The man’s eyes peeled open like a crusty scab. “I cannot wait to show you around,” hissed the mushroom speckled serpent, “there are so many fun things that you can now achieve.” It slithered over to the corner of the room and began to stir a vile of a strange, emerald-colored liquid. The creature bore a worrisome grin, that never quite left its wide set jaws. “What is that ringing sound?” questioned the young man laying on the floor. “To be foolish once is to live as a fool,” preached the serpent as it handed the vile off to the man, “but to regress is to please.” “What do I do with this?” “You are useless!”, exclaimed the reddish creature, “Obviously you are expected to drink from it!” It saw worry growing on the man’s young face and explained, “Now, now, I didn’t mean that… just trust me, this is paradise after all.” The serpent beamed a hideous, black-toothed grin. “But I don’t know what’s in there. It could be dangerous.” The creature let out a slimy cackle as it said, “I don’t think you need to worry much about that dear boy. Just drink, and you will feel a freedom never felt before.” The man began to question where he was. He examined the small, dimly lit room that he had woken in. He observed the way the walls and floor shifted around him, almost as if he were in water, except the rhythm was one he had never experienced before. He peered out through the windows, but all he saw was infinity. He was combing through his mind, attempting to pull any memory that explained his situation, when the floor dropped out from beneath him. However, he wasn’t falling. The man sat still as the environment changed around him. He watched the tiny shack he had just sat in, plunge off into the sun. Yet the sun was not actually the sun. The more he began to perceive things, the more they changed. The sun became an eyeball, unblinking and unmoving. Covered in a spectrum of colors from a dingy green to an inky red. The ground beneath him approached as a hollowed out sphere, floating in from a greater plain of existence. As the man turned to look behind him, an immense, lightning-white flash dazzled him, and a blistering horn began to sound off in the distance. Before he could question any of this however, a divine figure who stood three cubits tall, greeted him. Despite his stature, his wise voice echoed throughout eternity as he spoke. “Young man, how have you arrived at an existence such as this? You could not be more than twenty years old, am I correct in that assumption?” “Yes, that is true. What is thi-” “It’s all so very regretful,” the cherub said with a mournful scowl on his face. “But it’s okay boy, none of this lasts very long anyway. Just accept the fate you were given, and ask for the hand of the lord.” “But sir, what is this place? How did I get here?” “Nonsense. Don’t bog yourself down with these sorts of quandaries lad… these are God’s ten holy minutes. His little gift to you. Just enjoy it while it lasts, and await his arrival.” The man had not even turned his head away, and yet somehow the heavenly figure before him was replaced with a potted rose bush. He attempted to rise, in order to investigate the flower, but he soon discovered that his legs beneath him did not work. There was an immovable force that had cemented him to the ground where he lay. A car passed by. By the time the man had decided to quit his useless attempts at movement, the rose bush had grown one hundred feet tall. From each enormous, earth-toned limb hung a lantern of fire. At once all the lanterns dropped and exploded into a fiery rage, dancing along the infinite earth. The bush began to descend as the fire pulled ever more tightly together, in a ballet of flames. Words didn’t seem necessary in a place like this. The fire had finally begun to cling to the shrub, just as it sunk to the ground. Each glorious, marooned petal, floated softly to the earth as the inferno claimed its victim. All this fire and yet, the bush remained intact; petal-less yes, but still intact indeed. The motionless man marvelled over the smoldering conflagration before him. What was all this for? How did he get here? How does one escape this perpetual fantasy? He was not truly dreaming, was he? He could not move, for his legs were inanimate. He could not think, for the answers were non-existent. He could not speak, for every time his mouth had opened, the noises that followed were not his own. What was he to do? A willowy man of mortal descent, who wore a long snowy beard, drew near. His silky facial hair hung all the way between his legs, and his skull was shaped like an oblong melon. He carried no weapons, but something large protruded out of the sack he bore. He sat down on the ground beside the man, and pulled the object out. It was a book. He began to read to the man. “He was incarnate that we might be made god.” “What does this mean?” “In a land of your own, man becomes God. With no morals, with no thoughts, with no boundaries, one begins to feel holy. These are the holy minutes, spend them wisely as they disappear. You have choice here.” explained the bishop. “Everything here is so cryptic.” “Ah yes. Indeed it is. For none of this is reality. Look around you. Have you been able to truly view one thing in this entire galaxy of nonsense? Or has everything just flown by in an infinite whirl? The clock is ticking. Do not waste your time on questions, or anecdotes, or material items. Feel, love, admire. Cherish, adore, accept.” “But what if I need more time? I just got here. Can’t you help me?” “Ah lad. I’m sorry. But nothing here is tangible. Not even I. As I said before, you are God here. In these holy moments, before the fade to black. You may see an eye in the sky, or a floating cloud of dust, and think, ‘This is an odd place’, but this is all because of you dear boy. If you want mountains, or skies, or trees; lakes, or rivers, or streams; valleys, or canyons, or craters… all you have to do is such. I know you won’t understand, and that’s the dreadful curse of this all; time always expires before you truly understand how to exist… but it’s okay… you’ll be okay boy.” “But-” “Hush now. Let me read a different passage to you.” The bishop read aloud, “Dreams, dreams, an awful fright; they’ll hold you close til the end of night; and when at last the morning comes; you’ve lost control, and the locust hums.” It all began to fade away, not to black, but to a bright white. No more bishops, or books, or eyes… just white. The man looked for something to hook his eyes to, but there was nothing. A sea of unending tranquility. A monotonous drone of emptiness. Until the sky zipped open. He laid facing upward, as a human face, covered in a large pair of spectacles, appeared above him. The woman had a mask that covered the lower part of her face, and a bouffant cap on top of her head. She spoke not to the man, but of him. “He’s just not responding. I have to call it.”, she announced with a most remorseful look on her pale and delicate face. Just as fast as the sky had opened, it sealed. The man was now alone, floating in a vast array of continued nothingness. Except for a sound. A ticking sound. A sound that bounced around the walls of infinity and all throughout the man's head. Something was floating toward him in the distance. He could not make it out until it was directly in front of his face. It was a clock. This was where the ticking sound had originated. He attempted to read the clock, but it was all so blurry. All he knew was the ticking. This all had to mean something; the clock, the doctor, the visits from these fantastical figures… what did it all mean? How much time did he have left? What was it all counting down towards? In his mind he prayed for one more visit, one more explanation as to what it all meant. His prayer was answered. Out of the void grew a tree. A wearisome tree with hardly enough leaves to obscure its decaying limbs from any prying eyes. Its bark had splintered, and blistered many moons ago. Trees were not meant to exist for as long as this one had. From out of its belly it spoke. “Existence is a curse. None of this is built to last, especially you. I held the forbidden fruit in my palms, and I watched it defile you. You wish for the answers to this existence? Is this not what dismantled the last life you were given?” “I believe you, I swear I do! I do not desire knowledge that is not mine, I only hope to find a way out of here.” “A way out? There is no way out. This is it. You had your chance for the past millennia. You all burned the bridge with your absurd desire for enlightenment. My gardener, in his infinite wisdom, left when the bite was taken from that sacred apple. You are all alone.” “But I-” “No. I tell you the truth, and that is all you asked. If you desire a conversation, you may have it with whatever false idol you wish, but I simply cannot bear your existence.” The tree rotted back into the same cavity it materialized from. And they arrived. Before him now, stood all three figures previously met throughout his journey; The Serpent, The Cherub, and The Bishop. They stood still in their positions, waiting first for the man to speak. He still lay fastened to the ground before them, looking upward. “Please,” he begged, “teach me what all of this means. I know my time is running short, but you have to show me. