And the story unfolds . . .
NOBODY'S OUT THERE
Blues and greys washed into each other as she clutched the book to her chest.
The rain fell straight down onto her parka hood, the drops dancing as they fell from
it’s brim and bounced off the calm surface of the sea. She stood watching, waiting.
_________
Chapter 1
There was a rustling in the pile of leaves and detritus at the back of the bus. The boy emerged, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he began to take stock of his situation.
It seemed he was in his old school bus, the vehicle now having succumbed to years of leafy growth as vines ensnared the seats and moss lined its dark corners. Few rays of light managed to penetrate the overgrown windows so, in near darkness, he crawled and felt his way toward the exit at the front of the bus.
Stepping out, he found his foot met with the damp crackle of a deep forest’s undergrowth. As he gradually accustomed his eyes to the light outside, he caught glimpse of movement in the tree line ahead and called out, but his thin cry was met with no response. Carefully picking his way around the overgrown tree roots and thick carpets of fern, he made his way to the woods edge, but found only a faint trail penetrating into the dank bush. Looking behind him he could see his bus was one of many rusted out wrecks that had been consumed by the forest he found himself in, a corpse among a graveyard of twisted metal.
Resigned, he pushed forward into the foliage hoping to catch up with whoever or whatever it was that had caught his eye. After walking for a time the trees began to thin and a field of long grass lay ahead. Looking ahead he could just make out the outline of a building in the hazy afternoon sun. With no sign of life, he began to make his way towards the building. Pushing his way through the shoulder length grass, his movement disturbed the seed heads, raising a cloud of golden dust trailing behind him. Getting closer, he could make out that the building looked like a burnt out old gondola station, a fleeting memory passed, like he should know this place. Upon closer inspection, he realised that it was perched on the edge of a massive cliff. Wires hung, rusted and frayed, the trapped gondola compartments suspended, lifeless, and gently swinging in the wind.
Looking out over the cliff, seeing the land laid out below him, he felt that something out there was waiting for him. The clouds framed the massive drop to the ground below. From the base of the cliff a thick ancient looking forest stretched out, and in the distance he could make out a body of water. On the horizon, lightening flashed.
Chapter 2
After navigating his way down a narrow track to the cliffs base, he found himself at the edge of the forest in front of a big iron gate. Standing all out of place, the gate marked the start of a wide, well-kept path, the rest of the forest looking dark, menacing and brooding.
Not long after beginning down the path, the forest started encroaching. He began to think it wasn’t such a good idea to proceed, but the wild and impenetrable undergrowth left him no option but to continue down the dead-straight, featureless path. After what seemed like hours of monotonous walking there appeared on his right an old wooden table and chairs being swallowed by the forest. It reminded him of eating roast chicken and peas on Sunday nights, and made him realise how hungry he was. Continuing on down the path, lost in thought and having trouble trying to remember his last meal, he caught his foot on something and fell to the dusty path. Looking back he saw that he had tripped on a tangle of chain and following it into the trees he could see where the frame of an old set of swings stood hidden by foliage. Getting up he felt his head spin and he began to feel dazed. The boy continued to stumble on, hoping the end of the track would appear soon.
He saw on the side of the path a beautiful patch of flowers, fox gloves, possibly something else. He used to know someone that loved foxgloves, of all things, but couldn’t remember who.
Each step became more of a struggle, his body becoming sluggish, his thoughts blurred. Strange things kept on appearing that triggered memories to his past. The forest began to darken, he felt dizzy and started to have trouble focusing. A few feet on, he took a final faltering step before his legs gave out and the darkness covered him.
Chapter 3
Pain shot up from his hand, jolting him back to consciousness. He shook his head, opening his eyes to find a gargantuan raven staring at him, it’s massive beak darting in to peck at a bloody wound on his hand. Screaming, he jumped back from the beast, startling it for a second, giving him time to scramble to his feet. The bird’s surprise turned to anger as its pickings came to life. It gave a furious screech and extended its useless wings, which hung loosely from its ragged body.
