomb aboard my ship." She deeply sighed. "Now I'm marooned here on your planet earth!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can help you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zeena laughed. "What can you do for me? You’re a primitive species with hair on your face and your toting your possessions in a bag mounted on your back."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, no, I'm on vacation backpacking in the wilderness. I'm from Houston, Texas, which is a huge modern metropolis. My human race has technology, such as electricity, computers, cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, spaceships, and Super Walmarts."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Her lioness ears drooped a little. "I may be in a worse situation than I thought. Has your race ever met an alien from another planet?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're the first alien I've met. Some people claim an alien spacecraft crashed in Roswell, New Mexico long before I was born. I've never believed it up until now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not supposed to be here. This sector of the universe is forbidden. If you hadn't noticed, I don't look like your species."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I know you're different, but you do have more human features than alien. I see as you as a beautiful alien female. I love the bluish green color of your body, your six fingers on each hand are awesome, and your big round eyes are magnificent."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I thank you for the compliments; however; others of your species are going to treat me as lab animal. They'll slice me open to view my internal alien organs. She stood up on wobbly feet. "I feel like the impact of the crash has jostled my innards and overly stretched many of muscles."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where were you going when the Zonist space pirates trapped your spaceship in their anti-pulse web?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm a galactic journalist. I was traveling to the fourth prime planet in the Larton Nebula sector to investigate a galaxy-wide government takeover by the brean radicals."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, I don't know what the brean radicals are; however I am surprised to learn you're a galactic journalist. Do you write stories for a particular news agency?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, I'm an independent journalist who sells my news stories to the highest bidder."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Can your ship be repaired?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Possibly." Zeena nodded her head. "The ship's power systems are coming back on line as the effects of the disrupter bomb wears off. Although it would be too difficult to liftoff without my robotic grew. I'm feeling a little better and I'm hungry, so I'm heading to the galley to prepare some food."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She started to walk, but stumbled, and Steve grabbed her within his arms. "I can help you to the galley." He realized her long yellow hair smells just as wonderful as human female's hair do.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With his arm tightly wrapped around Zeena's gorgeous alien body, Steve guided her along the first deck main passageway to the ship's galley. He help her warm up some green gravy and purple slices of alien animal meat for making hot open face sandwiches, and then he joined her for in the small mess hall for a mid-afternoon lunch.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How do you like your fongo beast sandwich with wonko worm gravy?" asked Zeena.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, everything was delicious. The fongo beast tastes like what we call chicken, and your baked bread tastes similar to our bread."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Steve, thanks for helping me. I'm starting to feel a little stronger."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I think you need to rest."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm worried that other humans may have seen my spaceship crash land."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I doubt it." Steve briskly shook his head. "Your spaceship was invisible until it came to a stop."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, good, the mirrored stealth mode was activated when I passed through your atmosphere. Knowing this I can rest easier now. Can you help me to my sleeping quarters?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'd be honored to help you." Steve again wrapped his arm around her to steady her walking. He sense she's still in pain from having her body whiplashed and her muscles stretched during the sudden stop of the crash.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He guided to her quarters.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How did you know this is where I sleep?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Before you became conscious, I searched your spaceship for survivors. There's twelve sleeping quarters and eleven of them haven't been used recently."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Robots don't require sleeping quarters. It took me nearly one home planet revolution around the sun to save enough credits to purchase a robotic crew."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why a robotic crew?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "More profit for me, plenty of alone time, and I don't have to deal with a living crew."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve chuckled. "Alone time is the reason why I'm backpacking in the wilderness."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve sat Zeena on her bed and turned to leave.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Steve, can you please help me remove my flight suit?" asked Zeena while displaying helpless expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She pulled the zipper down and Steve helped her out of her one-piece garment. To his surprise, the only thing she was wearing is her flight suit. He instantly classified Zeena's naked body as being beyond a number ten, and being naked doesn't seem to be an issue with her. She stretched out on the bed, flat on her back. "Oh, my muscles do ache."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zeena, do you want me to help you get under the covers?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No thanks. The ship's internal atmosphere feels good upon my skin. Will you watch over me and make sure I'm safe?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Of course I will. Would you like me to massage your muscles."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Will massaging my muscles make me feel better?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup." Steve nodded his head while displaying a very wide grin."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Very well, you may touch my body."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve began to massage her. Her light bluish green skin is flawless, warm, and extra smooth. She softly moaned in rhythm with his gentle kneading upon the beautiful sections of her alien body. He realized he deliberately set himself up for the ultimate sexual tease, but he didn't care. For almost an hour, his massaging job felt like heaven on earth. He stopped kneading her body when she fell asleep. For a long time he sat next to her on the bed, visually examining every amazing curve of her naked body.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve picked up his backpack and entered Zeena's bathroom to wash the Rocky Mountain wilderness off his body. It took him a while to figure out how to operate the alien bathroom fixtures. The shower cubical was exceptionally relaxing. It was similar to walking into a combination microwave oven and automatic car wash. The floor of the cubical rotated his naked body while forceful jets of hot steam, hot water, and flower smelling liquid soup was automatically applied to his entire body. The final shower mode was a powerful flow of hot air that rapidly dried his body. He enjoyed it so much that ran his body through the cleansing cycle three times. Besides, it also helped him to come down from his sexual high. Massaging Zeena's naked body was like smelling and touching a tasty cupcake without being allowed to eat it. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steve gazed at his cleanly shaved face in the 3D mirror. Now in Zeena's eyes I won't look a hairy face animal. Wow, this alien bathroom is a hundred times better than any bathroom I'd find in a five-star hotel, he reckoned. I feel and look like a new man. Who'd thought a trek through the wilderness would lead me to a beautiful female alien and luxury to boot. The only unhappy thought is Zeena doesn't believe in physical love making. She thinks the joys of sex is only for the lower life animals. We're all animals. The only difference is our intelligence. I wonder how she fights off her primitive inner animalist sex urges. Maybe her religion has real tough rules. The Catholic church forbids priests and nuns to marry and have sex. If they would allow them to have sex, the priests would most likely stop giving the choirboys private singing lessons.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Feeling refreshed with a clean set of western duds, Steve exited the bathroom to see Zeena sleeping like an angel. He again sat down on her bed to gaze at her beautiful naked body. After awhile he stretched out next to her and fell asleep.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Early in the morning, Steve woke up to find Zeena with her arms tightly wrapped around his body. Her naked breasts are pressed against the left side of his chest and her left leg is locked around his left leg. He can feel the warmth of her sleeping breath blowing against his neck.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Oh my God, I'm wearing an alien straightjacket made of sweet bluish green lollypops and I can't use my animalistic instincts to lick my way free!</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Being afraid to wake Zeena up, Steve remained locked in her arms. A joyful half hour drifted by and Steve decided to attempt an escape before Zeena wakes up. He slowly moved her arms, and then he reached down to move her leg.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're a very comfortable male alien," voiced Zeena.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You asked me to watch over me and make sure your safe."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your face is now hairless." She placed her warm six fingered hand on his cheek. "I like it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I shaved of my whiskers off."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why were you sleeping with your clothes on?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because I felt it was the respectful thing to do."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, nonsense. If I'm still on your planet tonight, when you watch over me in my bed, I require you to remove your clothing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If that's what you desire; however, you're going to notice my sexual animal instincts permanently protruding from my naked body."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I remember. Your magnificent body massage aroused my hidden animal instincts. I've never felt such bodily pleasures. I'd like to explore these animal pleasures in greater detail."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You would?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now would be a good time."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…no, I can't stay here on your planet earth. I need to repair my ship and figure out how to take off without my robotic crew."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zeena, I can help you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, Steve, you've already done so much for me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, really, I don't mind."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're too good to me." She sprang off the bed and ran into the bathroom. "Wait for me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Twenty minutes later, Zeena rushed out of the bathroom wearing a purple flight suit. For the next four hours, Steve closely followed Zeena throughout the ship while she made slight repairs and adjustments on control panels.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After having a wonderful lunch together in the mess hall, they went to the cockpit. Zeena sat down in the pilot's chair and activated her console. She pushed a symbol on the glass keyboard and her chair automatically widened to the size of a loveseat. "Steve, please sit down next to me. I enjoy being close to you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay," he replied along with a broad handsome smile. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She danced her twelve fingers on the glass keyboard for a moment. "The ship's computer is now performing a pre-ignition diagnostics test."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zeena, will this test will tell you if there's any problems with the ship's vital systems?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes it will. You are an extremely intelligent human male."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm an electrical and mechanical engineer," Steve said with pride in his tone. "Your technology is highly advanced than ours, but I do understand bits and pieces of it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zeena cuddled up against him and tears began to roll down her cheeks, dripping onto her flight suit.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, Zeena my dear, what's wrong?" he asked while displaying a concerned expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I wish I could stay here with you. Together we can explore these pleasurable inner sexual desires I've been feeling ever since I met you. I'm craving for our naked bodies to link together in a primitive mating frenzy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow! That would be awesome." said Steve.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She moved closer, pressing her gorgeous alien body against him. "Before I depart to never see you again, I'd like to again experience your mouth to mouth resuscitation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Steven passionately kissed Zeena. Their alien tongues met for the first time within the joining of their oral caves, and they amalgamated in a lustful wet dance.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After the long kiss, Steve realized it was the most sexually exciting kiss he has ever experienced. His desires for wanting to make love to the alien female are overwhelming.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Without my robotic crew to help me liftoff and pass through your planet's atmosphere, there's a good chance my spaceship will be destroyed. Although death would be far better than being a lab animal for your scientist to probe and dissect."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zeena, can you teach me how to assist you during your liftoff?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I can, but I cannot allow you to leave your life behind and voyage with me throughout the universe."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…no, that's okay. I have no future here on earth! My relatives and friends will think I was eaten by a bear. This is the wilderness, and scores of backpackers have disappeared every year."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zeena smiled. "Oh, Steve, you've made me so happy. Now we can join together to satisfy our sexual animalistic desires." She hugged him, smothering his face into her cleavage, between her magnificent alien mountains. "I promise I'll take good care of you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> For the next few hours, Zeena showed Steven what buttons to push and what instruments to monitor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I think we're ready to liftoff," announced Zeena along with a Cheshire cat grin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She pulled a red lever and legs extended outward from the underside of the ship, thus slanting the nose upward. "Steve, after a ten second countdown we're going liftoff," Zeena excitedly shouted.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The ship shot forward and turned upward. Within five minutes, they passed through earth's atmosphere and entered the darkness of space.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Displayed on an overhead monitor, Steve watched the earth grow smaller as they exited the solar system.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With help from the ship's computer, Zeena charted a course to her home galaxy, and then she initiated the auto pilot.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After a wonderful dinner, per Zeena's orders, Steve used the bathroom first. He slid his naked body under the covers to wait excitedly for her to finish up in the bathroom. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> While in the bathroom, Zeena picked up what looks like a cell phone. She pressed a few buttons on the face of the gadget and spoke into it. "Hi, Zody, I have some thrilling news to tell you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, what's up my best female friend?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've successfully captured my own human male sex toy. He's exceptionally handsome and extremely muscular. His name is Steve and I know he's going to sexually pleasure me maybe seven or eight times a day."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh wow, Zeena, I'm so happy for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I figure if I take good care of him, he'll last maybe fifty planetary revolutions around our sun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Was he hard to catch?" asked Zody.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It was easy. I locked in on him with my ship's scanners and faked a crash landing right in front him. You know how gullible those stupid humans can be. I was a perfect actress. Everything I said to gain Steve's trust was fongo shit. My human sex toy is already eating fongo meat out of the palm of my hand. He's my property and I've already tagged him with an implanted obedience chip. Actually, he's so dimwitted that he tagged himself, thinking the chip was a universal translator."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I wish I could afford a human male sex toy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Someday you'll be making enough credits to afford one. But hey, you're my special female friend, and I'd be willing to occasionally share Steve with you. I just saw my capture sex toy naked for the first time, and his sex organ is exceedingly impressive."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, Zeena to share him with me would be wonderful."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I plan to buy Steve a designer collar and leash. You know, the ones with those rare shiny stones embedded on them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zeena, you're so lucky. You're going to be the number one sex talk on every planet in our solar system galaxy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I know, and Zigzee will be so jealous of me. Her male human sex toy is becoming old and worn out. Rumors have been flying around that Zigzee's planning to have him put to sleep."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I've been told it's best to have them put to sleep when they can no longer satisfy your sexual desires. The doctor gives them a shot and without any pain, they pass away within a few minutes. My boss has three human male sex toys buried in her backyard, right next to her patio. She likes sit out on her patio and remember the millions of pleasurably orgasms they provided for her. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, I hate to say goodbye, Zody, but my sex toy is waiting me. I'm anxious to see how well he performs.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Happy orgasms, said Zody." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© December 2011</p>
<p> </p>
The Christmas Party Snow Creatures ...A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-12-08:3798404:BlogPost:113258
2011-12-08T02:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5"><br></br></span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5">The Christmas Party Snow Creatures</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, there's a big snowstorm heading our way," announced Jewell. "The weatherman is…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5">The Christmas Party Snow Creatures</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, there's a big snowstorm heading our way," announced Jewell. "The weatherman is predicting up to two feet of snow." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, this is East Texas, I doubt if we're going to get anymore than two inches of snow."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, two feet of snow is what the weatherman said."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "To increase his network ratings the weather guy would probably like to say we're going to have a New England size blizzard mixed in with a bunch of Texas tornados."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you almost done changing out the brake pads?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, I'm probably not going to have this doggone truck fixed until after Christmas. One of my brake <em>calipers</em> is seized up tighter than a pregnant tick."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's because It's a Ford."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do mean by that?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My grandfather use to say Ford means, <i>'Fix Or Repair Daily'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake chuckled. "Well my grandfather said Ford means, <i>'Found On Road Dead'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's funny," said Jewell, along with a silly giggle. "You've got about a half hour left before you'll need to come in the house and get cleaned up for your company Christmas party."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll be in the house after I clean up this damn mess. Besides, there's nothing else I can do with the truck but let the seized up brake caliper soak in Marvel Mystery Oil for a day or two, and then I'll rebuild it like new."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, I don't understand. We have plenty of money, so why don't you pay a local garage to change out the brake pads."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because I don't trust anyone else to work on my vehicles but me. Besides, I enjoy doing the mechanical work."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, you don't look too happy now with a stuck up caliper."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake shrugged his broad shoulders. "Shit happens."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose it does."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Speaking about shit happening," said Jake, "a few hours ago I received another threatening call from the comedian who's claiming to be an alien from another planet in a galaxy far, far away!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe he's a real alien who doesn't want the human race to have cold fusion."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake belly laughed for a long moment. "I don't believe it!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "For years you've been saying the development of cold fusion will be our greatest technological achievement. It'll solve all of our energy problems, and it'll allow us to explore the universe with light speed intergalactic spaceships powered with cold fusion reactors. Obviously the alien doesn't want us to venture beyond our planet earth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Again Jake laughed. "Jewell, the only place aliens exist is in the minds of people who purchase those ridiculous grocery store checkout aisle magazines." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jewell slammed the barn door and scurried across the backyard to the ranch house. Like the weatherman had predicted, the temperature has dropped below freezing and the gray clouded sky is starting to spit large puffy snowflakes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The first two Christmas party couples rang the front doorbell while Jake was getting dressed after taking a long hot shower. Jewell answered the door, welcomed them in, and showed them to the bar where three cold kegs of beer are on tap.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Three more couples arrived by the time Jake came down stairs to welcome his workmate buddies employed at his company, Ponderosa Engineering and Development. "Hello everybody," he shouted. "I see you guys brought your wives instead of your girlfriends."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Shit, Jake, words like that might transform my wife into Lorena Bobbitt," cried Russell.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where you been, Jake?" asked Garrett. "Afraid to associate us losers after our many test failures to create cold fusion?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Garrett, don't kick yourself in the ass. I'm classifying yesterday's test as what I call a near-success. In my guts I know we're real close to coming up with the correct atom splitting chemistry, and every test brings us closer to creating an endless supply of clean and safe energy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If you say so; nevertheless, during your wonderful Christmas party I plan to drown my sadness within your kegs of beer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "In that case, you'd better give me your truck keys," demanded Garrett's wife.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, Jake, Jewell says you received another threatening phone call," said Garrett with a concerned expression. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup." Jake nodded his head. "I'm pretty sure it’s somebody pulling my chain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What did he say?" asked Joleen, Jake's only employed female engineer.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Pretty much the same shit he said before. <i>'Our alien world will not permit your human race to discover cold fusion. Continued attempts must cease or lives will be terminated'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is the third threatening call you've received from this joker claiming to be an alien from another world," voiced Garrett. "This prankster has called you within a day after our cold fusion experiments were conducted, and we're the only ones who know about these tests. There has to be leak, or perhaps it's one of us making the prank calls."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake chuckled. "Hey, we're more than coworkers, we're friends, and I doubt if one of you are making these phone calls. Whoever they are, they're not going to frighten me into shelving our cold fusion project. Now let's change the subject. Except for Joleen and her boyfriend Lou, we've all pawned our children off to babysitters and relatives so we can eat, drink, and be merry, and that's what we're going to do!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake's stereo softly filled the huge living room and dining room with golden classic Christmas music. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jewell served her guests many different platters of party finger foods and fancy Christmas deserts. Many conversations flourished as everyone ate, drank, and laughed. The six women were sitting together at the dining room table, occasionally talking about their husbands, and the six men are gathered around the living room bar, occasionally making fun about the mysteries of women's emotions. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, has anyone looked outside?" sputtered Garrett while peeking out between the ivory colored blinds. "The snow is accumulating fast. There must be over eight inches on the ground."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, I told you so," voiced Jewell.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, you did, dear!" Jake stood up and waved his arms around. "Don't anyone panic. Our house is large enough for everyone to spend the night."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dale, with our new Toyota four wheeler pickup, if we leave now, we shouldn't have any trouble driving to my parent's house to pick up the kids," said Allyson.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Friends, I hate to leave the party early," announced Dale, "but I must obey my wife's orders."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, we know Allyson keeps a tight noose around your tiny rabbit balls," shouted Garrett.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Dale retrieved their coats from off the bed in the downstairs guest bedroom. He headed outside to brush the snow off his pickup, and to start the engine up so it'll be warm for Allyson. A few minutes after Dale stepped outside into the blowing snowstorm, the electricity failed, plunging the house into darkness.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake quickly added larger oak logs on top of the glowing embers in the fireplace while Jewell frantically ran around lighting antique oil lamps.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It seems like every time we get a little ice on the roads," chimed Jake, "some damn idiot runs into an electrical pole!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, the jacked up fire is cozy," said Albert. "Buffy, why don't you break away from the trivial henhouse chatter and join me here on the sofa. On your way, you can bring some of those chips and dip for me to munch on."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, relax and imagine yourself making love to me," said Buffy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why the hell would I want to do that?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because for the rest of your life, the only sex you'll be having with me will be within your imagination!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone but Albert broke out in laughter.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I'll get my own damn chips and dip." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake walked over to one of the front windows and pulled up the blinds, and then he shined a powerful flashlight beam out the window to help his engineering coworker to see.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Dale waved at Jake, and then he proceeded to finish brushing the heavy wet snow off his Toyota truck. Jake noticed a large patch of snow on the front yard began to move on its own, as if it were the Blob. "Hey, everybody, come check out this strange shit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone crowded around the six front windows to watch the moving snow form into two hideous werewolf-like creatures with fangs and claws made of ice.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell are those things?" shouted Albert, and then he downed a full glass of beer.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We need to warn Dale," screamed Jake. He started to bang on the window.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Dale's wife, Allyson, frantically ran to the front door, swung it open, and charged outside to see the snow creatures viciously attack her husband. One beast bit into Dale's neck while the other one twisted his head with its powerful clawed hands. Blood squirted from Dale's wounds like a turned on water sprinkler. The snow creature yanked Dale's head off his body and threw it at the window Jake was pounding on to worn Dale. The double pane insulated window shattered as Dale's decapitated head flew into the living room, landing on the hardwood floor, rolling into the fireplace between the brick wall and the blazing logs. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Allyson rapidly became more hysterical. She spun around in the deep snow, eager to reenter the house. Just as she took hold of the doorknob, one of the snow creatures grabbed hold of her arm and tore it from her body, and then the beast beat her on her head with her own arm until her agonizing screams were permanently silenced.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Russell partially stepped out onto the front walkway, but he quickly realized he couldn't save Allyson. He retreated to close the door, but the one of the creatures grabbed Russell's hand and pulled him out of the warm house, throwing him down onto the snow covered ground. Russell briefly screamed just before the other snow creature stomped on his head, crushing it flat like an overripe Christmas pumpkin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake scurried toward the front door, closing and locking it just before Russell's wife attempted to go outside. "I'm sorry, Daphne, there's nothing you can do for him."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A creature made out of snow killed my husband!" screamed Daphne with tears flowing down her cheeks, dripping onto her red and white Christmas dress. "How can this be happening?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know," replied Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drunken Albert poked his head up to look outside through the broken window.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Albert, get the hell away from there!" shouted Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Before Albert could react, one of the snow creatures reached in and crushed his head between its powerful hands. Albert's eyeballs popped out of his skull along with oozing blood and brain matter. Buffy stood up to run, but the other creature extended and reshaped its right arm into a long sword made of ice, which penetrated Buffy's back, heart, and exited through her chest. The ice sword snapped away from the creature as Buffy's lifeless body fell onto the floor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone gathered in front of the fireplace, pulling furniture toward them to use as a protective barricade against the snow creatures.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Garrett, help me tip the sofa up on end to cover the broken window," ordered Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, good…buddy…boss man," replied Garrett with a slur in his tone.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After leaning the sofa against the window, they scurried back to the heat of the fireplace. "For protection we need to stay within the heat," uttered Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah," said Garrett, "it was the heat from the sun that melted Frosty the snowman." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Joleen and her boyfriend Lou are cuddled together on the floor between the fireplace and the huge Christmas tree.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kathleen is trying to console crying Daphne without any luck.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake called the county police station and told the dispatcher someone is trying to break into his house, which is a much more believable story than saying they're being attacked by snow creatures. The female dispatcher nervously explained that the unusual snowstorm is causing three to four hour delays, and if he has a gun, he needs to use it.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's going to be no help from the county police," Jake announced. "Everyone stay here while I fetch us some weapons from my gun safe."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, good buddy, do you think your guns will do us any good against those snow creatures?" asked Garrett. "When I was a kid I shot a snowman, and I don't think he died."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe bullets will kill them, or maybe they won't, but I'll feel safer with a loaded forty-five by my side. Jake courageously ran down the dark hallway and entered his home office. He groped around in the dark until he found a penlight to help him see the gun safe combination numbers while he turned the tumbler. After collecting three guns and plenty of ammo, he ran back to join the others. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, is there anything you can do about Dale's head? asked Jewell. "The smell of it cooking like a rotisserie chicken is becoming horrifying."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake used the iron poker to roll the cooking head out of the fire place onto the polished granite hearth, and then he jabbed the poker deep into Dale's open mouth, thus using it to slide the smoldering head across the living room floor over to the front windows. "Damn, that has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever done!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks, dear," Jewell said with tears in her eyes. "What are we going to do? Without electricity, the temperature in the house is going to drop below freezing, and there's not enough wood to keep the fireplace blazing all night."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We can't let the fire die out or those snow creatures will come in here and rip us apart. When we run out of logs I'll have to start burning the furniture, the Christmas tree, and probably our neatly wrapped presents from under the Goddamn tree."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, my intoxicated brain is thinking these murdering snow creatures have something to do with your threatening phone calls," voiced Garrett. "Snow just doesn't magically turn into Christmas party monsters with claws, teeth, and eyeballs made of glittering ice."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake deeply inhaled and then he blew the air out of his lungs with a long sigh. "I'm thinking you're right, although I've never seen any proof that aliens exist. Without proof, their like all the other mythic beings in our lives, such as God, ghosts, goblins, Bigfoot, and the Lock Nest monster. I'm an engineer and a scientist! My mind has been scientifically programmed not to believe anything without proof."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My scientific mind is telling me these snow creatures are somehow being spawned by the alien who's been threatening to kill us, and so far he's been doing a damn good job of it." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> An hour passed by as the seven survivors out of twelve sat together on the floor in front of the fireplace. They can hear the snow creatures stomping around outside.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I need to go use the bathroom," Joleen said as she stood up.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Joleen," whispered Jake. "I'll walk with you down the hallway and check out the bathroom."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, that'll be…" A long pointed spear made out ice shattered through one of the front windows and entered Joleen's back, partially exiting through her chest. She briefly screamed while grabbing the protruding spear, and then she collapsed, knocking over the Douglas Fir Christmas tree.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Daphne frantically jumped up to run, but two more ice spears crashed through the windows, each knifing into her back. She managed to take several steps into the dining room before collapsing.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake poked his head up over the furniture and fired five rounds through the windows. "I'm just wasting my damn ammunition!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy shit balls!" snapped Garrett, "there's only five of us left! …We're doomed!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's only you and me left to continue working on our cold fusion project," sputtered Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, and I know there had to be a leak in our ranks!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake thought for a moment, and then he pointed his forty-five at Joleen's boyfriend. "Lou, you've been overly quiet tonight. How come you didn't blink a sad eye when Joleen was killed?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm in shock."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Bullshit! You just made your first big mistake. I've known Garrett and Kathleen for over fifteen years, and Garrett shares my dream of developing cold fusion."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lou's body started to shudder and shake. His skin began to dissolve as if saturated with a powerful acid.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake thought about placing a few forty-five slugs into Lou's head, but his curiosity wanted to see what he was transferring into. The outer layers of Lou's body was dripping away in a gory viscous matter. An ugly multi-limbed creature emerged from the bloody mass of goo and clothing.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Whatever you are, that's far enough, or I'll put a big bullet in your ugly bug head," warned Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The weird looking centipede-like creature has six legs and four arms with human shaped hands. It pivoted its triangular shaped head around to gaze at Jake with three orange colored eyes. "Okay, I'm not moving."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Good, because that means you don't want to die, which gives me full control over your alien ass."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…I don't want to die."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How did you create the snow creatures?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I added preprogrammed robotic nanos to the snow. They rapidly multiplied and formed into my assassination creatures. I warned you not to continue pursuing the development of cold fusion."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why doesn't your alien race want us to develop cold fusion?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Our first contact mother ship will not arrive to your planet for nearly two of your earth years. I'm a commodity trade explorer, and your planet has many rare minerals to trade for our cold fusion technology. If you develop it before the mother ship arrives, I'll lose a great deal of profit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell! You viciously killed seven of my coworkers and friends for profit from a possible trade agreement between our races!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've been studying your planet for a long time, and your human race is always killing each other."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "killing mostly happens in our wars!" snapped Jake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wars that take place because agreements can't be made," huffily voiced the alien.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why didn't you make first contact with me and explain your predicament. I'm sure we could've worked out some kind of deal."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "As I said, you humans would rather go to war than make a deal."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Was Lou a real human being who you took control of like a parasite?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, I used my robotic nanos to alter myself into a human being. While I was surveying your trade commodities, my ship's scanner locked onto a cold fusion signature during your testing. Your organization is very close to developing cold fusion. Therefore, I had no choice but to stop you by any means possible. I transformed myself into a human being so I can infiltrate your scientific organization. To gather the information I required, I used my remote scanner to connect with Joleen's brain, and I altered her mind to believe I was her sexy man friend. Your human brains are soft and spongy, which makes them easy to control."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, Jake, the alien does have a point there," said Garrett, along with a giggle. "The liberal mass media has been controlling our spongy brains for years."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Garrett, I'm busy interrogating our alien prisoner. You need to stop drinking." Jake turned his attention back to the alien. Lou, why did you change back into your alien ugly self?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I accidently drank a mouthful of Joleen's highball drink, and the alcohol has ill-effects on my nano makeup, thus reversing the process."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So you didn't purposely revert back to your alien self."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…and now I'm too vulnerable."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What you are is a dumbass alien criminal who murders for profit. Are you working alone or does your alien race know what you've been doing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm working alone, protecting my personal profits. My race believes in planetary trade without any violence."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can't believe this!" sputtered Jake. "My first alien encounter and he's a flying asshole!" He's turned my Christmas party into a Friday the thirteenth massacre on Elm Street. Nobody else is going to be killed here tonight! Lou the vulnerable alien, I want you to deactivate your snow creatures! If you don't, then I'm going see how vulnerable your exoskeleton is against speeding bullets."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, did you know that Superman was alien?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Garrett, I told you to stop drinking! …Lou, I need you to deactivate your snow creatures!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry, but the preprogrammed robotic nanos cannot be deactivated. I also altered your East Texas weather pattern to produce a twenty-four hour snowstorm."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake deeply sighed in thought. "Jewell, I need you to hold this gun on Lou the alien. If he moves just a smidgen, shoot him!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jake, you know I'm afraid of your guns. I grew up in Marlboro, Massachusetts, which means I don't know how to use them for self-protection." She started to cry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kathleen slid across the hardwood floor over next to Jake. "I can do it. I've been firing guns since I was knee-high to a ladybug, and my hero husband is too damn drunk to do anything. What are you going to do? We're running out of logs for the fire."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm going to kill those snow werewolves before they walk into the house and rip us up in little gory tidbits."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How? Lou the alien said they can't be deactivated."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lou the alien has already told me how to kill them." Jake crawled on his belly into the dining room and along the hallway. He jumped up and ran upstairs to his son's bedroom.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake returned with three toy water pistols. He filled them up with vodka, and handed two of them out to Garrett and Kathleen. Garrett immediately fired his pistol into his mouth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, buddy, you're supposed to use the water pistol to shoot the snow creatures. Here, to sober you up I grabbed you a jar of instant coffee."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But there's no hot water."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just dissolve the brown powder in your mouth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Everyone stay down," voiced Jake. "I'm going to crawl over to the front door and open it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake crawled over to the door, unbolted it, and opened it. After a few minutes, one of the snow creatures appeared in the doorway. The glowing flames from the fireplace reflected in the creatures icy eyes. Jake squirted his water pistol just as the snow creature transformed its right arm into an extending ice sword. To avoid being stabbed Jake rolled across the floor while soaking the creature with vodka. The creature backed up and began to shake and melt.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "While Jake was watching the snow creature disappear, the second monster stepped through the doorway. It bent over to grab Jake when Garrett rushed forward with an open bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand, and an open bottle of Southern Comfort in his other hand. He poured the contents of both bottles over the monster's back. Jake rolled out of the way and stood up to watch the second snow creature melt.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, buddy, this is like watching the wicked witch of the west melt away."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, and thanks for the help. You saved my life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Anytime, although I've never been a good bartender."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake chuckled. "You're a good friend."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What are you going to do with Lou the alien?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm advising you not to invite him to next year's Christmas party."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Happy that the Christmas horror show is over, Jewell ran over to Jake and gave him a hug and kiss.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, I'm still over here pointing a gun at Lou the alien," huffed Kathleen.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake walked over next to Kathleen and the alien. "We need some rope to tie Lou up."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll fetch some rope," said Jewell.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?" shouted the alien.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Obviously you know the formula for developing cold fusion. So that my friend's deaths were not in vain, I'm going to hold you prisoner until you give me the information I require to complete the project."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, Jake, my buddy, how the hell are you going to explain this bloody mess to the police?" asked Garrett.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jake deeply sighed. "I don't have a damn clue how I'm going to explain this bloody mess!" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© December 2011</p>
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'There's A World In My Attic' ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-12-01:3798404:BlogPost:111782