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to.” The Cherub spoke first, “The most important thing to remember is that your beliefs here matter. No matter what else you may have heard. You are here to ponder, you are here to wait. A sign will appear, even if you cannot comprehend it. Many cannot fathom an existence beyond logic and reasoning, and that is why these moments become so heartbreaking to watch. You are simply squirming in the dirt like a helpless insect.” The Bishop retorted, “Now now, let’s be gentle with the lad. He’s not an imbecile, he just expects an explanation of an illogical world.” He turned his attention to the man. “You see, your ears are open but you are not truly listening. This is all so incomprehensible for a mortal being, so simply listen to what I say, and just do exactly that. You have less than five minutes left before all of this is for naught. In this moment, you are holy. You are free of existence, and therefore free of sin. I suggest that you use these last moments for pleasure. Not a sinful pleasure mind you, but you may now manufacture a sense of tranquility, of contentment, of joy. Do just that, use these final minutes to accept your circumstance, and experience this moment, for you are now one with the divine.” “Stop your foolishness.” retaliated The Cherub. “He is not some deity. He is merely being tested by one. If he listens to you, he’ll end up with the rest of the sinners. You know not of what you speak.” “Is God not within all we see?” questioned The Bishop. “Yes, but not everything is God. God is everything, but not everything is God.” replied The Cherub. “The boy is not divine, plain and simple. This is his test, and he must pass.” The Cherub turned to the man, “You say you do not want to leave, this is achievable as all things are, through him. This fool tells you that you control this world, but you do not. You will see. He will present you with a message, and you must reach to his outstretched arms and say ‘Yes dear God. Please, take me with you.’” The Bishop grew more furious as the seconds passed. With a fiery intensity he growled, “You act as if I claim God is dead. He is not dead. He is alive in this moment. This is the very moment that people wait their entire lives for. When heaven and man meet. It is so very beautiful, and yet you want the poor boy to waste it on some moment that will never arrive.” Seeing a perfect opportunity to strike, The Serpent finally entered the conversation. “Don’t you see how silly these fools are? Their arguments about who is right, and who is wrong, are wasting your few precious moments. Listen to me”, it encouraged, as a smirk spread across its lips. “This rancid, hairy man is right when he says that you have power here. Unimaginable power. Think about all of the things you can do here, that you couldn’t do on Earth. All the pleasures of an infinite power, not resisted by any man or being.” “Stop it right there.” retorted The Cherub. “I may not agree with either of these buffoons, but I certainly do not want you to fall into the hands of a heathen. It would like to watch the entire cosmos burst into flames.” “Yes please son, whatever it is that you choose, do not follow this repugnant creature. It will only lead you through a path of destruction.” agreed The Bishop. “They only envy me.” hissed The Serpent. “They wish they had the capacity to live in this hellish purgatory as gloriously as I do. Follow me, and you too may have all you ever wanted.” “You can’t be serious!” “Your self-righteous charade never fooled anyone.” “I should banish you throughout an eternity of realms.” “You don’t have the power!” “Through God, we all h-” “ENOUGH.” The Man bellowed with the power of a thousand stars. “I requested guidance and yet you all purposefully misdirect me. As time goes on, I gain more of my own consciousness. This is no different than Earth. You have wasted my breath. I want you all banished from my presence.” The Man proclaimed with an indisputable authority. And just like that, they dissolved. The Man was alone once again, but this time with a sense of consciousness. He felt finally awake. He began to consider the options presented to him. The Serpent: Sin is inconsequential in a realm such as this, and therefore, The Man should live his last moments in a state of luxury not present in any real existence. If he is to accept the untold dusk ahead of him, he must first experience sin. The Cherub: God is real. He is the only way out of this situation that doesn’t end in an inescapable darkness. The Man enjoyed the sound of a life after this life, but he could not perceive a reality in which this was realistic. He decided he would look for the sign of God as his time expired, but he did not expect one to come. The Bishop: Man is man, until man joins the divine. He says that in these “moments of holiness”, man becomes God, just as God became man through Jesus. To him, this is Heaven. This is a kingdom in which man can finally will his own being into existence. The Tree of Knowledge: Man created sin. God left because man disappointed him so. None of this has meaning, just as life no longer has meaning. An oblivion of options, and an absence of time. And so, The Man realized that through all of his questioning, and discussion, he had wasted his last few moments of existence. He had repeated the same mistake all humans make in their lives on Earth. He turned his neck upward. A rain cloud had formed above him, and only above him. The precipitation wet his face with a cold, dense flood. The ticking had started again, but this time it was much faster. He had accepted the fact that all of this was over, he had only wished that he had a chance to do it again, so that he could make the correct decision this time. He smelled something. He looked off into the distance. He saw a mountain. He saw smoke. Was this a sign, or had he created this of his own will? He lay still on the ground, eternally immobile. He howled in remorse, but it was merely a whimper in the infinite sea of darkness approaching him. Fade to black.


The day has been long, too long, much longer than it needed to have been. The anger I feel towards those who have the position of “chairman”, and “head of the board”, or “CEO” is enough to fog over the usually calm mindset I have while driving. The one thing my long day has taught me is that qualification doesn’t outway the politics of modern America's business operations. All I want is to lay down of the couch with a glass of chardonnay that would be considered too full at most respectable restaurants, then slowly drift away into the calm ocean of unconsciousness after an hour of the hallmark channel, but I’m afraid though that my ocean isn’t calm, my full of rogue waves and raging winds. But I shouldn’t daydream, afternoon rush hour has been causing many accidents recently, right now I see why. I finally reach my street after navigating my way through the labyrinth of suburban New Jersey, and I'm greeted by the sight of bright red and blue light dancing on the outer walls of my apartment building. This is the second time this month the cops have been here, and I have had the unfortunate job of witnessing the last occurrence. Domestic assault is never a good sight, especially when you share it with the victim's four-month-old infant. Sometimes I wonder where he will end up after the foster homes, or if the parents will figure their differences out. I get out of my car and my landlord walks towards me with one officer, I feel something is off. My landlord never talks to me, all he does is slide the overpriced bill for my one bedroom, one bathroom apartment under my front door every month. Sometimes I see the shadow of his baggy clothing in the crack under the door, but that’s the most communication we do. As he and the officer approach me I see a sign of guilt in his eyes, but I don't know why, then the officer begins to call my name, not that he knows it, but to double-check that I’m the one he’s is looking for, the one he has to break the bad news too. I bolt up the many stairs and through the yellow ribbon blocking my path up the long flights of this palace misfortune I call home. As I reach my place my heart sinks to my heels, men in navy blue line my living room inspecting the shattered picture frames and broken decor covering the cheap off white shag carpet I got from the flea market last week. The officers leave as I enter, each avoiding eye contact with me more obviously than the last. As I walk through my living room with weak knees, I hear the snapping of glass beneath my leather boots, the texture of powdered drywall fills the empty air. My television, or what used to be my television sits on the floor, concave in the middle, the damage of somebody’s leg all that will be shown on that screen ever again, somehow my sofa is unscathed, no tears of filling anywhere. I head to the kitchen. The aftermath of a whirlwind of greed is all you can see in the place anyone should feel most comfortable. No food has been left whatsoever by the intruders, every cupboard, every spice rack, the entire fridge has been stripped clean. I search throughout my apartment and miraculously I cant seem to find a single plate that is whole, just shards of porcelain scattered throughout. I follow a breadcrumb trail of disaster to my bedroom. My linens aren’t even in the room anymore but instead, sitting on the cold dirt four stories below. My wardrobe isn’t in my wardrobe anymore instead all heaped into a pile next to the bed, with everything there besides the clothes I considered the nicest. Stressed out of my mind I head to my couch, my soft, plush couch. As I sit there in the mess I used to call home a glimmer in the corner of my eye. The reflection of the amber sky gleaming off of the glass. I head towards it and my body is filled with what little happiness it could muster. The label reads “Thousand Oaks Premium Collection”, wine has never been so needed in all of societies expansive existence. I take the whole bottle to my couch, not because I need the whole thing, but because my glass was in a hundred pieces scattered through the shag carpet. I take a break. As I sit down, slumped as much as my sore back will allow, I admire the amber light dance on my walls, uninterrupted by the curtains that used to keep it away from me. Surprisingly this is the most relaxed I’ve been all day. I expect to become even more relaxed as the night continues. I think back about that little boy that I share a bad experience with, I know that happened tonight is more fortunate than earlier this month. I’m thankful all that was stolen was objects, not anything actually important but just things. Objects are just place holders of monetary value, they’re replaceable. I realize as I look across the room at the photos of family now how much I actually have. How much that is worth more than money. But things that you buy with experience, how much cant be stolen from you. Things that bring you more than entertainment, but bring you joy and thankfulness.


