ZENISIS
by Rod Kirkpatrick
ACT I.
Something’s amiss, thought Roy Iskra as he mounted his bicycle to go to work one dark winter’s morning. As he pushed off and made his way along the Quai which bordered the swollen river, he noticed a barge descending rapidly downstream while another struggling upstream, was in sight further on. The two would inevitably meet under the century-old footbridge which had just been refurbished by the Community. He pedaled lazily while his guts knotted uncomfortably. As the two barges met directly under the footbridge, they suddenly bonded together and began to crush one another, intertwining like two mating serpents with the buckling of steel screeching as if in the throws of some hellish orgasm. All Roy could do was to cover his ears and continue riding his bike.
Smoke followed by flames poured out of both of the barge's cabins and Roy saw a woman come running out of one of them. Her hair and her bathrobe were on fire as she ran screaming along the ever consuming metal hulls, her large breasts bouncing in the air while her bright-red pubic bush was highlighted by the burning flames. She dived directly into the cold grey water of the river but didn’t surface for air. Roy wasn’t all that surprised. Nor was he shocked to watch the two barges finishing each other off like two serpents swallowing each others’ tails. As they consumed one another, they sucked the footbridge into the whirlpool that had developed from their diabolical sport.
It was at that moment that Roy saw a young girl with a baby carriage crossing the footbridge. But it was too late. The wooden slats that made up the footbridge were popping up into the air like so many splin
tered toothpicks. Its stone foundations were reduced to rubble in seconds and Roy caught the horror-filled look in the girl’s eyes just before she was consumed by the whirlpool. He hoped that her charge in the carriage had been fast asleep. In a few more seconds it was over. Just a few gurgles and bubbles, followed by a final burp and then the river became its old calm winding self again.
He bent low over his handelbars when he heard the vehicules explode behind him, all the while smiling at the thought of the headless young man stumbling down to the river for an early morning swim. Many cars had exploded due to the young man’s stupidity so Roy was forced to take to the sidewalk to avoid the carbonized mess. The smell of charred flesh filled the air and once again Roy was witness to all the people who just walked by the carnage without batting an eye. Surely, they too, wouldn’t want to be late for work.
The traffic lights had been blown away during the explosions so negotiating the crossing would be tricky business. For the moment a traffic jam had formed and horns were blowing with angry faces furrowing behind so many steering wheels. Roy smiled to himself as he needled his way through the bumpers which left so little room for this bicycle afficiando to make his way through the hapless hoard of metal, glass and plastic. No matter. He was almost free of the swarm of filth bellowing coffins-on-wheels when suddenly the smell of burning rubber filled his nostrils. Gasoline emmisions he was used to but this was going too far! All the cars began to lurch and fall into a huddle as their tires caught flame and began to melt. Thick black smoke soon filled the air and it was all Roy could do to make his way out of there. Coughing furiously, he escaped the black cloud and found the familiar street that made up his route towards the peace and security of his workplace. Or so he had hoped.
As he rode at break-neck speed down the road, which for the moment was free of any moving vehicle, he spied a schoolbus that was waiting to hang a left and drop-off the students at the school located just down the street. As Roy approached, the driver decided to turn. Anticipating this, Roy high-tailed it onto the sidewalk but was more than surprised as the bus driver burned rubber and fishtailed his vehicle into the line of parked cars along the road.
One car after another was rammed across the sidewalk by the roaring schoolbus and into the wall that separated the houses from the street. It was all Roy could do to keep ahead of the vehicles which crashed, one after another, in a wave just behind him as he barreled down the sidewalk. Mothers, who were taking their kids to school thus providing further obstacles for Roy’s escape, did not have the same chance to avoid the metal onslaught. Their horrified shrieks, along with the helpless squeals of their off-spring, did not make his get-away any easier. As he distanced himself from the on-coming wave of vehicles, he looked back to see the damage and saw the flames which poured from the line of crushed cars that exploded one after another and eventually caught up to the swerving schoolbus. It, in turn, caught fire and blew-up, throwing a huge fire ball into the grey winter sky and alighting all the trees which lined both sides of the street.
Definitely shaken, Roy checked his stopwatch again and realized that if this carnage kept up, he would definitely be late for work. In the seventeen years that he had passed with his employers, this had only happened on three separate occasions, and by never more than five minutes. Despite the attenuating circumstances, Roy put it into his head to be at his desk on time and no off-kilter motorists were about to stop him. He doubled his efforts as he descended towards the fork in the road which signaled the change from one-way into two-way traffic. As he pedaled full-speed veering to his right, a motorcycle rocketed straight-on only to be met by a sports car that trundled along on wheels covered with melted rubber, an escapee from the earlier marasme further on up the road. Roy watched in amazement as the powerful motorcycle flew off the hood of the sports car high into the air and landed with a thud further on with no apparent damage to itself or its driver. Not all doom and gloom, he thought smiling to himself.
