Weird Moon

"What time is it?" Olivia asks, while still gazing at the outside world. "It's about a quarter to six. why you ask? You got somewhere to be?" "No, it's just cloudy all the sudden. I suppose that's not really out of the ordinary though." "Not really." I reply. I continue to scratch away at the blueprints while Olivia looks to the sky. "Huh." She says to herself. "What?" "It's the moon." "What about the moon?" "It looks strange." "Strange how?" I ask, my curiosity slowly peaking. "Its a crescent, but that's not the strange part. Its... well I can't explain. You have to see for yourself." I get up and I walk to the window. Olivia shows me the weird moon. "Cool. It's looks kinda like the moon I just drew." I say, not thinking anything of it. "You drew that moon?" Olivia asks. "Don't be silly. I drew a moon that just happens to look like the moon in the sky at the moment." I walk back to the blueprints. Olivia follows me. "It looks exactly like the kind of moons you draw." She says. "I don't know about exactly." "No, exactly." She corrects. I shrug it off. "Draw something else." She says. "Like what?" "Anything. I'm positive you did that." She says, pointing to the sky. I scratch my head. "Maybe I'll erase the clouds. I wasn't fond of them." I erase the clouds on the blueprints. A few seconds later there is bright light streaming in. I squint my eyes. "God, it sure got sunny." Olivia smiles brightly, recognizing the full potential of the magic blueprints. "It sure did."

BluePrints

"Check this out." I say, ruffling through the blueprints. "Is that the plans for the tower?" Olivia asks. "Yeah, but.." "But, what?" "Well, it's odd. It doesn't show the final version. Just how it is now, boarded up." "Maybe that is the final version." Olivia suggest. "That doesn't make sense. Why would they draw the building like this in the final version?" "Who knows. They are a strange breed. They do strange things. But you needn't worry about the blue prints. Put them away. This is our time." "I don't know. I think we should keep them." I say. Olivia shrugs. "Whatever makes you happy." I examine the blueprints closely. "Looks like it was done in pencil. That means we could easily adjust this." I rummage through the desk drawers. I find one short, nibbled on pencil. It isn't much, but I know it's a start. Olivia walks back to the window. "What plans are you gonna draw up?" She asks. "First I'm gonna erase these two by fours." Olivia smiles to herself. "That's a good start."

View from the Top

I had forgotten, or at least pushed it out of my mind that there was no elevator in the tower. The only way up was one narrow, banged up stair case. I don't exaggerate when I say it took a good chuck of the day to ascend the stairs. When we finally made it up to the very top office there was no one there. There was no Davies, no Todd, and certainly no Eagle Eyes. It was just an empty room with open windows. The only thing that was left behind was a desk with some blue prints on it. "I suppose we don't have to fight anyone for it." I say. "No we don't. It's ours. All ours." Olivia replies, staring out the window. I hear her laugh to herself. "What's so funny?" I ask. "I just wish we had a flag." "I could make one." I say. Olivia smiles. "No need to. This is ours." I join Olivia in looking out the window. "What do we do if the army comes back?" "We fight." She says, simply. "You think they will come back?" I ask. "Maybe. But I'm not concerned. I don't think this was ever really theirs." "I suppose if they're willing to come back and fight for it then there must be something to this building." I suggest. Olivia nods. "That's what I figured. I honestly don't know what I want to do with it yet, but I believe this building is the heart of the city. It's got to be important."

The Old Tower

We headed towards the tower, unsure if we were in a memory or were merely transported back to the abandoned city.  I didn't even know why Olivia wanted to take over the tower, but she led with such confidence that it was impossible not to get swept away. When we got there, it looked just as I remembered it, boarded up and desolate. "We're here." I say, looking up at the mile high skyscraper. "We sure are." "So, why do you want to take over the tower?" I ask. "Because." She responds simply. "Oh. Because." I reply, sarcastically. Olivia forcefully removes the two by fours nailed to a side window. She then pops the window open with little effort. After that, she crawls in the tower through the widow. I stand there, stunned for a second. "Are you coming or what?" She shouts from inside the building. I shrug and then crawl in.

Groundhog's Day

As I looked on the long abandoned buildings of the ghost city a deep melancholy overcame me. No matter what we did we could not escape this damn city. I feared we'd  be doomed to stuck here for all time. "This is our destiny." I say out loud. "Maybe." Olivia says, hopefully. She starts walking with a strange confidence. "Where are you going?" I ask. "I don't know." "But you looked so sure of yourself." Olivia smiles. "Isn't that half the battle?" There is a brief silence as we trek down the road. "You said this was a memory?" I say. "It might be." "Then what should we do?" "I don't know." I think for a minuet. "Maybe this is like that movie groundhog's day. Maybe we're to stay here until we  learn everything we're supposed to learn." "What do you think we need to learn?" She asks. "I couldn't say." There is another brief silence. "Maybe it's not about learning something new. Maybe it's about doing something different." Olivia says. "You could be right, but there are infinite things we could do differently." "I know." I study Olivia's face. I can tell something is cooking in her brain. "What do you want to do different this time?" Olivia turns to me. A big smile sweeps across her face. "I wanna take over the tower this time."