Glancing around, the boy looked for a weapon. He spotted a stick and dove towards it. The craven raven attacked and intercepted the boy, its mighty talons scratching gouges into his back. The boy gave up the stick, jumped to his feet and ran. Darting through the trees tripping on undergrowth he could hear the raven’s blundering pursuit. The raven was almost on him again; his only hope lay in finding a tree to climb out of the raven’s reach. Almost as if his thoughts had been read he spotted a cast iron ladder to his right. He couldn’t believe his luck, swerving, he ran to it, scampering up the first few rungs and kicking out at the raven hot on his heels. Ascending up into the treetops and looking down, he could see the raven’s ungainly attempts to scale the ladder. As he climbed further into the treetops he could hear the frustrated creatures cry of anger “RAIGH!!” on the forest’s floor below.
Chapter 4
The rungs felt solid as he clambered his way up into the leaves, but instead of poking through the top of the tree as he had expected the ladder kept going and going. This tree was indeed a monster! Finally he spied light filtering through the canopy and lifted himself out through the forest roof only to find the ladder continued up into the sky where it then ran up into the clouds. Looking around he could see many other ladders bursting through the sea of green in the distance. Arms burning, he kept on moving, trying not to look back as he ascended to a dizzying height, eventually climbing into a hole in the cloud that was a perfect round cut out through the strangely solid exterior. Everything turned to darkness and then he clambered out of the hole onto the top of the cloud, which was surprisingly solid. He tentatively lifted himself onto the clouds smooth top surface and found it could easily support his weight. He had plenty of room to sit and stretch out his legs, and an amazing view of the sunset in progress. The sun held the remaining warmth from the day in its orange glow, so it was a wonderfully comfortable place for him to be. After the ordeal of the day, he couldn't help himself but to fall into a deep asleep.
Chapter 5
The moon rose over the sleeping land below, its gaseous shape wavering and ever changing as if it were a reflection on rippling water, its colour shifting with the moons changing mood. Its eyes shifted to the boy asleep on his drifting cloud, pausing and considering him for a moment, then looking out across the land. The moon started to sing:
Waking in the night
In absence of this light
This darkness so menacing
These feelings are vanishing
Nobody's out there
No one is answering
And we are all alone
And we are calling out to anyone
And these thoughts I had
They're turning to disbelief
I'm quietly watching the sand
Slipping from my hand
As dawn appeared and the moon retreated, the morning sun began to burn off the clouds…
Chapter 6
He dreamt they stood together on the cliffs top, watching the gondolas drift towards the forest floor, just him and the girl. He was older. He reached out a hand to touch her, and as she turned there was terrible wrenching noise; the gondolas lurched to a stop, the cliff fell away beneath them…..
He woke, his ears filled with the noise of icy cold air rushing past him. Terror gripped the boy as he realised he was spiralling to the ground from his perch in the skies above. Flailing wildly, he struggled to gain control as he fell towards an enormous barren tree. The tree, standing on the edge of a dark lake was full of glowing lanterns hanging from its gnarled leafless branches. He thought he was done for. Bracing himself, he crashed through; breaking branches and knocking lanterns, sending him into a spin. He caught a glimpse of a wild growth of giant flowers. A blinding flash of pain struck his back as he bounced off a monstrous petal, breaking his fall. Hitting the ground in a rain of pollen, the lanterns shattered around him, glass splintering, and their fiery glow spilling out.