But he had thought too soon. For indeed, as he blazed up the hill towards the next intersection, a fruit truck came hurlting into the street, knocking into parked cars and pedestrians and causing more than just the occasional flare-up. Nimbly, Roy lifted his bike out of the path of the on-coming vehicle and swiftly made his way between two waiting cars and onto the sidewalk just seconds before the fruit truck plowed into them sending both drivers through their respective windshields and scattering its wares all over the street. Doesn’t anybody wear seatbelts anymore? Roy asked himself as he picked up an unbruised apple off the street for later.
Things went from real bad to worse as he made his way up to the intersection that led up to the next stretch of route that would eventually lead him to his workplace. Three major arteries led into the intersection and it was crossed by a stone railway bridge that loomed ten metres above it. He negotiated his turn without hindrance but when he pedaled up to the intersection, he could hardly believe his eyes.
Cars and trucks of all sorts sat smoking, carbonized, in a deadly silence. Even those people on foot who were going up the steps to catch a train glanced more than once at the sickening carnage. How in the hell am I going to make my way through that? Roy asked himself. Drivers and passengers had been carbonized and caught at the moment of their final living action. Two little girls smiled at one another while holding on to their dolls. An old woman didn’t get to finish her snack in the back of her large chauffered vehicle. The chauffer himself was frozen in time with his cellphone in hand. In a family van, a woman expressed her last thoughts to her two children who had been busy playing their video games. A fat man had expanded in the driver’s seat of his sportscar while the thin young waif sitting next to him wrinkled her nose in disgust. Disgusted indeed was Roy, but that didn’t stop him from keeping in mind his immediate objective.
He swifly negotiated the little space left by which he could advance and not risk a flat tire. Just as he had gone under the bridge he heard a train come charging down the tracks above him, apply its breaks frantically, de-railing off the bridge and dropping down on the other side of it blocking his path. Shit! howled Roy as he knew time was a-wasting. With typical determination, he flipped the bike onto the still revolving wheels of the train thus getting the momentum he needed to hop over the trainwagon on his bike and continue his route up-hill. Luckily for him, the train had stopped anymore cars from following him. Finally a break! he thought as he humped it up the hill lickity split with no interference from anyone. But as he took a small side road before arriving at the main artery that would begin his downhill route to work, he winced, remembering that it was Market Day.
Cautiously, he made his way onto it, looking for any speeding, out-of-control vehicles. There were none! In fact there were no cars at all! None parked, none moving. What was this then? He increased speed and saw that the Market was closed. Not a pedestrian in sight either… Spooky thought he until he began going downhill past the FireStation and there at yet another main artery sat a line of cars which stretched on forever.
This was not a new sight for Roy. For over seventeen years he had been using this route to go to work and nothing was nicer that coasting down the middle of the road between the cars so that drivers from both directions could see you and curse your luck. Normally. But today was not a ‘normal’ day. As usual the cars and trucks sat there smoking and stinking. As usual they advanced a little bit at a time, frustration being one of the prime by-products of said instrument of torture. But today Roy had not had an easy time of it and his guts were still tied in a knot. There was no noise. No one was honking their horn. It felt to him that he was taking part in a silent move. After advancing through a stretch of silence that felt like an eternity to him, a horn blasted in the distance followed by the immediate explosion of said vehicle. Another horn blast, another explosion! It was time to pedal thought he, and pedal he did.
Roy had about two hundred metres to go before the next intersection, which was the largest one he had to cross. Four major arteries met there. A hundred metres beyond that intersection stood a large Wood which was the final part of his route before arriving at his workplace. It was always a nice place to arrive after a difficult ride amongst the ignorant and selfish people that made up much of the car driving population. He rode like the wind down the last stretch of road as car honk followed by exploding vehicle occurred randomly and in both directions.
Flying debris and flames should have killed him, but somehow… they didn’t. He felt quite bravado as he checked out the ghostly white faces of the drivers as they awaited their turn to honk and die. He weaved his way through the explosive traffic jam and into the large intersection congratulating himself on his newfound freedom and skilled performance on the bike. With a smile from ear to ear he checked out his stopwatch and saw that he still had five minutes to get to work. Piece of cake, thought he, but he should’ve thought twice.