2011-12-01T03:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>There's A World In My Attic</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John Ravenwood cheerfully moved into his late uncle's estate. A huge southern house, built in the mid eighteen hundreds, filled with precious antiques, and past mysteries. He just finished carrying in the last two boxes of his belongings, and now he's…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>There's A World In My Attic</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John Ravenwood cheerfully moved into his late uncle's estate. A huge southern house, built in the mid eighteen hundreds, filled with precious antiques, and past mysteries. He just finished carrying in the last two boxes of his belongings, and now he's sitting on the sofa enjoying a cold bottle of beer. His cell phone sounded for his attention with the theme from the Twilight Zone.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, speak."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "John."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hi, Misty."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you all moved in?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, I just finished bringing in the last two boxes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is the house nice?" asked Misty."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Its way beyond the word nice, and by the time you arrive on Tuesday, I'll have all the cobwebs swept out of the corners, I'll have the kitchen stocked with food, and we'll have a first candle light dinner celebration in our new home."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, John, I am excited. I'm still in disbelief that your uncle left you his house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, it's more than just a house, it's a mansion. I'm still in shock, but this morning I signed the papers with attorneys and we're the proud owners of this mansion. Right now, I'm sitting in a huge front parlor, looking up at a large portrait hanging over the fireplace mantel of my dear departed Uncle Sheldon. Although I don't recognize him; however, I've been told I met him a few times when I was knee high to a grasshopper."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your mother says he was a creepy man who lived in recluse."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Misty, he was an intelligent man, and sometimes too much intelligence can make a man eccentric."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Misty giggled. "You're sticking up for your weird uncle because he left you his estate."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, and I don't want to speak badly about my father's brother. Besides, I think it’s a church rule when someone dies your suppose to say good things about them, so St. Peter will let them through the gates of heaven."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, but if your Uncle Sheldon's portrait is creepy, I don't want it hanging up in my parlor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John chuckled. "Well, my Uncle Sheldon is a little creepy looking. He has the evil eyes like a mad scientist who wants to dominate the world."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you trying to scare me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My dear, you’re a decorated Houston police officer, which means nothing can scare you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Starting next week I'm going to be a Dallas Detective."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Congratulations, you got the position you wanted!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I sure did, but I had to call in many favors. Have you found a nice room in our mansion to use as your novel writing office?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I did. The mansion has an office and library with huge windows looking out at the flower gardens. It's a perfect atmosphere for me to write a bestseller!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's wonderful; I guess I'm happy for you. I'll see you next Tuesday."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Honey, I love you, and I will write a bestseller."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I know you love me."</span></p>
<p align="left"><span class="font-size-5"> "Misty, this magnificent mansion makes up for the past year and half I've been home trying to write my bestseller…"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She hung up before John could say another word about his writing, which she has classified in her brain files as being a waste of time. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> For the rest of the afternoon, John unpacked boxes until he became tired. Nighttime is approaching, and the mansion's electricity hasn't been turned on yet. Stored in his Styrofoam ice chest, he ate a ham and cheese sandwich and drank two beers. The mansion became as dark as the ace of spades. John has never believed in ghosts or demons, but being the authorities had found his uncle Sheldon's body in the mansion, lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of his own blood, with his body mysteriously torn up as if he was mauled by a grizzly bear. The thought of how he died, along with the darkness, is playing a song of creepiness within his mind. Of course, he has no intentions of telling Misty about his uncle's peculiar death. She assumes he died of old age, so that's how he'll leave it.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With a battery operated lantern in hand, John climbed the stairs to the second floor. He slowly walked along the hallway on his way to the master bedroom. The light from the lantern is creating spooky shadows in the doorways, making John feel jittery. All of sudden, he heard a faint cry coming from the far end of the hallway. He couldn't tell if the cry was being made by a man or an animal, such as a cat that could be hiding in the mansion. Curiosity forced him to walk by the master bedroom doorway to the far end of the hall, where there's a stairway leading up to the attic.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John climbed the steps to the attic, walked along a short hallway to where he came upon a door crisscrossed with thick straps of metal for added strength. Curled up on the floor in front of the door is a big white cat. Feeling relieved the cry he was hearing wasn't a phantom, John spoke to the cat. "kitty, how did you find your way into the mansion?" The cat stood up and brush against John's leg. That's when he surprisingly noticed it has a double long tail, large creepy orange eyes with eyelids opening and closing horizontally. The cat has a bright red collar around its neck. John read an inscription on a brass tag hanging from the collar. "So your name is Fyglia. If my memory serves me correctly, a Fyglia is mythically known as a personal spirit who often takes on the form of an animal."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After examining Fyglia to lean she has a long split tongue, John turned his attention to the reinforced door. He turned the knob and pulled the door open to reveal an astoundingly new world, filled with bright sunshine and a tropical forest stretching downward to a valley with a winding river. The friendly feline creature ran past him, so he stepped through the doorway to grab it as proof of what he's experiencing, but it was too fast. He turned to step back into the hallway, but the doorway had vanished. John frantically spun around; looking for the attic door, but it was nowhere to be found. Where the hell am I? he mentally asked himself. This is a different world made up of unrecognizable foliage, bright colors, and twin suns overhead. How can all this exist beyond my uncle Sheldon's attic door? Did I just step into another plane of existence? The answers to these questions flowed side by side along with his fear. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> In anticipation the attic door will be reappearing, he decided not to move from his location.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Twenty-five minutes of waiting passed by when a few dozen ugly purple bugs the size of blackbirds curiously buzzed around John's head, forcing him to run away like a frightened rabbit. John ran to the bottom of the mountain, along the river's edge, and off in the distance he can see a huge wall made of bark-less yellow logs, stuck into the ground like electrical poles, side by side, and tightly lashed together at the top with vines. He continued to run until he had no choice but to stop and catch his breath. He listened and looked around, and then he sighed in relief upon realizing the nasty looking bugs had broken off their pursuit. He stood there in a meadow near the river, figuring there may be people living beyond the wall of giant logs. Perhaps they can tell me how to find the attic door.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> By the time John approached the log wall, the twin suns were beginning to disappear over the horizon. He reckoned the wall is about thirty feet tall. Way too tall for him to attempt climbing. There's no entrance, which means he has no choice but to follow the wall, but darkness is now falling upon this weird land. Up against the wall, he found a soft grassy spot to lie down and wait out the night. In spite of his fear of sleeping outside under the stars on a strange new world, exhaustion captured his body, and he fell asleep.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He woke up to find Fyglia the alien-like pussycat cuddled up against chest, snoring to beat the band. "Hey, Fyglia, if I hadn't gone after you through the attic doorway, I wouldn't be in this damn fix!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Fyglia opened her mysterious orange eyes and stared at John. "Fyglia, are you my personal spirit?" He chuckled, followed with a groan as he stood up under the arising twin sun morning sky. Off to his left he noticed a herd of winged horses grazing in a huge field of tall bluish green grass. When the wild horses noticed John, the herd took off running, and after they gathered up enough speed, they lifted off the ground to take flight. John watched their beautiful twenty foot wingspans swiftly carry them away over the river and through the valley. "What the hell, Fyglia, I'm in a land of mythical winged horses. Do you know where I can find the attic door?" The alien-like cat looked up at him without answering his question.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John stretched his arms overhead, deeply yawned, and then he trudged on, fallowing the log wall, looking for an entrance. Like a dog trailing his master, Fyglia the weird pussy closely stayed behind John, watching his every footstep.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Three hours of walking past by, and John was becoming thirsty and hungry. He rounded a corner to see the river had curved around close to the wall. "What the hell," John grunted and blinked his eyes in surprise to see a variety of dinosaurs, each drinking water, and bathing themselves in a huge lake formed by the river. He knows the scientific name for each dinosaur classification he's staring at with wide-eyes, such as Ceratopsians, Prosauropods, Sauropods, and Hadrosaurs. "There are dinosaurs living in this weird planet. I wish I was dreaming," he said to Fyglia while he turned around to see the cat magically alter its shape into a beautiful young woman with long white hair down to her waist. She's wearing a bright red dress, a red collar around her neck, and protruding from a hole in the backside of her dress is a long cat's tail whipping about. "Fyglia, apparently you're some kind of shape-shifter," he voiced with a surprise tone. "Can you talk to me? I need to find the attic door so I can return to my earth world!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Without saying a word, Fyglia stared at him through her mysterious orange eyes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You look as if you're judging me. Tell me what to do?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With a deadpan expression, Fyglia raised her hand and pointed her finger beyond John, along the yellow log wall.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I'll continue following the damn wall!" In spite of being physically out of shape from sitting in front his computer for the past year and a half, attempting to write a bestseller novel, he marched onward with wondering eyes. Capturing every movement made by the weird animals within this mystical forest. Rabbits with extra large clawed feet for climbing trees, orange haired monkeys with bat wings they use for gliding from tree to tree, and large turtles with two heads, side by side, protruding from under their ruby red shells.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John heard the whispering flapping of many wings from overhead. By the time he looked up, seventeen winged horses landed behind him, and upon each horse sat a bearded man dressed as King Arthur's knights of the round table.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you foe or friend?" shouted the lead man with long red curly hair.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John noticed the Knight is pointing what looks like an alien laser gun at his head. "I'm a friend. I don't have any weapons."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why are you traveling with the mayor's private Fyglia?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "She's been traveling with me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This white haired Fyglia personally belongs to Sheldon Ravenwood, the mayor of our great city of Atlantis."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sheldon Ravenwood is dead?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Did you kill him?" the knight angrily asked.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…no, Sheldon was my uncle. My name is John Ravenwood."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So you’re here to collect your bloodline inheritance."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm from planet earth. I stepped through my uncle's attic doorway and my ass wounded up here!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The big muscular knight deeply chuckled while he slid his alien-like gun into a leather holster. "You crossed over into an adjoining dimensional plane of existence."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, that's exactly what I had assumed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The knight swiftly waved his hands around. "This is myth world, the second and final home to the grand earth city of Atlantis. Your Uncle Sheldon was a weak earthly man, but he was a pretty good mayor of Atlantis. How was he killed?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He was attacked in his earth home kitchen by an unknown wild animal. The creature tore him up."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Most likely he was killed by the evil dragon men. Their sharp claws and fangs are their weapons of choice. This wall around Atlantis was built to keep out the dragon men. I warned your uncle to be alert, but as with most all creatures, his old age was catching up with him. You're a young man, but your flesh appears to be weak, like that of an old Woman."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I admit that I'm out of shape."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Weaklings do not live long lives on myth world." He turned toward two of his knights, and after whispering some command words, they took off on their winged horses. Fyglia, I suggest you use your witchcraft to bestow John with the strength he'll need to inherit his legacy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What legacy?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A legacy of power and treasures," answered the knight. "I've sent two of my soldiers to fetch your Uncle Sheldon's flying stallion; however, he never had the courage or strength to ride it. Such a waste of a man he was. That's why we titled him as a mayor instead of a king. A king needs to be a man brave enough to fight alongside of his soldiers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sir, what's your name?" asked John.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My name is Zeus. I'm named after the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus, which over ages has fallen to the wicked dragon men, ruled by King Drake. Every day, my brave soldiers and I scout the boundary regions of Atlantis, killing every dragon man we encounter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John turned his attention to Fyglia. "Can you give me the strength I need to ride my uncle's flying horse?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She raised her hands overhead and loudly clapped them three times. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and hit john in the center of his chest, forcefully knocking him to the ground. For the next seventy seconds John's body glowed and his muscles grew while he screamed in painful agony. He stood up, feeling awful and shaky on his feet. "What the hell did you do, hit me with a Mack truck?" He stretched his arms, noticing his shirt seems like its three sizes too small. He felt his new bulging muscles. "Holy shit, Fyglia, you turned me into Hercules!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "She shot John an attractive smile, and then with a wave of her hand, his earth clothes were replaced with a brown leather outfit. Hanging on his belt is a long knife within a sheath and a holster containing a futuristic ray gun. "Damn, now I look like Davy Crocket on steroids."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now you look like a myth world man with balls made of iron," voiced Zeus, followed with a deep chuckle. "Although strength can be useless without a heart filled with bravery. Perhaps you'll earn the title of king. Your Ravenwood legacy has been past down for hundreds of generations. Long before a horrific earth storm created a giant portal to push Atlantis into the myth world dimension, and your ancestors have always been brave rulers of Atlantis. That is up until your Uncle Sheldon claimed the legacy without a brave heart. We were afraid soft earth living with the help of technological gadgets has permanently damaged your Ravenwood bloodline. John, do you have a brave heart?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John chuckled. "I have a feeling I've been set up; however, I understand why. To answer your question, I was the only one in my seventh year class who stood up to Billy the bully. He towered more than a foot above me. I bravely walked up to Billy and told him this is his last day of tormenting my friends and I until we paid him our lunch money, and then I laid him out on the grass with a swift kick to his private parts. Billy never bothered anyone again."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why do you consider that ploy of attack to be heroic?" asked Zeus with an inquisitive expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I was so damn nervous I could've missed his balls."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zeus roared with laughter. "I understand your meaning."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The two soldiers returned with two saddled flying horses. The black flying horse recognized Fyglia. He walked over to her and kneeled down, easily allowing her to climb up and sit upon the fancy leather saddle.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John stared at the huge white stallion wearing a saddle sparkling with gold decorations. He looks exactly like the mythical horse Pegasus. He proudly approached the handsome horse, climbed up onto the saddle, and took hold of the reins.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're going to fly north," announced Zeus, "over the city, the suburbs, and the farming lands. You'll notice roads and highways lined with electric vehicles. We take advantage of our twin suns, thus our modernization is powered by clean solar energy." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Like a herd travelling together, the horses ran for a few minutes until their hoofs were off the ground. They circled around, gaining a rapid altitude while passing over the wall of logs.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John is filled with amazement to be flying so high in the sky, looking down at the beautiful city of Atlantis. It's huge with various types of buildings stretching out in every direction.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zeus led them on a long flight to the north side of Atlantis, over the protective log wall, toward Mount Olympus. They descended to a lower altitude and crisscrossed the land as if Zeus and his soldiers are searching for something. Almost an hour passed by and Zeus maneuvered his steed closer to John. "There's a pack of dragon men down there," he yelled. "They need a good killing." The flock of flying horses dived, landing on the ground, surrounding more than two dozen creatures.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John figured this is his test of bravery. Standing over seven feet tall, the snarling creatures are actually part Velociraptor and human. With long three fingered claws, sharp teeth, raptor-like extended jaws, and whipping tails, the cornered creatures ferociously attacked. John drew his gun, pulled the trigger, and a bright laser beam blasted a hole through the chest of the closest approaching creature. John used his laser to slice off the arm of a creature who attempted to stab him with a sword. A creature jumped up seven feet off the ground, ramming its body against John, knocking him off his white winged stallion. He hurriedly stood up to realize he doesn't have his gun, so he pulled his long knife from the sheath attached to his belt. Like facing Billy the bully, the creature is taller than he is, and for a brief moment, he thought about kicking its balls. The creature swung its long clawed hand at him and he rapidly ducked. John's added muscular strength gave him the ability to avoid the creature's long raptor claws.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> All the dragon men have been killed except the one John is hand to hand fighting. The fearless Atlantis horse soldiers gathered around the fight to cheer John along.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> To avoid being brutally bear hugged, John swiftly dropped to the ground and rolled around behind the creature. He jumped up and drove the knife deeply into the creature's back, partially slicing into its spinal column. The creature fell over. John withdrew the knife and used to cut the creature's throat. "Hey, gentlemen, thanks for the help!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You didn't require our help," responded Zeus.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Did I past your test of courage?" John asked while he bent down to retrieve his laser gun. He looked around to see everyone down on one knee, facing him as if he was their king.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "John Ravenwood, from this day forward you have earned your legacy to be the king of Atlantis," voiced Zeus, followed with a broad smile.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Misty Ravenwood parked her car in front the mansion behind John's pickup truck. She marched up to the front door with feelings of anger because he hasn't returned any of her calls. First, she rang the doorbell, and then she turned the door knob to learn the big door is unlocked. She pushed it open and stepped inside. "John, where are you?" she yelled. "John, its Misty!" She started to walk through the mansion, calling out John's name while eyeing the large rooms and expensive antiques.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After completing a walkthrough of the first floor, Misty became frantic, thinking she might find John hurt or dead. She climbed the stairs to the second floor.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Fyglia opened a passageway to earth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh good, my attic door," John voiced as he jumped off his white winged stallion he named Pegasus.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Fyglia transformed into a cat and followed John into the short attic hallway. John heard Misty calling out to him. "Misty, I'm up here in the attic."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He met Misty at the bottom of the attic stairs.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "John, what the hell are you wearing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My new clothes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Excluding your strange alien gun, you're dressed up like a pioneering scout for a wagon train heading west."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm comfortable in these clothes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My God, how can that be? Your chest and arms are buffed with muscles."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He offered her his most handsome smile. "I've been working out."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "In the attic."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's no way you can enlarge your muscles in just one week." She noticed the strange white cat sitting on the floor next to him. "What's that animal?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Her name is Fyglia. She's bonded to my soul. She'll guide me along my journey of life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. How come you haven't returned my calls?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I haven't been."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where have you been?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've been in the attic. There's an amazing world in the attic."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "John, you're being foolish, just like when you quit your engineering job to write a bestseller science fiction novel. I didn't marry you to support your ass!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But, dear, I have a better deal now, plus I can write a real life science fiction novel. I'm the king of Atlantis…it's my legacy…my bloodline."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Misty shook her head. "I'm going to write a bestselling titled; <i>'I Married A Nut Case'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, you're married to me, John Ravenwood. That makes you the queen of Atlantis. You'll be ravaged with jewels, fancy clothing, and we can have children who'll carry on the Ravenwood bloodline."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you really expect me to believe you’re the king of the mythical lost city of Atlantis?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Atlantis is a real city. Here on earth it's lost, but it was found up in the attic on myth world."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "John, I'm leaving you!" She turned and walked away.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No! Misty, please wait! I can prove what I'm saying."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Fyglia," John whispered, "do your shape shifting thing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Misty spun around to shout at John, but her mouth dropped and her eyes grew wide upon seeing the white cat transfer into a beautiful white haired woman. "John, how did you do that?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I didn't do it. Fyglia is a shape shifter." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Misty curiously walked up to Fyglia and touched her shoulder. "You're trying to save our marriage by showing me a gorgeous woman?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I am."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Fyglia politely bowed her head, and then she transferred back into a cat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I prefer she remain a cat creature!" snapped Misty.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> John chuckled. "You're more jealous then amazed about Fyglia's shape shifting. Come up to the attic with me and see for yourself. I'm not crazy; everything I've been saying is true." He reached his hand out to her. "I love you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She took hold of her husband's hand. "Oh my, your hand seems bigger."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Honey, I've been super enhanced with rock hard muscles, which means I'm stronger and bigger everywhere." He guided her up the stairs and along the short hallway to the heavy-duty attic door. He yanked open the door, presenting Misty with an amazing picturesque view of myth world.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Misty stood there in awe, gazing down the mountain to the valley where the winding river flows. Off to her left she sees John's white winged stallion and Fyglia's black winged steed grazing on purplish green grass. "I thought you flipped your brain upside down," voiced Misty, "but you've been telling me the truth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, this is myth world."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Am I really the queen of Atlantis?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, Misty, you are the queen of Atlantis, and even though your career in law enforcement has always come before me, in my heart you've always been my beautiful queen."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, John, I do love you." She wrapped her arms around his new muscular body and gave him a devoted tongue waltzing kiss.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After their long passionate kiss, John led Misty through the attic doorway. He whistled and Pegasus came running over to his side. John mounted Pegasus and pulled Misty up to sit in the front between his arms, and then they flew away toward Atlantis to live happily ever after. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© November 2011</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
Wormsters ...A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-11-22:3798404:BlogPost:111302
2011-11-22T22:36:29.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b>Wormsters</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="left"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> County Sheriff Duke Barton unhooked the microphone from the dash mounted radio and spoke into it. "Lucy, please come back on my destination, I was out of the truck fetching a cup of coffee?"…</span></p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b>Wormsters</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="left"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> County Sheriff Duke Barton unhooked the microphone from the dash mounted radio and spoke into it. "Lucy, please come back on my destination, I was out of the truck fetching a cup of coffee?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sheriff, you're needed out at the old Groggier ranch, up on the north pasture where Global Energy is drilling for oil."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's the problem? Global has their own security guards in place."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Duke, the caller was extremely frantic, screaming he works for Global at the Groggier ranch drill site, and he needs protection. I asked him who he needs protection from, but the cell phone connection died."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alright, Lucy, we're on our way."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sheriff, a Global worker screaming for protection seems mysterious to me. What do you think it's about?" asked Deputy Karlyn Robishaw."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know." Duke took a sip of his second early morning cup of coffee. "Maybe some younglings have been messing around with their oil rig."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How far away is the Groggier ranch?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "About sixty miles."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn!" sparked Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I told you when I hired you, we cover a large area of cattle ranch country."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you always personally train your deputies during their first six weeks on the job?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, and if they don't meet my qualifications, I give them the boot."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn gave the sheriff a pretty smile. "I've been riding with you going on a week now. How am I doing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Too early to tell."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you have different qualification standards for the sexes?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nope! I believe a woman officer can be just as tough as a man."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I agree!" Karlyn took in a mouthful of her coffee and swallowed. "Have you noticed any problems about me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "To be honest, just one."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, and what is it?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're too damn attractive, and it may give you some trouble when arresting the male rednecks around here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you think they'll try to take advantage of me cause I'm pretty?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, Sheriff, when one of those rednecks gives me any trouble, he's going to find the end of my boot temporarily lodged up his ass."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke chuckled. "That'll be a good approach to end a bad situation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I been meaning to ask you," said Karlyn, "is your name, Duke, actually written on your birth certificate?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, Duke is my real name."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you have a second name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My middle name is Wayne."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Duke Wayne Barton. Don't tell me…your father named you after his western movie hero."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke chuckled while he turned onto Copper Street, heading toward the Northeast Territory Highway. "That's what everybody thinks, but it was actually my mother who named me after her western motion picture hero. When my ma was about ten years old, she watched '<i>True Grit'</i> with her parents at the now torn-down Mohawk Drive-in Movie Theater, and today she has a collection of every John Wayne movie that's been released on VHS and DVD."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's awesome."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I like my name, and I'm as tough as the name represents."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, everybody has been warning me about you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I may be tough, but I am fair, and you if stay on track, you'll be okay in my book of rules."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's good, cause I like working in law enforcement."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But you're a beautiful enough to marry a doctor or a slick lawyer who'll support you for the rest of your life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I have no plans of being a parasite that leeches onto a man to be supported for the rest of my life. I love my freedom as an independent woman. Like most female parasites, they don't even realize they're parasites, and thirty to forty years down the road when their souls belong to their devilish husbands, they'll be miserably enslaved until the day they die of old age. When I meet the right man, I'll enter the hot sex relationship as being an independent woman who will never become a trapped parasite."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke shook his head. "Karlyn, you are an unusual woman who sparks my interest in more directions than one."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So tell me, sheriff, you’re a damn good looking man in your early thirties, so why are you still single?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I haven't found the right woman who'll accept me as a beer drinking, hard-hitting sheriff who can't be molded into their perfect fantasy man!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oops…I hit upon a touchy subject. I'm going to shut up for now and take a beauty nap." Karlyn half tilted her seat back and nodded off to dreamland.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn abruptly woke up when the truck bumpily speed over cattle guard rollers while entering Bill Groggier's north pasture, heading toward the Global dill site tower.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke drove up to an office trailer and parked behind a dually pickup with the driver's door left open. "This oil rig has been here for while, which means they drilled deep," said the sheriff. He open his driver's door, stepped down onto the ground, and stared over at the oil rig.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn jumped out of the cab and ran around the Sheriff's truck to join Duke. "Do you see a problem?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No problem for us, but a costly one for Global Energy. They never struck any oil, so they're in the process of packing up this rig to move it to another drill site. I figured by now technology would've given them an advantage to finding oil, but it's still a poker game. Come on, let's go talk to the foreman."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They walked over to the office trailer, climbed three steps up onto a metal platform being used as a front porch. Duke pulled open the door, stepped inside, and looked around to see no one sitting at the desks.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn followed the sheriff inside and eyed the interior. "Damn, what a mess, how can anyone work in here?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, cluttered it is," voiced Duke as he stuck his index finger inside a half filled cup of coffee to learn it's still warm. "They're somewhere nearby." He strolled outside onto the metal platform to again, stare over at the oil rig. The morning Texas sun is climbing higher in the clear blue sky, and the scorching rays are starting to beat down like Thor's hammer. "I don't see any signs of life on the rig."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe they're all in one of those truck trailers," said Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's highly unlikely the crew is hanging around in one of the storage trailers. This dually pickup is running."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He jumped off the platform and strolled over toward the dually. Karlyn followed him, then she quickly circled around the sheriff and the dually to look inside the open driver's door. She let out a scream that would've made any horror movie scream queen proud of her. After the scream, she pulled her thirty-eight out of her holster, and then she heaved up her breakfast stomach contents onto the red clay-packed ground.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke opened the passenger's front door to see the remains of four people, two sitting on the front seat, and two sitting on the back seat. The only thing left of them are their bloody skeletons and numerous bits and pieces of unrecognizably innards. "It looks as if these people were attacked by Parana, but that's impossible. Whatever attacked them, ate their clothing too. Karlyn, are you alright?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I'm okay. I've never seen anything so damn gruesome. I'm sorry for screaming and spewing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, a little of my early morning fried egg sandwich came back up, but I swallowed it! You had better go call in for backup while I examine what's left of these bodies." He removed a silver pen from his shirt pocket and used it to poke at the grisly remains of the front passenger. I don't see any signs of a chemical acid, he thought. In spite of the disgusting smell, Duke moved in closer to get a better view. To his surprise, he can see hundreds of small teeth marks on the bones. While he was in the Army Special Forces, stationed in the South American jungles, he saw Parana bites on soldier's legs; however, it's a myth that a large group of Parana can rapidly eat all the flesh off a man, leaving behind just his skeleton. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Duke, six of your deputies and two ambulances are on their way, but we're not going to see them for a good hour," announced Karlyn. "Have you learned anything here?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "From what I've determined, these four people were attacked and eaten by scores of creatures with a bite similar to Parana. Look here, the creatures even took bites out the leather seats, and over here is a silver belt buckle, which means they ate the rawhide belt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My good God," Karlyn said while nervously looking around. "What kind of land creatures would do something like this, and how do we fight them?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke calmly shrugged his shoulders. "If we encounter them, I guess our only course of action would be to run like hell."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A creature wiggled its way out of a hole in the leather seat. It sprang up towards Duke's face. He saw it from the corner of his eye, and his hand snapped up to grab the creature before it sank it's teeth into his flesh.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn's blue eyes bulged.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I caught the damn critter in midair," Duke proudly shouted. He held it up to look at it. "It's a big ugly ass worm!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn boldly moved closer to gaze at it. The pale white worm is almost a foot long, about three inches in diameter, with a wide mouth, and two round yellow eyes. Its vigorously thrashing about, trying to free itself from Duke's grip. "The damn creature is strong," voiced Duke. "It must've burrowed into the seat, and the other worms left it behind."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's a wormster!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is that what their called? I've never seen one prior to now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I made the name up," sputtered Karlyn. "This is the first time I've seen one. They must be invading aliens from another planet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With all his muscular might, Duke squeezed the worm behind its head. After a long moment, it became limp and motionless.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is it dead?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I sure do hope so." He carried the worm over to his sheriff's truck and laid it on the hood for a more detailed visual assessment. On the worm's underside, he can see rows of moveable sticky spines, giving it the ability to crawl vertically. He used his pen to pry open its mouth so he can closely look at its razor sharp teeth. "I'm reckoning this creature is an alien, but not from another planet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Than where did it come from?" asked Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke pointed down at the ground. "I'm thinking it came from deep underground, and from what's left of those four bodies, I'd say there's a large herd of these carnivorous worms slithering around, hunting for food." He laughed for a moment.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's so humorous at a scary time like this?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I just realized your imaginative name you gave the creature is derived from the word monster, which makes wormster a befitting name."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks…oh shit, Duke, look! The wormster is gone," screamed Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sure enough, to Duke's surprise, the creature he thought he had killed is no longer on the hood. He and Karlyn swiftly backed away from the truck while eyeing the ground. Suddenly, the wormster charged towards them from under the truck, rapidly slithering along the ground with its mouth open. With lightening speed, Duke drew his forty-five from his holster and fired one shot, exploding the wormster's head. "It's dead now," Duke voiced as he holstered his gun. "It's hard to believe I didn't kill it when I crushed it! It's a durable creature, which it must require to survive in an underground world." He waved his hand. "Come on Karlyn, let's go check out the oil rig."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is walking around here wise with a horde of wormsters hunting for food?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "After eating four people, hopefully their bellies are full."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn followed the sheriff over to the house size portable oil drilling rig. They climbed up onto the metal platform and noticed two more dead personnel. "Karlyn, please stay here and keep a lookout while I investigate," ordered the sheriff. He continued across the platform, bending over to look at the gory skeletons. After examining the bodies, Duke carefully inspected the partially dismantled oil rig. He smiled to see that the well has been recently capped, thus preventing the surface arrival of any more wormsters.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The sheriff strolled across the platform over to Karlyn's side. "Everything okay?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If I'm not hysterically screaming, than everything is okie-dokie." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The two dead workers are exactly like the four victims we found in the truck. Most everything was consumed except their bones. I found a log sheet hanging up over yonder on a clipboard. They drilled to a depth of seven hundred and fifty feet before giving up. Instead of black gold, the only thing these oil workers struck was death."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unexpectedly, Karlyn's expression twisted into terror.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke spun around to see many hundreds of wormsters slithering towards them from across the oil rig platform. "Shit! I don't have enough bullets. We need to run like scared bucks!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn unclipped her taser gun from her belt and placed it against a metal truss, electrifying the platform, and the wormsters began to make a hissing noise as they quickly retreated. Many of them coiled their worm bodies and sprang up off the platform onto the ground.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke and Karlyn jumped down onto the ground and ran toward the truck, climbed up in the cab, and slammed the doors shut.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Karlyn, your quick thinking just jumped you up to the top of my deputy evaluation rating. Now we know the wormsters don't like electricity."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I had to do something," said Karlyn, "and I figured most all living creatures don't like to be electrified."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke started the truck to give them air-conditioning. He silently sat there in thought while the interior of the cab cooled down. "What I don't understand is how the wormsters surprise attacked the four workers who were sitting in the truck. It's as if the workers sat there and allowed themselves to be eaten."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "When you opened the wormster's mouth, did you notice any fangs?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, but a poison that paralyzes their prey would explain the four skeletons in the truck."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Three police vehicles and two ambulances lined up next to sheriff's truck. Duke opened his door, looked around at the ground for a moment, and then he stepped out to meet with his six deputies and the four ambulance attendants. "Duke, hold the door, I'm getting out on your side," sputtered Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The sheriff gathered everyone together in a grassless open area next to the vehicles. He explained the wormster situation to skeptical expressions. "Look, I know this wormster horror show is a giant pill that's hard to swallow. Before you all start thinking my brain has been deep fried in crazy oil, lets amble over to the Global truck and take a look-see at the four skeletons."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After everyone eyed the victims, they all became wormster believers, and they also became very nervous about being outside.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Deputies, the Global workers were in the process of dismantling this oil rig," announced Duke, "in which they commonly pull in extra personnel to help pack up the equipment. From the number of vehicles parked here, I'd say we're missing four or five workers. Todd and Mitch, stay here and guard the ambulance attendants while they tag and bag the meatless bodies. Come on, deputies, let's check out the grounds and trailers for the missing workers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Over the next half hour they found three more victims on the grounds, not far from the storage trailers, each have been viciously devoured by the wormsters.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With flashlights in hand, they began to climb up into the last truck trailer. The hot morning sun has been beating down on the trailer, making the temperature within near unbearable. Deputy Noah Sterlin took the lead inside the trailer. "Here's another skeleton," Noah announced. Unbeknown to Noah, a wormster is coiled around the victim's bloody spinal cord. It sprang up and bit into Noah's arm. He began to scream in agonizing pain. The sheriff reached out and grabbed the wormster, yanking it from Noah's arm, along with a chunk of flesh. He threw the wormster hard onto the trailer's wooden floor, drew his gun, and fired one round, hitting the wormster's hideous head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Within a few minutes after being bit, Noah dropped to the floor, screaming that he cannot move his arms and legs.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Noticing blood flowing from Noah's bite wound, Karlyn pulled a pink handkerchief out of her pants pocket and used to apply pressure.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke shook his head while displaying a dark expression. "How utterly horrifying it must've been for the victims. To have their limbs paralyzed after the first wormster bite, thus being conscious to watch their bodies being eaten. This explains why the four victims in the truck sat there without trying to run away."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Two of the deputes picked up Noah and carried him to one of the ambulances.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The Sheriff and Karlyn climbed back into the truck's cab. "So when the wormsters bite they do inject a poison into their prey," uttered Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Apparently!" Duke slowly nodded his head. "I'd like to know how many wormsters there are and how quickly they reproduce."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now I'm more worried because you look worried."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm looking worried cause I'm looking at the big picture. These wormsters couldn't have been active at a depth of seven hundred and fifty feet underground. Without prey to feed on, they would've died. I'm thinking they were in a state of long-term hibernation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So do you reckon the oil drilling had somehow activated them?" asked Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and for all I know the last time they slithered upon the surface of the earth was when the dinosaurs mysteriously became extinct." He slid the truck's shift lever to the drive position and pressed down on the gas pedal.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where are we going?" asked Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're going about three and a half miles across the pastures to the Groggier ranch. I need to warn old Bill Groggier and his son's family about the wormsters." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What are we going to do about killing off these evil wormsters?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We," he said along with a chuckle. "As soon as I figure out what to say to convince the bigwigs I'm telling the truth, then I hope they move in the military to kill off the damn wormsters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The truck climbed up over a sharp knoll to a level pasture dotted with fresh skeletons of numerous devoured cattle. "Damn…for the wormsters to eat an entire herd of cattle means they must be multiplying a thousand times faster than rabbits."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, there must be thousands of wormsters," voiced Karlyn. "The pasture is literally covered with their feces."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, I can see all the worm shit scattered about."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Off in the distance they can view the ranch growing larger as they approach. "Duke, look at the ranch house," said Karlyn, "something doesn't seem right."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The sheriff continued speeding towards the large two story house.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Ten minutes passed by and the sheriff noticed that all the ranch house windows are a pale white. He let up on the gas pedal, slowing down to a stop. "Holy shit, the house is chuck-full of wormsters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my God," cried Karlyn, "I can see the wormsters piled up against every window."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're probably piled up to the ceilings."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why are they in the house?" asked Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A few years back, old Bill Groggier had a massive air conditioning system installed in his ranch house, and I reckon the high noon heat has forced the wormsters to take advantage of the coolness."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They don't like our Texas midsummer heat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Will you look at that," muttered the sheriff.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn Bill is again breaking the law by illegally hording gasoline. I warned him that the next I catch him he'd be doing some prison time! He must have a thousand gallons stored in that plastic tank mounted on his trailer bed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Duke, Bill, and his son's family have most likely been reduced to skeletons."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Gasoline!" Duke and Karlyn said at the same time, along with highlighted expressions formed from having a good idea.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke backed his truck up to Bill's gas trailer. He jumped out of the cab and lowered the trailer down onto the ball hitch. He climbed up on the gas trailer with the gas nozzle in hand. "Okay, Karlyn, you know what to do." Duke began to soak the house and ground with gasoline while Karlyn closely circled the truck around the house.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay," yelled the sheriff. He quickly disconnected the hitch, jumped into the cab's driver's seat, and rolled down his driver's window. "Karlyn, you light the road flares and hand them to me one at a time. Traveling at a high speed, Duke circled the ranch house while throwing out the ignited flares, and then he sped off to a good distance away from the burning house. They watched the house flame up into an enormous bon fire. The fire's extreme heat trapped all the wormsters within. They both cheered while listening to the wormster's tough worm bodies loudly explode like grenades filled with compressed innards.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> In silence, for over the next hour Duke and Karlyn sat in the truck, side by side, while watching the Groggier ranch house burn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The wormsters loved our modern air conditioning so much that it was the cause of their demise," voiced the sheriff, and then he realized his arm is tightly wrapped around his female deputy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I reckon so," said Karlyn. "We may have just saved the human race from being forced to the bottom of the food chain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke chuckled. "It's all in a day's work, my dear."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn giggled.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke drove around the burning house twice to make sure none of the wormsters survived. Up close they could see how intense the fire was.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He sped away from the smoldering house.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where we going, back to your sheriff's office to write a horror report?" asked Karlyn.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I reckon after saving the human race from invading wormsters, we deserve the rest of the day off."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So what are we going to do?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I reckon since you're an independent woman, and I'm an independent man, that we need to do some serious bonding. So I'm planning to take you out for a nice steak meal with a fully loaded baked potato, and after our late lunch, I'm going to rent us a fancy hotel room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell are we going to do in a fancy hotel room? Are you planning to give me an oral deputy training exam?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Duke pulled the truck over and shot Karlyn his most handsome smile. "I reckon there will be some heated oral activity."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Karlyn giggled as she wrapped her arms around the sheriff and their lips met in a passionate kiss."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© November 2011</p>
