28 Days and Gone
A study case in the Wish-ESP connection
I can't believe it. 28 days. I've been hiding in a deserted cabin for 28 days, and no one has reported me missing. No one has come looking. I wanted them to think I had vanished, I wanted to become someone else. Maybe it will be easier than I thought.
When life knocks you flat, you get up. You don't give in. Everyone I cared about is gone, killed in one moment in time by a careless driver. If I had been in that car, I would be dead as well, but I wouldn't be alone. I thought for a while I'd track down that driver, but that would tie me to this place. I want to get away, I can't stand the memories that keep running through my head.
How do I start over, where do I go? I want to go where no one knows me. I need a change, preferably somewhere far from here.
Last night I saw a meteor shower, mesmerizing and beautiful in its brilliance. Now, everyone in this small town is looking for the pieces of the meteorites that may have stayed intact. Enough of waiting. I grab my backpack and jacket and close the door to the cabin.
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I climbed up the steep road keeping to the trees, and as I reached the top of the hill, I saw a figure shaped like a man but smaller, coming the opposite way. I hid behind a tree, as I couldn't make out the features of the man-creature. It stopped right at the tree and looked at me. I could see blue skin and large blue eyes. As it fiddled with a translation box on its chest, I heard him say, "Human, are you ready for the tour?"
Tour? Am I dreaming? "Yes," I managed to say, ignoring my fluttering stomach.
"How long will the tour take?" Will I ever come back?
"28 of your Earth days. We use hyperjump travel. There are also longer tours, if you survive your initial trip. Follow all instructions please."
"I see." Why did he say survive? But then, maybe I don't want to know.
As we entered the portal within the clouds, I took one last look at the blue planet. Earth.
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| Pixabay Image from Int'l Space Station-free use. |
28 galaxy days later, we exited the same cloud portal and
there was my home planet, but it looked different, as if it had more ocean water visible than I
remembered. I had requested to be landed near my home. I survived this trip and could book another
in a couple of years.
As I walked to my
old neighbourhood, nothing looked familiar, the houses were all different and
only a few people were around. I looked at an overhead ad sign which said, “In
this year 2047, we will be sending another colony to Mars. Do you want to be a
colonist in space?”
So, 28
galaxy days equalled 28 Earth years. That’s a translation I missed. But no one here
will remember me now and I haven’t aged at all. I think I’ll stay here.
523 Word Count
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Would you want to join this tour? If all your obligations were gone, would you prefer turning vigilante to track down the driver, living with the reality of losing your family, or casting away the depression and doing something totally different?
Please leave a comment, so I'll know you were here and I'll reply. Thanks for visiting and reading!
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WEP - Write, Edit, Publish, a flash challenge
Click on the link for WEP to see the list of participants and read their stories. Joining the WEP-ISWG challenges is easy. See information on the WEP website if you're interested!
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Image Credit: Image of Earth from the International Space Station.
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