Cars, vans, trucks and utility vehicles of all sorts suddenly surrounded him and hemmed him in. The driver’s faces were hard and dour and scowling at Roy in the way that predator observes prey before its demise. They left him no room to manouvre between them. When he tried to lift his bike and hop over the cars they
popped open their hoods in order to block such a line of escape. He was now effectively trapped and his only line of sight was a narrow crack between the open car hoods looking eastwards up a large avenue. In the distance, at the top of the avenue, he saw a enormous tractor trailer rolling over the cars that formed the inevitable traffic jam which descended down towards him. The truck rolled over the vehicles crushing them and their occupants with its massive wheels while picking up speed and heading straight for Roy.
He could make out that the load the truck was hauling was petroleum. He could even make out the company logo as the truck descended ever faster and loomed ever larger. Oddly enough, Roy felt no fear and his guts suddenly relaxed . Even when the truck’s cargo suddenly exploded, sending skyward a huge sheet of flames that blotted out all behind it, did he rest calm. After so many years of defying the maniacs of the road, Roy felt an inner peace, or Zenisis, as he liked to call it, before the raging monster that was gaining fast and would soon engulf him as well. As the truck continued its descent and hovered just above him, he could make out the face of its driver. Or more accurately, the demented grin and blazing eyes which held no pupils, but widened with blood-lust as it readied itself for the kill.
At that moment, Roy held up his left hand, thumb joined to pinky, and the demented grin of the driver turned into a quivering, cowardly frown and its eyes went black and caved in as did the whole scene which folded into so much dream dust.
Upon awakening, Roy felt a little disapointed that the whole thing had to finish like that. He was sure that if the dream had continued he would have made it to work on time. The clock showed five-fifteen in the morning, so he decided it would be a waste of time to go back to sleep as he had to be at work for nine o’clock anyway. So he pulled himself out of bed and went to his little kitchen to prepare a coffee. Pulling out the bottle that would add a little kick to the hot beverage, he made his way back under the covers waiting for the coffee as it stewed in its bodum. He thought about the dream and smiled, considering himself lucky to have gotten through another close shave on the road of life. For indeed that’s what it was like to have to battle day after day, year after year, in all types of weather and through all that pollution in order to go to work or to go anywhere else for that matter.
Since his arrival on the Continent, he had never owned a car nor even thought to buy one. It wasn’t necessary since his girlfriend had one. One’s enough he thought. And even though he drove and had been driving for over thirty years, he saw no need to waste money on a machine that would just waste his time in interminable traffic jams, headaches looking for a place to park and of course, more pollution on the Planet. Roy lived in a Town next to a large Metropolis. Which Town next to which Metropolis is irrelevant. It was a nice Town as towns go however. He lived in a small studio appartment overlooking a river. If ‘river’ be the correct term for the water left something to be desired even though its quality had improved over the seventeen years that he had been living there. Topographically speaking it was, indeed, a river. It had, however, seen better days. But what hadn’t since the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Or was it Lacklustrial Devolution? Roy could never get it straight, especially at five-thirty in the morning before his well-spiked java and daily pull.
In the summer, as he sat with his window open, perhaps listening to music or reading a book with a good beer, he couldn’t help thinking of how nice it would be to go for a swim in the River. He thought of all the people from the cities and towns around the world who would spend a lot of money to travel to far away places in order to relax while ignoring or letting rot the very treasures that lay in their own backyards. He was sure that all the cash the people from his own town and adjacent metropolis spent every year could easily cover the cost of cleaning the River, or more exactly, the mud at its bottom. All its wonderful contents, washing machines, stolen bikes and scooters, televisions, dead bodies, heavy chemicals and what-have-you, could surely be extracted and the bottom cleaned once and for all.
But, alas, it was winter. The day’s light dawned late and left room only for dreaming. Which is what Roy, with a well-infused coffee in one hand, and his rind in the other, had the time to do.
Nothing’s amiss, thought Roy Iskra as he looked out of his window at the flat, dark grey sky of winter. Joggers were jogging next to the River. A barge went humming by. People were walking their dogs and watching them shit on the sidewalk. Once, Roy saw a woman clean up after her dog which had done that. Once - in seventeen years. He applauded from his window and the woman appeared to appreciate the gesture. Time was getting on as the cars and trucks passed by more frequently on their daily whizz to who-knows-where or more precisely who-cares-where. Roy prepared his breakfast, ate, did the dishes and dressed for work. He pulled on his jacket, strapped on his knapsack and headed off.