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<p> </p>
An Alien On My Shoulder ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-11-16:3798404:BlogPost:106146
2011-11-16T15:25:43.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
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<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>An Alien On My Shoulder</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
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<p><span class="font-size-5"> Psychiatrist, Dr. Nancy Finnegan is excited to be starting her first day on the job. She feels lucky to have been selected out of so many to land a position at St. Mathews Hospital…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>An Alien On My Shoulder</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Psychiatrist, Dr. Nancy Finnegan is excited to be starting her first day on the job. She feels lucky to have been selected out of so many to land a position at St. Mathews Hospital for the Mentally Unwell.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> This is one of the prestigious hospitals here in Texas, she thought while sitting in her new office, sipping her third morning cup of coffee, and admiring the view from her third story window. Tall green trees, a huge pasture dotted with cattle, each walking about searching for patches of the greenest grass. The hospital management has assigned sixteen patients for her to start working with, although she knows the number of patients will grow after her ninety day evaluation. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She's been given the first day to study her patient files. To know them before she meets them. A little more than half her assigned patients are committed here at the hospital. The rest are out patients, taking daily medications to help them deal with their mental illnesses. She's required to meet with her in-house patients daily, five days a week. She'll meet with her out patients not less than twice a month. All her patient visits are not to be less than one hour long.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The day slowly drifted by as she attentively studied each patient file. The next file she opened to see a photo of a strikingly handsome man in his late twenties. His name is Spenser Delcourt. Her curiosity spiked upon reading that he's never been married. Most overly handsome men are quickly snatched up by the prettiest women who prowl the nightclubs like lusting wild animals. Maybe he's gay, she thought. I just can't imagine two men doing the nasty. I wonder what they do during foreplay. Maybe they have heroic Roman gladiator sword fights. Dueling penises on plush pink flowered satin sheets. She giggled for a few moments, and then she continued reading about Spenser. He was committed just yesterday morning by his boss and his parents. A signed court order for a thirty day mental evaluation. While she continued to read Spenser's file, her eyes repeatedly bounced back to his photo to gaze at his deep blue eyes, his wavy blond hair, his square chin, and his perfectly tanned complexion. Damn, she thought, he looks too handsome to be suffering from a mental breakdown. She flipped through the file to read Mr. Delcourt's history information. He's a Texas A&M college graduate. His profession is a bioengineer, and he's been working for the past four years at Emerald Heart Engineering, which is a medical device research and development company. Over the past two weeks, he's been reported as being neurotically delusional, claiming he's been seeing and communicating with an alien from another planet. The poor man must be suffering from an emotional breakdown, she figured.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After reading Spenser's medical records, she learned he's never had a history of mental illness. I wonder what drove this handsome man to a breakdown, she thought. Pressure from work, his parents aggravating him, or maybe a girlfriend or boyfriend recently left him. Nancy became so engrossed in Spenser Delcourt that she scheduled him to be her first patient every morning.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The next morning, while driving to work, Nancy thought about Spenser Delcourt's eye-candy handsomeness. She knows a relationship with a patient is totally forbidden, which would result in her immediate termination, and in all probability devastate her career. Why am I even thinking of this? she mentally asked herself. For some unknown reason my mind is overly inquisitive about Mr. Delcourt, and I'm sexually attracted to him as if he's a sex magnet. I'm an intelligent woman…I have full control over my mental faculties, she spiritually said to herself more than four times while parking her car and walking across the parking lot toward the hospital.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> By the time she reported in to management, grabbed a cup of coffee from the lounge, and gathered her thoughts, it was eight AM. Time to meet her first patient, Mr. Spenser Delcourt.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A guard knocked on Nancy's office door and entered with Mr. Delcourt in tow. He escorted him to a large padded chair beyond her desk and commanded him to sit down as if he's a dog.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dr. Finnegan, my name is Joe Blanch and I'm one of three security guards stationed here on this third floor. If the patient gives you any trouble, just push your remote panic button and I'll be in here quicker than you can scream the word help."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you, Joe; I'm sure Mr. Delcourt will be a perfect gentleman."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The porky rumpled guard approached Nancy. "Doctor, we do have some hostile patients living here. When I bring a hostile to you for their head session, they will be restrained with handcuffs, and I will remain in your office to guard them. That's my job," he said along with a sappy grin. "I will always protect you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Joe, I'm overly thrilled to know you are my protector," voiced Nancy, "You may go now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll be back in one hour to fetch Mr. Delcourt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After Joe left her office, she turned her attention toward her handsome patient. Hello, Mr. Spenser Delcourt. I'm Dr. Nancy Finnegan, and I'll be working with you during your thirty day evaluation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm delighted to meet you, doctor, may I call you Nancy?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I believe using first names well create an excellent doctor patient relationship."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It pleases me. I once had a girlfriend named Nancy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, were you in love with her?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes…but normal love wasn't good enough for her. Like most women with perfect number ten bodies that make men unconsciously drool, she wanted to be worshiped like a Goddess on a mile high pedestal."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh…" She nodded her head while thinking Nancy may the one who drove him to have a mental breakdown.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy, what did you think of Joe the burly security guard? I think the hospital management found him standing out by the road, holding a hand printed sign that said I'll work for food."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She was having trouble holding back her laughter. Spenser, you're certainly not afraid to talk, so that'll make our daily sessions run along smoothly.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where's the relaxing couch I'm suppose to lie down on and confess my deep dark secrets?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I prefer my patients to be sitting up and mentally alert," replied Nancy. "Do you understand why the Dallas court has committed you here for a thirty day mental evaluation?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I always thought this was a free country, but with a few signatures on a court document, my loving parents and my boss gave me this fantastic vacation here in this enchanting hospital, filled with loony cartoon characters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your parents care about you because they love you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're afraid I'm going to embarrass them. They think I'm crazier than a church mouse that moves to a sleazy nightclub. The problem is that nobody believes me!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What don't they believe?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why do you want to know? So you can keep me locked up in this nuthouse forever. I've only been here for two days and I'm lonelier than I've ever been. I can't relate with my fellow patients. The roads in their heads all have dead-end signs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, I'm here to help you go home," replied Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Spenser laughed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's so amusing?" asked Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Will you please shut the hell up! I'm talking to the doctor!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Excuse me," said Nancy along with a concerned expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry for laughing. I just realized your last name is Finnegan, which is a fantastic Irish name from way back, but you resemble a gorgeous Chinese princess, maybe from China's Tang Dynasty. I would've expected you to have a name like Nancy Mung-chang Wong. Oh, I hope I didn't offend you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No." Nancy shook her head. "The gorgeous part was a pleasant compliment. My father was Irish milk farmer and my mother was Chinese immigrant."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I see…milk and tea." He giggled. "It must have been your mother who gave you her genes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy smiled. "My father gave me his Irish temper, and I'm forever trying to keep it under control."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Spenser shot Nancy a handsome smile. "I'll take that as a warning to always be on your good side."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So please tell me what your parents don't believe?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, did your Irish father ever tell you any bedtime stories about mischievous leprechauns?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dose your question have anything to do with my question?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup." Spenser nodded his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, my father enjoyed telling me leprechaun bedtime stories…along with large pots of shiny gold at the end of every rainbow."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like a pain in the ass leprechaun, I'm being troubled by a little alien from another planet. He has a round hairless body, long legs, long arms, and a long nose. He also has frog-like eyes sitting on top his head as if they're floating. He's about five and a half inches tall, his name is Zarpy, and like a pirate's parrot, he's always perched on my right shoulder. He continuously antagonizes me with questions about my human emotions, such as love, fear, anger, joy, sadness, and all my secondary feelings. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, he studies me, watching everything I do. I feel like a white lab mouse running through an endless maze."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, is this little alien currently perched on your shoulder?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I said his name is Zarpy, and the answer to your question is yes, but you can't see or hear him. I think it amuses Zarpy when people think my brain cells are running amok."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why can't I hear him?" asked Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because he telepathically speaks to me inside my head. He has a piercing cartoon voice that's extremely difficult to endure! I'm constantly telling him to shut the hell up. It's like having Roger Rabbit living inside my head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "While you've been sitting here in my office, has Zarpy been talking to you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes." Spenser nodded.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What has he been talking about?" asked Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zarpy is curious about why you're hiding all of your female sex components under your clothing. He believes we should be running around naked like the lower life creatures living here on our earth. He wants to know if you'll remove all your clothing so he can see your female sex components."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is that what Zarpy wants to see, or is it what you'd like to see?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, Nancy, I'm only relaying what Zarpy has been saying. Besides, you're wearing non-flaunt sexless clothing. Earlier, when you stood up to welcome me into your office, I did notice that your professional business suit is yielding some eye-catching curves. From what I could see, along with my imagination, I think you're hiding a hot sexy body, and if you were to show Zarpy your nakedness. I'm not going to close my eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, I have no intentions of showing you or your alien my naked body."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zarpy doesn't belong to me. I don't even want the little bastard. He's a pain in my ass! I know you don't believe he exists. I do wish with all my heart that you could see him sitting on my shoulder like a little red devil."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's a little red devil somewhere in this office, but I'm sorry to say that your alien story is hard to believe."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So like my parents and my boss, you believe Zarpy is a figment of my imagination?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, you're occupation as a bioengineer means you're an intelligent man. You must realize people are not going to believe what they cannot see or hear. Would you believe a person if they introduced you to an invisible Elvis Presley?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, but curiosity would force me to ask the person if he was the thin Elvis or the chubby Elvis."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy couldn't help but giggle for a moment. "Why would you want to know if Elvis is thin or plump?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My mother, who's always been a big Elvis fan, told me he was brutally attacked by a chubby fairy on his way to one of his greatest concerts."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I definitely don't believe in chubby fairies."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Spenser chuckled. "We're safe…they only attack middle-aged people."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They both took a moment to laugh. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, I'm not mentally unhinged or brainless. I know people don't believe me. Being that I'm the only one who can see or hear Zarpy, makes it extremely difficult for me to convince people. Actually, I haven't convinced anyone, although I could probably convince most of the crackers who live here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're called patients."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I was referring to the patients, and I've spent time with them in the no-fun recreation center. It was a loony, loopy, loco, and whacky cartoon experience. I guess what I need to do is give some history of my alien first contact predicament. Besides my never-ending problem of choosing the wrong women, my life was near perfect up until twelve days ago, when Zarpy picked me out of billions of people to roost on my shoulder. Since then, I feel like I've been spinning in the bottom of a flushed toilet, waiting to ride the turbulent current down to shit-land. I keep telling Zarpy he's curdling my brain, but he says this is what he must do to learn about my life as a male human being. I can't even swat him off my shoulder like a big bug. My hand passes right through him as if he's a ghost…and no, I don't believe in ghosts! I think he's a projected hologram, like when r2-d2 projected Princess Leia in the first <i>'Star Wars'</i> movie. He's probably projecting himself from inside his cloaked flying saucer that's orbiting around the earth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, there's not much time left of our hour session. I'd like to know more about your girl friend who has the same first name as mine."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, for me to help you, I need to know about all your past problems. Did Nancy recently leave you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Our relationship ended a little over a year ago. For many years, I tried to make the relationship work, but what the spoiled bitch wanted was a billionaire superman that'll cater to her every need, which including a daily supply of pre-rolled Columbian joints and five bottles of expensive champagne. Near the end of our breakup, we went to couples counseling at St. Mary's Clinic, but after a few weeks, the counselor whispered in my ear for me to dump Nancy like a sack full of decomposed tomatoes. …No, Zarpy, stop interrupting me! I'm not going to ask the doctor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Ask me what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He wants to know if you're sexually attracted to me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The only thing we have here is a doctor patient relationship."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Spenser paused for a few moments to listen to Zarpy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zarpy says your female internal sex engine dramatically warmed up when Joe and I entered your office. Does this mean it was dumpy old Joe who sexually aroused you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "God no! Nobody sexually excited me!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Joe knocked on the door once and barged in. "I'm back to fetch your patient." Joe scratched his bald head. "He's a new patient and I forgot his name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "His name is Mr. Spenser Delcourt," Nancy said in a blushed huff.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, yeah," Joe whispered, "that's the guy with an invisible alien standing on his shoulder. Later today, the alien wants me to answer a question."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Looking even more upset, Nancy asked Joe what the question was.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> To help Joe remember the question, he placed his plump index finger in his mouth where a few teeth are missing. "The alien wants to know what kind of human being I am." He cupped his hands around his mouth like a horn. "I'm a grownup man." He giggled like a child. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy stood up and said, "please, Joe, take Mr. Delcourt back to his room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Spenser handsomely smiled as he offered his hand to Nancy for shaking goodbye.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> While forcing a half grin, she boldly grasped his large muscular hand.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He gently shook her hand, winked one of his gorgeous blue eyes, pulled Nancy a little closer, and whispered, "Yup, I bet old Joe could give you a sex filled night that you'll never forget."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She yanked her hand away. "Mr. Delcourt, I'll see you tomorrow morning at eight PM sharp!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Following their departure, Nancy sat down and deeply exhaled. Did Spenser really know I was sexually aroused when he walked into my office, she thought. When I peered into his handsome blue eyes, noticed his muscular tanned arms, and gazed at his tall stallion posture, was there a flashing neon sign on my forehead? …Reading that I wanted to tear his clothes off and ride him until the sun sets twice!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After Nancy's long second day on the job, dealing with patients and guards who were most likely past patients. She ate an early supper, watched the daily news on satellite television, and decided to soak her body in the bath tub. She ran the hot water, dumped in two tablespoons of sweet vanilla bubbly into the water, removed her clothing, and stepped into the tub. She imagined the feeling of the warm water as being the arms of a lover, pulling her against his bare chest. She tried not to think of him, but the face on her imaginary lover is Mr. Spenser Delcourt. He really believes a little alien named Zarpy is perched on his shoulder. He's a gorgeous ant farm without any ants, she thought along with a silly giggle. Zarpy! It sounds like a name for a rodeo clown.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She was about to lay her head on her air filled tub pillow when the lights went out. "Oh damn," she shouted aloud. "What else could go wrong today?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I turned off your lights."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my God! Who are you?" There was still a little dusky daylight shinning in through the bathroom window. She frantically looked around, but there was no one in site.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My name is Zarpy. I'm Spenser's friendly alien, although he has trouble dealing with me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is impossible!" cried Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How can this be impossible?" asked Zarpy. "I'm talking to you and I know you can hear me within your female head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've never heard of anyone catching a mental illness from a patient."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not a mental illness!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do you want?" demanded Nancy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I already have one thing that I wanted."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What was that?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I wanted to see your naked human body. Although it doesn't impress me at all. I'm at wits end trying to figure out why human men and women become sexually aroused when seeing each other's nakedness."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's love too." she voiced.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Love, smudge, all the cosmic animals in the universe do it for fun!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why are you here?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My assignment is to learn about human behavior. The important topics are sex and emotions. Your world seems to be overly sexed. …Go baby, go baby, sex sells everything!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my God, this can't be happening to me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you want to see me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't think so."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm a cute little alien with a big bag of tricks. I'm naked, but you can't see my sex organs because they're in my mouth. Spenser says if humans were created with their sex organs in their mouth, than a kiss wouldn't be just a kiss. He also said something about nasty Aunt Daisy who's always trying to kiss him on his lips."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do I have to do to see you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just hold out your hand so I can place a glob of heatless fire on your palm, thus activating your vision so you can always see me. There's no pain involved."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you going to torment me like you've been doing to Spenser?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Me a tormenter. Here I am being a friendly alien who wishes to make first contact with you, and you're calling me a tormentor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy nervously held her hand out with her palm up. Like magic, a bright yellowish flame arose from the center of her palm. Amazingly, she couldn't feel any burning, and the flame actually felt soothing.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, I'm right here, standing on your naked shoulder."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy turned her head. "Yes, I can see you. You look exactly like what Spenser described. A round hairless ball with long legs and arms."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He posed as if Nancy was going to take a photo of him. "See, I'm a cute little alien."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose you are in a weird way. Are your eyes attached to the top of your head?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm here, but in your reality I'm not completely here, which does make my eyes appear as if their floating above my head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't understand?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, you don't need to understand. My race is much more technologically advanced than yours is. The only thing you need to know is I'm here to study and learn about you and Spenser. Just think of me as a first contact guest."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Right now I think of you as a strange little peeping tom. Do I need to hold this heatless fire forever?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The bathroom lights came back on and the heatless fire magically disappeared.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Happy now?" asked the little alien. "I hope you're not going to be as hard to deal with as Spenser."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't understand why you need us to learn about my human race. You can learn everything by surfing the Internet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, I already have all your Internet data stored in micro crystals. My learning requirements must be close and personal with you and Spenser. I know you're both sexually attracted to each other. What I need is to witness a human male and female relationship that'll develop into a lustful throbbing bond of sexual activity."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell are you, a cupid matchmaker?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If that's what you desire me to be. I know you and Spenser are lonely human beings. After Spenser's terrible experience with the Nancy female in his past, he's been afraid of starting a new relationship, so every night he sits at home and wishfully looks at naked women on the Internet. And here you are, Nancy, taking a bath all by yourself because your career is more important than sharing your life with a handsome sex partner."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How do you know this about me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm an alien. I know and I learn."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I think I understand what's going on." She paused to add more hot water to her bath. "You want to pimp me out to have a sexual relationship with Spenser so you can study us. I suppose you'll want to watch everything we do within our relationship."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes…yes, that's my objective. For you two amazing humans to have a relationship I can study. Based on information I gathered from your Internet, I know how relationships work. First, the lustful sizzling sex…then some commitment…emotions of love may develop, along with a baby growing in your belly, and a wedding ceremony that’s usually followed with a horrible divorce."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zarpy, your concept of a relationship is a bit mixed up in the eyes of religion, but painfully truthful in reality."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So tomorrow you're going to attract Spenser by flashing him your naked breasts?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nancy feels that she needs to take control of their conversation. She stood up, stepped out of the tub, and wrapped a towel around her water wrinkled body. She walked into the bedroom and sat down on her makeup desk stool. Surprisingly, she can see the little round alien in her mirror, perched on her shoulder like a parrot. Now it's easier to look into his round frog-like eyes without getting a creak in her neck. "Zarpy, I'm positive that all I need to do to attract Spenser is to give him a hot sexy smile while licking my lips. But, being that I'm a professional career minded women of the twenty-first century. I'm not going to be pimped without making a substantial profit." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Profit…profit…what do you want?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "First, what we need to do is establish a trade agreement."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How about if I offer you important information," said Zarpy. "Do you want me to describe Spenser's naked male body? He has two muscular arms, two muscular legs, and a long…"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…no! What I want is some of your advanced alien technology."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nancy, you're driving a hard bargain!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and that's why the day is coming when a woman will become president of the free world. My human race is still using fossil fuel as their major energy source. What we need is an economical replacement of safe clean energy to power our vehicles, homes, and factories."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Every alien race on the who's who list of tiptop intelligence knows that burning energy from the black mucky remains of dead creatures is corky technology. For an endless supply of clean and safe energy, my race uses frosty-fusion reactors. I like to call the process of frosty-fusion, low nuking without scorching the planet. I'll give you three reactors along with detailed information to easily manufacture them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, my schooling and career has always been number one in my life. I only dream about having hot sexual relationships with handsome men like Spenser. Besides my drunk-fest Las Vegas weekend with a sex inquisitive lesbian girlfriend, I'm almost a virgin, which makes my flawless body worth five hundred dollars an hour in bed, so what I need is five frosty-fusion reactors."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay! It's a done deal. Are you positive Spenser will accept our three-way relationship agreement?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll bet my sexy body on it," replied Nancy.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The next day, Nancy entered her office with her morning cup of coffee in hand. To give her sexy smile a boost, she decided to wear a much more revealing outfit, showing off her hot curves, and her deep valley of the king's cleavage. She also left her brownish red hair hanging down, seductively flowing over her shoulders to the center of her back.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zarpy, Spenser will be here in a few minutes for his session," voiced Nancy. "I'd like you to be silent. Let me do the talking."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, but I activated his vision with heatless fire, so he's going to see me standing on your shoulder."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Joe the security guard knocked on the door, entered, and escorted Spenser over to the large padded session chair. "Good morning, Dr. Finnegan," Joe said upon noticing her cleavage, which made his teeth missing smile widen from ear to ear.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you, Joe, and there's no need to return in an hour. My session with Mr. Delcourt may run over, so I'll be escorting him back to his room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, doctor, Joe said as he exited the office.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With an ass swaying walk that would make a dead man sit up and take notice, Nancy locked her office door. She gracefully twirled around, strolled back to her desk, and sat down in her leather chair. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Spenser's blue eyes are wide and vibrant. His expression is similar to a child staring at his wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree. After a long moment of gazing upon Nancy's oriental attractiveness, his expression darkened when he saw Zarpy perched on her shoulder. The little alien excitedly waved to him without saying a word.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Good morning, Spenser," said Nancy, "how are you on this fine morning?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Besides being here in this nut hotel, I've been having a wonderful time without Zarpy perched on my shoulder, bugging me with his dumbass questions."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, is Zarpy gone?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup! …I really like your outfit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you, Spenser; I wore it especially for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why for me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You didn't like what I was wearing yesterday. It was too Mother Teresa for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It was the little pain in the ass alien who didn't like your business suit. He's been destroying my life, and because of him, I was playing with you. Before Zarpy appeared with his heatless fire, my life was normal."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't think so," voiced Nancy. "You were a lonely man, afraid to step into another relationship, and your only salvation was a nightly display of Internet porn, along with Mary Palm and her five spinster sisters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, you know about that," he said with a grim face. "…Look at him perched on your shoulder with a shit-eating alien grin. He's the one who told you what I do in private. Here I am in the cuckoo's nest while Zarpy abandons me to sit on the shoulder of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life! He's always going to be with you, in the shower, on the toilet, and during whatever private self-sex time you enjoy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Really…I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh yes, Nancy. You're way beyond beautiful, and I'd sell my soul to the devil for just one passionate kiss."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> While displaying a sexy smile, Nancy stood and approached Spenser. She grabbed his large hands and pulled him up out of his head session chair, then she wrapped her arms around his muscular body, firmly pressing her perfect breasts against his chest, and she whispered in her ear. "For a kiss, would you sell your soul to Zarpy?" Spenser felt her warm breath on his ear, and it ignited his inner core with a flash fire of lustful desires.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, Zarpy can have my soul, and you can have my heart." They kissed, lips pressed against lips, and their tongues met in a succulent waltz of heated passion. After their long kiss, Nancy said, "Spenser, you don't have to sell your soul to anyone. To love each other will make us rich beyond our dreams…and it'll be fun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Don't forget about me," yelled Zarpy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh yeah, Zarpy is included in our upcoming relationship filled with unlimited lustful sex. We can think of him as being our little pet Chihuahua who likes to watch us while we're making love."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can live with that."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Spenser, today is my last day on this awful job, and being a doctor I've already signed the legal documents to release you from this funny farm. Help me slide these chairs together."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?" asked Spenser.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She kicked off her dress shoes. "Honey, after a kiss like that, I'm on fire, so we need to make a bed out of these damn chairs." </span></p>
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<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><strong>The End!</strong></span></p>
<p align="center">© November 2011</p>
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Fast Food ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-11-09:3798404:BlogPost:103103
2011-11-09T04:37:06.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-7">Fast Food</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
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<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nine wealthy angel investors, two genetic scientists, and two Dallas attorneys all met with Bucky Addams, one the largest pig farmers in Texas. Following a seven hour meeting, everyone followed Bucky into one of his enormous pig barns. They walked up a wide flight of…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-7">Fast Food</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Nine wealthy angel investors, two genetic scientists, and two Dallas attorneys all met with Bucky Addams, one the largest pig farmers in Texas. Following a seven hour meeting, everyone followed Bucky into one of his enormous pig barns. They walked up a wide flight of wooden stairs to a loft overlooking countless rows of large pigpens. As they looked down upon Bucky's genetically altered hogs, greed formed wide smiles on all their faces, and everyone said this is good. Bucky's new pigs grow to adulthood at nearly double the speed and size of a normal pig. Plus, they contain sixty-two percent less fat than normal porkers.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> During their secret morning meeting, Bucky explained that his genetically altered pigs are corn fed, along with a special powdered enhancement added to the corn. He praised his brilliant genetic scientists, Dr. Norris Coxstein and Dr. Natasha Bayloft for developing this unique chemical powder that makes the meat more tender, tastier, and somewhat addictive. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The objective of their meeting is to come up with a speedy moneymaking idea to distribute Bucky's genetically altered pork byway of the fast food industry. Knowing that beef and chicken rule the market as kings, they need to think out of the box to sell Bucky's enhanced, lower fat pork. Their goal is create a huge market for pork burgers.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They returned to Bucky's conference room, sat down at the long red mahogany table, and the attorneys passed out Bucky's business contracts.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> On this seventh day of November, nine happy angel investors signed the contracts, thus creating McWongs, a fast food restaurant that'll eventually serve the world populace Wong burgers with a special no-fat Chinese sauce, Wong pork eggrolls, Wong pork fingers, and Wong pork fried rice.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Bottles of expensive champagne popped open, and they toasted while imagining large bamboo arches towering next to the parking lot entrances of a worldwide chain of McWongs. "Why remake the damn wheel when McDonalds has already done it for us!" shouted Bucky.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lined on the walls of Bucky's conference room are many wild boar heads with long white tusks. Each ugly boar head is different in appearance, but what they do have in common is an expression of sadness mixed with evil.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Within five years, after a short winning name battle with McDonalds' attorneys, McWongs grew faster than any other fast food chain in history, expanding with more than twenty daily grand opening restaurants. Like Burger King, McDonalds, Jack In Box, and Taco Bell, McWongs is now known by everyone. Children of all ages love eating at McWongs, and with every Wong Kids Meal, they receive an electronic singing Mister or Misses McHog. A little man or woman plastic doll with cute pig faces. The dolls sing the Wong Kid's Meal theme song entitled: <i>'Only a Wong Kid's Meal is the Right Kid's Meal</i>.<i>'</i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> McWongs' pork has become so popular that Bucky Addams is continuously expanding his pig farm. His expansion of newly constructed, automated pig barns is covering square miles, and his pig waste fertilizing company is escalating substantially, providing nutrients for nearly all of America's largest farm crops. Liken to Colonel Sanders' association with fried chicken, Bucky's sweet pork has raised him to fame.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> During the beginning growth of McWongs fast food restaurants, Bucky Addams devised an advertising scheme to capture the gullible minds of masses. With the influence of money, he adopted a six year old Chinese orphan who he named Wong. On the same day Wong arrived at Port Houston aboard a Gypsy freighter from Hong Kong, Bucky gathered his family, along with Wong, to pose for a family portrait. For this portrait, he dressed the Chinese boy in a cowboy outfit, thus giving their new family member a home on the range appearance. He placed Wong kneeling down in the front of his chubby teenage children, Cooter, Horace, and Gretchen. Bucky and his wife, Norma-May, are standing to the right of the children, holding a big bowl of McWongs fried Chinese style pork skins. Today, this portrait of the Texas Addam's family is famous, and it hangs in every McWongs around world.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Like Ronald McDonald, the Burger King, the Jack in the Box ping ball head guy, and the Sonic Kids, little Chinese Wong has become McWongs illustrious mascot. He spends most of his time traveling to grand openings along with his highly paid guardians and tutors. The little Chinese boy wears his Texas cowboy suit and dances to the song, <i>'Only the Right Burger is a Wong Pork Burger'</i>. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> McWongs has become the rage and many of their fast food competitors are advertising eat more beef and chicken.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Julie, I have reservations at Chuck's Steakhouse!" snapped Kurt Zane.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, you can cancel your damn steakhouse reservations! It's my birthday and I should be able choose where I want to eat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, but every day you eat your lunch at McWongs, so I figured a change would be good for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I enjoy eating at McWongs!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, but eating pork every day may not be good for you and our baby."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The special pork that's served at McWongs is good for everyone," voiced Julie. "Their pigs are one hundred percent corn fed, making them lean of fat and exceptionally tasty."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You sound like a commercial for McWongs," sputtered Kurt. "That's what they say to sell their damn pork burgers. It was my grandfather on my father's side who told me that too much of a good thing can be bad for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, it's bad for you." She pressed her huge pregnant stomach against him while giving him a passionate lip to lip kiss. "Am I too much of a good thing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's different…you’re my wife. You're a sexy woman that lasts forever."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'd like to hear you say those exact words when we're in our mid seventies. That's when my face will look like alligator skin, my ass will resemble a three week old yeast roll, my breasts will be hanging down to my knees, and my beautiful butterfly tattoo will look like a screeching buzzard."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt chuckled. "Hopefully, I'll still have my excellent engineering imagination to always see you as my sexy young wife…or perhaps my eyesight will be the first thing to go."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're funnier than a box full of dead puppies. Look, I'm ecstatically happy you took a personal day to spend time with me on my birthday, but I don't want to break my daily routine of having my lunch at McWongs." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But, dear, it's always so damn crowded. We'll most likely have to wait for a table, or we'll have to go outside to sit in the heat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't care."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "To tell you the truth, Julie, I've been noticing something strange about the fast food at McWongs. A little over a year ago, before McWongs opened, my engineering buddies that I work with, use to eat lunch at different restaurants, but now I can't even drag them away from McWongs by offering to pay for their lunch. I mean these guys are smart enough not to screw up a free lunch. It's as if their addicted to McWongs' pork! A few months ago, when I made up my mind to stop eating at McWongs, I suffered some disturbing feelings of withdrawal. No matter where I went for lunch, I'd think about sinking my teeth into a Wong pork burger, and I had to fight off the urge by telling myself over and over again that the Wong burger is the wrong burger."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kurt, what the hell are you implying, that the Wong pork burgers are laced with an addictive drug?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Whatever they're doing to drive the masses to eat their pork, I'm sure it's nothing as obvious as a drug. Yesterday, the evening news announced that McWongs is now selling more pork burgers than McDonald hamburgers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The pork burgers are much more tastier. Besides, as filler, McDonalds grinds earthworms into their beef."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt waved his hand. "Now you're being silly. The worms are an urban legend. Dear, never again am I going to take you out to eat McWongs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Then it looks like I'll be going to McWongs by myself!" sputtered Julie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No! you're not going to McWongs!" Kurt demanded. "I stayed home for two reasons…one is to celebrate your twenty-sixth birthday, and the other to do what it takes to break your temptation of eating lunch at McWongs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Everything you're saying about McWongs is an assumption. You don't have any proof that McWongs' pork is addictive or harmful!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt removed a file from his briefcase. "Over the past few months, many alarming Blogs about McWongs have popped up on the Internet. I've printed over a hundred of them for you to read. I know some of the articles seem a bit farfetched, like the ones claiming that the pigs have been genetically enhanced, but anything is possible. Many people are greedy, and they'll step on their fellow human beings to make more money than what they require in five lifetimes. As our technology advances, these greedy people are going to modify this technology to make money, and these altercations are going to harm people, but they're not going to give a shit as long as the profits keep rolling into their bank accounts. One excellent example of greed is fossil fuel. Sixty years ago we should've begun searching for a safe alternative energy source, but doing that would've destroyed the moneymaking oil industry."