CT 05 "Minutes Of A Lifetime"

A group of people passed by us and I paused for an instant to ask directions, But I froze. Their faces were a rough slough of shapeless mass, eyeless, and with skeletal teeth over a deformed jaw.

Want to read this in a different language ? Change the TO field to your own country and click the TRANSLATE button after going HERE MINUTES OF A LIFETIME © October 2013 Written by David Wicker Please do not reprint without permission [ CHOOSE A DIFFERENT CHAPTER ] * * * Press CTRL = (equals) to increase the page size (darker) and CTRL - (minus) to decrease the page size (lighter) This Tale is Rated: TEEN And there it was that me and Rose were in the capsules hurtling forward to enter the 5 realms we were promised. Rose was telling me to be certain they were good regions because we could only choose 5 and couldn’t go back if we made a mistake. I told her that if after traveling to a region, we were to travel back in time, we could have an infinite number of regions to explore. She thought this was a good idea, so I calibrated both of our time traveling star-crafts to pursue this course. After entering in a very pink and cottony region and being thoroughly relaxed by the peacefulness of it, I clicked in the reverse switch and we started hurtling back to the beginning to choose another region. However, time traveling was something we ourselves had never been through and it was a " painful experience, it was like the fibers and molecules in our body were being forcefully shaped and reformed into the prior stasis. There was a horrible screeching sound and our two capsules ripped through the thin fabric of travel-space and into a very darkened red and brown region. You could hear a high-pitched sound that could have well been someone screaming yet it continued on for minutes, unending and unceasingly. The capsules we traveled in were destroyed behind us. It seemed very likely we would not be leaving this region for some time so me and Rose got up and brushed ourselves off and started exploring. A group of people passed by us and I paused for an instant to ask directions or where we could go. But I froze terrified, the words stuck in my throat. Their faces were a rough slough of shapeless mass, eyeless, and with skeletal jutting teeth over a loose deformed jaw. The children with them didn’t look so bad but already their eyes were started to get sealed over with loose folds of flesh. My hair was tied up behind me and when I get panicked, I took it out. I did so now and threw the tie on the ground. The people were soon upon us and me and Rose darted out of sight. As they passed, one of the children, a young girl picked up the hair tie and showed it to her Mother. The Mother acted as if the child were wielding a gun or knife and spoke very harshly to the girl. “No ! You are to know the lines and squares only ! Curves are only for the most high of the Church !” The screaming sound continued, and as they passed, the children aged into adults and the very old in mere seconds. Their bright pretty skin withering to dull grayness in seconds. “Their life is exactly one minute.” I said to myself. There was horrendous movements in the sky and as they walked past us, and died crumbling in the Earth. New people took their place, rising from their ashes that seemed to climb out of the ether, the same people it seemed, or, they were so mis-shapened that I couldn’t tell the difference. The ground was spongy like walking on a waterbed and Rose, who was with me, did not seem to realize or acknowledge the horror around here and just tagged along with me. “Don’t you see what’s happening ?” I asked her. “No.” She said flatly, and I looked carefully at her to see what looked like additional flesh growing over her forehead to slowly start to cloud and cover the eyes. As most dreams and nightmares granted you phantom memories while you were in their grip, I realized that these kinds of disastrous regions had an exit so travelers that did not belong there could leave. Only those travelers could see and make use of these exits. I looked around frantically for the exit and someone approached in a long dark cloak that looked more like a syrupy shadow then anything else and gutturally spoke to me. “Where are you supposed to be, brother ?” I turned and before I could acknowledge him, I was tapped by a long copper rod that held an electric charge. With the touch, I felt my mania and sanity leaving me. I grabbed the copper rod to keep it away from me as it hurt me, in more ways than one as if it was bringing back terrible memories of my past, a nightmare rod. “I’m not sure.” I said shakily and uncertainly holding the end of the copper rod to the side so he couldn’t touch me with it again. He seemed unable to see that I was holding it but spoke friendly nonetheless, “If you are unknown, you must be part of the Church. Service is already progressing. I will direct you there, brother.” As he spoke his loose jaw grated over large uneven sharp teeth that gashed into his jaw with long dried blood over them. I nodded weakly and went with him. Rose followed alongside. Although he was completely blind, he put out his hand in front of him that seemed to be more a collection of wriggling snakes then fingers and the screaming sound was getting louder as we approached. After a short traveling through the blinding fog, he pushed open a huge door and I saw the church he spoke of. A large black “X” was on where the preacher was at the far end and lots of “people” were in the pews. They were chanting a mantra or badly singing, I couldn’t tell which. The age of these “people” was very high and they were like old withered bones with the skin barely hanging on to them. Grey heads with thin wiry gray hairs out of them, hobbled over and hunched like decedents of a race of naturally descended osteoporosis beings. We were roughly shoved into an opening in the pews and he glided on towards the front of the preacher. The screaming or whistling sound was so loud and hard in my ears my head started to hurt. * * * I picked up one of the hymnal books and wasn’t the least bit surprised to find all the pages were blank even though most of the congregation had them open to the ‘correct’ page. I started bobbing my head up in down and pain. I finally Grabbed Rose and started to leave from the entrance when the sentry who led us here tapped me hard on the head with the copper cane. The shock to me caused the whole church to appear dark and blood red. Venous swimmers darted over my eyes as I barely maintained consciousness from the terrible electric spark he burned into my head. “You’re not singing.” He said gutturally graveling his teeth on his jaw twirling his copper staff professionally and with extreme skill over his misshapen head. “I don’t know the words.” I cried out. There was no way I could survive a 3rd touch from that damned rod of his ! I watched him continue to twirl it but finally he clasped it on something to his back. I breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled, if it could be called that. His forehead crinkled up in amusement and the lower part of his jaw cracked alarmingly into an evil grin. “Then you are new here. Welcome.” With those words he grabbed my arm and with amazing speed, rapidly started towards the preacher at the far side. All I knew is the closer I was to the front of the church, the louder and more shrill was the shrieking and screaming. I was certain my ears must be bleeding by now because of the deafening sound. Looking behind me I saw Rose start to contort and twist in this nightmare region’s atmosphere and was starting to blend in which was indeed a horrible sight. I cried out to her but as I watched, her ears started sealing over with that horrible grey flesh everyone had so she was deaf to my concern. I had to do something ! I easily darted out of his grip and entered another pew. The grating in his jaw was easy to hear as he grew angry. And started probing his hand out around him to locate where I went to. I picked up one of the wordless books and started to sing as gutturally as those around me, terrified he would find me again. His hand was like a magnet and drew himself almost like static electricity to me again. He stared at me with sightless face and smiled most horribly, his neck cracking around his spine and extended nearly a foot off of his shoulders. “Tell me brother, what is it you seek.” he implored mysteriously. I coughed and changed my voice to disguise myself. “I am singing, brother, nothing more.” I paused trying to think of what was the correct thing to say and finally said in a deeper tone, “There is the great emptiness calling to me.” What I spoke seemed to convince him I was not the person he was with earlier and he nodded contentedly and started to walk away. Then, he turned back to me and politely asked. “Do you think you will find it, brother ?” “Yes.” I said, trying to disguise my voice even more. His back flashed in a twisting horrible movement, his face darted only inches from mine stretched on impossible muscles several feet long as he stared hard at me with his ears and nose probing me like tasting it’s prey. “No.” He said with finality, and grabbed me again. “You do not find the darkness, NO-ONE finds the darkness ! The darkness finds YOU !” Looking at the others it was like watching the birth and death of people a thousand fold. As they aged and died and turned to bones. As they faded new other twisted younger forms took their place in the pews without missing a singing beat. Doing something rash here would definitely break up this stagnant region I told myself. I picked up a molded old chair as he dragged me closer to the black “X” cross and then I threw it at some of the pews. Although the chair missed everyone and and broke against the floor in a million pieces because of it’s rotting age, those nearby seemed to be sprayed by the ‘sound’ or event of it and were rendered into bloody bubbling masses. They could not deal with the reality I had thrown them and died instantly. My captor looked to the destruction and with a horrible popping sound, his blood-red eyes emerged from the thick of his covered-over skull several inches to glare at the wooden chair I threw. “YOU ... !” he said with deathly intent, and suddenly and oddly glided away from me as if I was somehow behind him. The exit was here ! A bright blue glow hidden behind the crucifix. I jumped through it and a very relaxing warm sky blue light enveloped me and I found myself lying in a field of soft green grass. The birds were chirping and it was indeed a fine Summer’s day. A group of people were in the path of walking over me and I didn’t want to move for fear of them finding me. They looked considerably more normal then the last region. Very bright shining faces, pretty ethereal smiles, and shining eyes. It took me only a moment to realize that, like the last region, the people in this one were also blind. * * * I raised up and watched a pretty young teenage girl pass by me with the group. I tried to keep up with her, to ask her some questions, but she was quick as the wind ! Finally I found myself running breathlessly to her and passing her yet not able to stop my momentum and fell in front of her. With me on the ground she placed her hand in front of my face to see the obstruction. Then she knelt down with her thin beautiful fingers tickling the front of my palm and spoke melodiously. “There’s something here. No, it is someone …” She smiled and looked down at me with marvelous kaleidoscope blue eyes with no pupil, clearly blind. She added comfortingly, “Hey. I know where you’ve been, and what you’ve seen. But you’re safe now. You are welcome to stay with me if you like. Relax. You are very welcome here.” The sudden shock of being in a safe and comfortable environment compared to the horrible nightmare region I was in earlier easily brought tears into my eyes. I awoke crying. For happiness of leaving the nightmare region, and for sadness of having left the beautiful young girl who seemed to know me so well … DREAM ENDS Return back HOME   You are Earth Visitor #