After letting a slew of nervous drivers pass before him on the Quai, he took advantage of the break in the flow to take to the road himself. He had left a bit earlier than usual for the morning’s dream was still fresh in his mind and he wasn’t one hundred percent convinced that it wasn’t going to really happen. The first startling event was the fact that a barge was cruising at top speed downriver and he saw in the distance another one chugging up-river against the current. His heart beat a little harder when he saw that they would meet under the footbridge. Indeed they did pass each other, but continued onwards normally.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he arrived where the stone steps made their way up to the footbridge and a flurry of cars passed him in their usual hurry. He winced as he heard the roar of a large SUV coming up last, but it swerved around him and followed the others. Roy didn’t have time to see the driver but he could have sworn that the sideview mirror was missing. When he arrived at the street where he hung his habitual right, a car came flying blindly around the corner without slowing down to see if anyone was coming down the Quai. Business as usual, thought Roy.
He made his way up the street and at the intersection with the raised embankment, he was surprised that the cars from both directions actually stopped, letting him continue his way up the hill. As he rode up to the next intersection, some cars were waiting for the light to change and blocking his path, so he had to take the sidewalk. He nearly knocked over a young man with close cropped hair and a baseball cap who was staggering down it with a bottle in his hand. The light changed at the intersection and Roy bolted abruptly in front of the first waiting car and hurdled down the street where the school was located. A bus was letting out kids in front of the school and he nearly went over the front hood of a car that had taken a left turn without looking right. The routine, he thought.
As he made his way towards the next intersection, where one-way turns into two-way traffic, his nerves jolted a bit as he heard the gutteral roar of a motorcycle approaching at top speed. But no sportscar was coming from the opposite direction and the motorcycle continued its noisy passage unhindered. Roy descended the road and ascended up towards the next intersection with eyes searching for a fruit truck. Indeed, he sighted one but it was only unloading its wares at the fruit and vegetable store that was located just below the large intersection that was crossed by a trainbridge. Upon arriving at the intersection, he saw that all was normal and as he crossed under the bridge, no train was to be heard braking or even crossing.
He smiled to himself and thought what an idiot he was to actually believe a dream as crazy as the one he had woken up from only a few hours ago. Yet that was the impact that the dream had had on him. Roy was no dreamer. He only dreamnt on occasion and specifically if he had woken up to take a piss in the middle of the night. Which wasn’t often the case. I still haven’t made it to work yet, he thought.
As he made his way up the hill and through the town things advanced normally. By the time he got to the Market, his nerves relaxed even more as he realized that it was closed. Passing in front of the Fire Station, he began his descent towards his workplace and eventually arrived at the intersection where, as usual, there was a marasme of cars, trucks and pollution. He manoeuvred his way between them with his habitual skill and went coasting down the stretch of road between the two lanes of cars whose drivers had nothing better to do but to sit and wait for any sign of movement or a call on their cellphones. Suckers, thought Roy as he whisked his way towards the last major intersection, caught the red as it turned green thereby distancing the cars behind him, and in no time flat had traveled the short distance that led him to the safety and tranquility of the Wood.
As usual he heaved a sigh of relief when he entered it. He was a bit miffed, however, when he realized that he hadn’t checked to see if a tractor-trailer pulling a load of petroleum had been coming down the large avenue when he flew through the last major intersection. No matter he thought, I’m alive and that’s all that counts. He sailed through the Wood at a good clip. People were walking their dogs, jogging or engaged in conversation, seemingly enjoying themselves. Or so it appeared. Other things went on in the Wood. Especially at night. After all, it bordered a large Metropolis that hummed with people from all over the world. Some of them frequented it at night. Others in the day. Day-shift and night-shift thought Roy. As he pedaled under the leafless trees on the cool, grey winter morning, he reflected on his own experiences in the Wood after seventeen years of working just across the street from it. Lost in his daydream, he glided past the pathway where he normally hung a left to cross the Avenue to his workplace. Realizing his error, he corrected it. It wouldn’t do, daydreaming before the start of a workday, thought he.
The large four lane avenue that separated him from his place of work was not too dangerous. There was a traffic light in place and a button to change it to red for pedestrians. As Roy was not, it was very rare that he pushed the button. Today was no exception. As he waited for the light to change, he thought about his status as a cyclist in the busy outskirts of a huge metropolis. The road was for the cars and the sidewalk for the pedestrians. That was a fact. At best, cyclists were tolerated. More often than not they were hated, sometimes feared and occasionally, but very rarely, cheered. Yet it was the best means of locomotion, the fastest, the most economic, the most fun and for what it was worth, it worked the cardio-vascular system and gave you a natural high in order to begin the working day.