In Memories

"Norm, buddy, what's got you so rattled?" I ask my raccoon friend who is staring into space. He does not respond so I try Todd. "Todd, maybe you can help me figure out what's going on." He does not respond either. They both continue to stare in horrified silence. "I don't think they're really here." Olivia says. "Then what am I looking at?" "Not them. At least not the complete version of them." "I don't understand." I say. "That's ok. I might." Olivia says as she lowers her pink bubble shield. "Why'd you do that? Isn't there something out there?" I shout. "There is, but I don't think it's anything we need to be afraid of." I look at Norm and Todd. They continue to watch the invisible enemy. "I think they would say otherwise." "They're memories." Olivia informs me. "What?" "Just watch." I stare at Norm and Todd for a moment. Two purple tornadoes appear out of nowhere just like before. This time, however, they carry Norm and Todd away with them. "What the hell? Was that a mirage?" I ask. "No. They were memories. We were in a memory. Which means..." Thick purple smoke encircles us. It is only there a moment, but when it leaves we find ourselves back in the ghost city. My jaw drops. "I don't understand any of this." Olivia stands up straight. "I might."

Invisible Threats

I wasn't sure what Jack was trying to protect us from. As we continued our journey there weren't any aliens or threats of any kind. The stars were even becoming scant. It's possible that all these threats to our very survival were invisible, but I grew doubtful. "He thinks we're children." I said with the utmost frustration. "No, there is something out there." Olivia replies. "I doubt it. We've been walking for hours, and we haven't come across anything yet." "There is something out there." Olivia repeats. I roll my eyes. "Yeah, sure. Somewhere." "No, I'm telling you. There's something out there. I feel it." She shouts. Olivia strengthens the bubble. It glows even brighter. "What's out there?" I ask. Olivia hushes me. She stands concentrating for a moment. Nothing happens. Slightly disappointed, she turns to me. "I guess I was wrong." As Olivia is about to lower her concentration, two purple, mini tornadoes swirl in the center of the bubble. My fists were clenched. I was ready to fight whoever, or whatever these tornadoes were. Then, much to my surprise, when  purple smoke cleared I saw Norm and Todd. I was happy at least to see Norm, however, I don't think they even noticed us. They were frightened, but not frightened at suddenly appearing somewhere they weren't before. They were frightened at something that was outside the bubble. Truly frightened, and try as I may I could not for the life of me see what was scarring them.

Two Possibilities

"No one's here." I say to Olivia after quite some time. "You mean no one's here now?" She says. I nod slowly as I stare into the cold space. "What would be worse?" I ask."If someone comes or if we were all alone?" Olivia squints her eyes. "Excuse me?" "What would be worse? If someone comes, or if were were all all alone?" I repeat. "I've heard that before. Haven't I?" "Possibly. What do you think though?" "It's a quote,right" She asks, changing the subject. "Sort of." "Well, how does the one go that I'm thinking of?" "Two possibilities exist. Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." "Whoa." Olivia says, simply. I smile. "Right?" "So, who said that?" She asks. "Arthur C. Clarke. He was science fiction writer." "Ever read anything by him?" "Can't say I have." I reply. There is a brief pause. "Well, I know for a fact that we are not alone in the universe, and parts of it are indeed terrifying." She says. I nod. "Now imagine if we were all alone? Wouldn't that be kinda terrifying as well?" Olivia shrugs. "I guess, but that's hard for me to imagine because I know we are not alone." I continue to stare up at the empty space. "That may be, but we're alone here. Can we keep moving?" "Yes, but I'd like to keep the shield up. At least for now."

To Trust or Not to?

Our protective bubble only served to further confuse Jack. He tapped his enormous fingers on the outside of the bubble. It caused an intense reverberation that almost jostled Olivia out of her concentration. "We're not coming out." I shout to Jack. "What do you mean you're not coming out?" He asks. "We don't trust you." "You don't trust me?" He repeats. "No, we don't. We have no reason to." Olivia says. Jack shakes his monstrous head. "Give me a break. If I wanted to kill you I would have already." "He does have a point." I say to Olivia. "Perhaps, but I still don't trust him. I sill don't trust you." She shouts. "You don't want to trust me, fine. I'll leave you alone. But remember there are far nastier things out there than me." He exits without saying another word. We are then left alone in the black space, partially illuminated in our bubble. "What do you think he meant by nastier things than him?" I ask Olivia. "I don't know." She says. "I think we may have made a mistake." I tell her. She breathes slowly. "I know."

