Green Can Dreaming

Agent h3rg1dri529's report was being robustly discussed in the Council. Heated were the discussions. The dreaming was lost, after only a bit over 200 of their years 40,000 years of history had stopped. The stories passed from Mother and Father to sons and daughters had stopped. The dreaming had come to an end. Great anger was present in the room. After time The Head simply jetted her ink to say ENOUGH. We shall send Ayi'ig. The silence was immediate. "We're sending the ender of all things?" a small ink jet queried? "It is necessary" replied The Head.

Ayi'ig was called from the distant cold dark world where she had self exiled after the last time. The time when things had gotten out of hand and a whole race had been... removed. She hid herself away to lumber in her guilt. No intelligent being should ever destroy another and she had destroyed an entire race.

Ayi'ig mulled over the message from The Head, unsure if to obey or not. She knew they were using her. Using her because she'd done their dirty work before. This didn't go well and in her anger she did it. She cleaned an entire race from the universe. It was only an eye blink ago for her, but for that world almost 40,000 of their years had passed.

Since that time another race had grown on that world in many tribes together and apart. Over time their dreams and stories reached the minds of The Council. The Council felt the joy and decided that while the actions of Ayi'ig were distasteful perhaps she'd been right.

Well if it must be done again, then Ayi'ig was ready.

Ayi'ig readied her ship with supplies and fuel and set out for the destination blue and green world in the distance. Ayi'ig relaxed in her wet control room enjoying the throbbing of the massive engines through the liquid that surrounded her. She decided to sleep and dream for the journey.

On arrival Ayi'ig's hung in the blue sky over the red earth. This exactly the same spot as list time when her efforts resulted in the terror when the reaction to her attempts to resolve the issue ended up with her hurling a massive red rock out of space into the middle of the red land below.

Above Ayi'ig communicated with h3rg1dri529 below and learned that last time she'd been wrong, the immense guilt lifted. The hurled rock had made the sky and land boil but it didn't destroy the bipeds. Then she learned the reason the dreaming had stopped. The bipeds of this land had mixed with the bipeds of many lands. Calling themselves people. There was confusion in the stories. So many voices had removed the harmony.

Sinking into the ocean, Ayi'ig left her ship and stretched her long limbs pirouetting and dancing in the water in the joy of being free and warm causing a mysterious froth on the surface.

Others had come to communicate, like her in shape and form but much much smaller they drifted in. She learned all the things that had happened since last time. She listened and understood. The bipeds again thought they were everything.They'd forgotten that the eight legs are intelligent and civilised.

Ayi'ig made her decision, it was time to remind them they were not alone. She resumed her position in her ship and rose out of the ocean back into the air emitting a terrible noise and vibration as she worked her engines against each other purely to attract attention.

On the ground she was quickly noticed. Hey Alby, call that hairy white fella Charles, tell him to come look. Tell him those idiots have got it wrong, this is the Green Can Dreaming. This is the one from our stories from long ago. Look at that thing hanging in the sky, it's beautiful.

The ship hung in the sky, a series of green cylinders connected by silver latticework with a gentle purple glow from the engine pods. Ayi'ig waited for the reaction she knew would come. First the bipeds gathered below then suddenly there were flying machines around her. Ungainly this spewing fumes into the atmosphere as they blasted around her. Still she waited.

After a time what she knew would come did, two of the flyers launched smaller flyers at her. The missiles blasted through air until reached her ship where they simply stopped. Held in stasis. For them time stopped just after they detonated. This continued and intensified until her ship resembled a sea urchin. A thought that made her giggle since her kind ate urchins before they ascended.

Once Ayi'ig had collected enough missiles she made it so that everything electronic stopped working. Carefully she guided all the flyers back to the ground with their panicked bipeds within. Her goal was to show her power not to kill. Time now stopped for everyone everywhere.

During her wait her and the others had learned where all the problem bipeds were. For each of them there was a missile. Instantly all the missiles vanished from around her and reappeared next to each of the intolerant. Time started again.

Every biped heard in their minds, "You are warned, your biped race is not alone in this world or in this universe. You will learn to get along with each other. From now attempts to kill or hurt will be stopped. The perpetrator frozen in time and transported to me. Remember I get hungry. Your devices of destruction you kindly gave me are scattered throughout your world. If I can do this, think about what else I might be able to do. Don't interfere with them the stasis is fragile they've already detonated and will unleash their fury if disturbed. They're there to remind you that we know who and where you are."

Ayi'ig knew some would try, some would be lost through their own actions. She hoped they would learn quickly. In the mean time it was time for her to talk to the Council. Her sanctions would work for a time, the callosal threat being enough for now. Agent h3rg1dri529 was going to need help.

Before departing Ayi'ig dropped back into the sea and took on a number of volunteer eight legs to come to the Council to represent their world. Emerging back over the land she selected four bipeds to return with her to represent their kind.

Leaving the way she came taking once again to the cold of space returning to the eight legs home world known to the bipeds as Uranus. She knew she would have to return.

-- end --

Image by +Charles Strebor used with permission (by request even!)

Feeders

Why is it we always feel bad the next morning when we have a night out on the town? Even if we don’t get into the booze or other substances there is still that feel in the mouth like the bottom of a bird cage all dry and stinky. There is still the cotton wool feeling in the head.

In each of those dim poorly lit places reside Feeders. They gather in the darkness. These were once people. Now they are the lost.

For Feeders to survive they have to undertake the feeding. If they don’t feed, they simply waste away. If they make the mistake of venturing out in daylight thinking they still can lead a normal life they just burn up to nothing.

Each time you go into the dark places you lose a little of yourself to the Feeders. They consume your energy while you enjoy yourself with your friends. In the dark, you don't know they're close. You don't detect what's happening. The next morning you know.

They don’t take much of you each time but don't stay too long.

Venture into the dark long and often and you too become a Feeder. Lost.

There they are, gathered in the darkness inside. Waiting. For you. Drop in. Stay a while, maybe forever.