And begin it he did everyday with a smile. He smiled to himself and sometimes shared the following thought with his collegues – it’s only at work that I can finally relax.
For Roy was a busy guy. He didn’t make a lot of money so his chances for millionaire status were slim. He painted, wrote and played pool when he had the time. He enjoyed vacationing in low mountain locations and on the north-west Atlantic coast and its islands. He was an avid reader and bought a lot of books. Listening to music also ranked high on his agenda. He brewed beer at his girlfriend’s house. Work was practically a holiday for him but getting there was not. It was a challenge that he took seriously but none-the-less delightfully for the bicycle was all there was. When one understood the freedom that it gave you, you were hooked for life. Trafficjams were the norm next to a metropolis. Not a real problem if one was alert. Pollution was the other problem. It was the one drawback and the drawback was becoming more and more difficult to live with.
His girlfriend’s house was even closer to his workplace than his riverside studio-appartment. It was about half the distance and it was there that Roy usually had lunch. The ride was shorter but no safer. After seventeen years of riding, safety was the one thing that he never took for granted.
For as a cyclist you are invisible. The average driver was looking for cars. For a cyclist the road was a no-man’s land and the only way to survive was to be very visible. At one hundred and twenty kilograms, Roy was usually very visible. But not always. The ability to anticipate
the driver’s next move counted for a lot. In those cases it served to have strong legs, fast reflexes and the capacity for explosive movement. He possessed those in spades. Because of that he had avoided many serious accidents. It also helped that he had been riding the bike for over thirty-five years.
When he rode to his girlfriend’s for lunch, traffic was usually very light. For the moment the route he took is not important. It will become so a little further on. For the moment it’s enough to say that the ride was a good one. In the past his girlfriend used to come home for lunch but as she’d begun to ride to work herself, she stopped coming back because her workplace was farther away than Roy’s. She had a nice house with a garden. She also had a cellar which was good for storing beer. Having their own indivual dwellings had its advantages and helped to cement their relationship which had lasted over twenty years.
When he lunched at his girlfriend’s, Roy had the habit of watching the news on T.V. He didn't have one in his appartment. In recent years, however, he watched it less and less as the propaganda it spewed had become blatantly disrespectful of its television audiences. How people could swallow the phony pre-scripted interviews with people whom Roy suspected of being paid to say what they were saying, disgusted him to no end. Anyway, all that really mattered to him was the weather. As a cyclist, it dictated what clothing to wear, what time to leave for work and whether or not to attach the mud guard over the back wheel of his bike.
After lunch, the ride back to work was always the most difficult ride of the day. The noon-day meal had a way of slowing him down and turned his legs to lead, especially if he ate later than usual. The afternoon was always a sleepy time with the blood busy at work digesting lunch and absent from the brain where it was most needed. Not a big deal but a reality none-the-less. At the end of the day he had the choice of returning to his girlfriend’s to pass the night or going back to his appartment. Actually the choice wasn’t always his but that didn’t make much difference. Wherever he finished the night there was always good beer and a good meal to follow. At his girlfriend’s he did the cooking and the washing up. Roy enjoyed both these household tasks. There was something very engaging in preparing a meal and washing the dishes. In the former, precision timing was important as was the preparation of the ingredients. Just like in the brewing of beer. In the latter, it was a way to enter the day before going to work. A menial task for many but a genial tache for him.
On this particular dark winter's evening, Roy decided to spend the evening with his girlfriend at her place. His ride home from work went without hindrance but when he came to the large intersection that marked the end of the Wood, he saw a vehicle that appeared to be… 'out of place'. That’s odd, he thought to himself, before passing over the bridge that crossed the busy highway which lay below it. The cars were speeding home with their headlights gleaming and Roy was flying at full speed to stay as far ahead of the madrivers as possible.
When he came to the fork in the road, which separated two way traffic into one-way, the 'out-of-place' car that he had seen earlier seemed to be following him. As he turned his head over his right shoulder to get a better look, the car dissolved into the headlights of the one that preceded it. He stopped at the gas station that was located at the fork. He looked around to see if anybody had seen what he had just seen, but judging by the expressions of the pedestrians who were walking or waiting for the bus, nothing was amiss.
Visions, thought Roy, are best kept for Visionaries.