Chapter 7
Rising to his feet, he panicked seeing the shattered lanterns fiery contents spilling out all around him. The area was beginning to sparkle and shimmer as the flames light filtered through the pollen-laden air. The fire pulsed and grew, threatening to engulf him. Glancing quickly at his surroundings, he noticed a strange object afloat on the lake. Running through the dark mist of the lake’s shore he saw that it was some sort of giant crab shell, upside down, hollowed out and floating with legs still attached. Looking back, he saw that the fire seemed to be eerily rising of the ground, looking harder he could see that it was comprised of tiny red flame like creatures about the size of a toad stools. They swarmed, climbing slowly over everything including themselves, spilling forth towards the boy and the lake. He realised they were coming for him. Turning, he dashed for the crab shell that conveniently had come to rest on the lakes shore. Jumping in, with the fire sprites just meters away, he pushed off into the dark forbidding lake. The following sprites appeared to have stopped at the lakes shore, not willing to touch the lakes cold, grey surface. Turning, looking for some kind of paddling device he noticed the shell started pushing on its own volition through the mist toward a destination unknown. Reaching over the edge, he scooped a handful of water to drink, finding it thick, salty and unpalatable. Giving over to the vessels whims, he leaned back against the slightly furry sides and resigned himself to watching the forest slide by. As he sat, he wondered about where this boat was taking him, he pondered his journey so far and where about that was leading. It was all a bit overwhelming, but he felt a sense that he was on the right path somehow.
Chapter 8
The crab shell shook as it scraped up onto the lakes pebbled shoreline. Clambering out of the makeshift vessel he stepped onto the beach and sunk into the wet sand. The area evoked a strange sense of deja vu as he trudged up the beach towards a weather beaten signpost reading “Haewai bay”. Beneath the sign lay a half buried book with an alluring red cover. Stooping he dug the large book out of the sand. Peeling back the heavy sodden cover, the book’s damp pages were empty aside from a single entry:
Let me go,
through these orange trees,
crawling on my knees,
so we can fly away.
through these hollow dreams
falling,
help me please...
Clutching the book to his chest, he looked out at what lay beyond. The beach ran up towards the dunes, where it met with the start of a tussocky plain with few features other than strewn boulders and driftwood. There were no sounds of life, only the lonely caress of the wind blowing through the grasses. A scar ran across the featureless landscape, a train track that snaked its way off into the horizon.
Chapter 9
In the distance a black mass was approaching, billowing forth a cloud of smoke & dust. In front of him lay the track he had seen earlier set in the ground, zipper-like with teeth made of bone and glass and stitched into the earth. Along this track the mass ran full tilt towards him. As it neared, all he could make it out was a pile of trash sprouting legs that propelled it along, all sitting in a cart on the tracks.
The mass stops in front of him. With a low rumble it said: “A memory for passage”.
Startled, the boy replied shakily “What do you mean?”.
“An item that holds a memory will gain you passage”.
With nothing else to offer, the boy held out the book he had picked up on the beach and reluctantly placed it on the ground in front of him. One of the limbs shot forth from the mass and grabbed the book. The whole limb retracted into the creature like a tendril, taking it from sight. Another limb then snaked out and grabbed him. He was lifted roughly to the top of the pile of junk and deposited there.
The legs start working again and the pile set off at pace. They headed through mountains, across wastelands, through swamp, and over plains, the scenes both beautiful and terrifying. The further they travelled, the darker the land turned. As night set in, clouds proceeded to devour the sky like a swarm of bats. He wrapped his scarf tight hiding in its warm protection.
Chapter 10
After travelling through the night he wondered if this train would ever stop. He realised the junk that made up the train’s torso was actually thousands of other passengers’ stolen memories. A doll with one remaining eye leering back at him, an ornate umbrella, at his feet a tambourine, and a locket, which looked strangely familiar. He reached out and picked it up, turning it over in his hands. Popping the latch open, he realised it was a compass. On the inside of the open lid was engraved the name ‘charlotte’. Quietly he murmured the name “charlotte…charlotte” testing the word like it was something he was re-learning, some lost thought. Closing the locket gently, he slipped it into his top pocket and buttoned it. Suddenly the train beneath him convulsed, giving out a terrible cry as the junk shuddered and shook around him. It skidded to a halt, and one of the arms snaked out towards him. He tried to scramble away from the arm, but he felt the hand wrap around his left foot. Yanking him off the train and high into the air, it shook him up and down trying to loose the stolen goods.