The sixth-floor apartment they lived in was nothing special. It was out of the inner city, far enough to miss most of the commotion, but not far enough for a house that the rich liked to live in. The wife looked after three children of the home; aged eight, five and two. A police salary covered the cost of the apartment and not much else, but that was about what was expected. Leon left before anyone else was awake. Walking three blocks from the apartment block, he boarded the first train of the morning, sat for exactly six stops before taking the first exit out of Watanabe Station, heading up the stairs to the left. The glare from the streetlights hit his eyes as usual. It was early in the morning, not that the sky lightened much further later in the day. The eerie glow from streetlights were a standard fixture throughout the city, pollution covering the sky in a thick layer. Gas masks or other breathing apparatus also weren’t an unusual sight for the health conscious, not that anyone too careful about their health would be living within city limits. It’s where the money is, of course, but it’s not for the faint of heart. The rich often worked here but commuted out of the city to make their home, for their sake of their longevity. Even still, jobs were hard to come by unless you were identified as someone at the top of your field. Entry-level positions were essentially non-existent. With the advancement of Artificial Intelligence in the last century, cityscapes were dominated by a robotic workforce. Why would a company pay a salary to a human worker when they could purchase a robot to do it for free? There weren’t AI unions, or health and safety regulations on the artificial workforce. They were engineered to be more resilient, both mentally and physically, than their fleshy counterparts. Human workers still had a place, but they were few and far between; either in a managerial position or a specialist role a corporation wouldn’t trust a robot with. Just a few short blocks from the station, Leon entered the Watanabe Police Force headquarters, the largest building in Watanabe city. Low-level criminals were housed underneath the facility in a minimum-security prison, but Leon was headed to the top floor. When room for outwards expansion of the city stopped being an option, buildings went upwards. “Leon, about time you showed up,” a large officer greeted him as the elevator door opened, “we need you in room four right away” Leon was the lead interrogator of the force, trusted with interviewing any sort of dangerous criminal who posed a serious risk to the safety of the citizens of Watanabe City and the surrounding areas. In this age, terrorism was a huge threat, and Leon often worked closely with other police bureaus to keep an eye on a number of known gangs and terrorist organisations looking to leave their mark on one of the big cities. Entering the viewing chamber behind room four, Leon was met by two leading officers. “Coffee, Leon?” A server robot asked “No, thanks” Leon replied “And you, Officer Reynolds?” The robot enquired The officer shook his head before turning to Leon. “We think this one was programmed to deliver and detonate an explosive in the city centre,” he briefed, “We don’t know who he’s with, but he was caught with an unarmed bomb near town square and brought here. We figured you could get the rest out of him.” “Has it talked yet?” Leon inquired “Not a word” Leon nodded, heading out the corridor and unlocking the door into room four. The robot sat shackled to a chair, motionless. Taking a look at the one-way glass he was behind just moments before, Leon prepared to do his job, shutting the heavy door behind him and locking it. The interrogation of an AI isn’t how you might picture a typical questioning of a terrorist. There’s no blood or waterboarding, no sleep deprivation or obstruction of common liberties. This wasn’t Guantanamo Bay and a robot wasn’t your standard terrorist. Leon specialised in getting information out of these mechanical terrorists, finding out who programmed them and why, what connections they have in the criminal underworld, and extracting any knowledge they may have of planned attacks. The ‘interrogation’ was more of a controlled hacking, overcoming the robots encoded systems and trawling through code that corresponded to stored memories and information. The code could be converted back into a format that allowed the officers to see what the AI had experienced before it was captured, but Leon was just responsible for overcoming security protocols installed in the robot by whatever gang it was working with. Whenever the process was complete, the robot would either be destroyed or wiped and repurposed. After seven hours in interrogation room four, the extraction was complete. Leon exited to the room to congratulations from other officers, it was their turn to sort through the data now, but without Leon the force wouldn’t be able to extract the data at all. “What’s the plan for the robot?” Leon asked one of the senior officers “It depends on how deep he is with whatever group he’s working with,” The officer answered, “with no bombs gone off they’re going to know we got him, but he might still be useful for us.” Leon nodded, “understood.” The elevator ride down the building always felt longer than the ride up, but today was an exception even to that. Leon was halfway down when the elevator shook with the vibrations of an explosion coming from above. The lift fell free a few floors before catching on the cable again and continuing smoothly to the bottom. Leon braced himself as the elevator reached the bottom floor, half expecting to be ambushed, but nobody greeted him. Running outside, Leon saw a crowd had gathered observing the damage. Leon looked up and knew right away what had happened. The top section of the building was in flames, windows having been blown out and parts of the walls scattered on the ground around the crowd. Neighbouring buildings were damaged too, their proximity to the police station causing them to take force from the explosion. A few people were bleeding, hit by debris falling from the building above, but they were much better off than the poor souls that had been on the top floor. The robot must’ve had a bomb hidden within it somewhere, a part Leon must’ve overlooked. He was lucky to make it out of there, most of the other officers were on the top floor when the building exploded. They wouldn’t have survived that. Sirens converged as other emergency services attended the scene. The upper floors wouldn’t be saved, Leon knew, but the bottom half of the building would likely survive. Attacks on law enforcement weren’t the rarest occasion, but one this successful was uncommon to say the least. Leon was picked up by a group of police analysts from a neighbouring precinct, questioned for what he knew and what he had seen, and then released to continue on his day. “You’ll be contacted and informed of what happens next,” he had been told. There was nothing for Leon to do except head home and await instructions. Leon stood in the kitchen, his thoughts on what had occurred that day. He held himself responsible. It was something he could’ve caught had he looked closer at the robot, but he hadn’t. The other officers would’ve caught in when they went through the code later, of course, but it had exploded before they had a chance. It was sheer luck Leon had left when he did, or he would’ve been caught up in the blast too. Leon heard the jangling of keys as the front door opened, Senior Officer Kennedy stepping inside. He hadn’t been at the station that day, luckily for his sake. He was on patrol when the explosion happened. The wife met him at the door, embracing him. “Welcome back sweetheart,” she greeted him “Thank you darling,” Kennedy returned. “Daddy!” The middle of the three kids greeted, glad to have their father home. Leon watched the family, part of him wishing he was able to have the same. “Leon,” The wife said, “How about you get dinner started?” “Yes ma’am” Leon obeyed. Leon retreated to his room to prepare. There was no bed in his room, which was around the same size as a closet. There was a mirror on the far wall, which Leon stood in front of. He looked down at his gloved hands, removing one and then the other to reveal his metal palms. He unbuttoned his police uniform, replacing it with a white button up shirt and bow tie, and an ironed pair of black trousers. He wasn’t required to wear an apron, the family weren’t that traditional, but the rest of the uniform comforted him with a sense of purpose. He glanced in the mirror, looking at his artificial features, and prepared for his home duties.


(IP) Guardian of the Poisoned Gardens Everyone knew of the Poisoned Gardens, forbidden to all but the monks who tended the deadly plants. From childhood, they were trained to withstand all of the Garden’s hidden threats. He’d only heard legends, rumors, whispers. He’d spent his whole life chasing fairy tales, certain that if there was true magic out there, he would find it. And he was finally here at last; the garden smelled suspiciously of flowers, a trap for an unwary traveler. None of the monks he’d read in his books were within sight, but that hardly meant he was alone. Booby traps, an ambush; his fingers twitched, itching to free his weapons from their sheaths. But it would not do to wander in unfamiliar territory with weapons waving about. He hadn’t come all this way just to die at the threshold of the garden. No, he was living to tell this tale, or he would die trying. “I mean no harm!” He said softly, and his only answer was the bubbling of the brook and the sigh of the wind. How could he explain to these isolated monks that all he’d done was follow his curiosity, eager to see where it led? It was past twilight but not yet full night; the sky was painted with a gorgeous palette of blues, purples. If the boy didn’t know better, he would’ve thought the Gardens abandoned. But they were too well-tended to be so. If the boy hadn’t been listening closely, he would’ve missed the soft, almost inaudible rustle of the leaves. Before he could so much as take another breath, he felt a presence, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up. “Don’t move, or I’ll run you through where you stand!” A quiet, musical voice, female, sounded just next to his ear, rustling his hair. He gritted his teeth to resist shuddering. “Who are you? Who sent you here?” “Nobody sent me here,” He stammered; his Adam’s apple bobbed, coming dangerously close to the woman’s weapon, a long *bo* staff with a sharp, tapered point. It was gorgeous, and under other circumstances, he would’ve admired it. But right now he was too occupied with saving his own life. “Only my own curiosity, miss,” He added, and she frowned at him, eyes narrowed. Her head was shaved, but there were a few wisps of hair growing in on the sides, as if she were putting off shaving again. Her eyes were a strange, vivid purple, too dark to be natural. Her skin was olive, and he could see tattoos peeking out of her sleeves. But the thing that was strangest about her was the thick black veins that marched across her skin. She caught him staring and glared. “What are you staring at?” She snapped. “I should pluck out your eyes for seeing this place. Humans aren’t allowed, you know.” He blinked, his mind snagging on the word *human.* Did that mean that this girl wasn’t human, as he was? He’d thought he’d stumbled upon a sect of monks, not an angry, impulsive girl who looked like she had an infectious disease. Maybe his curiosity had led him wrong.