Reviews

[April Mitchell]

Wow!I would love to read your books!Of course when they are published!

[dw817]

Any publication that will take place will be Online and in Writer's Cafe - so long as the website remains. I don't plan to post any of my stories, poems, or books anywhere else.

You can find one completed book here,
http://bit.ly/16SX2RJ
One completed short-story here,
http://bit.ly/Hfmisi
And one novel of four in the writing here,
http://bit.ly/1cqZPqB

Enjoi, April ! :)

[DIVYA]

I love stories on Time Travel. Yours was very interesting...

A superb, imaginative, gripping narration. Your dream had all the thrill, excitement and mystery elements that a dream should have. A very creative write!

Thanks for sharing.

[dw817]

Since dreams place the writer directly there, we have little else to do except to record what our experience was. Glad you like it. :)

[Brian Angeles]

creepy mysterious and very entertaining

[dw817]

Glad you like it, and NO I don't like these sorts of dreams - except the ending was rather nice. That usually doesn't happen in nightmares tho.

As I see Rose tomorrow I am taking it and Sunday off. I will return Monday with I believe ? There is one more Campfire Tale to conclude them all.

Ah ! I almost forgot, I need to post Saturday's Surprise today ! Will work on that now.

[Prritiy]

oooofffffffff what a creature you are.... what a dream like nay horrible ones most you weave....

best wishes

[dw817]

All thanks to mismatched medications. And my medications were changed a month ago. That - was an entirely different consciousness. All having to do with playing cards, and I spent $15 for a special deck in my delirium. I may in time post my hallucinations over those. :)

[Prritiy]

:) God be With You!

[dw817]

Someone is anyways. :7