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't see what fossil fuel has to with McWongs," huffed Julie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm trying to explain that greedy big business doesn't care if they're hurting the human race. They'll cheat and lie to fill their bank accounts with wealth. I'm using the oil industry as an example because I'm working hard to put the oil companies out of business! You know I work for a private research company belonging to many investors who wish to help the human race by finding a cheap alternative for energy. We're working on many secret projects, and any day now we're going to change the world." He paused to catch his breath. "Honey, you need to read these Blogs. Many of them report the same addictive concerns that I have. They too claim it's not the wonderful taste of the pork that's making people addictive to eat at McWongs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I watch the main stream news every morning and night, and I've never heard any negativity about McWongs. The commercials between the news advertise McWongs." She paused to giggle and sing, "the right burger is the Wong burger."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You watch the mainstream media, but you'll never see me watching it. I'm not going to lose my freedom of thought. I don't want my brain filled with foolish bullshit. The mainstream media is as corrupt as the big greedy companies that pay them off to control the gullible masses, and take away their freedom of thought. I don't understand why people aren't realizing their being brainwashed. Are these people too scared to be self controlled lions instead of media following lambs. I'm certainly not going to listen to the mass media and vote for a president who doesn't have enough experience to manage a 7-Eleven Store. The mass media is all about big business, money, and power. McWongs has rapidly grown up to be another big business tyrant, paying millions of dollars to advertise on the news networks, and the mass media isn't going to set fire to the hand that's feeding them tons of money." Kurt chuckled. "I can imagine what these bigwigs at the major news networks are saying every minute of the day. <i>'I don't care if the story is true! Either change it or forever bury it!'</i> They treat us like children, only telling us what they want us to hear. The mass media doesn't care if Wong burgers are slowly poisoning everyone, nor do they care if the man they chose for president is a flying imbecile, and they're not interested in a cheaper alternative for energy because it's not good for big business. The only thing the mass media cares about is controlling the minds of the weak lambs. They believe the power and wealth needs stay with the privileged ones who work with them to control as many as they can. Although this mind controlling of the lambs isn't going to work forever, because the evolution process is producing future generations of people with more intelligence, and with this higher degree of intelligence comes an elevated need for the freedom of self thought. Someday in the near future, this increased intelligence will produce a revolution for the freedom of thought, and everyone will stop listening to the mass media. Personally, I believe the Internet news Blogs hold more truth than the mass media."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you done with your speech?" asked Julie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I guess."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's almost high noon and I'm going to McWongs to eat, so you might as well go find one of your engineering buddies to listen to your flipping lips of sad tales."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, how are you going to get there?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll use my car."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Last night, I removed your car battery and I buried it in the woods."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You can't do that!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I already did it," Kurt said along with an evil grin. "I'm protecting my wife and my unborn child."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You do realize by holding me against my will is kidnapping!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm protecting you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm going to call a taxi!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I also buried your cell phone next to your battery."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn you, Kurt! If I weren't nine months pregnant I'd beat you to within an inch of your life!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm doing this for your own good."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is a mighty fine howdy do birthday! What are you planning to do next! Tie me to a chair, gag me until the baby arrives?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You better not give me any good ideas."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm getting mad and hungry!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My reservations for Chuck's Steakhouse are at one PM. We still have plenty of time to go."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Since you're now controlling my life as if I'm a prisoner and you're the guard, I guess I have no choice but to eat steak."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt offered Julie a loving smiled. "Dear, after you take a bite of a big juicy steak smothered with fried mushrooms and onions, you'll forget all about McWongs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I doubt it!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you ready?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Let's go before I Bobbitt you!"</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> In an awkward silence, Kurt drove Julie across town to the steakhouse. He parked his truck in the shade, under branches from a red oak tree. They walked across the parking lot and entered the barn-like restaurant.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt walked up to receptionist. "Hi, I'm Kurt Zane, and I called in for a table at one PM."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh yes, Mr. Zane," she said along with a silly smile. "Oh my, this must be the birthday woman, and you look like you're going to give birth at any time now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I feel like I'm going to give birth at any time now," voiced Julie."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you know if it's going to be a boy or a girl?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We didn't opt for learning ahead of time what sex our child will be," said Kurt.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It'll be a surprise," added Julie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Please follow me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She sat them down at a round table in front of a window overlooking a flower garden. "Here are your menus and the waiter will be with you in a moment."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The waiter rushed over to take their drink orders. They each ordered an ice tea with slices of lemon.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now this is nice," announced Kurt.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, but I miss McWongs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe this will cheer you up." He reached in his suit coat pocket and pulled out a card along with a small wrapped gift box."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Julie opened the card first. On the face of the card is a bouquet of a dozen colorful roses, and written inside the card it simply says, <i>'To my loving wife on her birthday'.</i> There's also a five hundred dollar gift card for the Lone Star Baby Boutique. "Oh dear, thank you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The waiter returned with their drinks. "Would you like to place your order now, or do you need a few more minutes?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kurt, I'll have whatever your having." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…that'll be two sixteen once prime ribs with baked potatoes filled with all the fixings, and the mixed steamed vegetables along with two orders of your famous sautéed mushrooms."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After the waiter hurried off to place their orders with the kitchen, Julie opened her gift box. "Oh my God, these pearls are absolutely gorgeous. I have a necklace, a bracelet, and earrings." She leaned over and gave Kurt a kiss. "I love them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They enjoyed their prime rib meals, and Julie is so excited with her wonderful birthday gifts that she lost her mental urge to eat a pork burger at McWongs.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After they ate, seven waiters crowded around their table to give Julie a small ice-cream birthday cake while singing happy birthday. Near the end of the song, Julie happily blew out the one candle on the cake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kurt, before I eat some cake, I'm going to the bathroom to see my pearls in the mirror."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, dear, and do some thinking about what fun things you'd like to do this afternoon." Kurt watched her do the pregnancy duck waddle across the restaurant.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Julie returned with an upset expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's wrong?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm so embarrassed. My water broke along the hallway from the bathroom."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt smiled from ear to ear. "This is great news. You're going to have our baby on your birthday. Are you feeling any contractions yet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just a few slight tremors."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Those slight tremors are going to turn into major earthquakes," excitedly voiced Kurt. "You'd better gather up your cake to go while I go pay the bill. Your fun birthday afternoon has already been planned out by either our son or daughter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But it's ice cream cake…and I don't think it's going to be a fun birthday afternoon," Julie said without being heard.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> While driving, Kurt called ahead to tell the hospital to inform them that his wife is going into labor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> By the time they reached the hospital, Julie is moaning in pain every five minutes. The nurses helped her up onto a gurney and rushed her off to a delivery room.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt followed, but a large nurse stopped him dead in his tracks. "Sir, you will need to wait in the expectant father's lounge."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No!" he shook his head. "I took all those damn birthing classes so I can be with my wife during delivery. I want to see my child enter the world."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry, Mr. Zane, but you must wait in the lounge," she demanded while pointing her chubby finger at the doorway.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt noticed two armed police officers standing guard. He passed between the officers while entering the lounge. Two unhappy men are pacing back and forth, occasionally stamping their feet like raging bulls, and muttering obscenities to themselves. Kurt walked up to the men, blocking their pacing paths. "Gentlemen, like what's happening to me, are the hospital staffers refusing to allow you guys to be in the delivery room with your wives?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's right!" snapped one of the men.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah," sputtered the other man, "and they refuse to give us an explanation!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Impatiently, Kurt sat down to wait. He jumped up like a jack in the box clown each time a nurse entered the lounge to call out an expectant father's name. Another waiting father entered the lounge wearing such a mean gorilla face that Kurt decided it would be best not to question him.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> More than an hour and a half has passed by without any information about Julie. Kurt feels like exploding into the Hulk, demanding to see his wife, but he knows the two big cops standing by the doorway will probably throw his ass out into the parking lot.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Finally, a nurse entered and called out his name. "I'm right here!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Please, Mr. Zane, follow me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He followed the young nurse to a room on the fourth floor. Kurt rushed in to see Julie is lying on the bed with her head propped up. Her face looks deeply worried. "Oh, Kurt, they wouldn't let you into the delivery room, nor will they let me see our baby. I don't remember anything about having the baby. I think they put me under with drugs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kurt gave Julie a hug and kiss. "Honey, I don't understand what the hell is happening around here. They wouldn't allow any of the expectant fathers into the delivery rooms, and they have armed police officers guarding the waiting lounge."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I'm so scared," moaned Julie. "I want to see my baby."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Three people entered Julie's room. A doctor, a police officer, and a nurse holding a bundled up baby.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh…oh, is that my baby?" asked Julie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, Mrs. Zane," replied the soft spoken doctor. "Your daughter is healthy, and she has a normal human brain; however, there are some unusual deformities."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Deformities!" snapped Kurt. "What the hell do you mean by unusual deformities?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Over the past twenty-four hours, almost every child from around the world is being birthed with the identical deformities."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Doctor, I don't give a shit if you have a cop in here to protect your ass. I demand to see my daughter!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alright." The doctor gestured to the nurse, and she gently placed the baby girl into Kurt's arms. He surprisingly slid aside the pink blanket to see his daughter with a face of a piglet. Her nose, ears, mouth, and jaw, resemble a baby pig. He turned away from his wife and exposed the rest of the baby girl's body for viewing, which is human, except for a little curly pig tail sticking up out the backside of her diaper. Along with a deep inhale of air, tears began flow from Kurt's blue eyes, running down his cheeks, dropping onto his baby daughter. He gently kissed his daughter's forehead, and then he passed her to Julie, who ignored her deformities, and begun her bonding of breast feeding her.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Doctor, you said these births have been occurring around the world for over the past twenty-four hours?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, Mr. Zane." The doctor sadly nodded.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How come I haven't heard anything about this on the news?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're trying to prevent a worldwide panic. Although the major mass media networks are not going to keep this a secret for much longer. News stories about the deformity births are starting to appear on Internet Blogs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, just like all the other true news blogs that the mass media ignores." Kurt spun around in anger. "My good God," he raised his hands and yelled. "Evidently, the human race has been genetically altered from eating McWongs' pork products. What the hell! Greedy…fast food…big business has altered the future of the human race into the planet of the pigs!" </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">© November 2011</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
The Thrilling Sci-fi Reality of eReaders and eBooks
tag:www.authors.com,2011-11-05:3798404:BlogPost:102698
2011-11-05T20:30:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<div><span class="font-size-5"><b> </b></span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"><b> The Thrilling Sci-fi Reality of eReaders and eBooks</b></span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"><b><br></br></b></span></div>
<div><b><br></br></b></div>
<div align="center"></div>
<div> <span class="font-size-5">The grand benefits of reading novels via an electronic reader far exceeds reading an old fashion paper book. You can adjust the size of the print to fit your eyes, no more losing your…</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"><b> </b></span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"><b> The Thrilling Sci-fi Reality of eReaders and eBooks</b></span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"><b><br/></b></span></div>
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<div> <span class="font-size-5">The grand benefits of reading novels via an electronic reader far exceeds reading an old fashion paper book. You can adjust the size of the print to fit your eyes, no more losing your place, or storing your books on dusty old book cases that take up space within your home. For those unfortunate people who do not have the eyesight to read, they can set the electronic reader to read aloud. Electronic readers are the imagined wonders of science fiction becoming a luxurious reality.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"> </span><span style="font-size: 21px;"> I'm a believer that any eBook sold for over five dollars is too doggone expensive! Being that I'm a sci-fi novelist, all my eNovels, such as my newest epic, 'They!' or my magnificent 'Apollo Trilogy Novels', sell for less than three dollars, so everyone can afford to read them. Especially in this appalling economic times which has been mostly caused by our misguided government who's been wasting our tax-money on ridiculous laws, bailouts, and failed loans to energy alternative companies.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"> When you purchase an exciting eBook, you're not paying for paper, ink, printing, binding, and cover...plus everyone who purchases an eBook is saving our beautiful trees.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"> Many eBooks are overpriced because the worried paper book publishers are attempting to slow down the rapid growth of electronic readers and their Books. For many years, these paper book publishers have been ripping off their hard working authors, and rejecting many thousands of authors because they judge their work not to be a speedy, money making guarantee. They've also been over pricing their paper books so they can fill their greedy pockets with wealth, as if these publishers are managed by Feregi's Grand Negus Zek from Star Trek.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"> There are also those many specialty publishing companies who cheat the authors, and some actually steal the author's novel, which is identical to stealing their dreams. One of the worst specialty publishing houses out there is 'Publish America'… They are pure evil! If you don't believe me, then please do a <a href="http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS371&q=Publish+Amerca+complaints+and+scams&oq=Publish+Amerca+complaints+and+scams&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2398l38209l0l40253l17l17l0l3l3l0l240l2387l0.10.4l14l0">'Publish America complaints and scams</a>'…search on Google's engine.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"> I highly advise every new author to stay far away from these specialty publishing companies, especially 'Publish America'. Don't even talk to them, because they'll suck you in like a swift talking, crooked car salesman. The industry of electronic readers and eBooks are quickly growing, the prices are dropping, and as far as I'm concerned, an eBook is now the best method to publish your work. There are new eBook businesses popping up that'll personally help you self-publish your eBook around the world within many <a href="http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=wmMmkAFHlfAC&dq=inauthor%3A%22Chuck%20Keyes%22&as_brr=5&ei=6_WqTryEJsOUUsae9NoK&source=webstore_bookcard">eBook Stores</a>. The price of this helpful service is a small percentage, much less than a on-their-way-out-of-business paper book publisher. I've been happily self-publishing my impressive sci-fi eBooks through the <a href="http://www.enovelshop.com/">E-Novel Shop</a>. </span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5"> Personally, I will never pay over five dollars for an eBook. Not even if the new eNovel was written by the ghost of H.G. Wells. Also, I will never buy another paper book novel from a greedy publisher. </span><br/> <span class="font-size-5"> Like computers and the World Wide Web, eReaders and eBooks are our technological future. A future for greatly improving our lives and the lives of many generations to follow. As I said, the prices are dropping. This Christmas, Amazon Kindle is introducing a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051QVESA/ref=famstripe_k">new line of wonderful Electronic Readers.</a> Lighter, smaller, faster, with built in Wi-Fi, and two of them are under one hundred dollars.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-5">Blog Article by <strong>Chuck Keyes </strong></span></div>
Terraforming Mars ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-11-03:3798404:BlogPost:102758
2011-11-03T21:30:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b>Terraforming Mars</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b><br></br></b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> On her way to the main project control room, Lucinda Martinelli paused at a curved window to watch Phobos slip behind Olympus Mons, which towers twenty-four kilometers,<font size="2"> …</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b>Terraforming Mars</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7"><b><br/></b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> On her way to the main project control room, Lucinda Martinelli paused at a curved window to watch Phobos slip behind Olympus Mons, which towers twenty-four kilometers,<font size="2"> </font></span><span class="font-size-5">casting a vast shadow over a dried ocean of<font size="2"> </font></span><span class="font-size-5">lifeless land, pitted with rocks and craters. She ran along the passageway, entered the large control room, and sat down at monitoring station number ten. Lucinda quickly checked the terraforming core drill readings on the screen to make sure everything is running efficiently, and then she spun her chair around to face one of her co-working team leaders. The last person she needs to give her a unanimous vote. "Sweeny, have you been having any strange dreams?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't dream very often, which obviously means I'm crazier than a terraforming atmospheric engineer who's stationed on Mars."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But you are a terraforming atmospheric engineer who's stationed on Mars."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow!" Sweeny rolled his eyes, jokingly showing Lucinda just the lower white portion of his eyeballs. "Do you know what this means?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I must be crazier than I had figured."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sweeny, I'm being serious!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're serious about having weird dreams?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes!" Lucinda nodded her head. "For the past nine nights, I've been having dreams about Mars, and I'm not the only one having these dreams. So far, I've spoken to fourteen coworkers, and they've been having similar dreams, but unlike my dreams, theirs don't turn into a frightening nightmare."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What are you seeing in these Martian dreams?" asked Sweeny while displaying a mystified expression. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A mental movie of Mars, far into the Martian future, perhaps centuries beyond our fifty-two year terraforming project. A beautiful earth-like Mars with forests, green mountains, blue oceans, flowing rivers, huge crop fields, and magnificent cities consisting of many tall buildings. After seeing this magnificent Mars, my dream transforms into a terrifying nightmare, showing me millions of mangled bodies scattered amongst a global wide annihilation, and then I wake up screaming and sweating like an overweight jogger."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I always thought you sweat like an overweight jogger."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, and you're funnier than a bucket full of severed chicken heads. I believe my dreams are somehow connected to Mars."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe you're being haunted by a ghost from the future of Mars," Sweeny voiced along with a giggle. "Besides, we've been working here on Mars for over seven years, so why would these dreams just all of a sudden occur?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nine days ago, at our new one hundred and sixteenth drill site, at a depth of forty-four feet the drill used almost zero amperage to move thirty-seven feet downward. The readings indicate the drill passed through a cavern, and that's when my dreams began."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So you actually believe your dreams about the future of Mars are related to passing a drill through a cave."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and you’re the last team member I need to approve my requests."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What requests?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I need to move our one hundred and sixteenth drill site to a new location, and I want to locate an entrance to this cave so I can explore it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because I feel drawn to this cave, as if something within the cave is calling me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Ryan, Bruce, and Kanisha have already approved your requests?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes." Lucinda answered along with a quick nod. "They are also having the Martian dreams that started nine days ago."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Moving the drill is a setback."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, but we're more than four months ahead of schedule, and the workers have offered to work harder to relocate the drill site."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So what costly incentives did you offer them?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "None!" snapped Lucinda. "All our workers like me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sweeny blinked. "Are you saying they don't like me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sweeny, I would never waste my time implying that which is so obvious." Lucinda smiled as her words flew over Sweeny's head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I'm a likeable guy when I'm in a good mood." he paused to alter his thought. "Okay, let's say you do locate an entrance into this cavern, what are you expecting to find?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know, but I do know I have a strange feeling there's something there waiting for me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Against my best judgment, I'll make your request anonymous, so you can go hunting for your futuristic Martian ghost."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks, Sweeny, I really appreciate this."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you going to the Galaxy Theater tonight?" They're showing a famous sci-fi triple feature that was filmed over eighty years ago…'Apollo the Trilogy'.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've seen the epic trilogy more than once, and I love the little talking Chihuahua, along with Zeeper the alien."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like the novels, each movie within the trilogy is better than the one before it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It would be fun, but unfortunately, I plan to work late tonight, studying satellite pictures and maps to prepare my search to locate an entrance into the cavern."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I was hoping you'd sit next to me in the theater."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda shot Sweeny a half smile along with a wink of her left eye. "Maybe someday in the future, when I have the time."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Along with a loud shrilling scream, Lucinda's body sprang up to a sitting position in the middle of her bed. Droplets of sweat are rolling down her face, dripping down onto her bare breast, making them appear to be Texas size melons covered with early morning dew. Liken to a pretty shawl, her auburn hair is hanging down past her shoulders, ending a few inches below the middle of her back. She can feel her entire body trembling with fear, which is a reminding leftover from her Martian nightmare. The worldwide destruction of Mars occurred as if she was physically there to witness the horrid global event. Billions of human Martians were being instantly crushed and burned within an exploding eradication from an unknown origin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda glanced over at her alarm clock. The time is five fourteen AM, based on the length of a Martian day, which is thirty-nine minutes longer than an earth day. The sun will be up within an hour. Every morning, she sets her alarm clock to wake her up just before sunrise, so she can watch the sun slide up over the Martian horizon. When the sun's bright rays hit the red dust blowing around in the upper turbulent winds, multi-rainbows of beautiful colors are created. The thought of knowing the Martian sun is the same sun that rises every morning over Athens, Texas, her hometown, helps her to battle her homesickness. Although, Lucinda doesn't regret being chosen by NASA to help lead such an important mission. The terraforming of Mars is a magnificent gift for the human race, thus offering an earth-like planet to be colonized. The plan is to create a second earth having one republican government representing free humans from every race. Mars will become a fantastic new world without any hostility based on prejudicial creed, religion, or nation.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> What's more scarier than the blood and gore within her Martian nightmares, is the thought that in the future her terraformed paradise instantly ends in global destruction.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She placed her bare feet on the heated floor, walked across the bedroom, and entered her bathroom. After adjusting the water valves, she stepped under the warm flowing Martian water that's being pumped up from an underground fresh water ocean. Each time she showers or drinks the refreshing Martian water, she feels blissfully closer to Mars. The water offers her a divine closeness in which she cannot explain.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After dressing, she stood in front of her bedroom window and watched the dazzling Martian sunrise. As with every morning, the colorful morning sky rapidly turns into a flushed grayish red, but this will eventually change as the molten liquid from the core of Mars is pumped through the giant exhaust chambers, adding oxygen to the reinforced Martian atmosphere. She looked down to see the project workers departing to the many work sites within their designated Martian train-like vehicles. The vehicles are traveling along dirt roads with deep ruts. The train engines resemble giant bugs, waddling on enormous spiked spindles, each pulling more than a dozen sealed chariots filled with passengers and supplies. The Martian vehicles disappeared within the thick dust clouds they created.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda entered the cafeteria. She walked along the buffet counter, choosing and placing her breakfast on a tray, and then she sat down at her favorite table in front of a doublewide window, offering a view of rippling valleys that were created from lava that once flowed from Olympus Mons, during mar's Amazonian Period. Off to her left she can see the Viking Grotto, running along the stony rim of Hercules' Plato.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> First, she took a sip of coffee, and as she was about to slice off a bite of her ham steak when to her surprise, Sweeny sat down at her table with his breakfast tray. "What brings your ass to my table?" she asked, followed with a sarcastic grin.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This morning, are you going to start searching for the cave entrance?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes." she nodded. "I'm leaving right after I enjoy my secluded breakfast."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I want to go with you, to help you locate the cave."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She shot Sweeny a peculiar expression. "Why would you, our renowned womanizer and jokester, want to risk your life crawling around in a Martian cave system?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Last night, I had your Martian dream, including the futuristic global destruction of Mars."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yesterday, you said you don't dream."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…I said I don't dream very often. Obviously dislike for me prevents you from fully listening to what I say."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sweeny, I never said I dislike you. I just don't approve of your playboy jokester attitude, and for that reason I avoid you like a plague. You're jokester mannerism makes me see you as nasty little boy, but I do admire your engineering abilities."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My playboy jokester attitude helps to keep sane. I'm not an astronaut, and I never wanted to live my life on Mars, but NASA insisted that if I don't go they were going to call off the project, and I wouldn't allow that to happen. A week before I said my long goodbye to earth. My pregnant wife, the only woman who I've ever loved, left me for another man, that's because she didn't want to go with me to Mars. I don't even know the sex of my child. I feel like I gave up my life for the success of this mar's terraforming mission, and in the future, I certainly don't want to see what I've achieved for the human race to be destroyed. Therefore, I'm hoping whatever we find within this cave, will help us prevent this dreamed doomsday."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow, Sweeny, I didn't know," Lucinda said with a sad expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Please don't tell anyone. I don't want to lose my playboy jokester attitude, nor do I want anyone feeling sorry for me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why are you telling me your deep hearted secrets?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because I want to go spelunking with you, and I'm being drawn this cave."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Answer one question for me, then I'll allow you to go spelunking with me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…what's the question?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why do you use your last name as your first name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because my first name is Izayah."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're full name is Izayah Sweeny?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's actually Izayah Herman Sweeny."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, your parents must've hated you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No shit! Now can I go with you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, but I'm the boss, and if you don't obey me, I'm going to tell everyone what your real name is."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's fine with me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After eating their breakfast, they boarded an elevator cab, traveling down and horizontally to the Ellis Depot, where they entered a Martian vehicle and journeyed half around the Tharsis Montes to the one hundred and sixteenth drill site.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "When was the last time you've been outside?" asked Lucinda.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "About two years ago," replied Sweeny.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks to the work we've been doing, these new protective suits are lighter in weight, making them more comfortable," she said while standing behind a privacy shield.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I recently heard that some of the workers have been going outside during their off duty hours, strolling around the Martian surface as if their taking a walk through New York's Central Park."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm one of those workers you heard about," Lucinda voiced while sliding her foot into her protective suit. "These suits are durable, but you do need to stay away from sharp rocks. Inside the red pouches strapped to your legs are some emergency slap-on puncture and tear covers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's good to know," announced Sweeny. "I hate it when my body slowly implodes to become a human flavored slushy." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Don't forget to turn on your helmet radio."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They fasten their helmets and Lucinda said, "Sweeny, can you hear me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Loud and clear, sweetheart."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm nobody's sweetheart, so please reframe from calling me anything but given name!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, Lucinda."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They entered the airlock. Lucinda pushed a bright red button and with a loud swish the oxygen was rapidly sucked out of the airlock. The outer hatch slid open and they stepped out onto the Martian surface. Lucinda took the lead, heading towards the outer edge of Arsia Mons, one of the smaller ancient volcanoes. The one hundred and sixteenth drill site is located on a minor lava base, which means they need to circle around to the lower cliff. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Almost an hour past by when they reached the outer rocky edge that circles around Arsia Mons. Lucinda removed a device from her utility belt, activated it, and began to scan along the bottom of the cliff."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's that device," asked Sweeny.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This scanner measures the depth of matter, such as rock, soil, and sand. Hopefully, it'll save us time by locating a cave entrance, even if it's buried. I'm figuring there has to be more than one lava or gas vent along this rocky cliff. More than an hour past by when Lucinda screamed into her helmet microphone. "My scanner found a cave entrance."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where? I don't see anything," moaned Sweeny.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "She removed a folded shovel that was attached to the side of her oxygen backpack. "The cave entrance is right here, behind this slope of sand."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, we have to physically dig," Sweeny said as he grabbed his shovel."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The sand slopes down into the cave entrance. All we need to do is dig out a crawl space, and then we can slide down into the cave."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh joy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They crawled up on the sand, knelt down side by side, and began to dig. Sure enough, they broke into a hole. With excitement in their hearts, they dug faster, until the hole was large enough to accept their bodies.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sweeny giggled. "This is like entering an Egyptian tomb."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda shined her flashlight beam into the hole."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do see?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sand, a rocky ceiling, and no King Tut." She slid into the hole on her stomach, feet first, and the cave became larger as she glided downhill on the powdery sand. When she reached the bottom, she stood up on a flat rocky surface.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After entering the hole the same way Lucinda did, Sweeny slid down and stood up next to her. He shined his flashlight beam around. "This place is spooky."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda waved her flashlight. "Come on."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The cave ran downhill, making their walk easy, and Lucinda has been monitoring the environment within the cave. With every ten steps, she's surprised to see the oxygen levels rise along with the temperature. The further they traveled downward, the cave became larger, and they can see moisture on the walls. In a few places, water is actually trickling through cracks.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look, Lucinda," Sweeny announced, "there's where the drill bored into the floor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She shined her flashlight beam up towards the ceiling, expecting to see the drilled hole, but it's been patched. "Holy sox, somebody covered the hole."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Somebody!" Sweeny nervously spun around. "That's impossible…there's no life on Mars…it's a dead planet!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I agree, but I'm looking directly at a patched hole."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They continued their journey downward, heading toward Arsia Mons. More than an hour passed by. Lucinda stopped, disconnected her helmet, and removed it.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell are you doing?" screamed Sweeny.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She took in a deep breath of Martian oxygen, and then she shrugged her shoulders.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sweeny nervously removed his helmet. After taking in a long breath of air, he said, "Lucinda, this is unbelievable."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, but it's real. This cave is being fed oxygen and heat, and I think it’s a natural process occurring from deep under these volcanic mountains. The process is most likely similar to our terraforming method, but on a smaller scale. We've known for a long time that there are traces of oxygen within the Martian atmosphere, and I bet it's been seeping up from this cave system."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sweeny walked over to the cave wall to set his helmet on the floor, and that's when he noticed numerous three to four inch diameter holes in the wall. "There are perfectly round holes in the walls."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I'm just noticing them now," voiced Lucinda. She walked up to the wall, and for a brief second, she thought she saw light emitting from some of the holes. "Sweeny, come stand over here next to me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "On my why."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He positioned himself close to her. "I knew you couldn't resist me. Are we going to hug and kiss?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hell no! Let's switch off our flashlights."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, you want to do it in the dark.?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just do it!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Total darkness wrapped them, but it didn't last long. From every round hole, small bright lights appeared, moving about, and the cave lit up.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alien creatures," cried Sweeny, thousands of them, and their eyes are glowing like headlights!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The alien creatures somewhat resemble lizards; however, their lighted eyeballs are mounted on flexible shafts, just like hermit crabs. Their bodies are long and slender with eight limbs. Six legs, two arms, and long human-like hands and feet, with round pads at the end of their toes and fingers, which somehow gives them the ability to walk on the walls. Their smooth skin is yellow and their rear ends are blunt. Sticking out their blunt rear ends are what appears to be two long insect antennas. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look," said Lucinda, "I think these two creatures are eating."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Eating what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're using their long flat tongues to dissolve the rocky walls. That must be how they made all these holes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They eat rocks?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They most likely digest the minerals. This is amazing. These alien creatures have evolved to live within this cave system."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Chuck Darwin would be proud of them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can hear the aliens within my mind. They must use their ass antennas to telepathically communicate."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Many humans I know talk out their ass," grunted Sweeny along with a giggle.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda reached her hand out to the nearest alien. It stepped off the wall and proceeded to walk up her arm.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lucinda, do think this is wise, letting the alien creature walk on you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He's trying to communicate with me. I can hear him within my mind."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> When the alien reached her shoulder, it spun around and placed the tips of its antennas against her bare neck.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda tilted her head and closed her eyes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you alright?" asked Sweeny, looking worried.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Quiet! I'm mind melding with the alien, and I understand him."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "His name must be Mr. Spock," whispered Sweeny.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The mind link lasted for thirty-six minutes. Lucinda extended her hand to allow the alien creature to return to the wall.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What…did…the Vulcan say to you?" Sweeny asked, using a good impersonation of William Shatner's voice.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She grabbed Sweeny's hand and pulled him to the center of the cave. "Sit down, and I'll tell you a Martian history story that'll blow your mind."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They sat down on the cave floor, side by side, leaning against each other for support. "What we've been witnessing within our Martian dreams, occurred perhaps a half billion years ago, when Mars was our first earth. A beautiful earth that was destroyed by powerful weapons of mass destruction. The first human race foolishly eradicated themselves, all because of hatred, prejudice, politics, religion, and greed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So this is our second time around?" chimed Sweeny.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and these little Martian aliens evolved from what was left over from the first human race."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's hard to believe these lizard-like creatures are related to us."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Evolution obviously did what it had to do to help them survive within a harsh situation. I think it's remarkable that they have the ability to manufacture their own light."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sweeny giggled. "Who'd of thought of headlight eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They call their race, hunogs, and they're extremely intelligent, but they can't improve their lives while being imprisoned underground. They're happy that we're repairing Mars. When our terraforming is complete, like their human forefathers, they can return to the surface, although it may take awhile for their eyes to adjust to the bright sunshine."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Being an engineer, dealing with realistic science every day, I'm not into religion. Do you think this first earth Martian story is going to mess up everyone's religion?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I doubt it," said Lucinda with a wave of her hand. "The story doesn't alter our earth. The hunogs are warning us to stop bickering and peacefully get along with each other."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe your right, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea for somebody to slip a foot note into the Old Testament, saying: <i>'If you don't succeed the first time, try, try again'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda laughed. "That's hilarious." She paused in thought. "Okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Tomorrow night, I'll sit beside you in the Galaxy Theater."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A wide smile exploded on his face. "Awesome! I promise to be a perfect gentleman."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just be yourself." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay. I'm curious as to how they made us have the same dream?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "After the drill passed into the cave, millions of them gathered together to increase their telepathic abilities. Their hearts were set on making first contact."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, chicken balls!" sputtered Sweeny. "Nobody is going to believe us. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. They'll probably ship us back to earth and put us in a loony bin. We'll have joining rooms with Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The hunogs have that covered."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do mean?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Here they are."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Two hunogs crawled up on Lucinda's lap.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A male and female are going home with us. They want to help us spread their warning to earth, and to negotiate for a section of Martian land, so they can construct homes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Awesome! How are we going to safely transport them?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They can ride in our protective suits. Because of the attached plumbing and waste pouches, there's a lot room in our crotch areas."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sweeny whispered in Lucinda's ear. "They both look alike, and I think it would be best for the male to ride with me." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda giggled. "You are funny?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, there's a lot of extra room in our helmets. They can ride on top of our heads, plus it would be safer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…that was my first thought, and it is a safer place for them to ride."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lucinda stood up, holding the aliens. "Oh, they're warm-blooded, just like us."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> One at a time, they sat an alien on their head, followed with their helmets.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> On their way to the surface, Sweeny asked, "Lucinda, why did you switch to the crotch riding idea?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Think about it, Sweeny. It's a long trip home, and nature can be uncontrollable."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh shit!"</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© October 2011</p>
<p> </p>
Monsters Are Among Us ...A short sci-fi Halloween story by Chuck Keyes...
