#10 Writing: Short Story

More of Gravy than of Grave About You

Wasn’t sure if my psyche was trying to tell me something, or if I had (most likely) eaten something that then didn’t agree with my stomach while I slept. These played out more like films - sweeping views, smooth transitions - than like my normal “what is my brain trying to tell me” dreams.

The Delicate Woman

1/29/16

Her hair was short and blond, slicked down the nape of her neck with lake water. She was 30-something and lithe, like a Tilda Swinton body double. She was swimming in the lake and marveling at how clear and blue the water was.

You could just make out the boulders lining the bottom, like bubbles cemented into perfect shapes. Boulders lined the edges of the water as well, covered in soft green moss, like bryophyte fur. It sparkled in its lagoon-like seclusion.

The people swimming nearby stopped, concerned. Quickly they became manic, writhing in the water to get a better look at their own bodies. They said they were burning. It was strange though that they were still so lily-white. With the trees surrounding us, there was no way to sunburn so quickly.

Then it hit her.

There were chemicals in the water. She was deathly allergic to these chemicals. She swam as fast as she could to the moss-covered safety, out of the poisonous water. But it was too late. As soon as she got out, the dappled sunlight started to sear her flesh. She could feel the life-energy draining out of her. Her companions were beyond the bridge, nearly completely out of sight; too far to hear her if she called out. Help was a hopeless desire.

She spoke to me. She begged me to tell her friends where to find her body. Then, with effort, she rolled herself down into a crevice between the boulders, desperately trying to shade her body from the flesh-scorching sun.

The Spider Man

3/23/16

The spider reached its massive leg out to touch the young man, as he was walking away.

::Don’t go:: it silently called to him.

The young man stopped and coolly turned around.

“You are released. You may let go.”

A wave of gratitude and relief rippled through the elephant-sized spider, as it shuddered, jerked, and collapsed to the ground. Within seconds, everything but the legs had melted away, leaving a viscous goo surrounding the lifeless, bare body of a little boy.

The young man looked away, tired but determined. He made his way into the next room of the old factory. A small group of people were being herded, terrified, by another giant spider. They looked to the young man, as if he would take pity on them and make the spider stop.

Not until everyone was here. Not until they will finally listen.

The boys were in pain. The psychic energy building and holding them together - these massive exoskeletons - was burning them up. He knew their pain, he could feel them screaming. But he needed them. Release will come when he is finished. This was too important.

The Hideaways

6/17/16

A mother and her 5 year old child, a young lady of about 20, and a woman scientist entered the mansion. It was being remodeled into an inn, and the basement was currently the focus. Workers were busily milling all around.

A young man with an important air about him quickly met the women in the foyer. He had something to show them downstairs, something he had discovered. He was a very serious person with a complete openness about him. The women trusted him.
In what used to be a laundry room - like, an actual room, not those pantries that hide the machines - there was something like an electrical outlet in the left corner of the back wall. It was obscured by some lumber, waiting to be used in the remodeling.

The young man pressed the outlet like a button, and a door opened in the concrete floor. There was a small room below. After everyone had a good look, he closed the secret door and it returned to being a seamless part of the smooth, cold floor.

There were many other rooms - bedrooms - down here along this hallway, all stripped to concrete floors and unpainted walls. He had found another secret room back here on the end. We helped him find three more.

He was baffled, what had possessed the original builder to put these in? But we understood. The scientist told him,
“What happens, when the government controls and outlaws certain people? You can’t record rent for invisible rooms.”
He understood what she meant, and just in time. The women’s pursuers had arrived on the mansion’s grounds. A sympathetic worker had ran as fast as he could to the house to warn us.

"Quickly!"
The young woman and the scientist were hid under the laundry room. The mother and her child under one of the bedrooms. We desperately try to make sure the switches aren’t visible. She - the leader of the pursuers - will overturn everything in the house to find them.
She arrived, with her armed, personal SWAT team.
I plead quietly, to whatever greater force in the universe that could help, please don’t let them be found.

Or forgotten.




That concludes that! Hope this inspires you to write your dreams and thoughts down as well!

K Jets