Familiar Face

After Jack's transformation into his alien skin, he reached out his enormous hand to us. He was going to pick us off he ground. I was not thrilled about it, but Olivia was frozen in place. She was terrified. I couldn't tell why, but knew something wasn't right. Jack's hand inced closer and closer. Then at the last possible second she threw up her pink bubble. It deflected Jack's hand. Olivia turned to me slightly, but kept all her energy on the pink bubble. "Don't you remember?" She says. "Remember what?" "Last year. It was us and Norm. We were in the pink bubble. You remember what we saw outside of it?" I point to Jack's alien form that's just outside the bubble. "That right." she responds. "So does that mean we transcended time?" I ask. "I don't know, but I don't think we can trust these guys." "So then what should we do?" "We wait. That's all we can do right now."

Transformation

True to his word, Jack found us a door out of the nursery. However, before we could explore the planet, he did something truly unpredictable. Jack turned his back to us. He then took off his ratty coat. I assumed he was going to hang it up. I was mistaken, it was all part of the show. The next thing I knew his skin turned pink. After that his back expanded and he shot up in the air fifty feet. His eyes became wide and bulgy. His arms thinned out. They looked like they stretched for miles, and he grew another pair after they were done growing. Olivia and I looked on in horror. Jack laughed a high pitch, alien laugh in response to our surprise. "What? I said I'd be your guide. I have to look the part."

Can't Cut It

I opened my eyes to see Jack and Olivia standing by me. "How did I..." "I gave him a stern talking to." Jack says before I have the chance to finish my sentence. "And I hearted it." Olivia adds. Jack rolls his eyes, as if he can't believe that she was of assistance. "I saw that." Olivia says. "Yes, it wasn't exactly subtle." Jack sneers. I push myself off the ground. "Stop arguing. The important thing is that I'm ok." Jack scoffs. "Find something funny?" Olivia asks. "You were attacked by infants." "Yeah, whats your point?" "My point is that there are far nastier things on this planet than a few children. If you can't handle the nursery then I don't know what we'll do." "If you feel that way then bring us back." Olivia says. "You know I can't do that." "Then be our guide on this strange planet." Jack takes a deep breath. "I suppose I can do that." "Great. Now that we have that settled, can we please leave the nursery?" Jack half smiles. "I thought you'd never ask."

Swing Swing

I ran as fast as my tiny little legs could take me. This time nothing was going to stand in the way of m Olivia. How wrong I was. Before I had the slightest chance to get close to her, one of the infants grabbed me by the cape. He lifted me into the air. There I swung, back and forth, like a pendulum. To anyone observing, this swinging would appear light. Almost innocent, good fun. But I assure you, for the person being swung this was hardly good fun. My field of vision was scrambled. It was all distorted. At this moment, the only I could do to save myself was to save my lunch. So, I closed my eyes and hoped it would be over soon.

Catch Her

Olivia fell and fell. I instinctively placed my arms out to catch her. Even though I knew this most likely wouldn't work. I stumbled back and forth trying to find the exact location that she would land. Then at the very last possible moment, when she was only a matter of feet away from me, she encompassed herself in a pink bubble. I quickly backed away. The bubble lightly bounced off the floor before rolling across the nursery. We were yet again  on the opposite sides of the room. This time, however, I knew she was safe.

Release Her

Crossing the nursery was like something out of a disgusting war film. Every few feet I had to dodge alien drool that hurled itself towards me. Like an unarmed soldier escaping his trench, I was doubtful as to whether or not I'd make it to the enemy territory. To my surprise and delight we did make it. We crept up on the alien child. It had its back to us, but I could see it held Olivia in one hand tightly. With another hand it was grooming Olivia's hair. "She thinks your friend is a doll." Jack says to me. "Well, duh." I say to myself. "I'll get her down. Don't worry." Jack cuffs his hands over his mouth. He then squeaks loudly in a foreign language. The alien infant turns. It sees Jack and its eyes widen. Jack squeaks again to it. The infant shakes its head. Jack squeaks yet again, this time, however, he does it with venom. The infant lowers its head in shame. It releases Olivia, unfortunately she is still a good thirty feet above the ground. I start running to her frantically. Even though I have nothing to catch her with other than my own breakable arms.