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-27:3798404:BlogPost:101452
2011-10-27T01:26:51.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Monsters Are Among Us</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi Halloween story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> <span class="font-size-5">Detective Hogan Carter moaned as he reached for his cell phone. "This better be somebody telling me I won the Texas Lottery!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Afraid not, partner. I'm…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Monsters Are Among Us</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi Halloween story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> <span class="font-size-5">Detective Hogan Carter moaned as he reached for his cell phone. "This better be somebody telling me I won the Texas Lottery!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Afraid not, partner. I'm your bad guy wake up call."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's up besides waking me up at three AM?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Per orders of the chief, I'm on my way over to pick you up. We supposedly have a hush-hush homicide to investigate, and it involves more than one victim."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan paused to curl his muscular arms while stretching his shoulders. "Damn…I wish this multiple murdering had occurred during daylight hours."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Clear your head, Hogan, because I'm about fifteen minutes away."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay!" Hogan rolled out of bed, grabbed his bottle of Jack Daniels, carried it to the bathroom where he took in a mouthful of the whisky, gargled for moment, and then he spit the fluid in the sink.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> In spite of his hangover, Hogan peed, shaved, showered, and dressed in record time.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He stepped outside just as his partner pulled into the driveway. After Hogan sat down in the passenger's seat, his partner, Jack Rivers, said, "Hogan, you look like sun baked dog shit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I feel like dog shit!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Don't tell me," Jack voiced as he backed the unmarked cruiser out of the driveway. "Beth won't answer your phone calls, so you spent another lonely night with your buddy, Jack Daniels."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That about sums it up!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "She's always running home to her mother. Why are you taking it so hard?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because she's pregnant."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Congratulations! Why am I just now learning that you're going to be a daddy?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because I didn't know about it until she was walking out the damn door to leave me, and you've been on a week's vacation with one of your wild girl friends." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Ouch! Telling you on her way out the door. I bet that was a punch to your brain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No shit!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Give her time to come home. I'm sure Beth will come to her senses when she realizes how much she misses you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Misses me! She's never been gone for over a week!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, Beth usually leaves you for just a day or two. What the hell did you do to piss her off?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I already told you about it. The Friday night before you left on your Caribbean sex cruise, when we worked late to solve the Hanson murder case, I was supposed to take Beth out for her birthday dinner at the Oxen Yoke Steakhouse."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Shit! I didn't know it was her birthday. You really screwed up this time! She may not come home for a month or two."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks for cheering me up…asshole!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, that's what partners do, cheer each other up."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where we going?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're heading to Bailey County, which is located about fifty miles northeast of Tyler."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Cattle ranching country."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup." Jack nodded. "The murders were committed at the Buck Harthwood ranch. A Bailey police officer called it in." He paused to chuckle. "He's probably one of only three nighttime officers in the whole damn county."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I hope he has enough intelligence not to mess with our crime scene. Do have any details?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nothing but a mystery. From what I was told by Chief Carson, the officer did a speedy walkabout through the ranch house, ran outside, and after heaving up the contents of his stomach, he locked himself up in his cruiser to wait for us."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn, Jack, are we heading to a 'Friday The Thirteenth' slice and dice murder scene?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Perhaps, or perhaps the local officer is overly squeamish, like a frightened little girl." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> To combat his Jack Daniels' hangover, Hogan partially reclined his seat, and then he closed his eyes to block out the bright headlights of the oncoming vehicles.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hogan, wake your ass up!" loudly snapped Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah…yeah…I'm awake."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "According to the GPS, the Harthwood driveway entrance is up ahead on the right."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Damn…I was hoping to see the sun poking its head up over the horizon."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "While you were snoring like a freight train, I've been cruising up to speeds of ninety miles an hour. The sun won't be poking its head up for another two hours."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The way you drive, sleeping was far better than soiling my boxers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's funnier than reaching down in the heat of passion to learn that my date is a male in drag," Jack voiced while turning the unmarked police car onto a dirt driveway running into a pasture. The cruiser rattled as it rolled over the heavy-duty cattle guard rollers.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan chuckled. "If picking men in drag is a continuing problem, then maybe you should stop frequenting the gay bars on Cedar Hill Road."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've never been in a gay bar!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Six minutes passed by. "Damn, Jack, how long is this driveway?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "According to the GPS, the driveway is a little over two miles long. We should be coming upon the ranch house any…" He slammed on the brakes, sliding to a stop within a few feet of the local officer's police truck.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What were you saying?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're here!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan removed two flashlights out of the glove box and handed one to Jack. "Well, let's go talk to the local country officer." Hogan pushed open his door, stepped out and headed over to the police truck that Jack almost rear ended.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack followed Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy squirrel nuts!" snapped Hogan. "Where the hell is the driver's door?" He shined his flashlight beam into the cab, noticing the driver's seat is covered with a thick layer of blood."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look at this! The door has been ripped right off the hinges," nervously voiced Jack as he removed his gun from his chest holster. "What the hell are we dealing with, a super strong murderer?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know. You'd better call in for some backup. I'll look around for the officer's body." With his flashlight in one hand, and his thirty-eight in the other, Hogan circled around the police truck. He expanded his search circumference on each circular walkabout, and on his fourth trip, he noticed the missing door lying in a tall patch of grass. Sprawled out on top of the door is the local officer's body. Hogan knelt down to examine the corpse. Centered in the middle of the officer's forehead is a perfectly round three inch diameter hole. He shinned his flashlight beam directly into the hole to see a hollowed out skull with no exit wound. Hogan grimaced at the thought of why a ghoulish killer would alter this man's head into what looks like a morbid birdhouse. Lost in thought, Detective Hogan continued to kneel on the ground while staring at the murdered officer. On this last day in October, the cool morning mist is hovering around Hogan like an evil fog. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack tapped on Hogan's shoulder and startled him, making him spring up like a Jack in the box clown. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell, Jack! Are you trying to give me a heart attack."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sorry about that. Hey, is that a fifty caliber bullet hole in his forehead?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That was my first thought too, but there's no exit wound, and his brain is missing." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Missing…missing, who the hell would steal his brain?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know," replied Hogan. "Do we have any backup on the way?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Six officers are being dispatched from Smith County, but they won't be here for nearly an hour."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan deeply sighed. "Okay, let's go check out the ranch house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wouldn't it be a better idea to wait for our backup to arrive?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan gestured toward the officer's dead body. "Wait around like he waited for us."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I see your point."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They walked across the front yard, climbed the four porch steps, and used a knife to jimmy open the front door. Jack reached in and clicked a light wall switch several times. "There must be no electricity."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Come on." Hogan boldly walked along the main hallway, shinning his flashlight beam into each room.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Here's our crime scene," announced Hogan as he stepped into a dining room. The first thing he noticed was four bodies lying on the hardwood floor. A cool breeze is flowing into the room through a smashed glass sliding door.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack waved his flashlight beam across the place settings on the large oak table. Each dish contains partially eaten food. "Fried chicken legs, fried okra, fried potato slices, and sliced red beats. Whoever killed the Harthwood family, obviously surprised them while they were seating down for supper."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If they hadn't been murdered, they probably would've died from all this fried food." Hogan voiced along with a shake of his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They both examined the four bodies to learn they too have bored holes through the center of their foreheads, and their brains are missing.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We now have five victims who're missing their brains!" grumbled Jack. "These are the weirdest murders I've ever encountered."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There are six place settings on the table, which means we're missing two bodies."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I already figured that out," said Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Bullshit!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They cornered around the hallway into the kitchen where they found the body of a woman lying on the tiled ceramic floor. Hogan placed the beam from his flashlight directly on the gaping hole in the middle of her forehead. "Here's another morbid birdhouse!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, that's a damn disgusting thought," whined Jack. "Now I'm going to be haunted for the rest of my life with mental images of wild birds popping in and out the victim's bloody forehead holes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hogan noticed a flipped open cell phone lying next to the woman's body. "Jack, it looks like she was attacked while calling the police."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That explains why the local officer responded." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The two detectives were about to leave the kitchen when they heard a noise. They spun around while drawing their guns. "I think the sound came from behind the door next to the tall floor cabinets," whispered Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's probably a storage room," voiced Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like a kitchen pantry?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe it's a real small bathroom."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Let's check it out!" barked Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The door isn't very wide," said Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can easily fit through it! Hogan turned the doorknob and rushed inside the walk-in closet size room. A young blond haired girl screamed. She's curled up in a corner, hiding behind a fifty pound sack of potatoes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Calm down, Miss, I'm a homicide detective. My name is Hogan Carter. He slid the potato sack away from the girl, seeing that she's trembling with fright, and her flushed face is wet with tears. He reached his hand out to her. "Please come out of the pantry and talk to me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you have an army to fight the monsters," asked the girl."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Backup officers are on their way. They should be arriving at any moment."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She pointed beyond the doorway at the woman's body lying on the kitchen floor. "One of the monsters killed my mom?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack heard what the girl said to Hogan, so he quickly removed the patchwork tablecloth off the round kitchen table and used it to cover the girl's mother.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Miss, what's your name?" asked Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lacey Harthwood."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lacey, please take my hand. I need your statement to help me catch these monsters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She ignored Hogan's helping hand and stood up on her own. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Come on," demanded Hogan, "let's head to the front of the house to wait for the backup officers. Lacey followed the detectives out of the kitchen and along the central hallway.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They entered the front parlor. Jack stood by the front window to watch for their backup officers.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan noticed three decorative oil lanterns placed around the room on antique furniture. He lit each one, thus giving the room an eerie glow. "Lacey, please sit down. I know your emotionally upset, but to catch these monsters, I need you to explain to me what happened."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective Carter, you don't understand. The monsters that killed my family are not human. They walk on two legs, about seven feet tall, and they look like featherless chickens. Their funneled orange beaks tapper outwards to hollow rods. One of them placed the end of his beak against my mother's forehead, and I think it sucked her brains out of her head. That's when I hid in the pantry."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lacey, your chicken monster story is hard to swallow," said Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack waved his hand. "Hogan, Lacey's story does explain the holes in the victim's foreheads, their missing brains, and don't forget about the truck's door that was ripped off by something with Superman strength."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, the chicken monsters are strong," said Lacey. "They have hands with long claws, similar to chicken feet. When they attacked us, one of them used his fists to smash through the glass sliding door in the dining room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan deeply exhaled while shaking his head. "Okay, let's say these chicken monsters really exist. Where the hell did they come from?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe they're aliens from outer space," replied Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan chuckled. "Yeah, monster chicken aliens from planet Colonel Sanders."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No!" cried Lacey. "Early yesterday morning while I was on my way to the barn to feed the horses, I heard a commotion in my chicken coop, so I went to investigate. First, I noticed the morning sunlight shining through a round hole in the roof, and then I found a reddish glowing cylinder partly sticking out of the dirt floor. All the chickens were in distress, and they were avoiding the cylinder as if it were a coyote. I tried to pull it out of the ground, but I wasn't strong enough. I was going to return with a pick and shovel, but my chores kept me busy for the rest of the day. Crashing through the chicken coop's roof means the cylinder fell from the sky like an alien spaceship. I think it somehow turned my chickens into monsters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That makes sense," chimed Jack. "The cylinder was probably filled with pods, like 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers', but these pods grow into chicken monsters."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Jack, I hate to say it, but you're an idiot."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Before you judge me as an idiot, let's go check out the damn chicken coop!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…let's go do it," sputtered Hogan. "Lacey, are you up to leading us to your chicken coop?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm scared." She paused while her forehead wrinkled in thought. "Okay." She picked up one of the oil lanterns and headed toward the front door.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan and Jack followed Lacey outside. They walked about a hundred yards beyond the right side of the house. Hogan shined his flashlight beam at the face of the chicken coop. It's much larger than he had imagined. "Lacey, how many chickens live in your coop."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We raise them for frying and laying fresh eggs. My last count was sixty-seven and one rooster."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lucky rooster," chimed Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Expecting to find nothing but squawking hens, Hogan unlatched the coop's door and stepped right in. He was surprised to see that the rear wall has been knocked out and all the chickens are missing. He pointed his flashlight beam up to view the round hole in the roof.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack followed Hogan into the coop. He shined his flashlight beam down at the cylinder. "Hogan, look, a purple alien worm just crawled out a round hatchway on the side of the cylinder."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan shined his light beam down to see almost a dozen four inch long worms crawling towards him. "Oh Shit!" He began to stomp on the creatures with his western boots, crushing each one into a purple pulp.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hogan, more of those ugly worms are crawling out the cylinder."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I see the buggers. About fifty feet back, I saw a gas can sitting next to an old John Deere Tractor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I saw it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll keep killing these ugly worms while you fetch the gas can."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You want me to go by myself?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your welcome to stay here to do the stomping."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll go fetch the can."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack exited the coop and Lacey entered. After looking around for a moment, she said, "the monster chickens escaped by knocking down the wall."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan crushed another worm.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Those alien worms are deliberately heading toward you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe they like me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose to a chicken, a worm is a worm no matter what planet it may have come from."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do mean?" asked Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The chickens would've eaten them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you saying these worms magically altered your chickens into seven foot tall monsters?" He asked while stomping on two more slithering purple worms.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective, like jerking a fish line, I think those alien worms want to be eaten." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well I'm certainly not going to eat them. The only thing I'm giving them is the bottom of my boot."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Jack returned and sat the gas can down next to Hogan "This can is full of diesel fuel."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It'll do the job." After crushing two more worms, Hogan inserted the cans nozzle into the round hatchway and then he filled the cylinder. He used the rest of the diesel fuel to create a liquid fuse running twenty feet out the chicken coop's doorway. Lacey and Jack backed away while Hogan ignited the fuse. When the line of flames reached the cylinder, there was loud air popping rupture of flames, and then the chicken coop started to rapidly burn. For nearly fifteen minutes, they stood there in silence, watching the bright flames rise toward the heavens.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Those slimy purple worms are dead," Hogan said along with a satisfied expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you now believe lacey's chicken monster story?" asked Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not saying one way or the other! It's near time for the sun to start poking its head up. Let's head back to the parlor to wait for our backup officers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They entered the parlor and Jack again took his watchful position at the front window.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where the hell is our backup?" sputtered Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're late."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No shit!" snapped Hogan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The sun is coming up," said Jack. "I can see the outline of our cruiser."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective, you're going to need an army to defeat all the chicken monsters," voiced Lacey.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lacey, we were outside for almost an hour, and no chicken monsters attacked us."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hogan, our backup is here," announced Jack.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's about time." Hogan ran over to the window. The sun is up enough to give him a lighted view. He watched the three police trucks park in the front yard. Six officers jumped out the truck cabs and headed toward the ranch house. He was about to go meet them when he saw more than a dozen tall ugly creatures running towards the officers. The speedy chicken monsters were on top of the officers before they could draw their guns. Hogan and Jack watched in horror as the police officer's brains were sucked out their heads.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hogan, they must've seen us, they're heading toward the house!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The two homicide detectives drew their guns. Hogan ran over to Lacey, bravely positioning himself in front of her like a protective wall.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective Carter, I warned you," chimed Lacey, "but you were too damn pigheaded to believe me, and now a chicken monster is going to suck your brains out of your head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With a loud shattering crash, one the monsters smashed the window with its fists, and then it used its large clawed hands to rip out sections of the wall surrounding the window. Jack repeatedly fired his thirty-eight, but the rounds bounced off the screeching monster's chest. It poked its ugly chicken head under the top window frame as it stepped into the parlor. Jack threw his empty gun at the creature, but it only made it screech louder. "I hope you choke on my brains you fry pan reject!" The creature grabbed hold of Jack and placed its beak against his forehead, and with a swishing vacuum sound, it swallowed his brains.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lacey screamed, "you're on your own, Detective Carter. "I'm leaving you to hide in my mother's pantry."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Hogan desperately fired his gun at the approaching chicken monster. He aimed at its hideous head, but the bullets couldn't penetrate the monster's skull. With its head cocked to one side so it can gaze at Hogan's terrified expression with its right eyeball. The chicken monster grabbed hold of him, scratching his trembling body with its sharp claws. As the monster placed its beak against his forehead, Hogan closed his eyes to form a lovely vision of Beth…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hogan, wakeup, I'm home!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, Beth, I've missed so much. He wrapped his trembling arms around her, pulling her down onto the bed. After a long passionate tongue waltzing kiss, Hogan said, "Beth, I love you so much. I promise that I'll never stand you up again. I'm going to learn how to balance my job around my family life, thus making you top priority. In fact, I'm going to call the chief and use up one of my many personal days, so we can have a wonderful lunch at the Oxen Yoke Steakhouse, and we'll celebrate your pregnancy. I'm so excited to be alive. I'm excited about becoming a father. Today is your day. Whatever you want to do, we'll do it!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I know what we can do this morning," Beth said along with a loving smile. When you return to the bedroom after calling the chief, all my clothes will be on the chair, and I'll be here in bed waiting for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah! I'll be back quicker than you can say bronco rider."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> That evening, Hogan answered the front door every time the trick or treaters rang the bell. He's wearing his father's old gorilla outfit, and he's been having fun growling at the neighborhood kids.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Beth snuck in the spare bedroom and telepathically connected with her mother. After showing her mother mental visions of the wonderful Halloween day she had with Hogan, she said, "Mom, I want to thank you very much for giving me your nightmare spell. Hogan is a changed man. I don't think he'll ever again put his job before me and our future children."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, it's an old nightmare spell," said Esmeralda. "The spell was first used on Ebenezer Scrooge. I'm delighted it worked so well for you. The spell does have warning labels about not using it on mortals with weak hearts or weak minds."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So what are you and Dad planning to do for the rest of our hollowed night?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We're planning to leave our bodies at home and haunt a few mortal Halloween parties."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Have fun, Mom. I need to go before my mortal husband misses me." </span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© October 2011</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
Professor Archibald Stompover ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-21:3798404:BlogPost:99744
2011-10-21T01:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Professor Archibald Stompover</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Professor Archibald Stompover stumbled through the doorway into his engineering lab. He's carrying four large totes filled with supplies, and the top tote is hanging over the edge, balancing, about ready to fall. "Oh my goodness," the professor said to himself in his…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Professor Archibald Stompover</b></span></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Professor Archibald Stompover stumbled through the doorway into his engineering lab. He's carrying four large totes filled with supplies, and the top tote is hanging over the edge, balancing, about ready to fall. "Oh my goodness," the professor said to himself in his high-pitched voice. Thinking he can reduce the distance of how high the top tote will fall, he slowly lowered himself down onto his knees while balancing the totes. Unexpectedly, the top tote fell directly on his head, knocking him over, flat on the floor with the totes sitting next time. "Oh dog poop," the professor sputtered while rubbing a big bump on his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Professor, why are you sprawled out on the floor?" asked Dr. Janet Higgins.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Would you believe I'm looking for my lost contact lens."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Archie, you don't wear contact lenses. You told me they irritate your eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, yes…they do. Well, that's good…because now I can stop looking for something I don't own." With a groan, he stood up. "Why are you here, Janet?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've been sent here to get an update on your matter transfer project."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because the committee is upset with you. During this morning's meeting, many of the member's referred to you as a Trekkie nerd with dreams that run far beyond your intelligence."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm very close to being successful! Yesterday I actually transferred an awesome plastic model of the original Starship Enterprise. It traveled from one transfer pad to the other, although I had to glue all the starship's plastic components back together because the adhesive didn't transfer with the model. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Archie, what you are is more than a year overdue on this project…and your more than six hundred thousand dollars over budget!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Janet, I've always considered you to be my friend," voiced Archibald while displaying a sad facade.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Archie, I am your friend, and that's why the committee selected me to start a fire under your butt. Too much time and money has been invested in your project, and they need results, not failed experiments. Five years ago, you were the one who convinced the college that you could develop a Star Trek transporter that'll actually beam matter from one place to another, and now they want results."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archibald shrugged his shoulders. "Beam me up, Scotty, everyone has lost their faith in my intelligence."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Archie, this is no joke. If the committee doesn't see any results by the end of the month, they're going to shut you down."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "They're only giving me twenty-one days?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes." Janet nodded.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's not fair," whined Archie. "I've put too much of myself into this project to have it pulled out from under my feet!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry, Archie, for being the one to deliver their message."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The professor shot Dr. Janet Higgins a half smile. "It's okay, perhaps with a few computer programming adjustments I can meet their deadline."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's what I want to hear," excitedly said Janet. "Make the committee wealthy; make Texas proud of you!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archibald animatedly waved his hand. "Janet, you need to leave now so I can go to work."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, and I'll be looking forward to viewing your success."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yea, me too!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now don't you accidently turn yourself into a house fly." Janet waved goodbye on her way out.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archibald triple locked the lab's door to prevent anyone else from bothering him, and then he sat down on his high back stool in front of his transporter console, and immediately began to reprogram the powerful computer he designed.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> For the next twenty days, like a hermit, Professor Stompover hasn't left his lab. He spends most of his time fervently working on his transporter project. Like clockwork, every six hours he takes a three hour catnap on an old sofa in his office, and when he wakes up, the first thing he does is pop a half dozen Hot Pockets in his microwave. He enjoys eating his favorable Pockets while sitting at his desk, gazing at his wood framed Star Trek portraits of each famous captain. His fantasy superheroes from earth's future, James T. Kirk, Jean Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Kathryn Janeway, and Jonathan Archer.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Okay, to save my dignity and my career, this transport test has to work, Archibald thought as he set the transporter time delayed controls. He ran over to the transfer deck and positioned himself on center of the round pad. After nervously taking in a deep breath of air, his body dematerialized.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archibald materialized in the middle of a huge parking lot that's filled with vehicles having no tires. A loud horn sounded and Archie jumped out of the way of hovering vehicle speeding by, almost brushing against him. In amazement, he watched the near ground flying vehicle exit the parking lot and turn onto a main road to join in with high-speed traffic.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archie walked across the parking lot toward the nearest high rise building. His mind is running wild. He knew he was risking his life when he bravely decided to be his test subject, but to end up somewhere in the future was unexpected. This is my life, he thought, I set out to design a Star Trek transporter, and it winds up being an H.G. Well's time machine! He approached the building, passing by a stone statue of Sam Houston, strangely sculptured with angels kissing Sam's boots. Archie read an electronic sign above the doorway, titling the building as a <i>Neural Link Learning Center</i>. As he passed through the automatic doors, stepping into a gigantic lobby, a loud alarm sounded along with red flashing lights.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Four flying robots surrounded Archie, each pointing at him what looks like a science fiction laser weapon. The robot's hovering bodies are shaped like large tin cans with bright blinking red lights circling around the outer upper and bottom edges. The robots have globular basketball size heads, and their arms and hands are human shaped. Each robot is staring at Archibald with its three telescopic eyes having different size camera lens. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My dear robots, is there a problem?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A human guard stepped up to Archie. "Yes, there is problem. You don't belong here!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry, but I just arrived here from the past."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, you must think I'm stupid. Not having an implanted identification chip means you are not a Texas citizen."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Two police officers materialized in front of Archibald. One reached in his pants pocket, pulled out a thin electronic card, and handed it to Archie. "Sir, here are your Miranda Rights. Do you require time to read them?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No." Archie shook his head. "Please, just write me a ticket so I can be on my way."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I have no idea what a ticket is! I'm charging you for trespassing on planet Texas. The only place you're going is to a global detention center, where you will be held for trespassing, and interrogated as being a Democratic spy." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The other human police officer placed an electronic pair of handcuffs on Archie's wrists, and then the officers stood next to the professor while they transported to the nearest global detention center, materializing inside an interrogation room.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archie looked around to see no windows, bare gray walls, one long table, and three chairs. Mounted on the walls are video cameras, microphones, and bright spotlights pointed directly at the prisoner's chair sitting at the far end of the table.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> One of the officers shoved Archie toward the table, almost knocking him to the floor. "Trespasser, sit your ass down in this chair and place your hands flat on the table."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archibald followed the officer's orders. His electronic pair of handcuffs stuck to the table top as if their being held down by the world's most powerful electromagnet. "Why are you being so mean to me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I hate illegal aliens trespassing on planet Texas. When Texas was a US State, my ancestors were plagued by illegal aliens slithering across the Mexican border like rattlesnakes, stealing their jobs, and taking advantage of their welfare and free schooling programs. The worst thing about it is the US government frequently turned a blind eye toward the illegal aliens."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not an illegal alien. I'm a Texan just like you!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're a Democratic liar!" shouted the officer while he finger flicked both of Archibald's large ears.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Hey, that hurt!" Archie snapped while remembering his high school days when the jock bullies would flick his ears and call him a nerd with chimpanzee ears.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The two arresting policemen exited the interrogation room without saying goodbye; leaving Archie alone with his unsettled thoughts.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> I must've traveled hundreds of years into the future. They have flying robotic guards, hovering electric cars, and they can transport people to and fro. Although, this future is beyond preposterous, he thought. I don't understand why the police officers refer to earth as Texas. The future is supposed to be more like Star Trek. A united earth controlled and protected by the Federation. He yanked on his handcuffs. Where's Mr. Spock when you need him!" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A half hour later, a detective entered the room and sat down at the table facing Archie. He placed a briefcase and a cup of hot coffee on the table.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archie noticed the detective is wearing a cowboy hat, a western style tan suite, and pointed leather boots. "Sir, I'm your court appointed interrogator, Detective Clint Ironwood. Everything you say during this fact finding integration will be used by your appointed defense attorney. Your answers to my questions will also be used against you by a United World Texas prosecution team of attorneys."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Detective Ironwood, I haven't done anything wrong."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sir, not having an implanted identification chip unquestionably proves that you're guilty of trespassing. What's your name? If you lie, the truth sensors will detect it, and set off an alarm."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm Professor Archibald Stompover, inventor of your matter transporter systems, Archie replied while displaying a self-important expression."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The detective removed a small laptop computer out of his leather briefcase and proceeded to search the professor's name on Texas Google. Many minutes passed by while he read the search results. "What you claim is blasphemy against our great western God, Sam Houston! Professor Archibald Stompover was a renowned Texas inventor, who lived more than four centuries ago, shortly before the great State of Texas succeeded from the Union during the Obama Financial Riots, and eventually conquered planet earth." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I am the real Professor Archibald Stompover. If I weren't, your lying alarm would be sounding off. I accidently time traveled here from four centuries in the past."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's ridiculous," sputtered Clint. "The truth sensors must be malfunctioning! What I believe is you’re a spy from one of the colonized terra-formed planets or moons. I know you're not from planets China, Moscow, Israel, New California, or Moon Muslim." The detective paused to offer Archie a sly grin. "Perhaps you're from planet Massachusetts. Only those damn Democratic blue-bloods would have the audacity to place a spy here on planet Texas. Especially a spy with such a ridiculous cover story."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is there a picture of me on your Apple Computer?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and you do resemble Professor Archibald Stompover, but it's only a ten minute process to surgically mold your face. Thousands of Texans have had their faces altered to match famous people from hundreds of years ago…such as Willie Nelson, John Wayne, and Dolly Parton.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Please believe me. I am from the past. That's why I don't have an implanted identification chip. If I were a spy from planet Massachusetts, wouldn't it be brainless of me to be here on your planet without a forged identification chip?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, that would be the logical thing for a clever spy to do; however, you do not look like a clever spy. You look like the nerdy classmates I pleasantly enjoyed picking on throughout my schooling."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I'm familiar with bullies like you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Clint chuckled. "Growing up to be a badass detective allows me to happily continue to be a bully." He removed a communicator from his pocket and spoke into it. Within a few moments, a tray of hot food metalized on the table. "Lunch time!" announced Clint. "So I can eat in peace, I'd like you to keep your whining pie hole shut."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're not going to give me anything to eat?" asked Archie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Clint laughed for a moment. "Asking for something to eat only proves your stupidity. Obviously you can't eat with your hands locked down on the table." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With hunger pains exploding in his stomach, Archie silently sat there watching Clint enjoy his lunch. "Detective, excuse me. May I ask you a question?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Shoot!" he snapped between bites of his open face meatball sandwich.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Within my essence, I've always believed the future would be similar to Star Trek, but this future is all messed up. How did Texas defeat all the countries on earth?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Detective Ironwood smiled. "You're dang lucky I just happen to be a history buff. The great State of Texas conquered the earth by means of advanced technology. By joining with NASA, who lost their space founding because of a greedy far left government made up of slimy crooked politicians. Thanks to NASA, Texas deployed one hundred and twenty powerful, laser weapon satellites around old earth, and every country but Iran and North Korea were intelligent enough to surrender. Soon after, Texas and NASA achieved space travel, and after terraforming a half dozen planets, Texas allowed many countries to colonize these planets.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What happen to Iran and North Korea?" Archie inquired.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The detective giggled. "Those two evil countries shouldn't have messed with Texas rednecks. After attacking with powerful swiping laser beams, the only thing left of Iran and North Korea was scorched land. Eventually, green grass grew on the land once belonging to North Korea, offering majestic cattle pastures for thousands of Texas pioneers. Hardly any vegetation grew back on the cursed Iran land, but today it's a Texas resort. Used for cross country dune buggy racing and having sex-driven redneck beer parties around enormous hell raising camp fires. Yes, we love our planet Texas…and we don't like unwelcomed guests such as the likes of you!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What started all of this?" asked Archie.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose it all started during the worldwide Obama Economic Riots. More than three million lives were lost during the three years of rioting. Luckily, Texas took control of the world with their laser weapon satellites, and the riots ended, saving many lives. The corrupt United States leaders mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again. Rumor is, a mob of unhappy Texas redneck freedom fighters hung the US Government leaders from decorative White House chandeliers. Then they placed their bodies in half filled oil barrels and returned the barrels to the Arab oil suppliers for a refund." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Unfortunately, I didn't bring any four hundred year old currency with me, but I'd be happy to do work to pay off my trespassing fine."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Clint belly laughed. "Obviously, you don't understand how serious your crime is."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archie giggled like a silly little boy. "What are they going to do, stand me up in front of a redneck firing squad?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No." Clint waved his hand. "This is planet Texas. You'll be transported to Houston's wooden gallows located in the public square, where a strong noose will be placed around your neck. and you'll be hanged until your dead."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you serious, they're going to hang me in public?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm as serious as a heart attack."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't want to die!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You should feel honored. Your hanging will be televised around the world of Texas, most likely shown between reruns of our famous antique western religious shows, such as <i>'Cheyenne', 'Wagon Train', 'Gun Smoke' or 'Bonanza'</i>."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is ludicrous! I don't deserve to be killed!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The law is what the law is."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, I haven't been convicted yet," voiced Archie. "When do I go to court?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The prosecution rested on the fact that you have no implanted identification chip; therefore, your courtroom hearing is over and the jury is now in session determining your fate."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But I never went to court!" sputtered Archibald.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "To save time, we combined the entire justice process within your fact finding interrogation," said Clint.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This isn't fair!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Clint's communicator rang for his attention. He removed it from his pocket and listen for a long moment. "That was quick. They probably did like your nerdy face. The jury is out, and the verdict is guilty."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm an important inventor from your past. Hanging me will alter your existence, not that altering might actually help this screwed up future, but you may lose your matter transfer systems."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like a crooked politician, you were lying before, and your lying now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Please, I'm a good guy. I don't even step on bugs. I'm still a virgin!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sorry, trespasser, but the hangman is waiting for you!" Detective Clint Ironwood pressed a button and Archie dematerialized. Upon materializing, he found himself standing on the wooden gallows in Houston. The afternoon sun is hot and bright, casting down on hundreds of people crowded around the gallows, chanting <i>"hang him, hang him, hang him like the lawbreaking alien trespasser he is!"</i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archie noticed that many people are holding up signs, asking their leaders for a global force field fence to prevent illegal aliens from trespassing on their planet Texas.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A large man wearing a black mask placed a noose around Archibald's scrawny neck, and then he firmly tightened the noose.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The watchful crowd continued to chant as the hangman pulled a long wooden lever. The trap door under Archie's feet dropped open and he felt his body drop.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Professor Archibald Stompover loudly screamed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Professor," are you alright?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Did you break any bones?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Out of all my classes, only weird Professor Stompover stomps me over with laughter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I think he's taking a catnap."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He's probably dreaming about Star Trek."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, the Klingons are probably clinging onto what's left of his eccentric mind."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh…look, he has a bump on his head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He screams like a frightened little girl."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Stop teasing him! He might be seriously hurt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Professor, are you okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Archie looked up to see his engineering students looking down at him. After a deep sigh of relief, he said, "I'm okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What happened, Professor Stompover?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I traveled four hundred years into the future."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The college students hysterically laughed, knowing their clumsy professor must've tripped over his own feet, knocking himself out.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Professor Stompover, did you visit the wizard of the Federation?" asked a young man, followed with chuckle.</span></p>