“Thief” the train growled. The arm twisted and threw him tumbling down the side of the track. Coming to a stop, he clambered to his feet. The land was so different here. Gone were the tress, and overflowing signs of life. Replaced now by sharp angles of rocks and towering monoliths of stone.
In the distance a red glow was coming towards him. As it came closer, he could see that somehow the red fire sprites had caught up with him. They had been following him all this time! He turned and ran, not knowing where to, just away from the flames. On looking back they were moving with quite a pace. He ran up the side of one of the lesser rock formations. Nearing the top he lost his footing and pitched forward. He found himself sliding down an unseen chute. Its sides were smooth and there was only just enough room for him to fit, both shoulders touching the sides. As he gained speed he could see a flickering of light behind him: it was the sprites. They cavorted down the chute behind him, flowing like water. With a rush he burst out the bottom of the chute and skidded across the sand to come to a halt before a large pair of shaggy legs.
There was a blast of rotten hot air down on him. A giant sasquatch peered down at the boy, a look of hungry interest in his yellow eyes. At this same time, the sprites spilled forth out of the shoot in a wave to surround both the boy and the Sasquatch. This surprised the giant Sasquatch, which gave The boy time to get to his feet. The Sasquatch gathered up a massive rock from the earth and heaved it towards the boy. He jumped to the side; the rock missing him by inches, and landed right in the middle of the sprites. In a frenzied rush of activity the sprites climbed atop one another, spilling over and over, to engulf the boy inside them. The boy panicked, but soon realised they were doing no harm
He felt a warm rush as they moved between him and the Sasquatch. Left outside of them he could see that they had amassed into a giant figure, mimicking the shape of the Sasquatch. The giant Sasquatch roared in fury at his prize being taken away. It appeared the sprites were defending the boy. The giant Sasquatch reared as high as he could and lunged forward towards the sprite monster. The giant Sasquatch hit with amazing impact, to find the sprite monster standing solid. They locked into a primal grip. The areas where the Sasquatch’s fur touched the sprite monster erupted into flame. This only added to its fury. The Sasquatch stepped back, leaving the sprite monster unmoved. With this opportunity the woolly beast seized upon a large bone and wielded it as a cudgel. Attacking the sprites anew this time with a weapon, the sprites took a different action. The bone cudgel swept right into the middle of the sprite monsters torso where it lodged. From this a stream of sprites detached and swarmed down the bone towards the Sasquatch, engulfing him in an aura of red flame. The Sasquatch screamed, tearing at its fur, alight from the malicious touch of the sprites. The Sasquatch gave a final scream and then toppled to his death, leaving the air choked with the stench of burnt hair and charred flesh.
Chapter 11
The echo of the Sasquatch’s final scream faded into the distance as black clouds spewed forth from the horizon and an unnatural darkness pervaded. The sprite monster turned and seemed to mouth words at the boy, a strange, high whisper invading his consciousness: “ You freed us, follow... follow quickly”.
Before the boys eyes the creature dissolved into its original, individual sprite forms, and flowed over the crumpled hulk of the defeated sasquatch into its lair beyond. The boy followed and, upon entering the cave, saw the last of the sprites flowing into a glass lantern leaning against a pile of other shiny trinkets. The lantern illuminated the cavern, revealing a hoard of treasure topped by the late Sasquatch’s crown. The lantern light wavered, and he heard the voice in his head again: “We must make haste, before the beasts of the land come to claim the crown”. Retreating the cave, he felt a tug at his wrist from the lantern guiding him.
The air hung dark and oppressive outside the king sasquatches lair. In the distance he could hear hideous cries and howls. From this cacophony a chant began to swell. Black forms began to crawl from all the nooks and crannies in the earth swarming forth in a primeval frenzy.