Elon Musk spent his whole life inventing amazing things, his final 7 years were thought to be the best though. He wanted to create a rocket that could fly at the speed of light! He passed before finishing it at the ripe age of 102. He put the project into the hands of his son, X Æ A-12, and grandson, Jesse. Who gladly took over and finished the first model within 7 months. Elon was thought to also be working on a mystery project before he passed. Some thought it was a message for everyone who bought the first tesla. Others thought it was something, much, much bigger. Like a spaceship that could travel through time. "He can already go the speed of light, why not travel through time? The flash did it, so why can't Elon?" Is what some thought, but those people also thought the earth is flat, so obviously no one is going to believe them. We call them The Thinkers. A year before Elon passed I actually got to meet him. And even call him grandpa because I married Jesse, his grandson. Jesse and I have always been interested in space. We met in college. Randomly got paired up for a project and hit it off immediately. Jesse kinda kept his family a little bit of a secret, which I can understand now, but back then it was just a little fishy. I still couldn't help myself, I fell in love with him anyway. Even just the sound of Alex Musk and Jesse Musk is music to my ears. We got married in 2073, a year before Elon died. One of the last things he told me was that he is proud to call me his granddaughter and to never stop pursuing my dream. I still hold this close to my heart. For the next 5 years after the first rocket ship to fly at the speed of light was made, it was mass produced, until there were over a billion made! Enough to hold everyone on the overpopulated Earth and more. This is when nuclear power plants just started blowing up all over the world. There was no rhyme or rhythm to it, it was completely random. This was slowly causing earth to be uninhabitable because of the toxicity. They sent out my crew and I to find a new planet to inhabit. My crew was made up of six amazing people, Caleb Lowes, John Hickory, Eddie Johnson, Barb Lynn, Jannet Ross, and Jenne Aura. These six people are the most loving, caring, and helpful people on Earth. I’m so glad to have them in my life, and on my team! We loaded up into the space shuttle. We were lucky enough to be able to travel in the first one made; the best one. We got sent out on July 14th. I remember the feeling of the shuttle shake, a harl itself into the atmosphere. It was unlike anything I've ever felt before. Once we hit the atmosphere it was like everything stopped for 10 seconds. Just silence and beauty. Until Eddie announced “We did it guys, we're in space!” Everyone cheered. Caleb noticed that NASA put in a coordinate, all we had to do was put the shuttle into the ‘lightspeed’ setting and go. Jenne asked if we were ready, we all responded with “Affirmative.” She pushed up the leaver from normal to lightspeed and pressed the green button saying “Everyone hold on!” We sped into the abis. It was so fast I couldn't even feel it. It was like we didn't even move. We all saw a huge flash of pure white, then a gumble of dots and colors. As if I rubbed my eyes too hard. But the colors weren't colors I've seen before. A color no one can explain. Almost like an absence of color, but it was there. It came with a wave of extreme anxiety and terror. I hope we never have to feel that ever again, even if it was only for a few seconds. Within just a few seconds we were at our destination. Everyone kinda just looks around at eachother like ‘holy crap, what the heck just happened?’ Yet, we all stayed silent. Until Caleb said “What kinda Milano type ship is this?!” He thought he was being funny, but none of us knew what he was talking about. So he explained himself “You know, the spaceship in Guardians of the Galaxy?” None of us understood but he continued, “2014? Marvel? Avengers? Quill flew it to Morag to get the Orb for-” “SPOILERS!” Eddie interrupted. We all just giggled in confusion. Barb sarcastically said “You all are a bunch of idiots.” We all laughed. Caleb asked “You guys do know what I'm talking about though, right?” Laughing John replied “No.” Caleb was the type that could live off of old movies. He even says “Everything after 2021 SUCKS!” Basically, he’s a weirdo. I look outside and say “Well, we’re here.” Jannet asked “We gonna park it, or what?” Jenne pulled the switch into normal while John figures out a good place to land. We successfully landed the ship and tried to contact NASA. Nothing. “We must be too far away.” I said. Everyone agreed. Jenne asks “So, what are we going to name it?” Since we are the first people on this planet we get to name it. I blurted out “ReMusk!” Everyone looked very confused. Eddie hesitantly spoke up and asked “ReMusk?” Happily I explained to myself “Yes! ReMusk! Re, as in a redo of earth. And Musk, because it's the Musk space ships that got us here. Soooo ReMusk!” Silence. Pure silence. “No objections?” I ask. still nothing. They all just look at eachother, waiting for someone to say something. “ReMusk it is.” I say walking towards the door. I open the door and Caleb puts on some music he put on a CD before coming here. He would not survive without music. He probably made 100 CDs, all with 10-50 songs. The CDs range from 1920’s classics to 1980’s rock to 2000’s pop all the way through to 2040’s country. He likes everything!! Even “Yummy” by Justin Beiber, you have to be some kind of crazy to like that song! We unload everything and get settled in. Two days pass and we still haven’t been able to send out anything to NASA or have gotten anything from them. We all decide to take a nature walk. It’s all so beautiful. So peaceful. Every animal we have seen has been a herbivore, fearful, but curious. One animal was furry, fluffy, and looked almost like a dog. but walked on two legs, straight up, but had a third leg. The feet were like monkey hands. while eating it would stand on its smallest leg and use its longer, stronger, legs to grab and eat food. It was super friendly and wanted to stay around us the whole time. We named it Frank and kept it as a pet. Named after Frank Sanatrua, Caleb’s idea. Whilst on this nature walk we saw something move. Then a girl yelled “Hello?!” Confused, I yelled the same thing back. She frantically screamed “Please, don’t hurt me, I’m safe!” Still screaming, I replied “It’s ok we won’t hurt you. Are you injured at all?” She replied “No.” I ask her where she is and we meet up. All of us are very cautious, even Frank. Once we were within 10 ft. of each other Jannet stoped everyone saying “That’s close enough for now” Frank ran twards her super exited, like it knew her. She freaked out saying “Oh my gosh Frank!” Caleb asked what we were all thinking “You know it? And it’s name?” “Yes, I’ve known it since I’ve been alive. It’s mine actually. I lost it about a week ago, thank you for finding it! And as for the name, it’s name has always been Frank. My mom was always the best with coming up with names.” She said while petting Frank and looking at us. “Speaking of names, what’s yours?” I ask. “Oh, Ashley!” She replied. “And yours?” I answered for everyone, pointing at them when I say their name. “Now intruductions are over, I’ll ask what everyone else is thinking. How did you get here and how do you know english?” Jannet said. “Well I’ve lived here my whole life, my mother and her friends raised my freinds and I here. They all spoke english, so I do too.” Ashley answered with a pause “Do you think you guys can help me; I’m kinda lost. Sorry for the inconviounce.” We all ponder the desion. John wispers to all of us “How do we know if we can trust her?” Ashley heard and answered by saying “Well i know this planet better then anyone, so i can help you