<span class="font-size-5"><br />
"No, I had a political nightmare." Archie slowly shook his head. "I must've tripped over someone's lost contact lens."</span><br />
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">© October 2011</p>
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The First Contact Of Love ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-16:3798404:BlogPost:98510
2011-10-16T18:58:05.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5">The First Contact Of Love</span></strong><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-1">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> From across Betty Bee's Antique Store, Brad Campbell noticed a beautiful tall woman. Her brunette hair runs down to beyond the center of her back, her Anime-like gold eyes are exceptionally appealing, and her figure would make any man…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5">The First Contact Of Love</span></strong><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-1">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> From across Betty Bee's Antique Store, Brad Campbell noticed a beautiful tall woman. Her brunette hair runs down to beyond the center of her back, her Anime-like gold eyes are exceptionally appealing, and her figure would make any man howl at the moon like a wild horny wolf.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad worked his way across the store and stood next to the hot brunette, who's standing in one spot as if she's waiting for a bus. He looked down at a few dozen vintage knives under a glass counter. A few minutes passed by while he worked up the boldness to speak to the lovely woman. "Hello, what brings you to Betty Bee's Antique Store here in the little town of Sundance, Texas?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm waiting for the drops of liquid to stop falling from the sky."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad's handsome face twisted in thought. "Rain?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, rain. I don't have a covering to prevent my hair from becoming drunk."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I assume you mean wet?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, wet. I'm still in the process of learning your English language."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My name is Brad Campbell," he said, offering his hand to her. "I'm here in Sundance to visit my parents for a few weeks." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> While displaying a curious expression, she reached out and touched Brad's hand by erotically sliding the tips of her fingers across his palm.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad enjoyed her titillating concept of a handshake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My name is Lacresha."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, that's a beautiful name," voiced Brad. "Do you live here in Sundance?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No," she replied. "I'm a visitor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where are you from?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm from a faraway land. I'd like to learn why you've selected me to communicate with?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because you're incredibly beautiful."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Does this mean you're attracted to me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes." Brad nodded while figuring this has to be the strangest first conversation he has ever had with a woman.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What female section of my body are you attracted to?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad chuckled. "To be honest, every sector that makes up your lovely body."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you live here in Sundance?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I grew up here on my father's ranch. I now live in College Station, and I'm one of the youngest engineering professors at the famed Texas A&M College," he said along with displaying a proud expression on his face. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your occupation is a teacher."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, yes, but referring to myself as an ordinary teacher isn't as honorable as being a professor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I understand." Lacresha chuckled with a nod. "You mention your honorable occupation to impress me, hoping that I'll mate with you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad scratched his head for a moment while thinking of something to say. "Lacresha, I was trying to impress you, but my intentions are honorable." He offered her his most handsome smile. "As they say here in America, if you have it, flaunt it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is interesting." Lacresha giggled. "Do consider your method of attracting me to be a typical method of all human males?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose; however, most American men search for sexual enjoyment without any interest for a commitment. Some of my single friends like to refer to their female congests as, <i>'find them, tap them, and dump them'</i>. I'm twenty-seven years old and I'd like to settle down in a long-term commitment."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lacresha shot Brad a pretty grin. "How do I know you're not deceiving me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I guess your only option is to trust me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm also looking for a lifelong mating commitment. A strong human male who can frequently pleasure my female mating instincts."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can live with that. You do have a higher than a number ten body, but believe me, Lacresha, my interest is to get to know you before having sex with you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is having sex the same meaning for mating?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes…mating is what animals do."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are we not animals?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I suppose we are, but we don't like to admit it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How do you plan to learn about me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "By way of the customary method of taking you out on a series of enjoyable dates," he voiced, followed with thoughts that either she's teasing me, or she's from a foreign country that's so backwards that she's ashamed to mention the name of it.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Being from a faraway country, I don't understand the meaning of a date."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A date is when a female and male spend time together to learn about each other, thus bringing them closer together to eventually lead into romance, love, and possibly marriage."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Would you like to take me out on a date?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I could most certainly live with that."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because you're pleasant, fun, beautiful, and being from another country, I'd like to teach about life in America."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, Brad, the rain has stopped, so let's go on a date."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What would you like to do?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is all new to me, so whatever you want to do."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad rubbed his squire chin in thought. "Lacresha, let's make this a wonderful first date. Would you like to travel to Dallas to enjoy having dinner in a five star, top floor revolving restaurant?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes! Soon I will require a food substance to nourish my human female body."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay!" Brad excitedly took hold of Lacresha's hand and led her outside to his Ford Flex. He opened the passenger's door and politely helped her up on the seat. He ran around his Flex, jumped in, and fired up the engine.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After Brad showed Lacresha how to hook up her seatbelt, in silence he drove out to the major highway leading to Dallas.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is an interesting surface vehicle," voiced Lacresha.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Is this your first time riding in a Ford Flex?" asked Brad.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, and this is the first vehicle where I'm required to wear a safety belt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's not a seatbelt law in your country?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Our surface vehicles do not require safety belts."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh," Brad nodded in bewilderment. Thinking the vehicles in her backwards country are so old that they don't have seatbelts.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad noticed his foreign date is curiously peering out the Flex's windows. "Lacresha, is the East Texas landscape different from your country?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, your landmass is extremely different than mine."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "In what way?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Attempting to explain the many differences between our countries would be beyond your comprehension."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad laughed for a few moments until he realized her response was more mystifying than funny. He was about to speak when the lines of traffic up ahead came to a sudden stop, each vehicle crashing into each other on the wet highway. He slammed his foot on the Flex's brake pedal. Brad expected to crash into the pileup, but to his surprise, there are no vehicles surrounding him. Behind him, he can see the three vehicle collision that produced the mass pileup. "Lacresha, what happened?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Your path became obstructed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad compressed the gas pedal, continuing on toward Dallas, leaving hundreds of vehicles behind. "I don't understand it." Brad shook his head. "I should've hit the truck in front of me, but within a blink of my eye, I ended up in front the pileup."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I consider any vehicle requiring the occupants to strap their bodies to the seats to be exceedingly dangerous."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why didn't I hit the truck in front?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because we wouldn't want to have an awful fist date." Lacresha moved closer to Brad, and then she leaned over toward him and licked his right cheek with her moist tongue. "Was that what you call a kiss?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad giggled along with being surprised. "It was nice, but a lick isn't a kiss. Your lips are required to produce a kiss."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe later you could teach me how to kiss."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That would be enjoyable," responded Brad with a smile. Why Lacresha doesn't know how to kiss is beyond strange, he internally said to himself. She's the strangest woman I've ever meet. Somehow, she saved us from being in an accident. It was magical, as if time stopped while my Ford Flex was transferred ahead of the accident. Any other man besides me would almost certainly be frightened of her, but I'm drawn to her unique beauty. Much of what she says is mystifying, but within my heart, I want to learn more about her.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lacresha ran her fingers through Brad's jet black hair. "I like how your human hair feels."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad grabbed hold her soft, warm hand, and held it. Many silent minutes passed by while they held hands.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Brad, I enjoy holding your hand," said Lacresha, "The comfort of closeness is warming parts of my female body in an unusual way. Is holding hands a standard procedure during a first date?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's really no standard procedures during a first date. Basically, a grownup couple can do whatever their hearts desire. Share their dreams; hold hands, kiss, hug, and many do have sex."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm excited about learning how to kiss."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I know a little poem about kissing," voiced Brad. "I found it on the internet. I think it was written by a guy who calls himself The Chuck!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's a poem?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's a literary composition that rhymes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "May I please hear the kissing poem?" asked Lacresha.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay…</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-5"><i>'Lips touch lips,<br/> supple and moist.<br/> A formed ellipse,<br/> of love unvoiced.<br/> <br/> Mouth of honey,<br/> breath so warm.<br/> A connected unity,<br/> an inner firestorm.<br/> <br/> Passions collide,<br/> oral liquids flow.<br/> Intimacy verified,<br/> as tongues tango.<br/> <br/> Heads a skewed,<br/> bodies held tight.<br/> A world to elude,<br/> during the delight'."</i></span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I enjoyed the poem, and now I understand how to properly kiss. Please, can you stop your surface vehicle for a few minutes so I can kiss you?" Lacresha excitedly asked.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I can live with that." Brad pulled his Flex over to the far right of the breakdown lane and slid the shift lever to the park position.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lacresha pressed her perfectly shaped breasts against Brad's chest, and then she placed her sweet puckering lips against his lips. Their tongues eagerly tangoed in passion as their oral liquids blend together in a first contact of intimacy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> More than seven minutes of passionate kissing passed by when Brad had no choice but to pull away to catch his breath. At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but after a brisk shake of his head, he realized that Lacresha's eyes are actually glowing. Strange, he thought, but I can live with that. Never before has a woman kissed me with such a profusion of passion. He held her in his muscular arms while he gently rubbed her back and neck. He can feel her heart rapidly beating along with her chest heaving up and down with a fervent of sexual excitement. Cheek against cheek, his face is buried in her hair, which smells of sweet herbs of love.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unexpectedly, a Texas State Trooper loudly tapped on his driver's window. Brad quickly pushed the button to lower the window.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sir, may I see your license and proof of insurance?" asked the trooper.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, officer." Brad removed his wallet and handed the trooper what he asked for. The trooper returned to his cruiser to run Brad's license through the computer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Brad, who is this human male intruder?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "He's an officer of the law," Brad replied upon noticing her eyes are no longer glowing like florescent light bulbs.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you want me to send him half way around your planet to another landmass?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No!" Brad shook his head. "He's just doing his job." He paused for a moment in thought. "Can you really send him away?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She smiled with a nod. "Yes, I do possess the ability."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The trooper returned and noticed Brad's A&M teacher's parking permit hanging from the Flex's review mirror. "Mr. Campbell, you do realize this is a breakdown lane…not Lovers Lane?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, sir."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Alright, Mr. Campbell, you may go," the trooper said while gazing at Lacresha's exceptional beauty. "I suggest taking advantage of one of Dallas's comfortable hotels."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you, officer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They continued on. Off in the distance they can see the Dallas' buildings almost touching the clouds.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I assume the police officer didn't like us kissing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Not in my Flex on the breakdown lane."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I enjoyed kissing you. It was my first kiss. My first sexual encounter. Never before, have I felt anything so wonderful. Many of the female parts of my human body were strangely quivering with pleasure."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad's invading thoughts suddenly overwhelmed him. Lacresha, you've never been sexually involved?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "May I ask how old you are?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "In your earth years, I'm two hundred and sixty-four, but as being an adult human female, I'm only four and a half earth hours old."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh," Brad nervously chuckled.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The officer mentioned a hotel. What is it?" asked Lacresha.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's a building that offers rooms for people to spend the night."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "After we intake food substance, can we use one of these rooms to continue our kissing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If that's what you desire. I don't want to take advantage of your gorgeous human body."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Brad, I'm extremely attracted to you, and from within my new body, I have special feelings for you, but I don't know if I can explain them. That's because these unusual human feelings for desiring you to be my handsome mate are new to me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Lacresha, we've arrived, so we can continue discussing feelings for each other while having dinner."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, my stomach is making strange groaning noises, which obviously means I require an intake of food substance. This will be the first food nourishment to enter into my human body." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad turned into the Palace Hotel parking garage. After parking, he opened Lacresha's door and offered her a helpful hand. They exited the garage, entered the hotel's grand lobby, and boarded an elevator cab, heading up to the revolving restaurant.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I noticed the other human females are wearing prettier clothing than mine."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is a brand-new five star hotel."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Excellent, we're already in a hotel." Her eyes flashed briefly with a glow of light. She removed a strange cell phone-like device from her leather pocketbook and pushed a series of buttons on its face. Brad's eyes bulged with amazement to see Lacresha's basic western style clothing instantly changed. She's now wearing a stunning low cut evening dress with pink pearls around her neck, and matching pearl earrings. Her face is perfectly painted with makeup, and her hair is wavy, attractively flowing over shoulders. She looks like a beautiful fairytale princes attending a magical ball. "Wow! You're more beautiful than any woman I have ever seen."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, thank you, Brad. I created my body with seventy different human female genetic molecules I transferred from their coffins."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I can live with that."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She stared at the small screen on the face of her phone-like device. "I think you would look good in blue." Again, she pressed a sequence of buttons, and Brad is now wearing a blue suit with a light blue pinstriped shirt. Lacresha smiled. "Yes, you do look good wearing the color blue. Now your clothing matches your handsome blue eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The elevator doors parted and they stepped out wearing their new clothing.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They were seated at an elegant table in front of large window looking down on Dallas. One waiter wrote down their dinner orders while another scurried off to fetch them tall glasses of ice tea.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lacresha took a sip of her tea. "Oh, this sensation of drinking is wonderful. I can taste the tea, and it's good. I'm going to enjoy nourishing my body with liquids and food substances. It's far better than recharging my body with viotron energy."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad softly spoke. "Lacresha, what were you before you became a human being?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I was a member of a monotonous race of beings who base their entire existence on intelligence without emotions. My past physical body was extremely different from yours. I was made up of viotron energy molecules. I glowed without any features of expressions. All my communications and required labor duties were performed with my mind. My viotron race lives on a planet within a syrene gas nebula, located nearly forty thousand light years from your earth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad nodded his head. "I can live with that. How did you end up here on earth as a human being?" Brad asked while displaying an inquisitive expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I escaped along with four other members of my viotron race aboard a stolen trans-universe vessel. We bravely set out on a long journey to search for a joining of genetic information, thus giving us an entirely new and happier existence. I was the first to transfer my new human body to the earth's surface. I do hope when my viotron friends arrive, they too will find someone as wonderful as you are. For safety reasons, we decided to split up. Even though we appear human, our genetic makeup is mixed with our viotron bodies. From my studies of your human race, altered aliens from another planet wouldn't be welcomed, and I do not wish to spend my new existence being studied in a laboratory."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'll never allow that to happen," Brad said in a sharp protective tone. "Is your spaceship well hidden?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes." She nodded along with a smile. "The surface of my vessel is mirrored in low orbit. No one will be able to detect it, and I can utilize it as a satellite to boost my psychic powers and allow me to materialize any matter I require, such as our new clothing we're wearing." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The waiter returned with their dinner. Lacresha had asked Brad to order the same meal he chose for himself.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Lacresha watched Brad while he cut a piece of his prime rib and used his fork to place it in his mouth. She copied him, and after she chewed and swallowed the tender meat, a wide grin formed on her beautiful face. "Yes, this is a wonderful experience. I hope you don't mind me learning by watching you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, I don't mind."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> While Brad ate his dinner, he stealthily watched Lacresha enjoy her first meal. He knows her weird and wonderful story of being an alien in her past life is true, especially after she somehow prevented his Ford Flex from crashing into a truck. Her unique beauty drew him to her from across Betty Bee's Antique Store. It was as if he was a honeybee being drawn to the most beautiful flower ever created. Lacresha is of her own creation, and theoretically, she's an entirely new life form, combined of human and viotron DNA. Obviously, her lovely body was rapidly grown in a lab aboard her orbiting spaceship. I've only known her for nearly four hours, he thought, and I'm falling in love with her. Evidently, love at first sight really does occur. Her uniqueness, her beauty, her developing personality, and her kissing talents, makes her a perfect mate for me. "Lacresha, clearly you don't have a home here on earth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, but you found me, and I can sense that you care about me in more ways than a first date."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad gave her a loving smile. "Yes, I do care about you, and my home is your home."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You wish to share your life with me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Does this mean I can frequently kiss you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad giggled. "If kissing is what you desire, I'll be happy to please you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh yes, I do enjoy kissing you. The process of kissing arouses my human mating instincts, and my eyes glow like my past viotron body, intensifying with my arousal to mate with you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can live with that."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are we now going to a room to spend the night?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes. It's now too late for us to travel to College Station. We'll sleep here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This will be the first time I have ever slept. The thought of turning off my mind is frightening. I want to sleep with you, so you'll be there to protect me. This is the beginning of our lifelong commitment."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Brad smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "Yes it is, and I'm the luckiest man on planet earth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "We can turn off our minds after we do an abundance of kissing, hugging, and mating."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can live with that, although before heading to our room, I'd like to stop by the hotel's drugstore and buy a strong pair of sunglasses." </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">© October 2011</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><a target="_blank" href="http://chuck-keyes.com/">Click Here To Visit The Chuck's Novelist Web Site</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
Trans United Flight 527 ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-11:3798404:BlogPost:97813
2011-10-11T19:38:20.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Trans United Flight 527</b></span><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><br></br></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Darryl, do you have anything planned for the weekend?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No," replied Captain Darryl Patrick, "and the answer to having a blind date with the…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>Trans United Flight 527</b></span><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><br/></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Darryl, do you have anything planned for the weekend?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No," replied Captain Darryl Patrick, "and the answer to having a blind date with the woman your wife and you are scheming to fix me up with is also no."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How the hell did you know about her?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've known you for long time, Murray, and I can easily sense every little devious thought lurking in your brain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But, Darryl, it's been over a year since Sally past away. You need to move on with your life, go out on the city, and have some exciting fun. Susie says this woman is a perfect match for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not ready for the dating scene."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look, you don't have to marry Susie's friend, just take her out on a few dates, and maybe she'll let you dip your wick."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not dipping my dipper into anything unless I'm in a serious relationship."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl's copilot and friend animatedly waved his hand. "You're so damn bullheaded! The mystery woman's name is Cindy Sherrod and she's a good-looking fifth grade school teacher who, nearly a year ago, lost her Army husband in the Afghanistan war. She's excited about meeting you. You need to get to know her, and the only way you can do that is by spending some quality time with her, and it's your choice if you want to spend some time in the sack with her…or not."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know." Darryl voiced along with a deep sigh. "Give me a day to think about it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A few minutes of silence past by, and then Murray said, "Captain, some bad weather just popped up on our radar as if a practical joker pushed an instant on storm button."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I can see the black clouds rapidly forming up ahead," voiced Darryl.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Murray looked out the cockpit's windshield at the rapidly developing storm clouds. "Do you want to fly around it?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Captain Patrick glanced down at the radar screen. "No time, the black storm clouds are moving toward us at a fast rate…and they appear to be wrapping around us like a horseshoe. I better notify our passengers to buckle up." Darryl unhooked the cabin's microphone from the panel and spoke into it. "Good morning, passengers, this is your Captain, Darryl Patrick. We're heading into some bad weather, so as a safety precaution, please buckle up your seatbelts and remain in your seats…thank you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Darryl, I tried to contact Miami's tower to inquire about this unusual weather pattern, but this sudden storm is interfering with our communications."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Try contacting anybody."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Minutes passed by while Murray repeatedly failed to make contact. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is peculiar!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What?" asked Murray.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You haven't noticed?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Notice what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The storm is all around us, but there's zero turbulence."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, that's strange, but we are flying over the Bermuda Triangle."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The captain chuckled. "Murray, I know you don't believe in all the unexplained gobbledygook regarding the Devil's Triangle."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Not up until now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl and Murray watched with fear etched on their faces while the storm rapidly closed in around them, encapsulating their speeding jet in a blinding bright light, and then in a blink of an eye, the storm disappeared, leaving them flying under a bright blue sky."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What happened?" asked Murray.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Our altitude dropped," chattered Darryl. "We're only six hundred feet above the..."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's land down there," sputtered Murray.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Captain," chimed flight attendant Kaylene MacDougal. "The passengers are near panic. We're too low to the ground, and the surface below looks like an alien world. All the vegetation is made up of unusual colors, and there are various types of enormous creatures roaming the land, grazing on the vegetation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl looked down at the surface to see blue, orange, red, and purple plant life. The oddly shaped creatures are approximately four times larger than an African Elephant. Off to the left he can see a wide snaking river of dark blue water with many of the monstrous size aliens lined up along the orange grassy sloping banks, drinking their fill of water. Overhead, Darryl noticed three oval shaped moons circling this unknown alien world. He knows he's far from being a scientist, but he figures they must've passed through some kind of wormhole. Perhaps all the missing ships and planes from the past also became sucked into this wormhole to journey across the universe to an alien world.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Captain," cried Kaylene, "I'm waiting! Please tell me what to do?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kaylene, until I figure out how to restore us to our original earth flight path, tell the passengers to pull down their window sun screens and take a nap."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Right, captain!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Just do your best to calm them down."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What the hell," sputtered Murray? We're no longer flying over earth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I can see that!" snapped the captain. "I'm thinking we need to escape the same way we arrived, so please watch the radar for any storm activity."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Ten minutes passed by while many of the hundred and twenty-two Trans United passengers eyed the surface of the alien planet. In hopes of making money if they do return to earth, scores of passengers calmed themselves down by using their cell phones to take pictures of the planet's bizarre surface.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Darryl, how did you know?" Murray asked.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Know what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's another storm forming ahead."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not sure. It's as if I'm mentally interacting with someone else's thoughts."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Who?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know." Darryl left the autopilot engaged, allowing the jet to meet the storm head-on. Again, there was a flash of bright light and the storm vanished, and now they're flying at an altitude of two thousand feet over a planet similar in appearance to mars. The sky is an eerie pinkish red. The surface is rocky with tall mountains. They passed between two huge mountains and over a shore line of a vast ocean of pale pink water."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy shit! Darryl, did you see that?" cried Murray?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "See what?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "A red fish, maybe larger than ten whales combined, jumped right up out the water to within a few hundred feet of our plane. Its mouth was open wide as if it wanted to swallow us. You better climb higher!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry, but altering our altitude will require disengaging the autopilot. Believe it or not, but I was mentally told not to change our course one iota…or we'll be lost forever, just like all the missing boats and planes from the past."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl and Murray looked down to see two more giant fish jump out of the water in an attempt grab their commercial jet. As they flew further out over the sea, more and more of these bizarre fish attempted to attack them.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "To gain their high altitudes, the alien fish are using their long side fins like wings. The last one was bigger and it almost captured us," cried Murray. "I'm not a hero! For me there's no good day for dying."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Forget about the alien fish and watch for another storm."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Every time an alien fish jumped up out of the sea for a near miss, the passengers curled up in their seats and screamed in terror. The five Trans United attendants are busier than five Roman Gladiators facing one hundred and twenty-two ferocious lions. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes! May your mysterious inner voice always be correct. There's another identical storm forming."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Moments before the wormhole sucked them away, an even larger fish jumped over the nose of plane, making Murray scream."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "My goodness, Murray, you scream like a woman who's auditioning for a role in a slice and dice horror movie!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I was spooked…"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They instantly found themselves flying over a huge alien constructed island city on what appears to be a water world. The countless towering buildings making up the city are all connected together to form many geometric shapes. The rays from three small suns orbiting the planet are reflecting off the countless windows, creating maybe every color humanly perceived. "Wow, that's a beautiful city," said Murray. "I wonder what the aliens look like."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, the city is beautiful," voiced the captain. "It makes me think of Emerald City from the movie 'The Wizard Oz', which was one of Sally's favorites. I remember her gorgeous smiling face on a past Christmas morning when she opened a gift box from me containing a special DVD fan's edition of The Wizard Oz."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I wish I was Dorothy Gale," muttered Murray.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?" asked Darryl along with a bewildered expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So I can click the hell out of my ruby red shoes and go home! This is the third alien world we've visited, and if we don't return to earth soon, we're going to run out of fuel."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The presence within my mind is soothing and familiar, and I believe we'll be okay as long as continue our autopilot's set course."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I hope you're right, Darryl." If you're wrong, we'll eventually be forced to make an emergency landing on an alien planet, and the three worlds I've seen so far aren't very inviting."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look, Murray, there's another storm forming up ahead. Perhaps this will be the wormhole that'll take us home."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The dark clouds rapidly engulfed the commercial jetliner. Darryl and Murray each took in a deep breath of air as the jet entered the wormhole.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nope, this planet doesn't look like earth," voiced Murray, "and we need to be careful because our altitude is only at four hundred feet!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl looked down at the planet's surface to see a vast green jungle, similar to earths Amazon Rainforest. Up ahead he noticed trees being parted by a large heard of Brontosauruses.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dinosaurs," cried Murray, "could this be earth during the Jurassic Period?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't think we've traveled back in time," replied the captain. "I'd venture to guess this is an earth-like planet where the Dinosaurs never became extinct."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy Jurassic Park! Up ahead I can see a Tyrannosaurus rex."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They began to fly over a large grassy area that's teeming with the same prehistoric creatures from earth's past. Darryl and Murray recognized many of the giant animals, but they couldn't remember their scientific names.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Each with expressions of wonder, the passengers, and the flight attendants are jammed in against the windows, peering down at the alien planet's earth-like Jurassic surface.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The commercial airliner past over another jungle-like area consisted mostly of tall trees, and following the jungle, to their amazement, lying on its side in a grassy area, is a huge ocean ship."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Murray, I recognize that ship from history books. She's the USS Cyclops, which is one of the most famous early twentieth century disappearances. She vanished in the Devil's Triangle in March of nineteen eighteen with three hundred and nine sailors aboard. She's probably the Navy's greatest mystery of the sea."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Captain, look! There's a few dozen boats up ahead, and off to the right I can see an assortment of planes that appear to have landed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl shook his head while gazing down at the junkyard. "I hope some of our passengers are taking pictures of these alien worlds."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Murray giggled. "I don't think pictures are going to produce too many believers. What we're witnessing is alien life. People are going to ignore us and any proof within the photos because they're beliefs will be drastically rattled."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A smirk formed on Darryl's face. "I know sixteen people on board our flight that people are going to have trouble not believing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Who are they?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Eleven priests and five nuns who are returning from a Catholic seminar in Boston." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's if we make it back to earth." Murray looked out to see they're heading directly toward a wall of giant mountains, and again he screamed like a frightened woman whose being attacked by a horror movie masked villain.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If you keep screaming in my ear like a flaming sissy, next time I voyage beyond our earth, you can stay home," voiced Darryl, followed with a chuckle.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Good! You do realize if you don't alter our course we're going to smash into one of those mountains!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Have faith in my inner guide. Watch for another storm to form." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "And what happens if the storm forms on the other side of the mountains?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Than one hundred and twenty-nine passengers and crew won't have to suffer through a short existence of attempting to survive on an alien planet where they're on the bottom of the food chain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Good point, but I'd rather we fly over the mountains."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where's your faith?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like chewing gum and fast food, faith of any kind is way over rated!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That doesn't make any sense."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It does within my thoughts, especially when I'm facing death of being splattered like a June bug smashing against the windshield of a speeding car." Murray pointed at the giant wall of mountains. "I estimate we're going to crash into them within five minutes. If you don't alter our course, we're going to die!" he screamed. "If you aren't going to do it…I will!" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What you need to do is calm yourself by filling your mind with pleasant thoughts, and if you attempt to disengage the autopilot, I'm going to break your fingers and arms."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Calm myself! I'm about ready to fill my whitey tighties with a mushy brown substance."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look, the storm clouds are forming on our side of the mountains, so please don't stink up the cockpit."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The clouds began to form around the airliner.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Murray frightfully closed his eyes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Within forty feet of the tallest mountain's rocky face, they're jet entered the wormhole. "Okay, Murray, you can open your eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Have we returned to earth?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Afraid not."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Murray opened his eyes and looked down at the alien planet's surface to see many active volcanoes and twisting rivers of flowing lava. "Is this hell?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, it's not hell," sputtered Darryl "I think what we're flying over is a young planet that's still forming. Luckily, our altitude is at nineteen thousand feet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Darryl, you really cut it close before crashing into one of those mountains. Your faith in whoever is telling you not to alter course must be extremely strong."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "As I said, this inner conscious is soothing and familiar."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you think you're experiencing a religious connection."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl laughed. "Are you asking me if I'm in communication with God?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah. I suppose I am."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Ever since God allowed cancer to take away Sally's life, I haven't had anything to do with him!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Than whom do you think you've been communicating with?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl's forehead wrinkled with thought. "Murray, you know I don't believe in ghosts, and up until today I've always believed there's a logical explanation for every plane and ship disappearance within the Devil's Triangle, such as pilot error, mechanical problems, or bad weather. We now know the truth behind all of the disappearances. I think my inner guiding spirit is Sally, my wife."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've never believed in ghosts," voiced Murray, "but we are the only two people locked up inside this damn cockpit, so maybe Sally's spirit has been communicating with you, or you're a few twists short of being a slinky."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Murray, I'm not crazy! I'm convinced that Sally's spirit has been guiding us through this bizarre Devil's Triangle phenomenon."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Here we go again," Murray muttered while jesting toward the forming storm clouds. Two or three more trips through the wormhole, and we're going to be empty of fuel.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They instantly passed through the wormhole to find themselves flying low over a vast metropolis, although all the buildings appear to be much smaller than their earth buildings.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Murray curiously gazed down at the small buildings, the plant life, and webs of roads containing small vehicles scurrying around like ants. The surface is made up of so many different colors that it looks like Walt Disney throw up. "Hey, this must be an alien world for Munchkins."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darryl noticed many small blips heading toward them on their radar screen. He knows there's nothing he can do about them, so he decided not to say anything to Murray. With luck, they'll enter another wormhole before the alien flying machines catch up to them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Murray curiously continued to stare down at the densely populated planet. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The storm clouds appeared just as one of the alien flying machines caught up with them.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Murray looked out his side window to see a small aircraft shaped like a foreign mini car with stubby wings. Two perfectly round alien eyes are looking directly at him through a large side window. "We have a visitor," screamed Murray. "From what I can see, he or she looks like a short lime green frog person."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wave the alien away. We're about to enter the wormhole."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, the little frog alien has veered off."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Good."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They passed through the wormhole and wide smiles formed on Darryl and Murray's faces when they realized their back on earth, hidding toward Miami's International Airport. They can hear the passengers muffled happy whoops and cries.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, an icy chill just ran down my back," said Murray.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, I felt it too."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Light!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They turned toward the source of light. A beautiful glowing angel is hovering in front of the cockpit's door. With amazement in their shimmering eyes, Darryl and Murray recognized Sally within the partially transparent form.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thank you, Sally," said Darryl, "I love you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With a loving smile on her face, she gestured with her hands as if she's releasing a white dove to a flight of freedom, and then she blew Darrel a kiss while she vanished.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That was beyond incredible," voiced Murray.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes it was. She loves me so much that freed me to go on with my life. This weekend, I'd like to meet Susie's friend, Cindy Sherrod."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay! I'll tell Susie."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Darrel released the autopilot and made a slight course change to avoid any future storm clouds.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That was the scariest flight I've ever taken," said Murray. "For all we know, we may have traveled millions of light years throughout the universe."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks to Sally's spirit, our aircraft is probably the first to escape the Devil's Triangle wormhole. The passengers probably snapped many pictures of the alien worlds we've visited, although I wish we had some physical proof."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unbeknown to everyone aboard Trans United Flight 527. There's a small aircraft attached to the roof of their jet, and sitting in the pilots chair is an alien who looks like a short lime green frog person.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">© October 2011</p>
<p> </p>
READ WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT Chuck's 'THEY!'