The next morning Roy left from his girlfriend's house to go to work. His ride went normally until he arrived at the fork in the road where the gas station stood along with the lines of cars waiting for the changing of the stop light. Sure enough there, amidst the traffic, was the 'out of place' car that he had seen the day before. What made it 'out of place' from the rest wasn't something that he found easy to discern. Yet there it was and he felt the car was 'summoning him' to take a closer look. So he did. What he saw left him in awe and hardened his manhood. A voluptuous woman with mountains of flowing hair was sitting naked behind the steering wheel motioning to him to get into the car beside her. Her large eyes beamed a blast of sensual energy that shot hot shivers up Roy's spinal column. Yet he hesitated. Something... something outside of himself was tugging at his insides, warning him to stay on his bike. Warning him to stay put. Warning him to avert his gaze and to go to work. The struggle was awesome but by the time the stoplight had turned to green it was too late and the 'out of place' car had dissappeared along with his hard-on.
Roy had difficulty working that day and in the days that followed. The 'out of place' car with the vouluptuous 'Succubus' appeared more and more often in all sorts of different locations on the road to wherever he happened to be pedaling. He kept these visions to himself, confiding in no-one, not even his girlfriend who had noticed his strange behavior. Time passed and the apparitions of the 'Succubus' intensified. As did Roy's desire to join her.
Finally the day arrived. A fine spring morning with a warm breeze and a deep blue sky. Roy left a note for his girlfriend. Naked, he mounted his bicycle and went off to his workplace. Stares were forthcoming from the pedestrians, to those waiting at the bus stops and from those trapped in the morning traffic. Horns began to honk along with howls of laughter and gasps of surprise. None of this affected Roy as he knew where his Succubus would be waiting. Sure enough, when he arrived, there she was. He got off his bike and locked it to the railing that bordered the bridge which crossed the busy highway below. Taking a last look at the maelstrom of cars that surrounded him, Roy smiled to himself and made his way between the standing traffic that waited for the go-ahead of the Master Stoplight to let them advance towards their destinations. As he opened the car door to the delight of the awaiting Succubus, he glanced one last time at his much beloved bicycle which stood alone on the bridge. He would miss it and he hoped that his girlfriend would retrieve his bike before some thief had the chance.
ACT II.
Roy closed the car door and took his place beside the wild-eyed Succubus. She mounted his swollen member and both of them went for a ride. Orgasm followed orgasm followed orgasm and on and on and on it went while the car drove itself through the familiar cityscape of the neighbouring Metropolis. The intensity of their copulation was such that Roy was soon emptied to the point of exhaustion. Out of breath and in full sweat, he looked through the car window and saw that while the surrounding landscape and roadways remained the same, all the cars had disappeared. People went about their business without paying any attention to the passage of the Succubus and Roy, as if their ‘out of place’ car had become invisible.
Suddenly, the familiar streets of the city began to break up and fall into a different order. Buildings were slanting, crumbling, and straightening themselves in a sort of slow-motion frenzy blowing back stopped-up sewers which covered the pedestrians in their own pitch. Fire hydrants turned hydra and shot cold spurts of water that blasted the excrement off the people. Once cleansed, they cavorted and copulated in all Combine Nations, their bodies becoming slack and fluid as they slipped through the cracks in the pavement and slid up the lampoles which undulated in serpentine fashion into the outer and inner spaces of what was once solid matter that was turned into anti-matter although none of this mattered to the two writhing Entities caught up in their own genital turmoil inside the last remaining car in the United Verse of the Deluded Bi-Peds. Something had to give and so it did.
A crescendo climax between the Succubus and Roy led to a deflation of all that was visible through the car windows and soon both of them were cascading through a StarScape that was familiar to Roy and seemed home enough to the satiated Succubus. Their ‘out of place’ car hurdled through the Cosmos while the two differing Entities combined what was ‘natural’ with that which was definitely not. With time, their ardour diminished and the Succubus finished by reclining in the backseat of the car at one within herself. Roy stared at her while she gently breathed, her three perfect breasts slowly rising and falling. An Alien? Most assuredly. And what of Roy? He could only presume that he himself was also – an Alien. And so it goes and so they went, alternately resting and manifesting intense lust until they reached the Constellation of Scorpio.
Arriving at Its tail-end, they mutually halted in mid-rut to take in a two-dimensional Revelation that would soon develop into something infinitely more disturbing. A large black ring of stone with strange inscriptions envelopped the car, slowing it down until finally bringing it to a stop above a vertical plane of four colours. The car was then covered in thick, fleshy beef curtains revealing four clitoris’s that reflected each colour of the vertical plane. With a thud, the car, surrounded by the black stone ring, fell into a third dimension where it landed on a strangely engraved stone table. The Succubus had disappeared and Roy was forced to crawl out of the car window, prying back the strong flesh which had engulfed it. What he saw went beyond that of what he had ever imagined to exist… on any plane.