“BRING THE FORCE! BRING THE PAIN! BRING THE FUTURE!”
The darkness was so thick the lantern’s light only penetrated a few feet ahead. Outside of his sphere of light he could only make out vague shapes and blurs of movement. The lantern was constantly tugging him forward, twisting and turning through a maze of monstrous terrain and clashing beasts. It suddenly tugged hard to his left, narrowly avoiding a giant wolf and snake locked in battle. The wolf’s mane was streaked with green blood, teeth locked around the enormous snake, which in turn was entwined around the wolf’s body, rearing its dripping fangs to strike. Averting his eyes from the gory scene he tore off into the gloom following the lanterns lead.
Chapter 12
The forest of stone stopped abruptly, giving way to a wide open plain. With no life in sight, he paused to catch his breath. Looking left and right he could see that the forest extended in a definite line as if it was unable to encroach onto the plain. Ahead of him the land stretched out toward a massive building in the distance. The lantern tugged him forward again, reluctantly he stepped out onto the plain. Feeling vulnerable and exposed he strode on towards the lone building. Massive stone pillars held up the towering Gothic structure and atop the cold grey edifice looked to be a magnificent glass observatory. A few feet on, he came upon a deep gouge in the earth, extending as far as he could see in an arc around the cathedral. Stepping over the line, he felt the air crackle and heard a deep barely audible rumble. Looking down he noticed cracks appearing in the ground underneath his feet. All around him the land shook, and from behind the line he had just crossed, the earth began to fall away into silent nothing. Turning, he sprinted towards the building. As he ran, chunks begin to break off under his feet, and all the while the scene remaining unnervingly quiet. He could barely keep ahead of the decaying land, vaulting from piece to piece. Making a final desperate leap, he landed on the first steps at the entrance to the building. After recovering and retreating up a few steps away from the precipice, he could see that the building was the only thing left untouched. In every direction extended a vast nothingness.
Chapter 13
On the steps, the boy sat with his head buried in his hands. A warm wind blew around him, whistling between the stone pillars and blowing dust out over the edge into the void. The lantern lay on its side, where he had dropped it in his flight. Its light flickered, snapping him out of his blank, exhausted stare. Picking up the glowing vessel, he failed to notice that the stones ancient surface around where the lantern had been resting, was peeling and flaking like old dried paint. The flaked stone particles swirled in the breeze as he made his way up the stairs to the building’s entrance.
Walking through the giant open doors he found himself inside a cavernous chamber and like the outside, the building’s interior was completely grey with no other colours. Grotesque gargoyles were littered about at odd intervals, frozen in contorted positions. Holding the lantern up to get a closer look as he approached the nearest gargoyle, the creature’s grimacing stone face began to split with small stone flakes falling to the ground revealing shiny black flesh. Panicking, the boy stepped back as the gargoyle’s milky white eyes flickered and gazed back at him. The building’s grey stone was beginning to flake off all around him as the light from the lantern set off a chain reaction. To his right he saw that one of the gargoyles had broken an arm free and was clawing savagely at itself, trying to break itself free.
The lantern shuddered as one of the gargoyles let out a piercing howl. He was wrenched around and guided towards one of the two grand stairways ascending up into the darkness above. Sprinting up the stairs he could see that some of the gargoyles had managed to free themselves and were madly hobbling after him. All around him stone flakes were peeling off the walls. An arm of a half free gargoyle suddenly shot out from the wall, knocking the lantern out of his hands and smashing to the floor, sending the sprites spilling out on all directions. Upon seeing this, the gargoyles all howled and charged in a frenzy towards the straggling sprites. Snatching them up, they threw them into their vile jaws, devouring them whole. With gargoyles in pursuit, the swarming sprites surged onwards up the stairs. Running in amongst the chaotic stampede, the boy realised that it wasn’t him that the gargoyles were after but his fiery friends. Twisting and turning up a maze of elaborate staircases and hallways, the boy pushed on, fighting to keep ahead of the mass of rising creatures. His legs turned to jelly as he burst out into the glass observatory, his adrenaline the only thing keeping him moving.