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-08:3798404:BlogPost:97181
2011-10-08T16:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">READ WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT Chuck's 'THEY!</span><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #888888;">'</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">You can also find these same reviews at Amazon Kindel and B&N Nook</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>They!…</b></span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">READ WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT Chuck's 'THEY!</span><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #888888;">'</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">You can also find these same reviews at Amazon Kindel and B&N Nook</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>They! Reviews:</b></span></p>
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<p> </p>
<p> I was fortunate to be one of a handful of people to receive an early electronic copy of Chuck's "They!"</p>
<p> Wow! This is a fantastic story filled with excitement and romance. It's somewhat based on the premise of one of my favorite 1950's classic science fiction movies, "Them!" However, "They!" far exceeds "Them!" by offering an entirely different modern-day story filled with action, romance, mystery, creature horror, and plenty of comedy. Katie Morganson and Cart Carson are the main characters, and I guarantee everyone will immensely enjoy them. The women readers will fall in love with Cart, and I don't think the beautiful image and personality of Katie will ever escape my male mind. </p>
<p> The backdrop for "They!" is East Texas, including the Dallas area, and one of the many intriguing aspects of the story is Reagan's Basement. I can't explain anymore about Reagan's Basement without spoiling your reading adventure. "They!" is a-must read novel, and I know it will become a bestseller and a cult classic.</p>
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<p> </p>
<p> THEY! Is an absolute winner! I can see a cult forming for more of Chuck Keyes work. I loved the Apollo trilogy series, but this story grabbed me immediately. I never cared or could find a good Sci-Fi book that got to me before I started reading The Chucks novels. I want to be entertained when I read. I want to picture all the characters, scenes and the spooky subjects after them in my mind, as if I'm watching a movie. No problem with this story! Every character is wonderful! Cart and Katie are a funny, staunch, sexy couple in complete control of the situation. No matter what is dealt to them, they are older than their years, especially when they find horrific ants that can break a person in pieces with one thrust. I was at the end of my chair, and anxiously could not find a place in the chapters to put the story down. The action kept coming and coming and I just wanted to know more. Her age is a big question for the police, and you'll be surprised at the how and why she is whom they say she is. All the characters are crisp (chewy crispy!) and personable especially Kate's parents, her uncle the sheriff, and crazy as a bat granny. Wait until you explore The Basement with blood thirsty giant ants which know before you know how to decipher the halls! I will never enter Walmart again in the candy aisles, or gas up my car, and not think of this story! An extremely fun and exciting read! More, Mr. Keyes, More!</p>
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<p> </p>
<p> They! Is a reading masterpiece containing adventure, mystery, excitement, comedy, zesty romance, and creature horror. I promise you, this eBook will exceedingly capture your interest and you'll have trouble putting it down. They!, to some degree, is related to the classic 1954 science fiction movie, Them! Although this new astounding creature feature story is entirely different, and it's a hundred times better. In the near future, if this fantastic novel were to become a movie, the thrilling special effects would make it a perfect up to date remake. I recommend (They!) for everyone who's looking for an incredible read. All the characters are extremely enjoyable, especially Katie Ann Morganson and Cart Carson, who fall into a bizarre love affair while leading the secret battle to save humanity from a growing horde of alien altered fire ants.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>******************************************************</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>A great read!</b></p>
<p> I just started reading this book and can't put it down. Would say more but I don't want to waste any more time and get back to reading this book THEY!</p>
<p> </p>
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<p> </p>
<p><b>THEY! Should be in the movies! Exciting read!</b></p>
<p> What a dynamic novel! So exciting, funny, sexy, and full of suspense and adventure. The two main characters, Cart and Katie are awesome and you find yourself rooting for them. I hated those terrifying ants as much as they did! I read this novel twice it was so good. Now I'd love to see it in a movie that would be worth going to the movies over! To see those giant ants coming at you, crunching on your bones scaring the be-jeepers will definitely have your popcorn in someone else's lap. Scary and sexy adventure, a must read of a fifties type movie made into 21st century characters, problems and adventure that no can of Raid is going to exterminate! More Mr. Keyes that was exciting. See you at the movies, I hope. Come on Hollywood this is good!</p>
<p> </p>
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<p> </p>
<p><b>I love this book!</b></p>
<p> THEY is a wonderful book, it will scare you and make you laugh. You will never look at a fire ant the same way.</p>
<p> </p>
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<p> Wow! I finished reading They!, and it was one of the best sci-fi monster stories I've read. All the characters are fantastic, especially Katie and Cart. One minute I'm terrified, and the next minute I'm laughing. The deep love between Katie and Cart is very unusual, and you're going to be saying this isn't right. I recommend They! for everyone who enjoys reading a great novel that might someday become a movie, like the 1950's sci-fi movie it's related to, Them! They! is a gem filled with love, imagination, horror, mystery, comedy, action, and much more stuff, so even if you're not a sci-fi fan, you'll enjoy this new exciting novel from Chuck Keyes</p>
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<p><b>Product Description:</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p> They! …is a riveting fiction novel that's somewhat based on the famous 1950's classic sci-fi creature movie, 'Them!' …thus bringing this captivating and thrilling motion picture story concept into the twenty first century.</p>
<p> You'll meet, Katie Ann Morganson, a very extraordinary teenager who's a champion sharpshooter. She's like Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane, and Cinderella combined within one gorgeous blond haired package. Katie's thrilling escapades will captivate your mind, and the terror within each adventure will drill deep into your brain with chills and thrills.</p>
<p> You'll also meet, Cart Carson, an entomologist who's working as a Texas County Deputy to please his father. Cart falls madly in love with Katie, but what he doesn't know is how young her number ten virgin body really is. Throughout the story, there are many interesting characters that'll spark every emotion you possess within your essence.</p>
<p> They! …is brimming with adventure, mystery, erotic romance, horror, comedy, action, and drama, creating a superb sci-fi novel for every adult to enjoy!</p>
<p> Pray they do not find you, because their excruciating sting will be your last horrific living experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561434915?profile=original"><img class="align-center" width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561434915?profile=RESIZE_480x480"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Top of Form</p>
<p> </p>
A Black Day In Comanche Bow, Texas... A short old west sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-05:3798404:BlogPost:96375
2011-10-05T00:51:08.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>A Black Day In Comanche Bow, Texas</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">A short old west sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sheriff Drake Tanner woke up expecting to see the morning sun shining through the small cell window. The morning sun hasn't risen yet, but Drake feels physically refreshed as if he's had his full night's sleep. Curiosity…</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>A Black Day In Comanche Bow, Texas</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">A short old west sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Sheriff Drake Tanner woke up expecting to see the morning sun shining through the small cell window. The morning sun hasn't risen yet, but Drake feels physically refreshed as if he's had his full night's sleep. Curiosity of wanting to know the time, forced him to roll off his cot, and scratch a wooden match to ignite the oil burning lantern hanging over his desk. He first rubbed his eyes with fisted hands, and then he looked over at his wall mounted wind-up clock. That's down right impossible, he thought, my doggone clock must be broken. Drake quickly pulled his pants up over his old long johns, slipped on his favorite rawhide shirt, and yanked on his boots. He stepped outside to look up at the black sky. Strangely, there's not a star to be seen, making it as dark as being in an outhouse without a half-moon shaped window. The town is quiet, and he figures everyone must still be sleeping. He also noticed there's no wind, not even a slight breeze, and the still air smells musty. Drake walked back into his sheriff's office, set his coffee pot on the pot belly stove, and sat down at his desk. He began to look over his new stack of wanted posters he received on yesterday's mid afternoon stage.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Unexpectedly, Grub Murdock, the town's faithful blacksmith, barged into Drake's office. "Sheriff Tanner, the sun hasn't come up yet," he excitedly shouted, "It should've risen more than two hours ago!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Grub, you're all fired up. Sit down and settle down your mind!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Grub plopped down in a wooden visitor's chair, but his old legs nervously danced in place. "Sheriff, what are we going to do without our sun?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you sure the sun is missing?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've checked nearly every time piece in town, and the sun is running late, just like the stagecoach always does every day." Grub's long white whiskers swayed back and forth while he shook his head in despair. "Sheriff, this is bad medicine. Might be that the sun's fire has died out!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake chuckled. "If the sun's flame had been snuffed out, I reckon there would still be some glowing coals up there."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "There's nothing up there but blackness," whined Grub. "I'm figuring we better wakeup the town's folk. They all need to be warned about our missing sun!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now let's not start a brush fire unless we have to. No one has been hurt, and I reckon the folks will be waking up on their own soon enough."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sheriff, do you have a jug of rye? Maybe it'll settle me inners down."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, behind you there's a jug up on the top shelf."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Grub stood up and jumped up to grab the jug, pulled the cork, and took a swig of the brew. He smiled, showing off a few gaps of missing front teeth. "By golly, this here firewater will settle my innards."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Betty Bell waltzed into the sheriff's office. Drake perked up like a starving man who just found a can of beans. As always, Betty is wearing a beautiful colorful dress and fancy jewelry she purchased from the old northern states. "Drake, where's the sun?" she asked while she flung her long blond curly hair over shoulder.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake shrugged his broad shoulders. "Betty, if I knew where the sun is, I'd go fetch it for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm still waiting for the moon you promised me." She leaned over his desk and whispered, "now that I'm thinking about it, you've been promising me the moon every time you're lookin' to partner up with me in my bed!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sorry, Betty, but I'm still lookin' for a rope long enough to lasso the moon and pull it down for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The sun being missing is going to mess up my saloon business! My patrons will be drinking more during the day, and they'll be too whisked up to come back at night for the entertainment. What you need to be doing is gathering up a posse to go search for the scoundrels who robbed us of our sun!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake Chuckled. "So you actually think outlaws have taken our sun?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's what Joe my bartender believes. Besides, this is the first time the sun didn't rise in morning, so somebody must've run off with it!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Grub heard a commotion outside, so he opened the door to take a gander. "Dang, Sheriff, there's mob with torches coming this way. I haven't seen a mob this big since when they all wanted to hang that bean eater for horse stealing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh joy!" Drake grabbed his double barrel shotgun and bolted out of his office to meet the mob out on Main Street.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sheriff, what the hell are you going to do about returning our sun?" shouted one of the Comanche Bow citizens.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, yelled a woman with anger in her eyes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A bearded man frantically waved his flaming torch over his head. "We want our sun returned to where it belongs!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Old Daisy Crumpet shook her fist in anger. Sheriff, my flower garden needs the sun! If you don't do your job and find it, then I'm going to supply the rope that'll be used to hang your ass from the old red oak in the town square!" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Folks, I didn't take the sun. I don't have any reckoning where the sun may be! Pastor Wilkins, I'm surprised to see you joined up with this unlawful mob."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're the sheriff, Drake, so I reckon it's your job to find out what happen to our sun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look up," shouted Drake, "The stars are also missing. Do you want me to find them as well?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup!" Nodded the pastor. "It's your job as being our duly appointed sheriff!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Folks, my job as being your sheriff, is to uphold the law, protect all you nice folks from outlaws, and to keep the peace, which does not include searching for our sun and stars. Everyone here knows that forming a mob is against the law here in Comanche Bow, so everyone needs to backscatter. Although, a better thought is for everyone to go to church and pray for the return of our sun and stars." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sheriff, do you think our missing sun and stars are bible related?" asked Pastor Wilkins.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Pastor, you know I'm not a bible thumping man, but the way I see it, I don't reckon a mortal man can steal our sun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you suggesting God may be the one who removed the sun and stars?" asked the pastor while displaying a bewildered expression on his round plump face.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe they need needed fixin'," replied Drake, "or perhaps this is the labor of the devil."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone responded with awes, oos, and head nods.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Folks, I reckon the sheriff is speaking the truth," yelled Pastor Wilkins, "and we all need to meet in the church and drop to our knees in prayer and song."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Everyone followed the pastor off to the church.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Thank God, thought Drake as he spun around on his boot heel and headed back to his office. I know these folks are scared and fired up angry, but there's nothing I can do about it. Before stepping up on the roof covered board walk, he paused on the dirt Main Street to look up at the pitch-black daytime sky. I don't know how everything works up there in the heavens, but I'm figuring if the life giving sun never returns, everything that's living thing down here on the ground is going die off. He stepped into his office to see Betty Bell sitting at his desk, eyeing one of his wanted posters.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Drake, look at this poster of David McCanles. Five hundred dollars dead or alive. I'd bet you a bottle of good northern whisky that McCanles and his gang had something to do with our missing sun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Dear, believe me, no outlaws were involved in the disappearance of our sun. I'm figuring it was most likely God who hung the sun over our heads, so whoever took it would have to be just as powerful as him."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm frightened," said Betty, flashing her pretty sky-blue eyes at Drake. "What are we going to do if the sun never returns? Our missing sun may be the beginning of the end of everything."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake shrugged. "I don't know." He helped her to stand up, and then he wrapped his muscular arms around her, pulling her breasts against his chest. Their lips met in a long passionate kiss.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After the kiss, Betty said, "I know what I'd like to do."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What?" asked Drake.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'd like to become a married woman before everything ends."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake flashed Betty his silliest grin. "And whom are you planning to marry?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> She powerfully slapped the palms of her hands against Drake's broad chest. "You, of course, the only man I allow to borrow my body for his pleasurable needs."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake laughed. "Your howling screams of satisfaction have always proved that you enjoy my bronc busting rides."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, your bronco riding talents are one of the exciting reasons why I wish to be your wife. Ever since Jack Slade gunned down my pa, leaving me with his salon, I've been waiting for you to ask me to marry you. I love you more than you can ever imagine. In spite of what you may have thought, I have never liked being a single woman who owns a saloon, brothel, and gambling house combination. It makes me look bad in front of the town's women folk, and I don't like the men folk tipping their hats and calling me Madam Bell while displaying smirks on their faces."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Betty, why haven't you told me this before today?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because it may be the end of everything, so I reckon if I don't say it now, I'll never have a chance to say it in the future."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, Betty Bell, I do love you, and every day I think about asking you to be my wife."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What's been stopping you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You are the wealthiest woman in Comanche Bow, and I figured me being a low salaried Sheriff, wouldn't be a good enough man for you to marry. I've been saving up money in the bank by collecting the bounties on law breakers, hunting for my own food, and living here in my sheriff's office. After I grow a large nest egg, I'm planning to ask for your hand in marriage."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't give a dang about how much money you have! My sinful businesses are very lucrative. I have more than enough money for both of us to live high on the hog. I love you for whom you are, a kind hearted, handsome brave man with brawny muscles."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake gave Betty a passionate kiss, then he excitedly said, "let's head right over to the church and ask Pastor Wilkins to hitch us up."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You mean it?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He grabbed hold of her hand. "I mean it like a heart beat!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A wide smile formed across her beautiful face.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Within an hour, they were married, and Betty happily took her husband home to give him a hot soapy bath, throw away his old dirty long johns, and to give him a rewarding honeymoon that he'll never forget.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Early the next morning, Drake was the first one to wake to see sunshine passing through the silky white curtains covering the three windows in Betty's bedroom. "Betty, wake up." He gently shook her bare shoulder. "The sun has returned."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Her eyelids jumped up as if they were spring loaded. "Oh my, let's hurry up and get dressed so we can run out to the garden patio to eye the sun."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They passed through the back doorway and stopped dead in their tracks as they looked toward the sunlight.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What does this mean?" asked Betty.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know," replied Drake as he shockingly gazed at two suns. Each the same size, sitting close together, and straight up overhead, he can see a giant round moon. The reddish brown moon is so close, he's wondering why it's not falling onto their heads."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After many silent minutes of gazing in wonder, Betty voiced, "somebody messed up our sky."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, and we now have two smaller suns, but they seem just as bright when we had one sun, plus somebody has pushed our moon closer to our heads."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Who could've done this?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Perhaps it was God, or someone with God's great powers."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Betty pointed her finger. "Drake, what's that shinny tall post over there?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Let's take a gander of it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> As they walked across the yard toward the post, a strange box mounted on top of it slowly spun around, aiming a large fisheye at them. Drake tapped his knuckle against the post. "It's not made of wood. It feels hard, like eatin' irons."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Who do you think put it here?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't know."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look, there are more of these odd posts running along both sides of Main Street, and around the square."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Now that I have daylight, this morning I'm going to ride out to check on some of the ranch families."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, but first I'm going to cook you a hardy breakfast."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With a set of new duds Betty purchased for him, along with his gun holstered, Drake mounted his trusted horse he had named Joe. "Let's go, Joe, he said along with a soft kick to Joe's ribs. As he rode along the trial heading toward the Johnson ranch, he noticed more of those shinny posts. By the time he arrived at Tom Johnson's ranch, the twin suns are directly overhead, and the large moon is beginning to set over the horizon.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Tom ran out to meet Drake. "Sheriff, this is dang remarkable. I woke up to see a new sky over my ranch."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "It's the same new sky over everyone's ranch. How's your family?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Their okay. Although Emmy is afraid to go outside to do her morning chores. I may have to force her outside!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Give her some time, Tom, cause ain't going to be too happy if I hear you've hurt her."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I'll give her another day before I drag her outside to do her chores."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Tom, I see you have some of those strange iron posts planted around your ranch house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yup, and it's those dang posts that are frightening my Emmy. I spent three hours this morning trying to pull one of them out of the ground with my plowing mules, but it wouldn't budge. My thirty pound sledge won't even dent the dang post!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Well, Tom, you take care of your family. I'm going to ride on to the Cartwright ranch."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, say hello to Ben for me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I will." He gave Joe a nudge and continued along the trail.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Drake is nearly thirty miles from town when he noticed Joe seems upset about something. He looked around for a rattler, but there weren’t any to be seen. He gently stroked Joe's neck to calm him down. "What's wrong, Joe, are you sensing trouble up ahead?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> He cautiously rode a few hundred feet further, and all of a sudden, Joe came to a stop. Drake dismounted and circled around his horse while lifting each leg to look for any problems with Joe's hoofs. He grabbed the reins to see if Joe will walk with him. "What the hell!" Drake snapped aloud when he bumped his head against a hard wall that he can't see, but he can feel it. He can see the Texas landscape continuing on beyond the invisible wall. He paused to rub the painful lump on his forehead, and then he walked along the side of the wall with Joe. Every five to ten feet he glided his hand against the smooth wall. This is the strangest dang thing I've ever encountered, he thought. Drake bent down and picked up a fallen oak branch, and with all his might, he hit the branch against wall. He continued to hit the wall until the branch broke in half.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Suddenly, the landscape beyond the wall changed, and with bulging eyes of fear, Drake is staring at countless creatures that are somewhat shaped like himself, but their shorter than him, more slender, with gray shinny skin. They're large eyes appear to belong to a tree owl, and their arms, fingers, and legs are long and boney. Their all wearing silver colored silk-like clothing, and he can't tell if their male or female critters. He's figuring either these creatures are locked out, or he's locked in on this side of the wall. Most of the strange creatures are carrying an object that looks a thin book, and the front covers on the books are creating a flashing colorful light. Beyond the rows of critters who are staring at Joe and him, are oddly shaped buildings reaching far up into the sky. Many of the critters are riding on flying machines that are only a few feet above the ground.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Above Drake's head is the backside of a large electronic sign mounted on the other side of the wall. If Sheriff Drake was on the other side of the wall with the critters, and if he could read their alien language being displayed on an electronic screen, then this is what he would've read:</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><strong><em>The Zare City Zoo is proud to present a nine hundred square mile habitat of unique alien life, which was barge transferred from planet number eighty-seven, located in the capshaw region of our universe.</em></strong></span></p>
<p><strong><em><span class="font-size-5">Please use your handheld electronic monitors to view the aliens throughout their natural habitat.</span></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><span class="font-size-5"> Thank you, from the Zare City zoo management.</span></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></em></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6"><b>The End!</b></span></p>
<p align="center">© October 2011</p>
<p align="center"><i> </i></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
Last House On Baskin Lane... A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-10-02:3798404:BlogPost:95540
2011-10-02T18:30:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">Last House On Baskin Lane</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> With a smug smile stretched across his handsome face, Cobb Babcock leaned back in his leather desk chair while gazing up at one of his eight wall mounted television monitors. Two of the…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-6">Last House On Baskin Lane</span></strong></p>
<p align="center">A short sci-fi horror story by Chuck Keyes</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> With a smug smile stretched across his handsome face, Cobb Babcock leaned back in his leather desk chair while gazing up at one of his eight wall mounted television monitors. Two of the furniture moving men are struggling with a colorful long sofa, attempting to shift it sideways through the doorway from the central hallway into the front parlor. He figured their job would be much easier if they didn't have bodies resembling Laurel and Hardy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Since he constructed the house almost four years ago, today's new family will be the seventh to move in. This is an exciting day for Cobb. Generally, he likes to meet the entire family before they move in; however, this time he only met the father, Mr. Daniel Tate. Cobb rented his house based only on Dan's loving descriptions of his wife and children. A perfect happy family to satisfy his desires. He figures the happier the family is, the more they have to lose when he brutally murders them.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> To prevent his rental house from being vacant too long between families, Cobb offers a below average rent-to-own monthly payment, thus providing him many families to choose from. They must be a special loving family that'll also please his inner entity. It was his entity that told him to build this house with a hidden surveillance room located on the far end of the second floor. At the time, he figured if he builds it, the sacrificial humans would line up to live in it. Attached to the room is a small alcove bathroom and a kitchenette. His own little soundproof efficiency apartment where his inner entity and he can stealthy watch and hear every family member by way of his hidden cameras, microphones, and monitors. Like the past six families who have lived here, Cobb will please his inner entity by studying and tormenting each family member, preparing them for the final day of sacrifice. A blood feast of death, allowing his inner entity to feed and flourish upon the family's fear. The same fear his entity has enjoyed throughout history, when it dwelled within the insane minds of other human beings, such as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein, David Berkowitz, Henry Lee Lucas, and scores of other serial killers. The entity enjoys offering an inner voice for enticing its endless hunger for blood-curdling carnage. It's always searching for the ultimate perfection of fear within the agonizing death rattles of the victims its human host murders.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan Tate drove to the end of Baskin Lane and stopped in the middle of the turnaround circle. "Okay, everyone, you can open your eyes now."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Oh, Dan, this is a beautiful house," voiced Cathy. She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "It certainly is a big house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan chuckled. "The house is big enough so when I'm in a wolf howling mood, I can chase you from room to room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "There won't be any chasing if this pretty Texas house doesn't have a dishwasher and garbage disposal," Cathy said along with a giggle."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Oh my God," huffed Ivy. It's hard to believe my middle age parents are like oversexed teenagers. I like our new house, but we have no neighbors. This is going to be like living on an uninhabited planet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "What we have my dear daughter, is plenty of privacy so I can design Forsite's new Dallas skyscraper."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Come on, Dad, I want to see my new bedroom," yammered Jeffrey.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Okay, son," said Dan. He drove their SUV into the driveway and parked in front of the right garage door. "Let's go check out our new house." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cathy, Ivy, Jeffrey, and his little mongrel dog, Mr. Sparks, followed Dan around to the front door. Dan slid the key into the lock, noticing the door isn't locked. "Oops, the movers must've left the door unlocked."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "The movers better not have broken any of my stuff," complained Jeffrey, "especially my computer!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan swung the door open, allowing his family to step into the front alcove. Cathy and Jeffery scampered off to search for their new bedrooms. Cathy looked up to admire the crystal chandelier hanging in the center of the alcove. "Oh my, Dan, I can't believe we can afford this place."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Surprisingly, the rent-to-own monthly payment is only seven hundred dollars, and we're lucky to be only twenty-three miles from downtown Dallas."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cathy took hold of her husband's hand. "I want to go check out my new kitchen." She pulled him along the central hallway. After stepping into the kitchen, Cathy excitedly twirled around. "Wow! A dishwasher, a garbage disposal, a built in microwave, and a trash compactor." She giggled like a child being tickled. "My dear husband, when your howling wolf mood arises, you're welcome to chase me from room to room." She gave Dan a bear hug along with a tongue dancing passionate kiss. "Although, instead of chasing me, I'd prefer you just pick me up, carry me to our bed, tear off my clothes, and make fervent love to me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "That's the best deal ever," voiced Dan. "Besides, I'm getting too old to chase after my sexual conquest."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Ivy and Jeffery ran into the kitchen.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Dad, Mom, I love my bedroom," Ivy excitedly announced. "I have my own bathroom. Every bedroom in this house has a private bath with clear class shower doors."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yeah," chimed Jeffery, "I too have my own bathroom, which means never again will I have to wait over an hour while queen bee Sis admires her face in the mirror."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Hey, brain-dead, having my own bathroom means I'll never again have to enter a bathroom directly after you squeezed out a giant stink creature from your black lagoon butt hole."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Ivy, that's sickening!" snapped Cathy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "You kids better stop tormenting each other before the both of you are grounded in your new rooms for a whole month," voiced Dan, "and the neat thing about having your own bathrooms…means your mother and I will only see your sad little faces at meal times." </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> During the next few weeks, the Tate family was busy unpacking, organizing, and settling in their new house that's located at the end of Baskin Lane.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan setup his architectural drafting office with his high powered computer and two thirty-two inch LCD monitors. He hung pictures on the walls of his favorite modern high-rises he designed. Two buildings in Boston, one in New York City, one in Chicago, and one in Houston. He lined his bookcases with basic drafting books, drafting software, and architectural engineering books.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cathy has been busy in her new kitchen. Washing and lining the cabinet shelves, unpacking a multitude of boxes, and making trips to the nearest store to stock up on food.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Ivy and Jeffery are slowly arranging their rooms between summer school vacation fun times of Internet surfing, Facebook chatting, playing video games, and watching movies. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cobb focused his number seventeen camera so he can receive a clearer view of fifteen year old Ivy. She's in her bedroom, more than half naked, searching through her bureau drawers. Oh yes, she's a hot little chickadee that's just ripe enough to be plucked, he excitedly thought. I love her long blond hair, her dark blue trophy eyeballs, and her pale white suit of skin. When the time of sacrifice arrives, I'm going to enjoy killing her with a long blade that'll seductively penetrate her sexy young body. The blade needs to be thin and slender…so she'll bleed out slowly, thus offering my inner entity and I hours of rapturous pleasure. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cobb switched from camera to camera, anxiously searching for Cathy. He found her as she stepped out of the shower. His heart rate increased while he stared at her mature body. A flawless older version of Ivy's sexy body. He imagined himself sexually having his way with her dead body. He can smell her sweet blood oozing from numerous sacrificial wounds, and the thought of smearing her warm blood on his naked body is arousing his manhood. He wanted to react, but it wouldn't be the real thing, so he switched to the camera in Jeffery's bedroom. The dog lying on Jeffery's bed instantly angered him. I need to kill the little mutt before it detects me prowling around at night, he thought. His two past attempts to kill the dog failed because it's always sleeping next to Jeffery. Damn Mr. Sparks and Jeffery are connected like Siamese twins.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> In eagerness there might be another evening peepshow of Dan and Cathy having sex, Cobb grabbed a beer out his refrigerator. To help him remember his past pleasures of murder, he likes to store his cans of beer just below his trophy shelf. Rows of clear glass jelly jars containing eyeballs, ears, nipples, and genital components from his past family tenants. He can match a family member's name to each gouged out, sliced off, or bit off trophy. He picked up one of his trophy jars and happily stared at the two sets of eyeballs belonging to the pretty Lawrence twins. The rest of the twin's body parts are stored in sewerage tank number two. When Cobb built the house, he buried four twelve hundred gallon sewerage tanks in the back yard, each a perfect mass gravesite for hiding the his victim's remains.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan took a sip of his morning coffee.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Here's your pancakes."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Thanks, love."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Dan, are you planning to work all day?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Why are you asking?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I need to go shopping in Dallas and I was wondering if you want to go with me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Maybe," replied Dan. "I was thinking of only working a half day so I can mow the lawn. What are you planning to buy?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "New panties for Ivy and me," answered Cathy. "I swear our washing machine has been eating them. It seems like every other day we're missing a pair panties, and now I'm missing the sexy two piece nightgown I wore for you the other night."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "The sheer rose colored one I bought for you last Valentine's Day from Victoria's Secret?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yeah, that one."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan shook his head. "It was my favorite one, plus it cost me an arm and leg."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I don't understand why these unique articles of clothing are disappearing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Maybe our washing machine is a pervert?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "No, I'm serious, Dan. I didn't want to say anything because I know how happy you are about finding this place, but this house gives me the willies."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "What do you mean?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Ever since we moved in the small hairs on the back of my neck have been standing straight up. I've been having an endless feeling there's an evil presence always watching me. Strange things keep happening. Last week, twice I woke up to find the kitchen faucet running at full force, and I know my personal belongings are slightly being moved from where I placed them. Plus I think someone besides us has been messing around with our food. I can sense there's something wrong with this house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan mockingly chuckled. "Are you now claiming to have psychic powers like your mother?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Before my mother lost her life in the line of duty, she used her psychic abilities to help solve many crimes for the Boston Police Department. So like her, maybe I am developing some psychic abilities within the midstream of my life. The other night I woke up with a frightening feeling that somebody had been in our bedroom, watching us sleep."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Would you feel better if I have all locks changed?" asked Dan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I don't think changing the locks is going to settle my mind. I keep sensing an evil presence within the house, as if it's connected to the house."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Dear, it sounds like you're describing the Amityville horror house, and you know I don't believe in ghosts, demons, or portals to hell."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I know there's a physical presence of evil in this house!" she snapped.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Okay…okay, I'll keep an eye out for the boogeyman. What time are you leaving to go shopping?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Within a few hours. I want to be back before the kids get home from their first day of school."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I do need to pick up some ink pen cartridges for my drafting printer, so I'll go with you, and then I'll mow the yard when we return."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Okay…I'll let you know when I'm ready to leave."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cathy hurriedly cleaned up the kitchen, and then she ran out to the garage to search through seven tall stacks of boxes, each marked storage. After foraging through nine boxes, she finally found a small gray metal case containing her mother's service revolver. A short barrel, Smith & Wesson three fifty-seven revolver. She removed the gun from the case and loaded it. Before she married Dan, her dream was to follow her mother's footsteps and become a homicide detective, but after becoming pregnant, it was the fear of possibly being killed in the line of duty that changed her mind. Like what bitterly happened to her, she didn't want to leave her child motherless. The day her father picked her up early from school to tell her mom had been killed, was the worst day of her life. In her nightmares, she's relieved that terrible day over and over again, as if it’s a haunting poltergeist. Cathy hid the gun under her blouse and carried it to her bedroom, where she placed it under some magazines in the drawer of her bedside table.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cobb nervously paced back and forth within the confines of his secret room. He needs more time before sacrificing the Tate family to his inner entity, but after listening to Dan and Cathy's early morning conversation, he's figuring his time is running out. He's bewildered and angry because Cathy has somehow sensed his presence in the house. For the past three months, he's been searching for an opportunity to kill Mr. Sparks, but instead of the dog, his biggest risk of being discovered is Cathy's supposedly psychic powers. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> I require more time to live with my victims, Cobb angrily thought as he continued to pace. I haven't learned enough about each family member. I need a few more months to ghostly torment them, smell the sweetness of their dirty clothing, taste their garbage, and secretly bond with them by adding more drops of my blood to their food. None of my past twenty-nine sacrifices has ever been this close of knowing about my presence.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cobb stopped pacing and dropped to his knees, and then he cradled his head in his hands. "Yes, I can hear you," he voiced aloud, as if he's David Berkowitz talking to the demon who possesses his neighbor's dog. "Are you sure it'll be Okay? Yes, I understand, and I will fulfill your lustful hunger. As always, I am your loyal servant for providing you with terrified human essence. Tonight, their sugary blood will flow, their fear will feed your appetite, and their electrical essence will slowly be released while they bleed out."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> He stood up and grabbed two pairs of Cathy's dirty underwear. In hopes of calming himself down, he stuffed the two silky pink panties into his Mr. Coffee brew basket, and then he added water to make himself a refreshing hot cup of Cathy of essence tea. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> After returning from Dallas and having an early supper with his family, Dan mounted his riding lawnmower and began to mow the lawn. His mind wondered back to his weird breakfast conversation with Cathy. Like her mother, maybe she has developed psychic abilities. He remembered reading some of the Boston Globe news articles Cathy keeps in an old scrapbook. Somehow, her mother was responsible for mysteriously solved many police cases. He recalled one case where Kathy's mother found a little kidnapped girl in an abandoned office building. She was bound and locked in a utility closet. The kidnapper had been killed while attempting to collect his money, and if the girl had not been found, she would've died.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> In preparation to steal Dan's daylight before he can complete all his mowing, the sun is beginning to sink over the edge of the earth. While wondering if there could be some truth to what Cathy has been sensing in her mind, Dan stopped the lawnmower and curiously gazed at the architectural features of his new house. A few minutes passed by, and then he noticed something proportionally odd. The house appears to be larger on the outside than the inside, and he realized the displacement of the size is on the second floor. The offset structure of the house is obscure, and he figured no one would notice it if they weren't an architectural drafter like him. Suddenly, it him, and realized there has to be a hidden room on the second floor. In fearful panic, he jumped off the lawnmower and ran toward the house. He rushed into the front entrance alcove and screamed, "Cathy, where are you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I'm upstairs in our bedroom," she loudly replied.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Dan ran up the stairs, twelve feet along the hallway, and then he entered the bedroom to see Cathy comfortably laying on the bed, reading her electronic book. "Honey, we need to fetch the kids and leave this house right now!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Why?" Cathy asked while facially expressing curiosity mixed with fear.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I have no time to explain. We need to go!" As Dan turned to fetch his kids, Cathy pulled open the drawer and grabbed her mother's gun. Just as Dan was about to pass through the doorway, Cobb punched him in the face, hard enough to knock him backwards, and Dan lost his balance, landing hard on the carpeted floor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cobb took a few steps into the bedroom, and then he stopped upon noticing the gun Cathy is pointing him.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Don't move," yelled Cathy. "I know how to use this gun! Dan, are you alright?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I'll live." Feeling groggy, he sat up to get a good look at the intruder who attacked him. "Are the kids in their rooms?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yes, I checked on them not too long ago. Ivy is listening to music, and Jeffrey is watching a movie."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Hey, this isn't fair," whined Cobb. "You're not supposed to have a gun. I would've found it and rendered it useless. Personally, I don't like guns. I prefer the intimacy of using a razor sharp knife."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Shut up you crazy son of a bitch!" screamed Cathy. "Dan, call the police!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "My cell phone is my office," he replied while blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I've already confiscated your cell phones," said Cobb along with a sly grin. "As I see it, your three choices are to shoot me, let me go, or you could attempt to tie me up."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Cathy, this lunatic is Cobb Babcock, the man who rented me this house," said Dan. "I think he's been living in a secret room up here on the second floor, at the far end of the house, over the kitchen. There must be a hidden microphone here in our bedroom, and this crazy bastard must've heard me when I said we need leave. That's why he attacked me."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "You're not supposed to leave," muttered Cobb. "Leaving will displease my inner entity."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I told you to keep your mouth shut!" cried Cathy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "What are you going to do about it? I don't think you're going to kill me, or you would've done it already."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Dan, Cobb is spooking me. You need to go find something to tie him up with," demanded Cathy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "You heard him. He likes knives, which means he probably has one or more in his pockets."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Cobb, raise your hands straight up over your head so my husband can frisk you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "No!" He defiantly shook his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I will shoot you!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "No one is allowed to touch my sacred knife." He laughed for a moment. "What we have here is a stalemate. You're not going to shot me, and I'm not going to allow Dan to take away my knife."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Dan, what are we going to do?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I don't know. You're the one with a gun. I don't think you have any other option but to shoot him."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Okay, I'll drop my knife to the floor."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Do it slowly," demanded Cathy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> As Cobb gradually reached into his left pants pocket, he swiftly came up with his right hand, pulling a knife out from behind his upper back, and then he tossed it at Cathy. She had sensed the danger and rapidly jerked to the right. The long blade nicked her left ear and stuck into the hardwood head board. Cathy aimed and fired as Cobb reached for another knife. The bullet entered his forehead and exited along with bloody bits and pieces of his skull and brain matter. Cobb's mouth dropped open, and to their surprised horror, a purple snake-like head appeared. Its large reddish orange eyes staring at them. As the ugly creature frantically wiggled out of Cobb's over stretched mouth, it loudly screeched, sounding similar to a cat being painfully tortured.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Cathy, shoot the damn creature!" yelled Dan.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> She rapidly fired four rounds, each bullet squarely hitting Cobb's entity.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Cobb finally toppled over backwards, landing flat on his back between the door frames. Nearly a foot of the dead creature is hanging out of his bloody mouth.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Ivy frantically ran across the hall into Jeffery's room to find him hiding under his bed. She slid under the bed next to him and whispered, "I think those were gun shots."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "No shit, Sis, I wouldn't be hiding under my bed if I thought they were balloons popping."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I'm scared."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Me too!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> The two rival siblings hugged.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Dan, I've seen too many horror movies where they get back up!" Cathy voiced while she rolled off the bed and ran over to Cobb's body, and then she fired her last two rounds. One in his neck, and the other into his heart. "What the hell is this ugly creature?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Cobb did say he has an inner entity. From the creature's bizarre appearance, I'd say it's not from our earth!"</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center">© September 2011</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
Web Link To My Google Containing My Short Sci-fi stories... And To The They! Web Site...
