Coming Into the New

I found this hanging around and decided to open it up for discussion since my other masterpiece still needs some work and a middle. Enjoy!

She recreated herself, found the time, borrowed the money, and slipped
away. The highway became solace. The fall passed away. Cities come and
go like mist in the morning. No one knows her here. Winter comes.
Frozen hearts can not melt without warmth. She cannot tell them. They
see nothing but her smile, her legs, the fact that she is a woman
alone.

They come to her. Words fall like roses at her feet. They woo her for
a moment, wanting to be entrapped by her, feel whatever passion has
set her adrift. She seems to want the same.

One man takes her arm, leads her to the dance floor. They dance close.
She laughs at him. He has her charmed. Success guaranteed. He pulls
her closer. They fall together toward the door.

They tumble upstairs to stand outside her door. He moves in. His
strong arms are wrapped around her waist. Suddenly, she lashes out.
She is crying. She is screaming. He can not understand. It is his
perception of this madwoman's beauty he questions as he backs away.

She is alone now. Sagging against the door, tears flow. Only her own
arms come up to wrap around her shoulders.  The moment passes. She
finds strength again. The keys jingle as she opens the door and slips
inside.

She stares sightlessly into the darkened room, breathing in the smells
of bodies mingling and stale smoke that cling to the wallpaper.
Crossing the floor swiftly, she flings open the window. Winter air
stirs the scents together with exhaust fumes and wood smoke. Cars pass
on the highway, taking people into the new.

Her eyes gaze out at this her new life. She has no bonds, no
obligations, nothing to hold her down. The same tears sting at her
eyes. The same ache fills her heart. She has the same desire to be
seen for who she is. So this is coming into the new, moving on to the
next stop on the highway hoping at last to find a place to be seen and
respected the way she always was.

The Visitor: Introductions

I fear this entry is a little dry, but it seems to be heading somewhere interesting, doesn't it? In case you are new to the game, this is a continuation of last weeks offering. As always, enjoy!

Tendrils of sunlight caress my eyelids, slowly pulling me out of the dark depths of my dreams. It warms my cheeks as my eyelids flutter open. Different warmth radiates through my left hand. As I lift my hand, it meets with resistance. I turn my head with great difficulty. A long night of sleeping upright in an armchair has taken its toll on my aged muscles. At last I tilt my head far enough that I can see what is holding down my hand. The creature from last night has curled his long legs and arms around my arm in order to rest his head on my hand.

“Let go of me.”

I lift my hand with more determination. Despite his weight, I manage to raise my hand up high enough to shake him free. His furry hands tickle my hand as they slide along my skin. He lands on the floor with a plop. He groggily shakes his head causing the hair on his jowls to stand out from his long nose. I see two of his eyelids slide away from his eyes so that he can peer at me through the third set which creates an opaque shield against the bright light of morning.

‘Is it time for waking?’ The voice bores into my head again.

“Yes. Stop doing that,” I growl.

‘If I stop doing this, I cannot communicate with you,’ he blinks his second layer of eyes at me.

“You have a mouth. You seem to know my language. Just speak.”

‘You don’t understand. I don’t know your language. You do.’ Those large eyes seem to peer into my soul as if to make me understand.

“But you are communicating your thoughts in English.”

‘No,’ his nose twitches as he speaks, ‘Your mind is translating. That is why you are so tired. You haven’t evolved enough to do that efficiently yet.’

I blink my eyes, buying time to process what he just conveyed to me, “So my own mind can translate what you are saying.”

‘It converts my thoughts to the closest equivalent in your speech, yes.’

“And we aren’t evolved enough to do this, but you still want to visit our planet. Why?”

‘We received some of your,’ the voice pauses to seek out the right words, ‘radio transmissions. It took us many years to begin to understand them. Even then, we did not understand completely. Later, we began to receive…pictures in motion. These confused us more. They depicted what you call love, fear, humor, and other…emotions. We do not understand them. We need you to help us understand.’

The words seem to weigh heavily on me as they drain my energy. I do not understand the question. He seems to be aware of this.

‘We just want to understand these emotions. We do not have an equivalent concept. Perhaps we lost it as our minds advanced. Will you help me?’

“I will see what I can do. I am not used to teaching concepts such as those. I used to teach chemistry at the university, but I could quantify, explain, and show data to my students. Emotions are very subjective.”

‘I was sent because I am an adept learner. My people and I will be most grateful.”

He leans in as he speaks to me. His nose almost touches mine as he peers into my eyes unblinking.

“Okay, I’ll do my best,” I hope my answer will make him draw back from my face as his breath has a strange aroma.