Nursery

On the other side of the door was a room full of strange beings. They all had pink skin that was the texture of sandpaper. Each one of them had many, many limbs with claw-like hands. They all had big, bulging eyes, and every single one of them was the height of a small building. But I noticed something even stranger. They were all in various states of play. Some were making forts out of blocks, some were playing hinde n' seek, and some were even naping. "Are these the adults?" I ask, even though I know the answer. "No, don't be foolish. This is the nursery." "The nursery? You mean they're all..." "Infants? Yep. Every single one of them." Jack replies. "Shit. How big does your species get?" "Big. But we're not here to talk about me." Jack says. "You said "that brat" earlier. You think you know who took her?" I ask, changing the subject. "I have an idea. We just have to look for a child playing by themselves." "What about that one in the corner?" I ask, pointing to an alien with its back to us. Jack shrugs. "It's a good place to start."

Star Walk

I walked with Jack to the end of the table. He pointed out various stars and constellations,  but he never explained to me where we were. I had to bring up the subject again. He chuckled to himself and then responded "On a table." "But where is the table?" "It's floating in space." He says, with a coy smile. I let out an annoyed sigh. "Perhaps you're not asking the right questions?" He says. "You're right. How did I get here on this table in the middle of space?" "There ya go!" Jack shouts. "Well, how did I get here?" Jack smiles. "I remembered who I was." "And you're an alien?" I question. "To you, yes." "What does that even mean?" "It means that to you I could be considered an alien. But to me you're the alien. You see it's all a matter of perspective." I roll my eyes. "I'm happy for really. Just tell me where I am and how to get back home." "You want to go back home?" He asks. "Ideally. Yes." Jack shakes his head. "I'm afraid to say it  was kinda a one way trip." I rub my face in exhaustion. "Could you at least tell me where Olivia is?" Jack squints his eyes. "The girl?" "Yes, the girl. Where is she?" "Isn't she usually with you?" "She is, but we were separated. She was placed in a different container." My words slowly sink in Jack's head. I can tell he knows where she is. "That brat." He mutters. Jack then creates a door out of nothing. He opens it and ushers me to come along. "I'd prefer if you went first." I say.Jack nods. He walks through the door. I follow him a second later.

Hologram

"Jack?" I say in a stunned disbelief. Even though, deep down I know that nothing should surprise me anymore. "That's me. Or at least an aspect of me. Listen, I'm real sorry about what just happened." "What did happen?" I ask. "Oh, one of the children thought you were a toy. But don't worry, he'll get a stern talking to." "That was a child?" I shout. Jack nods. "And a mischievous one at that." There is a brief pause. "I'm not on Earth, am I?" "Not exactly." Jack says. "May I ask where am I?" Jack nods again. "I'll explain." The holographic image of Jack vanishes. It is now just me and the night sky. I curse a blue streak demanding that he come back. After a minuet or so, a door appears out of nowhere. It opens up to intense ray of light, followed shortly by Jack. This time though it is the real Jack, not a hologram. "Hold your horses. I said I'd explain. I just wanted to get closer."

Claw Hand

I stood there frozen in fear. I watched in slow motion as the giant, claw-like hand drew closer. It opened its claws wider. I took a deep breath. Any second now it would grab me. Probably squeeze the life out of me. Just as it's about to pluck me off the table, I hear a blood curdling screech in the distance. The giant hand stops. It draws back, and the big eyes disappear. I'm left alone for a few minutes. I wonder what the hell just happened,  but the strange events are far from over. "Sorry about that." A loud, booming voice says to me. I look up to see Jack. He appears exactly how I remembered him. Same ratty clothes and patchy beard, except now how I see him as a hologram that is as big as the night sky.

Bright Eyes

I figured I was on a wooden table of some sort. I didn't,  however, know if I was on a gigantic table or if I shrunk again. Fortunately(or unfortunately depending how you look at it) my question would be answered a second later. I looked up. There were two enormous eyes staring back at me. The whites were like two football sized flashlights. Because of this I couldn't tell what color the irises were nore could I see around the whites. All that surrounded them was darkness. I shielded myself as best as I could from the bright eyes. I walked backwards slowly. Then it pounced. And elongated, pink, hand sprung out of the dark. It opened its boney, claw-like fingers. I could tell it wanted to pluck me off the table. I stood there, frozen in fear, waiting.

Shaken

As I said previously, the grass cushioned my fall,  but that does not mean the experience was not painful. It can be doubly said about what came next. Someone or something was shaking my glass enclosure. I violently bounced back and forth from wall to wall. The shaking in all honestly probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. When it did stop, I plummeted straight down. The fall hurt like hell, but I was glad not to be rattled anymore. If only that peace could last. My glass enclosure was lifted up in the air. I was then flipped upside down. After that I was hurled through the giant opening with the many blades of grass. I fell and I fell with the grass. I finally hit what looked and felt like a wooden table.