From my new book of short stories... Halmar and Jack hung out at the park shooting the shit with some of the guys from school and then, after the sun went down, they headed in to Halmar’s house. They played a few games of Battleship and made one or two prank phone calls until eleven o’clock. One of the reasons it was cool to stay over at Hals house was because he had a TV set in his room, in his ROOM! Not many kids had their own TV’s in 1966. Suddenly the spooky music came on as well as the “Weird” logo and the boys were informed that tonight’s movie was “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The boys ate Jiffy Pop popcorn and watched as Michael Rennie and Gort try to understand the Earthlings who reacted with fear and violence to their peaceful mission. “Gort, Klaatu barada nikto”… As in most dreams the scene unfolded for both boys like a memory surfacing when one smells something from their childhood. The two young men were facing each other with an invisible wall between them. They could see each other as if they were just standing on the street corner shooting the breeze only they could not hear each other and could not cross to the others side. This might have been funny to some with a twisted sense of humor because Jack desperately wanted to come over to Halmar’s side and Halmar just as desperately did not want to go over to Jack’s side. Why, you might ask? Halmar’s side of the invisible wall looked like the cartoon landscape where Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews had danced with penguins in “Mary Poppins.” Hell there was even a wonderful human size cartoon carousel going round and round off in the distance and cartoon forest animals all about. It was a beautiful dreamscape meant to bring one back to their childhood. Jacks side of the wall, however, was not inviting. Jacks landscape was a barren field surrounded by a dismal forest. There was no color in this world and it was overcast with unforgiving clouds that refused to allow even a glimmer of hopeful sunshine through. It was as if the day had died. Jack was immediately frightened and turned to his friend for help. “Get me out of here,” he mouthed to his friend. “I can’t. Just remember, it’s only a dream, it’s only a dream, it’s only a dream.” Jack watched in terror as his friend turned and ran off towards the carousal surrounded by Bambi and friends. Then he heard a noise behind him and almost fainted. He turned around and saw a young boy about his age dressed kind of like David Copperfield from that Dickens novel. Maybe this is the guy Halmar saw at the grave site. “Hello Jack, I am Ole Lukoje and I am afraid I must escort you through the tattered side of the umbrella. You see your disdain and lack of faith made the decision you would not make for yourself.” “Wait, wait a minute. I didn’t know. I am just a dumb kid out looking for some fun, that’s all.” “Nevertheless you stood on my grave and asked of me for riches and the decision was made so let us go, shall we?” The creature and the boy started their walk with dreams destiny along the dismal path. As they walked they were joined every hundred yards or so by quiet men and women wearing tattered clothing and walking slowly, some walking as if they had injuries. None of them spoke but several moaned. Jack felt a fear he had never felt before, a fear that almost paralyzed him. “You best keep walking and never leave my side if you wish to survive this.” Jack tried to reply but found he was unable to speak… As Halmar walked with the cartoon woodland creatures, he noticed that the boy from the Blue Moon cemetery was walking with him. “Oh hi, I remember you from the grave. You had an umbrella with you.” “That’s right my friend and you chose a nice wonderful dream. I am Ole Lukoje and it was my grave you stood on. This is your reward for choosing correctly. Isn’t this place wonderful?” “Yes, oh yes, I feel like a kid again. I want to ride the carousal and fly a kite!” “Yes and you shall but first let us walk shall we?” “Sure, take me wherever you wish!” “Why thank you Halmar, I believe I will.” Jack walked along the path as clueless as an eight year old at Disneyland. He failed to notice that he and Ole were being joined by other folks who appeared happy and jovial but didn’t talk much. As Halmar walked over a hill, with the sizable group behind him he once again saw the stark contrast between his dreamscape and the one that had elected Jack to be its prisoner of sleep… Jack had difficulty walking up the hill and saw that he had pissed himself. He was also finding it difficult to breathe. The broken people walking very close to him, as well as Ole, were groaning louder and they smelled of rotted meat. He dared a glance at one and saw that her eye was laying on her cheek and another that actually had his guts hanging out. How can he walk like that? He looks... “Dead? Yes my friend he does look dead. Dead and hungry,” Ole’s voice was scratchier than before. Just then Jack saw his friend on the other side of the hill walking towards the center of this, this place. “Halmar, hey Halmar, it’s me Jack!” Seeing Halmar had given Jack hope, hope that maybe he could cross over to the land of color and no groaning noises. He decided to go for it. He ran towards his friend. amazon/Almost-Reality-Ron-Stelle-ebook/dp/B00IQ4IHDY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1393980150&sr=1-1
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 01:29:35 +0000
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