After Party

"Was it a good dream?" Olivia asks. "Yeah, I was on a dadelion." "It sounds like a good dream." "It was interesting." I say. I study my surroundings. There is a huge mess of empty bottles and no one to be found. "There was a party, wasn't there?" I ask. "Something like that." Olivia says. "Where'd everyone go?" "They left."  I glanced at the vacant counter. "What about Norm and Wilber?" "Them too, but they left the mess for us to clean." "How nice." I say, sarcastically. I grab a couple of the empty bottles. I get up to toss them out. I can't explain why, but right as I'm about to throw them in the trash, I head outside. Olivia follows closely behind me. She watches me staring at the grey sky. There is a small, circular opening in the sky that catches my attention. A pool of white light falls out of the opening and hits the Earth. "See that." I say. "I'm pretty sure that has something to do with the message we were given."

Wish Journey

As I floated in space I came to the realization that I was on a dandelion. I must have been blown off in the whimsical tradition of making a wish. I tried to grab hold of the many seeds that floated past me unsuccessfully. Then I wondered about the wishing process. Do all these seeds journey to far away land? Are they planted to be grown into dreams, and how do we pluck these fully realized dreams in a far away land? I wanted to know. It was my mission to find out. I reached out my hand again. This time I would get it. I did have luck catching a flying seed. Unfortunately, as soon as I caught hold of one I was no longer lighter than a feather. My body shot to the Earth faster than a bullet. I closed my eyes in preparation of impact. The smash would happen any second. I did feel something, but it wasn't me hitting the ground. It was as if something tapped me on the shoulder. I opened my eyes to see myself still in the fountain shop. "Had a bad dream?" Olivia asks. "Just a dream." I say.  "Just a dream."

In the Light

I was being brought into light reluctantly. I opened my squinty eyes slowly. Above me was a light blue sky. A studied my surroundings. The soft place I was in was some sort of jungle that consisted of huge, white, seed-like plants. I fell backwards once more as I felt the ground beneath me move again. I glanced up in the sky. This time I saw an enormous pair of chapped lips. The lips took up the entirety of the sky and they were pursed. The pursed lips drew closer. I tried to run away, but a wind storm hit me square in the chest. It made me do a backwards somersault. Feeling a little dazed, I went to stand up. However, as soon as I did, I was hit with another gust of wind.  This one launched me and everything around me out into space.

Soft Landing

Thankfully my tumbling was not endless. I did eventually stop. I landed on a soft surface. I was still in the dark, but at least I wasn't falling anymore. I stayed on the soft ground for a while. I tried to get my barrings. Unfortunately something or someone was preventing me from that. The ground beneath my feet moved. I feel backwards. I clung on for dear life as the soft ground moved up into the air, out of the darkness, and into a blinding light.

Tumbling World

I close my eyes and the world tumbles. It is as if I missed a step in the dark and I continue to fall without any end in sight. I open my eyes. The world is calm. It is unmoving. It makes sense, or at least as much as it can. I close my eyes again. The tumbling resumes. This time, however, it is faster, and more violent. I open my eyes once more. I am safe, I am calm, I am serene, but I am also tired beyond belief. My lower eye lids feel as though they are pulling my upper lids down. Trying their best to force my eyes shut. I do my best to not give into these bullies. To stay into the waking world. Unfortunately nothing at this early hour can hold my attention. Nothing feels interesting to my sleepy brain. So my body gives into these brutal bullies. My lower lids pull my upper lids shut. My body gives up with my eyes, and I soon find myself in the dark once more. I'm at the top of the stairs. I try to walk slowly. I try to find each step, but I do ultimately miss one. Then I fall, and I fall, and I fall endlessly.

Dilemma

We were given a cryptic message by prehistoric beasts. Our reality is ending and there is nothing we can do about it. That's what they told us. I had no idea what that meant or what we were to do with that information. It would be easy to forget such a thing. Assume it was a stress induced hallucination. But it wasn't. It really did happen, and we had to decide to tell or not to tell. On one hand it would almost make no difference not to tell. The reality was ending and there was nothing we could do about it. It was clear as day. Besides they'd probably laugh us anyways. I could hear them mocking us as we told our story with the utmost sincerity. However, as unlikely as it was they'd believe a word we said, we decided ultimately to tell. Knowledge is power, and they could do whatever they pleased with this information. Believe it or don't believe. The choice was theirs. Unfortunately, we didn't get to say much as we stepped into the fountain shop.  There was a loud "congradulations" and cheering as we entered. They didn't see a mad, homeless person with us. Therefore we did our job. Therefore we were successful. Wilber gave us beer floats. It was followed by beer,  and that was followed by another beer. I'm sure you know where I am going with this. It was a night of merriment and unearned celebrations, and slowly but surely the guilt sunk back in.

Messengers

We huddled close as the prehistoric beasts stared down at us with their blood red eyes.  Our teeth were chattering. "I really wish you wouldn't run."  One of them says. "What do you expect?We were being chased by dinosaurs." Olivia says. This insults both of them. "We are not dinosaurs."  The other says. "Oh no? Then what are you?" I ask. "We are pterodactyls." The fisrt says, confidently. I raise an eyebrow. "Aren't those the same thing?" "They most certainly are not." The second replies, outraged. "I don't understand. What's the difference?" Olivia asks. "We are two different species." The first one shouts. "But you existed the same time as dinosaurs. So wouldn't that make you a dinosaur?" I wonder. "No, that is not how that works. Squirrels exist in your time, but does that make you a squirrel?" "It doesn't. " I admit. "There. Now stop saying offensive things." There is a brief moment of silence. "What the hell is going on?" Olivia asks. The second pterodactyl caughs "I'll get right to it. Your reality is dying." I look around. "I know it's not the best neighborhood, but I feel like only we can say that." "Enough. Your reality is dying and there is nothing you can do about it." "Nothing?" Olivia questions. "Nothing. The program has ended and soon this reality will as well." "What program?" I ask. "The program for this world. It has run it's course. It is done." The first pterodactyl says. "Then what do we do?" "Other than wait? Nothing?" It says. The two pterodactyls open their wings. They appear to stretch across the sky. "Can we come with you?" I plead. "You cannot." The second one replies coldly. Without saying another word they take off into the sky. In a matter of seconds they are beyond the puffy clouds, and Olivia and I are left alone to wonder exactly what are we to do with this information.