guys too. I can show you what you can and cannot eat, what is frendly and what isnt. You guys can learn from my mistakes! Please help me, so I can help you!” I ask if she remebers what direction she came from. She said “No, I’ve been looking for Frank and I have no idea where I am now. I think I’ve just been going in circles for awhile” I ask “Do you just want to follow us back to our base and if you see anything familiar, tell us and we will go that direction. If you don’t, just keep going with us and you can stay at our base.” “Yes, ok.” She responds. “This way” I say as I turn around and walk towards our base. We talk about our lives the entire time we walk. About my crew and I from earth. Ashley talking about her life on ReMusk. We get about ⅔ of a mile away from our base and Ashley notices something familiar and screams, “There! That way! There’s my base!” while pointing right. We start walking in that direction while Frank wags his tail at your dog when you get home after a long day at work. Once we get to Ashleys base we see 3 other people. Ashley and Frank run towards them and give them all big hugs, almost crying. She must have been gone for awhile. Ashley introduced everyone. “This is Cale, Jesse Jr., and Bethoney.” She says while pointing to them. I did the same with my crew. Everyone shook hands. I notice they kids look kinda familiar but i don't say anything. We all get to know each other and end up moving our base to theirs. I am honestly so glad there are other people here and we aren’t alone. Such a relief. We spend the next few days getting closer, researching, playing games, and simply just experiencing this new world. One day I noticed that Ashley has the same pearl necklace as me. This necklace is one of a kind. My grandma made it when she was little. Then I gave it to my mom when she turned 16. My mom did the same with me. I asked her about the necklace. She said that her mom also gave it to her when she was 16. Which I found kinda weird, but it probably just blew it off as a weird coincidence. There is one thing that I just couldn't get off my mind; how they look familiar. Then i figured it out! Cale looks like Caleb. Bethoney looks like Barb. Jesse Jr. looks like Jesse, my husband and a little like me. Same as Ashley. I don’t say anything to anyone, yet. I want to test something. I make a sharpie mark on my pearl necklace to see if anything happens to Ashleys. Nothing. I’m still unsure. So I chip the necklace with a screwdriver. I look at Ashleys and hers now has a chip in it when it didn't before. This is the same necklace. These are our kids. We are their parents. Everyone is playing poker. I pull Caleb aside and tell him, he might understand. He does, but he is very shocked. He agrees with me. “Do you think they time traveled somehow?” Caleb whispers to me. “What if it was us that time traveled? I mean, you remember what happened in the space ship when we were coming here.” I suggest. “You said we’d never speak of that again!” Caleb says sternly. “I know, but, comon. Are you really telling me that wasn weird?” I ask. “I’m not saying that, I just, is it really possible to time travel?” Caleb replies. “Yes! I know it sounds crazy, but just hear me out. What if The Thinkers are right. What if Elon was able to make a shuttle fast enough to travel through time. Think about it. If you can travel a LightYear in a tenth of a second, or faster. We could have possibly just gone so far it was as if we time traveled.” I say frantically. “Well I guess that kind of makes sense.” Caleb says, still kinda confused. Cale comes out of the hut and sees Caleb and I talking. “Whatcha guys talkin’ about?” Cale asks. “Oh just asking him about a certain song” I reply hoping he doesn't ask any more questions. “Okay?” Cale says laughing. “Let's get back to Poker then guys.” Caleb replies “Yeah, Poker.” We walk back to the hut and play until everyone gets tired. Everyone goes to bed, but i can’t sleep. I bet Caleb can’t either. I go to the bathroom, which is in a different hut about 100 ft away from the main base. While leaving the bathroom I hear something making noise a little ways away. Its Cale and Caleb! I hide behind a tree to listen to what they say and see what they are doing. I’m like a spy! I can’t really hear what they are saying but i know they are arguing. Then I see Cale punch Caleb in the side of the head, knocking him out intimately. Cale drags his emotionless body to almost complete darkness, but my eyes have already adjusted to the darkness so i can still see them. Cale pulls out a knife, stabbing Caleb in the chest, and drags it down to his hips. Killing Caleb. I watch cale slowly fade out of existence. So it is true. Cale is Caleb's son. I ran back into the bathroom trying to pretend I didn't see anything. I eventually go to the home hut to try and sleep, but i don't think anyone can sleep after that. I lay still staring at the ceiling until morning. I act asleep as everyone wakes up. Once about two others are up I ‘woke up’. All day I had to act like nothing's wrong all day. Just pretend nothing happened. Everyone is drinking at the bar. I tell Jenne what happened because i just couldn't hold it in any longer, I NEEDED to tell someone! I made the mistake of telling Jenne because she told everyone else. Making everyone very mad. Causing a huge bar fight to erupt. But it was more of like a murder fest, because they just kept killing eachother. Bethoney killed John. Jesse Jr. killed Jenne. Jannet killed Jesse jr. Ashley killed Eddie. Finally Bethoney killed Barb, killing herself in the process. All in that order. I am hiding during all of this. Just watching all of my loved ones die right in front of my eyes. Leaving just Ashley, a bunch of dead and bloody bodies, and me. All I can think about is Jesse. I have to make it home to him. It’s just Ahshley and I, and I can't let her win! I have to kill my own daughter, who I haven't even raised yet. She is still looking for me, while she is turned around I pull out my gun and shoot her in the back of the head. I did it. I really did it. I killed someone. As all the blood floods out of her body, so does a letter. I grab it, it has my name on it. “Dear Alex, If you are reading this, my plan failed. I lost, you won. I bet you have a lot of questions. So i think i can answer a few. For starters, you were right, I am your daughter. Cale is Caleb's son, and Bethoney is Barb's daughter. You are very smart, I must say. I was born with a condition that leaves me in inimaginable pain every second of every day. You knew about it before I was even born. Yet you still had me. So you have to pay for what you have done. I decided to kill you before you can even have me. I know I couldn't just go back in time and kill you while you're sleeping. That's too easy. I had to get you to love me first. Give you hope. So I could rip it away from you. Make you in pain like you've done to me. You Did this to me mom! IT’S YOUR FAULT I’M LIKE THIS ALEX! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!! So I made a plan. Jesse would go back in time and blow up nuclear power plants all over the world after all the space shuttles were made. Then leave his time travel ship there, calling it The First Elon Musk Space Ship and assigning it to you and your crew. He stayed on the ship until you got here. He would then escape and come to our base. We would become close, giving hope. Then I would kill you. I’m guessing it didn't go like that though. So you won, I hope it was worth it. I'm sorry mom. Love, Ashley <3 P.s. turn around ;)” I turn around, Ashley is standing right behind me. With the gun pointed at my head. “Ashley, baby, you don’t have to do this! I can make it all better! I’m sorry” I plead. “Yes I do” Ashley says while pulling the trigger. As life fades out of me, Ashley’s entire existence does too.