His Succubus appeared as a giant. She was sporting a ‘cobra cowl’ on her head with the one-eyed muzzle of the Serpent protruding outwards over her face. The ‘cowl’ was swallowing her head and Roy was able to get a last glimpse of her one glowing eye and the slight smirk on her rich lips as the cowl came down to absorb it altogether. The Serpent’s body wound around hers while she masturbated with a large snail. In the distance behind her, Roy took in a large white statue that raised a Calice to the muted red Sun that lit the ink-black ocean which sent the odour of salt and deep water beasts towards him. Closer to home, poised on the black stone ring that surrounded him, were eleven grey stone markers each with its own inscription. Roy was familiar with some of them.
The transition between his home Planet, the ‘out of place’ car and his arrival at the described destination shook the foundations of all which Roy believed in. This is scary shit, he thought to himself. He breathed normally, he was free to move, free to explore but all he could find within himself to do was to pray for a better Reality. At his feet, the beef curtains sweated, giving off a musk that began to give Roy a light head. It was as if he was slowly falling into a dream-like euphoria that offered all the sensual promise that he had experienced with his Succubus. He slipped between the cracks of the steaming beef curtains and once again found himself in the car. This time he was alone and all had turned to black. No stars, no sun, no sound – except that of his pounding heart and the feel of his rigid rind.
Roy touched himself, as if he had to, in order to convince himself that he was truly alive. Upon touching his member, he groaned as it shot fireworks coating the dashboard with the whitesauce of the Cosmos. He cackled to himself, sliding onto the floor of the car and sucking the clutch as if it was a nipple. Where had his Succubus gone? He thought back to the image of his Succubus masturbating with a snail… had the Elders got it wrong?
Was the snail the Apple? Was the Serpent God – or Satan? Was the middle breast of his Succubus the Sacred Spirit or another route which led beyond Left or Right, Yin orYang, Truth or Lies, Sane or Insane? Was his Succubus ‘the Lilith’ who had fallen from grace or was grace itself immesurable to all that his fellow ‘homo sapiens’ had ever known or ever would know? Perhaps the three breasts represented the three angels who had attempted to lure Lilith back to Adam until she was finally replaced by Eve through the intervention of God. And then an even darker thought occurred to him – imagine if he was getting it on with the Mother of all Mothers – the darkest one of them all – namely Hepsebah.
Roy spasmed in the dark, flipped-out by such Revelations and even more flipped-out by having been Chosen to bear witness to them. He groped for the dial on the car radio. A voice. A sound. Something to relieve the suffocating vacumn in which he had become trapped. He turned the station dial left and right yet no sound came out of the radio despite the fact that he had turned the volume knob up to full. Rocking himself on the floor of the car, Roy began to weep and to plead to his God to get him the hell out of wherever it is he was. The silence was killing him and in desperation he began to beat his fists and feet against the windshield and windows of the car. Despite his rage, he couldn’t manage a crack, never mind a break in the glass. He slumped onto the front seat, blood flowing from his bruised fists and feet while he whimpered like a demented idiot. Suddenly, the car radio blurted out –
‘Confirm your position!”
Roy’s twisted face forced a crooked smile and he asked himself –
‘What the fuck!!!!!???’
His Succubus jumped him from behind and made a beeline for his sex. His position, being confirmed, did little to reassure him. He hadn’t bargained for this yet he hadn’t had time to fully consider just what it was that he had done. Just a lark, he thought, back on his home Planet. A pleasure palace on wheels with some choice female flesh in the offering and then back off home for a beer and a barbecue. Roy never expected to attain the Cosmos. But he did and in more ways than one.
As their copulation grew in Intensity, Roy realized that the Scorpio Constellation was coming back into view. They were sliding up Its tail and heading directly towards what appeared to be a huge asteroid. Upon alighting upon it, Roy was pushed out of the car by his satiated Succubus. He stumbled through a blinding haze of ultra-luminous fog until he ran into a hard object. The fog quickly dispersed revealing a regulation sized snooker table. On the other end a brightly coloured insect was shooting off a rack of balls. The insect motioned for Roy to take a cue which resulted in rack after rack being cleared and set-up. It had been a long time since he had played snooker and he was throroughly enjoying himself when all of a sudden the ring of stone appeared just next to the table. It quivered and quaked, vibrating all the snooker balls, when suddenly a giant of a Man shot up through the middle of the ring displaying a massive hard-on that soon began to spew.