tag:www.authors.com,2011-09-29:3798404:BlogPost:95009
2011-09-29T03:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561435071?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561435071?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="550"></img></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><a href="http://chuck-keyes.com/chuck-keyes_007.htm" target="_blank">LINK TO THE THEY! WEB SITE</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> …</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561435071?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="550" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561435071?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="550" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><a href="http://chuck-keyes.com/chuck-keyes_007.htm" target="_blank">LINK TO THE THEY! WEB SITE</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561435099?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="460" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1561435099?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="460" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><br/></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-7"><a href="http://eee-books-apollotrilogy-chuck.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">LINK TO CHUCK'S SCI-FI SHORT STORIES GOOGLE BLOG</a><br/></span></p>
Zaggit ...A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-09-27:3798404:BlogPost:94875
2011-09-27T19:30:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-7">Zaggit</span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> There must be something wrong, thought Zaggit. The science team must have chosen the wrong type of lower life animal to bio-copy. Besides watching me forage for tree seeds, the humans pay no attention to me. Four…</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-7">Zaggit</span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> There must be something wrong, thought Zaggit. The science team must have chosen the wrong type of lower life animal to bio-copy. Besides watching me forage for tree seeds, the humans pay no attention to me. Four times, I've approached the entrance to their dwelling, but they won't let me enter, and my close presence seems to provoke them in a bad way. At this rate, my study of human beings is going to take longer than my existence. Oh no, here comes that troublesome animal who keeps chasing me up the earth trees.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The fluffy white angora cat stealthy ducked down in the green grass and crept toward Zaggit.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> I need to put a stop this! screamed Zaggit from within his mind.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> When the young playful cat charged toward him, Zaggit used his telepathic abilities to place an image of a Golapein Darth Creature in the cat's mind. Upon seeing the scary image, the cat's hair raised while it jumped up in the air with a loud frightful shriek, and then it ran off toward the human's dwelling. A young human female opened the backdoor to allow the cat to enter, and then she stepped out on the wooden deck and stretched out on a lounge chair to sun her body while reading her electronic book. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> I doubt if that annoying animal will attempt to chase me again. The scientists must have messed up. I don't think I'm a cat. My gut feeling is telling me the animal I just scared away is a cat, and that's why the humans are allowing the creature to enter their dwelling. If true, than what type of animal am I? What can I do to become one of their family members? Zaggit inwardly asked himself these questions. I'm going to try a different approach.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit found a little twig and placed the tip of it between his toes, making the twig appear as if it's stuck in the fleshy part of right front foot. He limped up the three steps onto the rear wooden deck and walked toward the young female. After realizing the human female is too engrossed with her electronic novel, he made a loud chattering noise.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila screeched when she first saw the Texas red squirrel. It stood up to show her the twig sticking out of its right foot.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, you poor squirrel," said Leila, "you have a sliver stuck in your foot."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Surprisingly, the squirrel curled in three of his long front finger-like toes on his left foot, and pointed one toe at the wooden sliver.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you want me to pull the sliver out of your foot?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit nodded his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is unbelievable," Leila said with a bewildered expression. "Am I going bonkers, or did you actually nod your head to my question?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Again, Zaggit nodded his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've been told squirrels can be vicious. You're not planning to bite me when I pullout your sliver?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit briskly shook his head.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With fear etched on her face, Leila cautiously reached down and pulled the twig out from between the squirrel's toes. Leila deeply exhaled followed with a warm smile. "Does it feel better?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit nodded.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila's forehead lined in thought. "Do you understand everything I'm saying?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The red squirrel nodded his head and briskly shook his bushy tail.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is impossible. You're a tree rodent whose life span only lasts until you stupidly run out in the street to get run over." Zaggit startled Leila when he jumped up on her lounge chair and nudged his pointed snout against her hand.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you want me to pet you?" asked Leila.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit nodded yes, hoping if she pets him, it'll help to form a bond of never-ending friendship, thus allowing him to become a member of her human family.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila gently stroked Zaggit's head and back. "Wow, you're fur is as soft as my cat's fur."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit curled up next to Leila's warm human body, and his tail covering his face, he fell asleep.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> An hour later, Leila gently shook Zaggit's little furry body. "Squirrel, you better wake up. My mother and brother will be home soon. I know they won't understand why I've befriended a wild squirrel, and if I tell them you understand everything I say, they'll think I'm walking around the dark with the lights on. Would you like to see my bedroom?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit nodded yes. He jumped up on Leila's shoulder and curled his tail around her neck.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With her electronic book in hand, Leila entered the house and walked along the hallway to her bedroom. She gave Zaggit a tour of her room and her attached bathroom. "I wish the cat box was in here for you to use, but mother prefers to keep it in the utility room next to the washing machine and dryer." She paused to giggle. "Of course, maybe you'd rather use my toilet. I love to read, and right now I'm reading an awesome sci-fi fantasy about an alien whose essence is inside a special little Chihuahua dog. His name is Apollo, and he's a roman galactic police officer. He's super intelligent, he talks, and he knows how to do his business in a toilet. I'm certainly reading the appropriate novel for meeting a red squirrel who seems to understand everything I say. As you can tell from all my sci-fi posters, I'm a science fiction fanatic. My mother thinks I'm going to grow out of loving sci-fi, but next year I'm going to be senior in high school, and my love for sci-fi keeps growing, so I'm going to become sci-fi novelist. I've written many short sci-fi stories, and all my friends enjoy them. Do you like my strange sci-fi bedroom?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Yes, I like your room. It's better than sleeping in an earth tree. At least you don't have to worry about rolling over in your sleep and falling to your death.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my God. Just like Apollo, you can talk!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I am telepathically communicating with you.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're talking to me inside my head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Yes.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So I'm the only one who can hear you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Yes.' Zaggit nodded his little head. 'I'm not supposed to be communicating with you, but my science class scientists bio-coped a squirrel instead of cat.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Science class!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I'm a student majoring in alien life. My science project report is going to be a case study about human beings.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So you're a teenage alien who's mistakenly passing yourself as a squirrel instead of a cat, and I'm one of the human aliens you're going to study for your science project."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> So Zaggit can face Leila, he jumped off her shoulder onto her bed. 'That about sums it up.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How far away is your home planet?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'My home planet is almost half way across the universe.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Do you have a spaceship?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Spaceships are obsolete. I can travel through the time layers of space within a static beam of negative light.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow! Scotty beamed you here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I'd appreciate it if you don't tell any other humans about me. I'm not even supposed to be in this section of the universe. If my father learns what I've done, he'd probably ground me for twenty planetary revolutions around our twin suns.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why aren’t you supposed to be here?" enquired Leila with a puzzled expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'This section of the universe is off limits. All the aliens who live in this section are considered primitive until they can travel beyond their solar systems.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, well we wouldn't be considered primitive if more money and technology was being placed into our space program. Most people are too doggone busy trying to improve their own existence instead of looking into the future to see our human race colonizing planets beyond our solar system. Every day it seems that more people are losing interest in our space program. When I become a well-known sci-fi novelist, I'm going to use my novels to help promote the space program. It's a known fact that our future technology is generally derived from our past science fiction."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit shook his bushy tail. 'Being a young human female, your highly developed intelligence surprises me.' </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks." Leila's cheeks blushed. "I'm curious about how you understand my English language?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'There's a…'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, wait, I can answer my question. There's a linguistic translator built into your squirrelly brain."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That is correct."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy Star Trek! I guess reading sci-fi novels, writing sci-fi stories, and watching sci-fi movies have paid off."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What are all these strange pictures hanging on your walls?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, I'm happy you asked. They're famous sci-fi movie posters. 'The Lost World', 'The War Of the Worlds', 'Forbidden Planet', and 'The Core'," Leila said as she pointed each one out. "And on this wall is…'Them!', 'Avatar', 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', and 'The Incredible Shrinking Man'. I think I've watched each one these movies more than a dozen times. That's why my mother calls me a sci-fi fanatic."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'What does your father think about you being a sci-fi fanatic?'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Two years ago my father died from stomach cancer."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I'm so sorry.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Thanks…I miss him. He also loved science fiction, and he's the one who sparked my sci-fi interest when I was knee high to a ladybug."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'What's your name?' asked Zaggit.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Leila Lin Jinkins. Do you have a name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I only have one name, and am called Zaggit.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I love your name." Leila said along with a childish giggle. "Zaggit is a perfect alien name, and it's also a great name for a squirrel, since they like to zigzag all around the yard."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Leila Lin Jinkins is a superb alien name.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila chuckled. "I've never thought of myself as being the alien, looking from beyond my solar system at planet earth. Now that I think of it, 'This Alien Planet Called Earth' would be a fantastic title for a mindboggling sci-fi story. I've always known in my heart that life exists throughout the universe. I imagine God as being the grand artist of creation, and with the whole universe being his canvas; it wouldn't make any sense for him to paint just one tiny dot."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Oh…may I please use your bathroom?' asked Zaggit</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Of course you can. Do you need my help?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I can do my business on my own.' Zaggit jumped off the bed and scampered into the bathroom. He stood up on his two back feet and pushed the door partially closed, and then he jumped up on the toilet seat. After doing his business by holding on to the edge of the seat with the rear of his body hanging in the bowl, he jumped up, grabbed hold of the flush handle, and hung on it, but he didn't have enough body weight to pull the handle down. He ran back into the bedroom. 'Sorry, Leila, but I will require your assistance to push down the flush handle.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila giggled. "No problem, Zaggit, I have to use the bathroom anyway."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit jumped back up on Leila's comfortable bed. He rolled up in a ball and used his bushy squirrel tail to cover his eyes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A nine year old boy strolled into Leila's bedroom. He surprisingly noticed the ball of reddish fur on the bed, so he grabbed a Sci-fi magazine and rolled it up to use as a weapon. As he approached the bed, Zaggit heard him, and he managed to jump out of the way just before the magazine hit the bed where he had been sleeping.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, I won't hurt you," yelled the boy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila ran out of the bathroom. "David, what are you doing to my pet squirrel?" she screamed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The tree rodent spoke to me!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "How many times have I told you to stay out of my room?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not kidding! Your pet squirrel spoke to me. His voice was like an echo in my head."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "David, you've flipped out. Squirrels don't talk; now get out of my room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I came in to tell you Mom called me and said she's going to be working late."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, you told me, so now make like a futuristic space cadet and beam your butt out of my room!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Where did you get the tree rodent?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Don't call him that!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If you don't tell me the truth about your mysterious talking squirrel, then I'm going to tell Mom about him."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Leila, as usual, I messed up, so you may as well tell David the truth.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, alright! I'll tell you, but you must first promise to never tell anyone."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Okay, Sis, I promise."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If you break your promise, every night while you're deeply sleeping, I'll put earthworms and cockroaches in your bed."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I won't break my promise…so tell me already!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "The Squirrel's name is Zaggit, and he's an alien teenager who's here on earth to study our human race for his science project."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> David exploded with a belly laugh. After he regained his composure, he voiced, "Sis, you've finally gone beyond being a sci-fi fanatic to being a sci-fi Looney tune character."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'David, Leila is telling you the truth.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow! He does speak, but his voice is strangely echoing."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That's because Zaggit is telepathically talking to us, like broadcasting directly into our brains."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This is unbelievable. Maybe you were destined to meet an intelligent telepathic alien squirrel."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Zaggit chattered as if he's laughing. 'I'm not an alien squirrel. In reality, I'm on my home planet. This bio-squirrel body contains a downloaded copy of my essence.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "So you're in two places at once?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'That is correct. I'm the one who came up with the idea. I can safely study humans and transfer the information back to myself.' </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zaggit, why are you a squirrel?" asked David.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I was supposed to be a lab grown bio-cat, but my friends in my science class transferred the wrong genetic information from your planet. Being a stray cat would've made it much easier for a human family to accept me as a family member.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Zaggit, what does your alien body look like?" asked Leila.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Well, I look somewhat like your human race. Except, My head is larger, rounder, and there's no hair on my body. I have six fingers and six toes. My eyes are larger, my nose is smaller, and my ears are bigger.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Holy Star Wars," excitedly snapped Leila. "From your description, your race may be highly evolved humans, which would make us related."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Yes…yes, this is what I too believe,' Zaggit's words passed into Leila and David's brain while his bushy tail rapidly danced with excitement. 'This is why I want to study your human race. I want to prove we are truly related. Many millions of planetary revolutions around my twin suns…my ancestors may have used light-speed ships to visit your planet earth.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila laughed. "This is amazing! The concept does explain why there's a missing link in our evolutionary process. There's also millions of years missing between now and when the dinosaurs became extinct, which nobody ever talks about. If we can prove our races are related, and in the future when a first contact does occur, most of my human race will have a great deal of trouble accepting the relationship concept."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah," chimed David, "It'll shift the roots of everybody's family tree to Zaggit's planet."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'I assume we're going to work together on my science project, and I'm going to become a happy member of your family?' asked Zaggit.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes," Leila replied with a wide smile and nod. "Although I still need to explain you to my Mom, but that shouldn't be a problem. She loves strange animals."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sis, don't you mean Mom loves strange animal customers because she's a manager at Walmart," chimed David, followed with a silly giggle.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'That's fantastic! I wasn't too happy about eating tree seeds and living outside in an uncontrolled climate.' Zaggit stretched his squirrelly body out on the bed. 'I learned how to act like a squirrel by watching the other squirrels, but the problem is I'm scared of heights. Leila, I do like your soft bed. I'm also going to enjoy living inside your climate controlled dwelling.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila giggled. "Our races must be related. You can have the whole foot of my bed for sleeping on."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Thanks! Is the machine on your desk some kind of communication device?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Oh, that's my desktop computer, and the Internet would be a great tool for you to learn all about my human race.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Leila, can you please show me how it functions?'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Leila pick up Zaggit, sat him down on her desk in front of the keyboard, and then she showed him how to enter a query into the Google search engine. Within fifteen minutes, Zaggit is dancing the keys like a pro typist.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> David shook his head. "Sis, this is the strangest thing I've seen in my nine and a half years of life. A squirrel using his feet to surf the Internet like a professional hacker."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah, it is pretty strange, and I love it. Our new family member, along with my sci-fi writing skills, are going to change the face of the world. We're going to reopen the door for an optimistic unity of developing space travel, and we're going to prove to everyone that God didn't paint only one tiny dot on his grand canvas of the universe."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> 'Excuse me,' telepathically said Zaggit to Leila and David. 'I was wondering when we're going to sit down for a wonderful family meal that does not include tree seeds.'</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> David and Leila exchanged comical expressions. "Sis, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I think so."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Then I'll go make Zaggit a peanut butter sandwich."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5">The End!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">© September 2011</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The pleasures about writing science fiction is I can allow my imagination to jump out of the box of logic and fly off in any weird and wonderful direction I wish. The further my imagination flies away, the more creative my stories can become.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> In reality, our human lives are made up of many more unanswered questions than answered questions. Any belief without explicit proof is an unanswered question. These countless unknown answers haunt many of us like menacing poltergeists, and many people go through life accepting logical answers from scholars, religious prophets, and people who think they know it all.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The enjoyment of writing science fiction is to offer readers off-the-wall answers for these unknown questions. Personally, I require my answers with unquestionable proof; therefore, I know our moon isn't made of cheese.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5">The Chuck!</span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5"><br/></span></strong></p>
Kacy McAlister, A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes
tag:www.authors.com,2011-09-23:3798404:BlogPost:93984
2011-09-23T13:02:32.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7">Kacy McAlister</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Texas child welfare workers, Larry Madeau and Candis Delley, are travelling along old East Texas roads heading toward the McAlister Ranch. The sky is clear and the early morning sun is bright, indicating another summer day of temperatures over one-hundred…</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-7">Kacy McAlister</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Texas child welfare workers, Larry Madeau and Candis Delley, are travelling along old East Texas roads heading toward the McAlister Ranch. The sky is clear and the early morning sun is bright, indicating another summer day of temperatures over one-hundred degrees.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Mr. Madeau, how far out in the boondocks is this ranch?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You can call me Larry, and I'll call you Candis. Mr. Madeau makes me feel like my grandfather. The McAlister ranch house sits in the middle of seventeen hundred acres of unused grazing land. The McAlister's private driveway should be on the right, about eleven miles up ahead."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Have you visited the McAlister's daughter before?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Nobody from child welfare has ever met Kacy McAlister."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Up until a few days ago, Kacy McAlister's birth certificate was lost in the system, and nobody knew she existed. The reason I've been assigned to check up on her, is that she's never attended any public or private schools. There are no records beyond her birth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I know this is my first training day on the job," voiced Candis, "but to me there's a good indication Kacy McAlister may have died shortly after birth."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Possibly; however, we cannot locate a death certificate. Besides, heading into the unknown will be good training for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What do you know about Kacy's mother and father?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Her father, John McAlister, passed away from a massive heart attack, about nine months before Kacy was born. The US censors show there's only one person living in the ranch house, and that's Kacy's mother, June McAlister. Besides the girl's twelve year old birth certificate, there are no other records."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Perhaps this trip is going to be a waste of time."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Maybe, or maybe not," said Larry. "Our job is to take the assignments handed out, whether they're good, bad, or just a waste of time."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Candis giggled. "Oh, are you saying we can't handpick our own cases?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I wish," sputtered Larry. "I've been doing this job for almost ten years, and to prevent from being burned out, I've learned to function with a closed mind. The way some people treat their own children, is as if their faith is based somewhere in the depths of hell."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Wow, that's a bitter statement about humanity. Are you trying to frighten me into looking for a new job? To be honest with you, I'm recently divorced from an abusive husband…and I'm hoping this job of helping children will be the beginning of my new life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Larry shook his head. "No, I'm not suggesting you quit your job. I'm preparing you. Our jobs are extremely important. If not for caring people like us, who must wade through the trash of humanity, many thousands of children would still be living a life of torment. The thought of saving children is what keeps me going like the Energizer Bunny." Larry turned his Chevy pickup right onto a narrow, rutted dirt driveway. "I don't have to worry about a divorce because I'm not married."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "If you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing a gold wedding band?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I was engaged for a long time, but she broke it off a week before our wedding. She told me she found someone new who makes a lot more money than I do." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "That was coldhearted."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm over it now. I've been thinking of removing the ring so I can start dating again."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh my, this driveway looks like it hasn't been used in many years. Maybe nobody lives out here."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Overgrown bushes and tree limbs repeatedly slapped against the truck as Larry slowly traveled at less than six miles an hour. "Yeah, it does appear this driveway isn't used too often. On what little paper work I have on this unusual case, John McAlister was a wealthy man, and his estate is managed by a law firm in Dallas."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After traveling a little over a mile and a half through the overgrown pasture, they approached a large two story, unkempt house. The grass, bushes, and trees around the ranch house haven't been mowed or trimmed for many years. Off to the right is a large barn with three garage-type doors on the face. Larry parked his truck in front of the barn. "In the past, this place was probably real nice."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "This place is giving me the willies," voiced Candis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Larry chuckled. "Is it the Twilight Zone willies?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, it's the One Step Beyond willies."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Larry smiled. "I guess I'll go knock on their front door."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Candis followed Larry up the porch steps. He opened the screen door and knocked on the inner wooden door. A long moment passed by, and then Larry knocked even louder. "I do hope this wasn't a wasted trip."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They heard three locks disengage. The door slowly opened, presenting an unusual looking twelve year old girl. She has long white hair, pale white skin, and light blue eyes. She's wearing a white dress and her pretty face makes her appear as an angel."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Young lady, are you Kacy McAlister?" asked Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "She just stood there, curiously gazing at Candis and Larry, as if they each have two heads."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Besides my mother, you two are the first people I have ever seen."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> A dark haired woman ran up behind the young girl and yanked her away from the door. "Kacy, I told you to never answer the door!" screamed the woman.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm sorry, Mom, but I was curious."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I've told you many times that curiosity can be dangerous." The woman removed a thirty-eight revolver from under her apron and pointed it Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Upon seeing the gun, Candis took in a fearful deep breath of air.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Mrs. McAlister, does your gun mean you want us to leave?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No! I want the both of you to come in my house and explain to me why you're here," the woman said in a bitter tone, making her appear as an evil witch. "Whatever you have to say, better please my gun." She waved the gun from Larry to Candis, and back to Larry. "Now come in and sit down on the sofa."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They stepped into the front parlor and sat down. Candis is so scared, she cuddled close Larry, and then she firmly took hold of his right hand.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kacy, scan them! I need to know if they have any weapons hidden on their bodies?" asked her mother.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kacy stared at the captive child welfare workers. "No, they don't have any weapons."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Good! I want you to go upstairs to your bedroom, shut the door, and stay there until I call for you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, Mom."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After Kacy climbed the stairs, June McAlister sat down in an overstuffed chair, facing her two captives. She continued pointing her gun directly at Larry. "Why are you two here?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Mrs. McAlister, your gun is making me nervous."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Would you prefer I shoot first?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…no. We're child welfare workers, assigned to check on the wellbeing of your daughter. Kacy told us she has never associated with any other people besides you. This is wrong, and we'll need to conduct a detailed investigation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You people clearly saw my daughter. You must've noticed her appearance is abnormal. People will never accept her!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kacy is a beautiful albino," Candis boldly voiced, "and I know society will have no problem accepting her." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No! She's not an albino! I cannot allow anyone to interfere in my daughter's life; therefore, I cannot allow the both of you to contact your superiors. Do you have any of those little wireless telephones?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, I have a cell phone," replied Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I have one too," said Candis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Remove your cell contraptions and throw them over there on the floor." She used her thirty-eight to point.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> They discarded their cell phones as June commanded.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What are you planning to do with us?" demanded Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "To protect Kacy, my only choice is to kill the both of you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Larry nervously chuckled. "Our superiors know where we are. They'll come looking for us, along with the police."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "In thought, June's wrinkled brow increased with more wrinkles. "I have no choice! If more people show up, I will deal with them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Since you're set on killing us," voiced Larry, "I'd like to know why. There has to be more to this than Kacy's albino appearance, so please explain it to me?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> June deeply sighed. "I suppose the both you can take my horrid secret to your graves." She pressed her back against the soft chair, and with her finger on the trigger, she rested the gun on the wide arm of the chair. "About thirteen years ago, a week after my husband had passed away; I was taking an early evening walk through the south pasture. I wasn't paying attention to the time, thus the darkness snuck up on me like a wild black cat. While I was returning to the house, a bright bluish light from above engulfed my body, paralyzing me, and I floated upward. It wasn't until after the incident occurred that I realized I had been abducted by an alien being from another world. Bits and pieces of my nightmarish ordeal came to me in dreams. I was sexually assaulted, and Kacy's father is the alien. That's why I cannot introduce her to the people of our world."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Upon realizing, June McAlister is a Christmas fruitcake with extra nuts, Larry decided to approach the situation differently. "Mrs. McAlister, we can leave your alien abduction out of the investigation. All you have to do is prove that you love Kacy, and you've been taking good care of her."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Of course I love her! Even though her father was an alien, she's still my daughter. My flesh and blood, mixed in with whatever strangeness she possesses from her alien father."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Mrs. McAlister, no one will ever know Kacy's father is an extraterrestrial," said Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes…yes, we will be happy to cover up your alien abduction," said Candis with fear strangling her heart.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No! I must keep Kacy hidden away from society."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why? Is it because you don't want anyone to know you were sexually assaulted by an extraterrestrial being?" asked Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "But no one can tell from Kacy's albino appearance that her father is an alien."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm not worried about Kacy's appearance. The problem is she has many powerful abilities."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "What type of abilities?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Like a God, her mind is extremely powerful," sputtered June, "and every month she becomes more powerful."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I don't understand. What can she do with her mind?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> June stood up. "It's time to take a walk outside, behind the barn."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No!" snapped Larry. "If you're intentions are to kill us, then do it right here in your parlor, so our blood will soak into your sofa."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, mother!" shouted Kacy from the top of the stairs. "I'm not going to allow you to hurt these wonderful people."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I have no choice but to kill them!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kacy waved her hand and the thirty-eight revolver flew out of June's hand and hovered in midair, directly in the middle of the parlor.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> With their eyes filled with wonder, Larry and Candis watched the hovering gun slowly spin around while it dismantled into many pieces, and then all the floating components fell onto the hardwood floor, scattering off in different directions.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Look what you've done to my gun!" screamed Ruth. "I can no longer protect you from the evils beyond my ranch!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Like a ghostly angel, Kacy's body floated down the stairs, half way across the parlor, and she landed on her bare feet, directly in front of her mother.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "See, I told you she can do powerful things with her mind. Kacy has a heart of pure gold, but people will think she's possessed by a demon."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Mom, I overheard your conversation. When I opened the door, these two people were not frightened by my appearance. They came here to help me. It's wrong for you to keep me here with your lies. I want to meet wonderful people, visit small towns, and giant cities. I want to see blue oceans, green jungles, and majestic mountains. I want to be free to learn what I choose to learn. I want to grow up and help people."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Tears started to roll down June's cheeks. "Kacy, people are going to see you fly, reshape matter into anything you desire, walk through solid walls, breath underwater, move objects, heal wild animals with a touch of your hand. They won't understand your mental powers, and you'll be cast off as an evil witch."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Happy about not being shot, but shocked about witnessing Kacy's powerful mental abilities, Larry finally regained his composure. "Kacy, when you do go out in public, you will need to hide your mental abilities."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yeah," chimed Candis, "otherwise you're going to freak everyone out. I'm still freaked out from your ability to float down a flight of stairs like a poltergeist."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kacy smiled. "I understand, but my mental abilities are intertwined with my natural senses. I'll have to work to learn how not to use them. Maybe the both of you could help me to control my abilities. What are your names?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm Larry Madeau, and this is Candis Delley."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Oh, Candis, why are your lips red."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I'm wearing lipstick."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Women wear lipstick and makeup for enhancing their beauty."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kacy waved her hand and red lipstick and makeup magically appeared on her face. "I copied your beauty facial enhancements. How does it look on my face."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "You're very beautiful, but I consider you to be too young for wearing makeup."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kacy held out her hands and a mirror magically materialized. "Yes, I am beautiful. But you are correct, I'm too young." She again waved her hand and the makeup disappeared. "My mother home schools me, but I know she only teaches me what she wants me to learn."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kacy, do you have a television or a computer for browsing the Internet?" asked Larry.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No." Kacy shook her head. "What is the Internet?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Mrs. McAlister, why have you denied Kacy these modern conveniences? Used properly, they are fantastic tools for learning."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "I will not allow Kacy to have anything that'll encourage her to travel beyond my ranch."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Kacy needs to have her freedom. It's against the law to keep your daughter captive."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No…I will not allow her to go beyond the ranch!" snapped June. She held up a shiny round disk. "After Kacy dismantled my gun, I used this alien communicator to contact her father. What I didn't tell the both of you, is I unholy enjoyed my alien abduction, and many times over the years, her father has contacted me to inquire about his daughter's welfare."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Why hasn't he contacted me?" inquired Kacy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Because up until today, you've always believed your father was my dead husband."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "More of your lies."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> All of a sudden, a bright blue globe of light exploded into view, hovering near the center of the large parlor. "June, why have you contacted me?" asked a deep male voice emitting from the flickering sphere.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> June pointed at the two child welfare workers. "These two humans want to take our daughter away from me. I want you to kill them!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "June, all life is throughout the universe precious, and I will not kill."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Are you my father?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Yes, my dear daughter; however, I am not physically here. Please explain why your mother has asked me to kill these two human beings?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No," shouted June. "I will do all the explaining!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "Sir...alien…you need to let your daughter explain what's been going on here," Larry tensely voiced.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> "No, Kacy, mother knows best. You need to march up to your bedroom right…"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Kacy swiftly waved her hand, and June's mouth moved, but there was no sound.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> For the next hour, Kacy opened her heart and explained how her mother has been wrongfully treating her. She also told him that Larry and Candis are here to help her live a happy life.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The globe of bluish light moved closer toward the two child welfare workers, and painless, scanning bolts of bright lightning momentarily entered their heads, scanning their human brains. "Larry and Candis, you are good humans with an abundance of love within your souls. My daughter is half human, and her fundamental purpose is to live her life on your planet earth. Therefore, you two humans will join together and finish raising Kacy. You shall be a loving family, and in the future, every human will realize my gift. I will give June a wonderful life on my world, so she can no longer interfere in Kacy's development."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> June McAlister and the globe of light instantly vanished.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> Larry stood up and offered his hand to Candis. She accepted his hand and he helped her up, then he wrapped his arms around her. They embraced with a kiss.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> After the kiss, they hugged Kacy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"> The new family held hands as they walked outside into the bright sunlight, heading toward Larry's pickup truck. To begin their new lives, and to introduce Kacy McAlister to the human race. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">© September 2011</span></p>
The Abduction!... A new free to read sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes...
tag:www.authors.com,2011-09-20:3798404:BlogPost:93230
2011-09-20T00:24:14.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The Abduction!</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Caprese, did you enjoy the movie?" Kurt asked while firing up his new pickup's engine.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yeah, it was a fantastic remake. More than once I've watched 'Them!' on late night satellite, and even…</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The Abduction!</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2">A short sci-fi story by Chuck Keyes</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Caprese, did you enjoy the movie?" Kurt asked while firing up his new pickup's engine.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yeah, it was a fantastic remake. More than once I've watched 'Them!' on late night satellite, and even though it was filmed in black and white, I immensely enjoyed it; however, <i>'They!'</i> is like a trillion times better."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I agree." Kurt nodded his head. "One of my many favorite scenes was the chase through downtown Dallas. The special effects were astonishing; making the alien altered fire ants appear so real that they looked as if they were going to jump out of the screen and brutally attack the audience."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Caprese glanced over at the lighted dashboard clock. "It was a long movie and you now have a long way to drive home."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Kurt backed his Ford truck out the parking place and pushed the shift lever to the drive position. "We would've made the earlier showing If somebody I know hadn't spent over an hour in the bathroom, messing around with their makeup and hair."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Hey, it's not my fault the earlier showing of <i>'They!'</i> was sold out."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I know," Kurt said with a chuckle. "I should've realized we needed to arrive at the theater an hour earlier for a five star blockbuster."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Okay…you can blame me," voiced Caprese, "but next time I screw up, I can blame you."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "That's a deal."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Supper was pretty good."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I enjoy Chuck's Catfish Café. Besides, it's affordable on our depressed income. Maybe we should think of changing our professions. You being a freelance photographer, and me being a freelance writer, just isn't cutting it anymore."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Hey, I like my occupation as a photographer," sputtered Caprese.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I love writing, but after Obama's one term annihilation, it's going to take many years to float the economy up from the bottom of the deepest cesspool. Right now I'd probably make more money being a Walmart door greeter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Caprese giggled. "I can't picture you as a door greeter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "That's because you need to see me wearing my blue vest with a few hundred slogan buttons pinned on it.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> A few minutes passed by. "Hey, Doug, I just thought of a great idea."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "What?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Let's figure out a way to combine our professions. Perhaps we can publish a periodical magazine based on a subject that'll interest everyone. You can write the articles and I'll take the pictures."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Possibly." Doug nodded his head in thought. "The hard part is going to be finding the perfect subject, whether it'll be fiction or non-fiction based. I'll have to think about it for a few days."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Caprese slid over to snuggle next to Kurt. "We live too far out in the East Texas country."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Now, after twelve years, you're complaining about it."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Well, it was both of us who wanted to raise our children in the country, but God didn't see fit to give us children."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Compared to living in a big city's sardine can of discomforts, I love the countryside; although a closer movie theater would be nice."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Through the windshield, Caprese stared out and up at the moonless night sky. She can see a countless number of twinkling stars hanging in the blackness of the universe. A strange feeling of being watched brushed through her essence, but it quickly dissipated when she brushed the feeling off with thoughts of the sky being the same sky she looked upon almost every night for six years. Six long years while she looked up at heaven and prayed for a baby. She gave up praying after learning she had genetic defect that'll prevent her from ever having a child. "Kurt, my job is to make sure you don't fall asleep, so please make sure I don't fall asleep."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Don't worry, my dear wife, I'm wide awake."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "That's what you said last time we went to a late movie, and twice I caught you dozing off on our sixty mile drive home."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Forty-five minutes silently passed by. More than once, Caprese had to shake her head to keep from falling asleep. They are currently traveling along a winding country road through miles of cattle grazing lands.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Unexpectedly, a bright blinding light engulfed their entire pickup truck. Doug slammed on the brakes, but his efforts only stop the wheels from turning.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Holy frog warts! We're hovering above the ground." They helpless watched as their truck flew off the road heading out over a large flat pasture, and then they faded into unconsciousness while their truck dissolved into a ball of molecules.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> After being transformed back into matter, they woke up to realize they're still sitting in their truck; however, the truck is now sitting on a round orange pad in the middle of a strange room. The walls are silver, lined with hatchways and portals, and the entire ceiling is glowing like a soft florescent bulb. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Where are we?" asked Caprese.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I don't know," replied Doug. "The last thing I remember is our truck was flying like a helicopter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "So it wasn't a dream…we were actually flying?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yeah, and I don't think the Ford engineers offered a flying accessory as a better idea."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "We must've died and this has to be the entrance into heaven?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I doubt it," said Doug. "Why in the world would God allow us to bring our plain Jane Ford pickup truck? We couldn't afford automatic windows, a CD player, or cruise control."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Good point. When my Uncle George died last year, he didn't get to take his fancy Cadillac with him."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Like most Texans, maybe God prefers pickup trucks."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Do you think it's safe to get out of the truck?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug opened his driver door, stepped down onto the round pad, and then he reached in to help his wife out.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Let's go look out one of those windows," Caprese said while pointing her finger.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> They walked across the room and looked out the portal window. With a gasp, their eyes bulged, and their hearts fluttered with fear upon seeing the earth from space. It appears as a beautiful blue marble sphere hovering in a never-ending black sky. "We're aboard a spaceship. We've been abducted by aliens!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "This can't be real," said Caprese with a bewildered expression.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug pinched Caprese's arm.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Ouch! Why the hell did you do that?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "To make sure I'm awake."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "You're supposed to pinch yourself!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug laughed. "That would've hurt."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "We've been abducted by aliens and you're screwing around like a man-kid!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "We're here, and there's nothing we can do about it, so I'm not going to panic until I see an anal probe the size of a baseball bat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Hello, earth beings."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug and Caprese spun around to see an eagle size bird with the head and tail belonging to a typical house cat. The creature is hovering directly in front of them. Its main body is covered with brown fur, and its eagle feathered wings are flapping, but they don't seem to be moving fast enough to support its size.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "What are you?" asked Doug.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I'm a cute fury flying animal. A special puppet designed to remove your fears," said the weird cat-bird creature. Its mouth and lips moving in perfect sequence with its spoken words. "Am I not cute?" it asked while its cat tail vigorously wagged.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yeah, I guess you're sort of a cute puppet, but your body parts are all mixed up," replied Caprese. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug chuckled. "It's not every day we see a big fury talking eagle with a cat's head and tail."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Please follow me." The alien puppet creature hovered around and flew across the big room. Doug took hold of Caprese's hand, and they followed the strange cat-bird into a room resembling a typical nineteen forties parlor you would find in a house built in the late eighteen hundreds. There's a colorful antique high back sofa, two matching chairs, dark stained end tables, and a matching coffee table. Hanging on the off-white painted walls are black and white pictures of humans dressed in old style clothing. Each picture has a wide antique frame. Off to the right are four room size windows with fancy white curtains. Beyond the windows is the blackness of space, dotted with countless stars, which gave the antique parlor an eerie ambiance. They also noticed an old grand piano, a bookcase lined with old books, and a roll top mahogany desk.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Please, sit down and make your human bodies comfortable."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug and Caprese sat down side by side on the sofa.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> The alien cat-bird puppet landed on the high back of the chair sitting off to the front right of the sofa. He dug his long eagle claws into the upholstery. "Does this earth dwelling room make you humans feel at ease?" asked the creature.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "This room is seventy to eighty years outdated," chimed Caprese. "It somewhat reminds me of my grandparent's living room."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "The last time we visited your planet was seventy-four years ago. Now we've returned to further our studies of your unique race, thus making first contact, and offering technological gifts."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "So how many humans have you immorally abducted?" asked Doug.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I do not understand your query."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "I'm referring to the humans you've removed from the earth without asking their permission. The many people who claim your alien race enjoys using anal medical probes on them."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "All our medical study procedures performed on aliens are noninvasive scans. You are the first two humans we've abducted to be our guests, and you're our first contacts. We have learned many things about your human race, including your smugness in believing your race is the only intelligence within the universe. We've been searching for a pair of humans who can bring our races peacefully together, including many thousands of other friendly alien races throughout the universe. Abducting both of you was our only logical method to prevent a mass panic upon your world. Our alien appearance far differs from yours. Upon seeing us without knowing us, your race would consider us as being monsters. That's why we consider your human race as being only one step above the classification of primitive. While scanning your earth from above, we overhead your conversation of wanting to be global communicators by way of what you call a periodical magazine. Therefore, Doug, we welcome you to write about our race, and, Caprese, we welcome you to take pictures of our race."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Both Doug and Caprese smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you," they said in unison.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Although no one is going to believe us," voiced Doug.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Our gift for your race is being installed by my space boat's robots into your surface vehicle. This gift of a cold fusion engine well solve your energy crises, thus preventing your continued use of fossil fuel. This gift should be proof enough."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Why are you giving us such a magnificent gift?" asked Caprese.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "We are all brothers and sisters from within the warm pools of creation. Every human's selfish needs for fossil fuel may lead to your self destruction, and we want to prevent this from occurring. Your race needs to advance and journey into space to take advantage of free trade economics."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "We have a science fiction futuristic story called Star Trek," voiced Doug. "The key characters within Star trek have what's called the Prime Directive, where they do not interfere with the natural process of alien races. Obviously, your race does not have a similar Prime Directive?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "We do not offer our help until an alien race has stepped beyond their primitive stages, thus having the intelligence to learn that all life within the cosmos is a precious gift to be protected and loved. During a races primitive stages, only the great creator of life can interfere, for he is the ultimate being who nurtures the warm pools, and unlike a single entity, he dwells within all life."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Instead of communicating with you through your puppet, may we meet you?" asked Caprese.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yes; however, my puppet is also my computerized linguistic translator."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> A door opened and a strange alien creature stepped into the remade antique parlor. Like a human being, he's standing on two long legs, and he's about seven and a half feet tall. However, his head is bigger and rounder then a humans head, with large bulging frog-like eyes. He has thin human-like lips, a wide Humpty Dumpty mouth, and there's three nostril holes in place of a protruding nose. His yellowish brown head is bald, showing off two gray oval membranes that must be his lizard-like ears, and two long insect antennas, one sticking upward on each side of the top of his head. The alien has slender arms and hands, each having five long fingers moving about like the slithering bodies of snakes.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Doug and Caprese can see that the alien's body is made up of many earth creatures.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> By way of long slow strides, the alien walked across the room and sat down on the same chair with his cat-bird puppet. It was a weird sight to see the alien comfortably cross his legs, lean his back against the chair, making his creature puppet appear as if it's standing on his left shoulder. "Being that no one screamed with fear is a good beginning," said the alien's cat-bird puppet.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Well, we just watched a fantastic sci-fi movie about alien altered ants with intelligence, and I think it mentally helped to prepare us for this alien abduction," voiced Doug. "Do you have a name?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yes…my name is Trumpper."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Are you like the captain of this spaceship?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "If I am, then I would be my own captain, for I am the only living entity aboard my space boat."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "What about your flying puppet?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "He is a bio-robot. When I return both of you to earth's surface, I'm going to give him to you so we can stay in communication. When I'm not using him as a linguistic translator, he has a mind of his own. I know you'll enjoy his company." </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Caprese removed her cell phone camera from her pocket book. "Trumpper, may I take a few pictures of you?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "Yes, please do." Trumpper's wide mouth became even wider as he formed a smile for the camera. Caprese took twelve pictures, and Trumpper happily posed for each one.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Trumpper invited Doug and Caprese to stay aboard his space boat for a few days, or a week. He promised when they awake, his boat would be in low orbit around mars, thus allowing Caprese a photographer's dream come true. Figuring his invite would be a trillion times better than voyaging on the Queen Mary Two, they accepted his vacation offer. Trumpper, with his bio-robotic cat-bird actually riding on his shoulder as if he's a seafaring pirate, showed them to their sleeping quarters, which is also a remake of an antique bedroom from within an old earth house. The large red oak framed bed has a white laced canopy, and beyond the foot of the foot of the bed is an extra large portal window, offering them a magnificent view of the universe.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Before pushing the button to close their bedroom door, Trumpper gave the married human couple a wide warm smile, and byway of his cat-bird translator. He said, "Caprese, while I was using my bio-computer system to medically scan your human female body, I noticed you have a genetic defect, and I want you to know this defect has been non-invasively repaired."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> A stunned surprise of happiness exploded onto Caprese's face. "I can now bear children?"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> "As many as you wish." Trumpper waved goodnight as he used his other hand to push the button for closing their bedroom door. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><br/></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-6">The End!</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3">© September 2011</span></p>
Some They! Pictures...
tag:www.authors.com,2011-09-19:3798404:BlogPost:93215
2011-09-19T15:00:00.000Z
Chuck Keyes (The Chuck!)
http://www.authors.com/profile/ChuckKeyes
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