“Can I stay in the bath for just a little bit longer, Mommy?” Jenny asked her mom. She was playing with her favorite Barbie doll and did not want to stop just yet. Her mom looked at her daughter lovingly and said, “You’ve been in this bath for an hour and it’s time to get out.” “But I don’t wanna!” Jenny yelled. “Come on, we’ll have some ice cream in a little bit if you get out now.” Her mother replied. “ICE CREAM! I am done with the bath. Let’s get ice cream!” Jenny squealed with excitement as she stood up in the murky water. Her mom walked over to the tub and wrapped a towel around the five-year-old, as she eagerly tried to get of bath by herself. Janet, Jenny’s mom, towel-dried her hair, body, and then put a nightgown on her little girl. After getting dressed, Jenny looked up at her mom and asked, “What are we going to do now, Mommy?” “I figured we would watch some TV since your dad is out of town. *COPS* is about to come on.” “NO! I don’t wanna watch *COPS*. You always watch that show and it’s boring.” “Oh, come on child. I’ll put *COPS* on and then I will get you some ice cream.” “Ice cream! I forgot.” Jenny giggled as she ran to the couch and plopped down to wait for her favorite treat. Her mom walked to the kitchen as Jenny settled into the living room. She could hear her daughter singing along to the theme song of the show while she pulled a bowl out of the cupboard. Before she could retrieve the ice cream from the freezer, she heard a knock at the door, and little feet running into the kitchen. “Mommy! Someone is knocking at the door. Do you think Daddy is back already?” Jenny asked. “No, honey. That shouldn’t be your daddy because I talked to him not too long ago and he is still at your uncle’s in Kentucky.” Janet replied with a hint of concern in her voice. “Can I answer the door, mom?” “No, sweetie. I’ve got it. You go watch the show and I will see who is here.” Janet said as she put the kitchen towel on the counter and picked Jenny up in her arms. She placed her daughter on the couch and walked five feet to the front door of their house. Janet looked out of the small window to see who was knocking at such a late hour. She did not notice the man who was standing on their porch. “Can I help you?” Janet asked through the door. A frantic voice replied, “Help! My wife and I just got into an accident up the road and we need the police. Please let me use your phone so we can get an ambulance to her. She’s bleeding bad.” “I’ll call the police for you. Where was the accident?” She replied with a little more concern in her voice. “My wife wasn’t responding before I walked up here. I will need to talk to them. Please let me come in and use your phone.” The stranger begged. “I’m going to call now,” Janet stated as she hurried away from the door and found the portable phone. She walked back over to the front door, and little Jenny could hear the man yelling through the shut door. Jenny was quite confused about what was going on and she did not know why her mom was acting scared. “Is that person OK, mommy?” Jenny asked while watching her mom walk back to the barrier between them and the unknown man. “Everything is fine, Jenny. This man had a car accident and his wife is hurt. I’m going to call the police for him.” Her mom turned and smiled at her as she said this. Janet looked back at the front door and said to the unknown visitor, “I am dialing 9-1-1 right now. What do you want me to tell them?” “P-p-please let me t-t-talk to them. My wife is dying! You won’t s-s-say the right thing and they’ll take too long to get here! Just l-l-let me talk to them!” The man pleaded between sobs. Janet stared at the front door, then looked at the portable phone in her had. Throwing all but a little caution away, she put her foot at the base of the door and unlocked the chain lock and deadbolt. “I’m going to hand you the phone and you make your call.” She said in a loud and stern voice that the little girl recognized. Jenny was still on the couch and did not understand why her mom was acting so strangely and talking to the stranger like he was in trouble. The TV caught the little girl’s attention with a commercial and she quit paying attention to what her mom was doing. A moment later, Jenny heard a loud crash and looked over to her mom. Two men were in the house now, one a small man and the other was quite larger than him. They had Jenny’s mother by the neck against the wall. The big man had a large knife in his hands and was yelling at the small man to get Jenny. “You almost fucked everything up. Now get that little bitch over there and we can get this over with!” “You want me to get the little girl?” The small man replied with a small amount of confusion in his tone. Jenny watched her mother as all of this was happening. She saw the knife by her mom’s throat and did not want anything to happen to her. She just knew that she had to help her mom because her mom always helped her when she fell off her bike and scraped her knees. Suddenly, like a lightbulb flashing over her small head, she remembered that her dad kept a big hammer in the kitchen cabinet by the floor. Jenny always got in trouble for trying to pick up the hammer, so she knew exactly where to get it. She was going to get these mean people away from her mom. Without hesitation, Jenny ran into the kitchen cabinet and opened it. She could hear one of the men yell, “Get that bitch!” as she took off. She knew that she didn’t have much time to save her mom. Jenny franticly opened the kitchen cabinet and the big hammer was gone. She was frozen in fear because she didn’t know what to do now. “Run, Jenny. Run!” She heard her mom yell from the living room. A commotion followed that order, and Jenny ran. She ran right out of the back door into the darkness of the night. She didn’t know where to go so she hid behind the tree in the backyard and held her hand over her mouth. She watched as her mom ran outside and around the front of the house. Something inside the girl told her to stay still and don’t move even though she wanted to chase her mom. She watched the smaller man come running after her mom and yelling, “Get back here!” Jenny stayed behind the tree and made sure that she was hidden because the really scary man was going to come next. As that thought crossed her mind, the big man was stumbling out of the back door. Jenny sucked in her breath and held it. All she could think was that she didn’t want to die. “Where are you?” He lulled to the darkness. “If you’re out here you better come out now!” Jenny could see the man close up now. He was crouched down with his hands on his thighs as if he were taking a break. His black hair was longer than her daddy’s, and it was messy. She saw his eyes searching the darkness for her as he took two steps forward. “I’m not gonna hurt ya.” He lied. “We just need to talk to your mom for a little bit.” The way he said this scared Jenny because she thought he saw her. She slinked around the back of the tree and prayed she would become part of the tree. Silence ensued. Jenny could no longer see the man and she was trying to listen for him to leave. “FUCK THIS!” He screamed so loud it made Jenny jump. She heard his footsteps go back into the house and she peeked around the tree. No one was in the backyard with her anymore. She found the courage to run. She ran toward the front of the house where the side, chain-link gate was locked with a heavy steel chain. She started to climb the gate as she thought, “Well I don’t think I’ll get in trouble for climbing the fence this time. I hope not at least.” She jumped off the fence and was on the other side. She could see her mom now, running and banging on each door of their neighborhood. Her mom was yelling, “Please help us! They’re trying to kill us!” “Mommy!” Jenny yelled at her mom. “Run, Jenny! Find help but don’t let them get you!” Her mom screamed without looking at Jenny. The little girl ran to their next-door neighbor’s house and started banging on the locked storm door. She knew their neighbor was a sweet, old lady that could not fight the mean men. Jenny knew this but needed the phone to call 9-1-1 like they had taught her in kindergarten. The old lady never answered the door and Jenny felt defeated. Janet came running up to Jenny and was almost completely out of breath. “Did she answer the door?” She asked. “No! I don’t know what to do.” Jenny sobbed. “Sadie! You better answer this door. There are men trying to kill me and Jenny!” Janet exclaimed as she was pounding on their neighbor’s front door. “Where did the bad man go?” Jenny asked as she looked around in the dark. “He went back in the house. We need to get help before they come back outside.” A light broke up the darkness on their street. It was a van coming down the road. Janet ran as fast as she could to stop the van with her body. Jenny followed her as she was sure this was the help that they were waiting for. The van slowed down, and Jenny could see the van was full of people. Janet was banging on their windows begging for them to help. The van never stopped and continued on down the street as if Jenny and Janet were just ghosts that they could not see. When the van was out of sight, a loud voice boomed from behind them, “We got what we came for so now it’s time to take care of you finally.” It was the big man. He no longer had the knife in his hand, but he came running toward Janet with haste. Jenny stepped backward and started to cry. She could not fight this man and she wished her daddy was there to help. The man took her mom by the throat again and started to choke her. Janet was fighting back but the man was a lot stronger than she was. “Get off of her!” A miraculous voice yelled from the night. Jenny looked around to see who had said that. All of a sudden, a porch light came on and Jenny saw a woman standing outside with her phone in her hand. “I said get off of her! I have the police on the line right now.” The woman yelled again. The man released Janet from his clutches, and she fell to the pavement. At that very moment, the smaller man appeared at the front door with a confused look on his face. The big man bellowed at him, “Go get the shit! The cops are coming for these sluts.” Janet picked herself up off the ground, grabbed Jenny’s arm, and they ran to the neighbor. “Help!” Janet and Jenny cried in unison. “What is going on? Is that your husband?” The neighbor asked as she walked to meet them in the street. “No! I don’t know who it is. They broke into the house and had a knife to my throat. They went after Jenny!” Janet broke down as she recounted what had happened. The neighbor helped Janet and Jenny into her house to make sure that they were safe. Janet finished telling her what happened, and the phone rang. “Hello?” The neighbor-lady asked. “Oh, they’re right here. The robbers were still in the house, so I brought them inside mine.” Then a pause. “OK, I’ll let them know. Thank you so much.” She hung up the phone and looked at Janet. “The police are inside your house investigating what happened. They want to speak with you.” Janet nodded at the neighbor with a small, grateful smile. “And you, young lady. They will want to talk to you too and it’s going to be alright. You are awfully brave for only being in kindergarten and you helped your mom a lot tonight. You know that right?” “The big hammer wasn’t in the cabinet.” That’s all Jenny could muster from being called brave. “Hey! That’s OK because you are both safe now. Your mom is very lucky to have such a brave little girl.” The neighbor replied with a soft smile. “Thank you. Did you call my daddy too?” Jenny still had tears in her eyes when she asked this. “No, I don’t know where your daddy is to call. The police will be able to help you call him, OK?” “OK.” Janet and Jenny walked outside and saw the whole block was full of red and blue lights. This hurt Jenny’s eyes as she walked back home. With each step, Jenny would look around to see if she saw the bad men again. Jenny walked inside the house with her mother and saw that all of her toys were thrown around the living room. There was a police officer speaking to her mom and Jenny stayed silent in the background. A tall, skinny African-American officer walked over to Jenny. He bent down so he would be close to her height and said, “How are you, little lady?” “I’m scared,” Jenny said weakly. “I know you are and that is normal. Your mom told me how if it weren’t for you then the bad men may have hurt her really bad.” He worked up a smile when he said this. “I just didn’t want my mommy to get dead. I thought the big hammer was in the kitchen.” She replied. “She is talking about the sledgehammer that her father kept in the kitchen until she kept pulling it out.” Janet interrupted to explain. “I see.” The officer said as he wrote into his small notepad. He looked back at Jenny, “Can you tell me what happened?” “Are they gone now? I’m scared.” Jenny replied. “They are gone. I promise that we won’t let them try and hurt you, or your mom, again. OK? I just need to know what happened so I can make sure we put them in jail.” He smiled at Jenny and that made her feel much better. Jenny sighed and said, “Me and Mommy had just got done cleaning up all of my toys, but the mean men knocked them all over again. Mommy put me in the bath, and we were going to watch *COPS* but then the bad people knocked on the door…”.


