"Whoa!" I started awake. "What just happened?" I couldn't explain it.
First I was out on the street and then BAM, here I am
on the couch watching TV easy as you please. Well that was strange;
I gotta lay off those Birch Beers, even if they are non-alcoholic.
I wondered how long I was out. The TV was displaying the last mighty throes
of an intense hockey game. They must have skipped to another game.
The Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins should have been over by now.
Shazzbott. I wish I hadn't dozed off. I really wanted to see the commentary
after the show. I wonder who's dueling it out now. It looks pretty good.
I turned up the volume and on the larger-than life screen and listened
as the last seconds of the game filled the room with sound.
"Its game 7 between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins. We
have a little under thirty seconds here folks in our third overtime tonight.
The puck is about to be dropped; this could be the deciding face-off.
Jeremy Roenick wins the face-off and passes the puck to John LeClair,
he screams through Boston's wingers. LeClair is sideswiped but manages
to get the pass to Mark Recchi (pronounced wreck-e). He enters the attack
zone. Boston can't quite get to him, Felix Potvin backs into the net watching
Mark Recchi's every move. Recchi pulls his stick out to the right, Potvin
jumps to his knees, Recchi sweeps left, ten seconds left in triple overtime,
Potvin flops sideways blocking any 3-hole shots. Recchi stares down the
goalie and shoots it high, Potvin swings his legs up and blocks the puck
but cannot stop the rebound, Recchi gains possession, and with a practically
open net, shoots…he scores! Mark Recchi has scored!"
Wait a second! What?! I just saw that! That game's over! The
phone rang. My dream, oh my gosh! No way, this is not happening! What's
going on?
I ran down the hall, sidestepped the still-ringing phone, and rammed into
the door. It didn't open. Well good job, you idiot, try turning the
knob next time. I hastily turned the knob and yanked the door open
and tried to take off, but I was brought up short by a foot. I fell forward,
reaching out, catching nothing but air, but suddenly I stopped falling.
Something or someone had grabbed me. I looked up to see the mysterious
man from the electronics store! I was suddenly aware that he was there
when all of this strange stuff started happening. I bolted. I don't know
why I started running from him, when he probably had all the answers,
but I was spooked. After all, I'd been through a lot that day. Anyway,
the mysterious guy gave chase, and he was fast! I ran all the harder.
After several hundred meters, I was feeling the burn. My legs were killing
me and my lungs were dragging. I couldn't take much more of this.
I kept the chase up for six klicks (with liberal assistance from various moving walkways) according to
my cybernetic eyes (those things really come in handy), when I knew I couldn't go on. The strange man
was gaining. We flew past the mall, then the school. The park was coming up on our left. Soon we would
be at the highway. Hardly anyone ever utilized the old highway anymore; people stuck mainly to the
"magways" -when they drove. Still, a number of well-meaning citizens insisted on keeping the tradition
alive by driving the old BMWs and Mercedes of the thirties. Clearly they were behind the time. It was
5:00 p.m. Traffic usually picked up this time of day when everyone was on his or her free hours.
I looked back. I couldn't see the guy. I must've lost him. Alright!
Go me! I slowed down to a stop. All of a sudden my world exploded!
Cars swarmed around me, honking and beeping madly. I was frozen. One strikingly
red Ferrari with blue streaks down the side was headed my way. I just
couldn't move. Swirls of red filled my vision. Just before my life should've
ended, the film of my life playing before my eyes jerked to a halt and
I found myself flying through the air over the cars and the bystanders,
only to land with a thud on the sidewalk. My head swam. Pain exploded
in my mind. I turned to see what had happened through blurred eyes, and
was amazed at the sight laid out before me. The mysterious outsider was
standing in the middle of the road and cars were speeding by at incredible
speeds (the speed limits were raised considerably in 2010, until they
were hardly heeded at all) and he stood unscathed as cars crashed into
his body. Fantastically, the cars were the ones left with the gashes and
dents. They spun backwards and flipped over themselves while the extraordinary
stranger just stood there, feet outspread, one arm resting relaxed at
his side and the other was outstretched, palm forward. Nothing could touch
him, and I stared astonished. Then I could see nothing. I blacked out.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
I woke up to the sound of running water. I could smell green grass and feel dirt and turf under my body.
I seemed to be lying on a bed of green grass next to a stream of clear, cool water. My eyes were not
open, but I seemed to know all these things without having to see my surroundings. All my other senses
were much sharper and finely tuned. I knew my surroundings but I still didn't know where I was exactly.
I tried to move, but my whole body screamed back at me in agony and I winced.
"Whoa, whoa there buddy. Don't try to move yet. I hit you pretty hard. Sorry 'bout that."
Then I did move, body or not. "Who- who are you?!"
"Hey, hey wait a second! Don't move! I'm not sure what's wrong with you yet, and we can't have you
hurting yourself. And watch your eyes, they're not gonna work quite yet. Take it slow."
"What's wrong with my eyes?!"
"Take it easy. Take it easy, Neil. Your eyes are just different and worn out, that's all."
"What's wrong with them?!" If I wasn't flipping out before, I was definitely flipping now. "What is
going on? And where am I?"
"Ok, first, it's not about where you are, but where you think you are, and second, your eyes are just a
little different from everybody else's in your world. They have the ability to change shape and accept
the different stratums and levels of all the diverse worlds."
"What are you talking about? There is only one world, the world, and I don't appreciate being kidnapped
and knocked out by some outrageous, insane desperado who claims to be from another world!" The guy was
getting stranger by the minute and I was getting more tired by the second.
"Neil, just relax. My name is Tristan Evenstar and I am a Messenger. A Messenger from Dormitund, it's
what you and your generation would call the Dream-world. Oh, you can try to move your eyes now. I did
the best I could to open them up so you could really use them."
"Ok, so say I believe all of this Dream-world stuff. What does this have to do with me and my friends?"
Shazzbott, I was getting sleepy. It was so odd. I could barely keep my eyes open.
"Listen, Neil, I can tell you about this later. Right now, you really need to get some rest."
"No, no, I'm really okay." Truth was that I wasn't, my head had started to hurt again, and my vision was
still blurred. I couldn't keep my eyes open and my head had gotten very heavy. I started to shake. The
strange messenger, Tristan, looked at me with concern.
"Here, Neil, you need to lay down. The transition has taken more of a toll on you than I thought."
He carried me over to a bed of leaves and set me down gently. I had found that I could barely walk. I
was asleep before my head touched the pillow.
|