The brilliant room was dominated by a giant glass contraption, suspended by hundreds of thin wires and rotating by some hidden means. Trapped within this room with nowhere for the sprites to run, the gargoyles feasted on the helpless creatures. The boy stood watching in exhausted horror not knowing what to do. A screaming noise grew in intensity in the room, flooding his mind and forcing him to try and cover his ears. It was the sprites screaming for help! The noise was overwhelming and he stumbled forward, catching himself on a wire before crashing into the centre of the room, falling onto his chest beneath the mysterious device. Looking through the glass to the massacre behind it, the boy noticed a facet of the device, framed in copper, that appeared to be an opening of some sort. Crawling closer, he lifted himself through the myriad of wires and reached out to open the door. It clicked open and the deafening noise abruptly stopped only to be replaced a powerful, sucking rush of air into the apparatus. Stepping up the attack, the gargoyles thrashed wildly with renewed urgency. But as they attacked, they realised the futility of their situation as the sprites were rushing into the vacuum. As the final sprites were drawn in, the gargoyles turned on the boy. The last thing he saw was the gaping maw of a pouncing beast. The sprites, swirling within the chamber in a maelstrom of movement and energy, swelled in intensity until finally unleashing a blinding flash of searing light.
Chapter 14
Slowly his vision cleared, and he found himself face to face with a frozen gargoyle, fangs inches from his throat. The light from the chamber behind him revealed a haunting scene of grimacing creatures suspended mid-motion. Crawling out through a forest of petrified gargoyles he made his way to the edge of the room. He placed his hands on the observatories glass walls and looked out to see the dark clouds retreating. From his elevated position, he saw below an unkempt courtyard extending from the rear of the building. At its centre a lone statue beckoned. Descending through the building he made his way out into the courtyard and towards an awaiting stone figure. He felt strangely nervous, an apprehension building in him, as if his whole journey so far was leading up to this moment. His eyes scanned the base of the statue, noting the cracks running up through the finely chiselled marble. The simple cloak of the figurine gave way to flowing hair, the most beautiful face he had ever seen gazed back at him. The fear he felt earlier evaporated as he grew angry and frustrated. Who was this woman? He knew her... he was sure! Exasperated, he lunged at the statue, striking it with his fist. Pain shooting through his hand he collapsed to the ground. And there in front of him engraved in the foot of the stone was her name: Charlotte. Unbuttoning his top pocket, he reached into it and drew out the compass he had stolen from the train. Turning it in his hand, feeling the warmth of it and smoothness of the worn metal. Standing on tippy-toes, he spread the chain out and placed it around Charlotte’s stone neck. In that instant something inside him snapped unlocking a flood of memories. Riding at the back of the school bus together, their first kiss on the gondola, picking oranges from their neighbours yard, flicking peas at each other over dinner, charlotte. With these memories came a pain buried and forgotten. He remembered the ache of losing her but it was better than the emptiness that plagued him before. He knew why he was here, it all made sense now. He slowly sat down, leaning against the base of the statue. A great sense of ease washed over him, he felt at one with the land, the land felt fulfilled, the journey was done. The rain started to fall as tears welled in his eyes.
The old man stared out at the world passing by. A single tear made its way down his lined and weathered face belying a knowing smile. He wrapped the scarf tighter round his neck protecting against the chill of the night. A suited man with a lady on his arm swept past looking disdainfully down at him “what are you smiling at ya old hobo” the man said. “How do you live like this, all in the rubbish n’ shit”, “come on baby” his girl piped up “leave the old man alone, we’re gonna miss the train”.
...THE END
Drum_AnD_BaSS