Have you ever wondered how it is that your heart works with so much elegance and passion? So small and yet so beautiful. Just like a little platinum ring hidden away in a small velvet box. A ring that could bond two souls for a lifetime. A heart strangled in arteries and veins, with four marvellous chambers sucking away the pollution inside you and filling you with fresh oxygen. Oh, so exquisite! My poetic thoughts are interrupted as I see my girlfriend, flipping her hair around her shoulders while she walks into the kitchen. She mutters incoherently as she passes me. But my head is too caught up in the beauty of her skin and my ears are too busy enjoying the song of her heartbeats to even pay attention to what she is saying. I begin to walk towards her. I hold her face in my palm and rest my thumb on her cheek. I can already sense the rushing of the blood, with her body pressed against mine, I can feel the "Lub dub, Lub dub" of her heart. "God, you're so beautiful! I cannot take this anymore. I want every piece of you for myself." I whisper in her ear as she giggles. I smile at those lips. Those soft bundles of cellular layers, that glistening epidermis. They get me so high. I wonder how they would taste in my mouth. My stomach drops and my hands start to shake. I close my eyes, trying to get my breathing under control but only in vain. My blood is turning into molten lava and exploding through the volcano of my heart. My head feels like its floating among the clouds. It's happening again. I'm terrified but excited at the same time. "Close your eyes. I want to recite something I wrote for you." I say in a seductive tone. With a flirty look on her face she raises her eyebrows at me while she closes her eyes slowly with a smile. "I take a deep breath, taking in the aroma that surrounds her. She smells so human. She smells of thick skin and warm blood." I say and I take a deep breath. Oh, nothing could get me this high. She puts marijuana to shame. "I walk behind her slowly, placing soft kisses on her neck." I say and I follow suit. Her skin tastes like stars. I've always wanted to taste stars. "And then... I hold her wrists as I trace the nerves pressing against her skin. Feeling the rhythm of her heart, just like playing an instrument." I hear her laugh as I run my thumb across the nerves of her wrist to the ulnar and the radical arteries carrying her starry blood along her forearm. Oh, isn't her anatomy a piece of art? I lean in. Pressing my mouth against her ears, I whisper, "Slowly and steadily, I grab the knife from the kitchen counter and stab her through her ribs from behind." Before she can react, I turn my words into reality. She wails in pain and begins to wither in my arms. "I grab her neck with my other hand as I try to choke her. Minimising her ability to shout or scream and momentarily paralysing the muscles that control her breathing." Her screams and her pain bring life to the beautiful poetry I just recited. I let her go as she collapses to the ground. She struggles to breathe and eventually, her heart-beats come to a halt. I pat myself on the back for making a much lesser mess than all other times. I clutch the knife tight in my hands ready to sculpt her into a chef's choice. Sculpt her into a platinum ring that would bond my soul and hers forever. I can't wait to taste her. I can't wait to have a part of her inside of me for eternity.


“Argh” Jeff shouted while slowly regaining consciousness, as he lay flat on a hospital bed. The fluorescent lighting beaming into his eyes. Throbbing pain pierced his skull. His legs felt tingly and his butthole was itchy. The type of itch you get when you don’t wipe well enough. Sure, you can adjust yourself in your chair to scratch the itch, but that’s only a temporary fix. Eventually you’ll have to do a walk of shame back to the bathroom to re-wipe. Jeff shook his head in disgust with himself. ‘32 years old, I should have this figured out by now’ The door swung open and in walked a doctor. “Oh, good. You’re awake. You gave us quite the scare back there. How are you feeling?” “Like my brain is going to explode.” Jeff answered. “Well, that will happen when you faint and slam your head on a tile floor. We’ve run some tests already, but we’d also like to give you an MRI. You may have had a concussion. Other that your headache, are there any other ailments? Dizziness? Sensitivity to light?” Jeff hesitated just in case the doctor brought up itchy buttholes, but apparently that’s only a symptom of laziness. “No,” he replied. “Pretty much just the head– HEY WAIT A SECOND! WHERE IS SHE?” Suddenly Jeff remembered the reason he was in the hospital in the first place. Seven hours prior he walked through the sliding glass doors downstairs with his pregnant wife who was going into labor. It was to be their first child and they were beyond excited. Neither one of them knew the gender. They both thought it would be best for it to come as a surprise. That was the only thing they agreed on. “If it’s a boy, we’ll name him Kobe” Jeff declared not caring about his wife’s opinion on the matter. He was flexible with girl names. “Helen, Patricia, Blanche, whatever.” He’d always say. “I don’t care. But if it’s a boy. We’re naming him Kobe.” “Those are all old lady names.” His wife angrily replied. “When was the last time you met a baby named Blanche?” “What does that matter?” “It’s a stupid name, that’s what it matters.” “It’s a great name. It’s vintage. It’s ageless.” “It’s a terrible name. It’s dull. It’s antiquated.” Jeff groaned. His wife picked up the big book of baby names and began rifling through the pages. Oh how Jeff hated that book. In his mind, it was the main reason they couldn’t come to an agreement. The book provided too many options which made the decision far more complicated than it needed to be. Jeff’s wife stopped in the P section and fawned at one name in particular. “What about Penelope?” She said excitedly. “We could call her Penny for short.” “If you want to call her Penny, then just name her Penny. Why name her something and address her as something else? It makes no sense!” “Oh you’re impossible!” She shouted before storming out of the room. Jeff picked up the big book of baby names and shot it into the trash, “Kobe!” “Jeff!” The doctor shouted. “Are you paying attention?” Jeff’s ears perked up. “Where’s my wife!” He shouted again. The doctor sat down next to Jeff, leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, took off his glasses and held them in his lap. He called it, the empathetic stance. It was his go-to seated position for delivering bad news to a patient. “There were some complications during your wife’s delivery. I don’t know how much you recall before you blacked out, but it wasn’t pretty.” Jeff gave the doctor a blank stare. The doctor continued. “Sir, I’m very sorry to inform you that your wife is now longer with us. She has perished.” “She went to church!” “What? No, she didn’t go to church.” “Ok, good.” Jeff, a devout atheist, said with a sigh of relief. “No, to perish means to die.” Jeff gave the doctor another blank stare. “Sir, your wife is dead.” “Oh.” Jeff said “Oh man!” He continued. “Oh my fucking god! Are you serious!” Oh man!” He added finally grasping the severity of the situation. The doctor leaned forward and handed Jeff a Kleenex, then leaned back and uncrossed his legs because the way he was sitting was crushing his balls. “Wait.” Jeff called out. “What about my baby?” “The baby survived” the doctor answered. “Oh, thank Judas! Can I see him or her? Is it a him or a her? Is it a boy? Please tell me it’s a boy!” The doctor was silent. “Tell me, man! Please.” Jeff whined. The doctor leaned forward, put on his glasses, then leaned back, crossed his legs, removed his glasses and placed them on his lap. “Sir, your baby is a panda.” “A what?” “A panda.” “As in, a panda bear?” “Yes.” “A panda bear?” “Correct.” “So, you’re telling me that my baby is a panda.” “Precisely.” “Argh,” Jeff screamed in pain. “What’s the matter?” The doctor inquired. “I’ve got a charleyhorse.” “Calm down, try to relax.” The doctor said. “I’ll get you some water. Jeff laid his head back on the pillow and tried to relax. But he couldn’t. There was simply too much on his mind. Then he began laughing. “Ok, ok, good one!” He said amusedly. “You’re joking, right?” “No, I’m not.” The doctor replied. “Come on, you’re pranking me, right?” “Nope” “You’re yanking my chain.” “I assure you I’m not.” “You’re pulling my leg.” “Oh, sorry,” The doctor apologized while trying to massage out the charleyhorse in Jeff’s thigh. He loosened his grip. “That better?” “Yes, thank you.” Jeff