‘That is good,’ he leans back to look at my whole face, ‘Shall I call you professor?’

“I’m not a professor anymore. If we’re going to be spending time together, you should call me Wendell. I am more curious about what your name is.”

‘We do not have names as you do. You will have to give me a name if you want me to have one.’

“I’ll call you Ralph then,” I smile at my own joke since he makes me think of a bunch of parts that some wild animal might throw up.

He seems to contemplate this moniker for only a moment, ‘Then I shall be Ralph.’

The Visitor: First Meeting

This story began as a result of a writing prompt I received via e-mail. Enjoy and feel free to comment. I feel there is more to be said. How about you?

A single glance between two people can change your life. I always passed this belief off as foolishness. I have spent too many years studying and learning to fall for such pedantic drivel, yet each night before going to bed, I glance out the window. Somewhere outside my enclosed environment, more information waits to be discovered. What am I missing? What don’t I know that would bring me closer to enlightenment? What is out there that I am still not aware of? This evening was no different…at first. Then I looked out the window one last time, knowing that it wouldn’t be any different than the millions of times that I had looked out that window before.

I must now accept that I was wrong. A single glance between two creatures truly can change your life. On the other side of the pane of glass, large bright eyes reflect the light of the fireplace. I lean forward, hoping to see more clearly. A comically small head holds those large eyes. Thin tufts of fur sprout from its jowls and the top of its head. As it looks back at me, I see three distinct membranes slide over the shining orbs of its eyes like eyelids with varying degrees of opaqueness.

“What on earth?” The words slip unbidden from my lips.

‘Earth,’ a voice echoes through my head like thunder.

I put my hands up to shield my ears though I know it will not block the sounds coming from inside my head. The voice is not my own. It sounds tinny and un-modulated like robots in old movies. I take a step closer to the window.

“Did you…?” My muddled mind can’t form the rest of the question.

‘You,’ the voice echoes in my head.

This time it does not sound like a thunderclap. I can hear the voice clearly, but I find it hard to believe that is comes from anywhere but inside my head. The creature hasn’t moved except to tilt its head as if it is trying to understand my words.

“Do you understand what I am saying?”

‘ing?’

The eyelids blink, blink, blink again. Then they slowly begin opening, revealing the large dark eyes so hypnotically that I barely notice the squeal of the latch pushing against the wood. Still trapped in those eyes, I remain unaware as the window begins to rise. My mouth falls open as the eyes disappear behind the wooden frame of the window and a long snout uncurls into the room. Teardrop-shaped nostrils flare in and out as the window continues to rise until it slams against the top of the window frame.

“How did you do that?” I step back.

‘That,’ the voice echoes my final word again.

A mixture of fear and annoyance wars in my head as I pull my plush bathrobe closer around my own wrinkled form. The creature pulls itself over the windowsill with more grace than one would expect from such a short, stout body. It sits down on the windowsill, watching me carefully. As it stares at me, images begin to fill my mind. I see stars flying past me. Planets appear and disappear so swiftly that I am not sure if they are in our solar system or not. My head begins to spin from all of the information that flows into me. Moments later my head tilts again as the voice echoes through my skull again.

‘You will help me?’ The creature’s mouth moves as if saying the words, but no sound comes out.

“How are you doing that?”

‘You will help me?’ The voice pauses before filling the silence with another question. ‘Please?’

Sweat beads up on my forehead. My heartbeat feels uneven somehow. I slowly scuff my way backward to the overstuffed chair that sits by the fire, falling into it heavily.

“Help you? Who will help me?”

By this time, I am convinced that I have lost my mind. This bizarre creature can’t really be peering at me from his vantage point on my windowsill. It can’t. As I try to convince myself of the veracity of my own thoughts, the creature jumps down on long, spindly legs and lopes toward me. Too weary to move, I watch his approach anxiously. He slows down as he nears me, reaching out with large furry hands to take my left hand in his.

‘I’ll help you,’ the tinny voice almost sounds compassionate.

“How can you help me?”

‘You are old. You are afraid you will die before you have the answers you desire. I can promise you those answers if you will help me.’

Those large eyes mesmerize me again. I sink into them, slowly drowning in their dark depths. He blinks and I remain trapped. I still cannot speak.

‘Will you help me?’ The voice asks again.

“If you have the answers to my questions, why do you need my help?”

‘Because I cannot feel as you do.’

“I don’t understand.”

‘You should sleep. Hearing me as you do seems to take some toll on your strength. We will talk in the morning.’

The voice does not change into one more human yet it lulls me. I feel my eyes closing and my head falling heavily on my chest. I barely have time to wonder what the next day will bring before a dark, dreamless sleep overtakes me.