answered. Jeff was at a loss for words. There was a lot about the world he didn’t understand. For example: why does an inquiry into your credit affect your credit score? Why does Facebook show you ads for things you’ve already purchased? And why isn’t the government telling us the truth about birds being drones sent down to spy on us? You see, Jeff was also a conspiracy theorist. He questioned the moon landing and had his suspicions about the earth being round, but nothing left him more perplexed than the notion of two human beings conceiving a panda. “It just doesn’t make any sense.” Jeff said. “It’s impossible.” The doctor leaned forward and pushed his glasses up on his head. “Let me tell you something I’ve learned over the years.” He said “Nothing is impossible.” “Nothing?” “Nothing. I’ve been practicing medicine for 37 years and in that time I’ve seen things I would never believe possible had I not witnessed them with my own eyes. Just last week I watched two red-headed freckle-faced parents give birth to a baby with brown hair and brown eyes. I witnessed a colleague pull a 12 inch spike out of a little girls eye socket once and not only did she not lose her vision, but she didn’t even cry. It was astonishing. Three years ago, a homeless man was admitted complaining of abdominal pain. And, I shit you not, an X-ray revealed a live beaver living inside his chest cavity.” “Oh, my Judas.” Jeff exclaimed. “Oh, my Judas is right,” The doctor concurred. “The human body is an incredibly complex mechanism. I may not be able to explain some of the things I’ve seen. Because, simply put, some things are unexplainable. But I firmly believe that nothing is impossible.” “Ok,” Jeff said apprehensively. “But there’s gotta be an explanation. There just has to be.” The doctor leaned back in his chair and pushed his glasses back down on his face. Then he took them off and placed them on the table beside him. He didn’t even need them. He had LASIK surgery two years ago but his wife insists that he continues to wear them. They make you look smarter, she tells him. “Well, I have a PHD from Johns Hopkins.” He argues back. Of course I’m smart. Why do I need to prove to people I’m intelligent. I’m a fucking doctor for Christ’s sake. “Why don’t you give me your theory on how this happened,” The doctor asked Jeff after noticing his trademark blank stare. “Ok here it goes,” Jeff started out. “Eight years ago I went to Manila for my friends bachelor party.” “Well, that’s quite the trek.” “Indeed it was. But his fiancé was native to the area and my friend wanted to acclimate himself to her culture.” “Well, that’s very thoughtful. How did they meet?” “She was a mail order bride.” “Ok,” the doctor paused for a moment. “Well, continue.” “Anyways, we bought some pot off a cab driver but I’m pretty sure it was PCP or something, because minutes later I jumped out of the moving car and tumbled down a hill.” “Why’d you do that?” “I thought I was getting attacked by a snake.” “And?” “Turns out it was my seatbelt.” “Continue.” “I wound up in this shady back-alley hospital getting a blood transfusion. It was super scary. The place doubled as a meat processing plant. They were slaughtering pigs in the very same room.” “Is it possible that they weren’t slaughtering pigs and that you were hallucinating?” “Doubtful. But I wasn’t going to bring it up to the doctor.” “Why not?” “Because he was a demon.” The doctor sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment. “Continue.” “I’m about 97% sure they put animal blood in me that day.” Jeff said. “Up until this point I assumed it was pig blood or raccoon blood. There’s a small chance it could’ve been rhinoceros blood. My stupid idiot friend tried to convince me it was giraffe blood. The moron—giraffes aren’t even real. But now I’m thinking it was definitely panda blood instead. I mean it has to be panda blood, right?” The doctor checked his pager to see if he was getting paged. He wasn’t. “Continue,” he said. “Well, about a month after the incident in Manila, I was doing electrical work for a friend of a friend and I received a pretty significant shock.” “Ouch.”the doctor said. “You’re telling me.” Jeff replied “It hurt like hell. singed all my ball hairs off. It’s just—I don’t know man, there’s something about that day that’s always seemed off to me, ya know? Like, I felt something inside me that day. Something I’ve never felt before.” “Electricity?” “No, something more.” “Like what?” “I’ve never been able to comprehend it but perhaps that feeling I felt was the fusing of my DNA with Panda DNA, and that moment was the moment I became a panda. Even though, on the outside, I’m Jeff, a living walking human being, on the inside, I’m a panda.” The doctor cleared his throat, and took a strong sip of coffee. “And what evidence would you have to support that theory?” Jeff paused for a moment to thought about his life and what character traits he had that simulated that of a panda. “Facial hair!” He shouted. “Facial hair?” “Yes, facial hair. Before the incident, I had a baby face. I hardly ever had to shave but soon after I began growing hair like crazy.” “I was the same way,” The doctor replied. “All my friends could grow beards in high school but I couldn’t grow anything until my mid-twenties. It’s not uncommon.” “This was different.” Jeff said. “It wasn’t a gradual change. I went from not having to shave at all to being able to grow a Fu Manchu overnight.” The doctor chuckled. “Fu Manchus are silly,” He said while giggling. “Haha, yes they are.” Jeff agreed. Jeff wiggled in his bed as subtlety as he could to avoid the doctors suspicions of his itchy butthole. The doctor checked his pager once more. It was a slow day. “Continue” he said. “Well, I guess now I should tell you about my bamboo phase.” “Your bamboo phase?” Jeff nodded. “It was right after I bought my house. I’ve never been much of a decorator but after I installed bamboo flooring in my living room, I became infatuated with everything bamboo. I had bamboo wall paneling, bamboo furniture, bamboo place mats and bamboo window shades. I even owned a bamboo turtle neck.” “Well, I’d imagine that would be quite uncomfortable.” “It was itchy, that’s for sure. But it was a conversation starter. I was wearing it the night I met my wife. She was also a bamboo enthusiast.” The doctor’s pager beeped. He took it off his hip, glanced at it, and placed it back. “It’s time for your MRI.” He said. “Ok.” Jeff replied still a little shaken over the whole ordeal. “Wait!” He blurted out. “I forgot about Glenn. Yes, Glenn. It had to be him!” “Who the hell is Glenn?” The doctor inquired. “Glenn was my college roommate.” Jeff answered. “The two of us did not see eye to eye. He worked at a research laboratory and I know for a fact they did animal testing. What if... bear with me now, but what if, they developed some kind of panda transformation serum and Glenn injected me with it while I slept?” “And why the hell would he do that?” The doctor asked. “Because he didn’t like me, man. Haven’t you been listening? To his credit, I wasn’t the best roommate. I’m actually ashamed of the person I was back then. I’ve changed. But I was doing a lot of drugs at the time and didn’t exactly help pick up around the apartment. And there was the time I ate all his pizza rolls while he was at work.” “My god!” The doctor yelled. “You’re a monster!” “Yeah, I know man. Geez! I was just saying how ashamed I was. Jeff said in an emotional tone. “You know I’m going through a lot right now. I just found out that I’m a widow and a panda. And I haven’t even seen my son yet. You could be a little more understanding ya know.” He softly muttered while a single tear rolled down his cheek. The doctor fought the urge to roll his eyes. Deep down inside he knew Jeff was right about him. He could be more understanding. Every evaluation he had over the last decade stated that same thing. He was a terrific doctor but he wasn’t exactly known for his bedside manner. You need to be nicer to your patients, his supervisors would always tell him. He was working on correcting that issue. That’s why he created the empathetic stance. “They’ll see”, he told himself, sensing an improvement in his demeanor. The empathetic stance will revolutionize medicine. “Doc,” Jeff called out. “So, what do you think? Do you think Glenn gave me the serum? Nothing is impossible, right? You said so, yourself.” “No, I think the answer is simpler than that.” The doctor replied. “What do you mean?” Jeff asked. The doctor leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, removed his glasses and placed them on his lap. “Your wife fucked a panda.