The insect fled in terror. Roy was taken aback. ‘Adam’, he thought to himself. He could feel the Revelation unraveling. His fear was turning to curiosity. In the distance he saw his Succubus still busy with her snail. Her Apple. Until ‘the Adam’ of the ring of stone made his presence known. The white female statue which overlooked the ocean had turned towards the unfolding scene. She had lifted her dress and was re-arranging her beef-curtains with obvious X-Ta-See. For the first time since he had entered the ‘out of place’ car, Roy began to relax. While the sex with the Succubus had been beyond anything he had known on his home Planet, the Revelations were as equally exciting.
What happened between ‘Adam and Roy's Succubus’, was as unexpected as his Voyage thus far. Roy retreated to the edge of the ocean for reflection and a swim. The water was dark and warm as the Sun had risen since the first Revelation. Being a learned and living Entity who possessed a Soul was a rare accomplishment on his home Planet which had recently slumbered into Misery. Yet he couldn’t help but wonder if what he was witnessing was truly Real. The water felt real enough, his skin felt wet, the rocks were hard and the Dieties in the distance were definitely creating Sparks.
Roy reclined, his hands behind his head, a smile stitched on his face. All is well in the Universe, he thought to himself. With no need for food nor drink and a plentiful supply of spunk, he felt brilliant. The horror that had happened earlier in the car had been shrugged off but not forgotten. ‘Confirm your position…’ Was that all? he thought. No, of course not. It was Everything. It was what Existence demanded. There was no other ‘Commandment’ more important than that. It was Truth, Honesty and Virtue combined. And yet it was something that the ‘homo sapiens’ who inhabited Roy’s Planet could not bring themselves to do. Fear, Greed and Lust had destroyed the Soul-less-Losers who through lies rendered weak and indecisive the Soul-full-Winners so that they eventually followed the path of those Inferior to themselves. Misery loves company and only knows Destruction. And there is nothing Creative in that despite what the deluded Parasites would have liked to believe.
Each successive generation reduced the chance ‘to Live’ for the next. And so it went on and on and on… slowly and imperceptively for centuries with rapid degradation of the Planetary population in just the last two or three generations thanks to advances in ‘technology’. Reducing themselves to Robots under the guise of ‘humane’ had warped their perspectives and distanced themselves from Nature and the Cosmos. While they could destroy and desintegrate Nature, they could only Veil themselves from the Cosmos. But that which is Omnipresent could not be fooled or convinced by such an ill-intentioned species.
As the scene on the Asteroid played itself out, Roy began to turn things around in his mind as to ‘why’ he had been chosen to bear Witness. To Whom, to what end and ultimately for whose ‘Consequence’. Had the Serpent which had engulfed the head, thus the ‘raison d’être’ of his fellow Mankind, done so with the desire to change Mankind’s course through the Cosmos? What he was witnessing, was it in the past, the present or the future?
The next thing he knew was that of being back in the car, hurdling through space and humping his Succubus. They now began to approach the mid-section of the Scorpion Constellation. Three stars shone brighter than the others with the middle one being the largest and burning a bright red. Was this the heart of the Scorpion? Boiling spurts of sperm gushed from the base of Roy’s scrotum into the awaiting Succubus and her ear to ear grin gave him the creeps as it bordered on an un-Godly dementia. He tried to concentrate on his position. To confirm it. As if he could. The orgasmic rut threw Roy into uncontrolable spasms which only urged on his wild-eyed Succubus. They approached the middle star of Scorpio, heading directly into its Brilliance with Roy caught between panic and relief at the idea of being cleansed by its Fire. But instead of that, he found himself alone in the back seat of the car awaiting the main attraction.
The car windshield had transformed itself into a flat screen. Different scenes appeared depicting ‘homo sapiens’ transformed exactly in the same manner as his Succubus had been in the first two Revelations. Their limbs varied accordingly between land appendages, air appendages and water appendages depending on the unfolding activities presented on the screen. Roy was bearing Witness to a population of creatures that existed in another time frame or on a different dimension from his own. Everyday scenes passed before him that resembled what he had known on his native Planet before the great Misery. The décor and forms may have been altered, but the basic pretext ‘to Live’ was most evidently being Respected.
Such was the Reality on his home Planet before those ‘Inferior’ to the general population harnessed technology that allowed them to convince the once simple and happy folk to fall into a life of slavery for a population of Parasites. Somehow Roy had known all along of this deception but there was little he could do to change the mindset of those now Fear-Full ‘homo sapiens’.
And so it went. The ‘out of place’ car continued to orbit around the the red super-giant in the middle section of the Constellation known as Scorpio. Between bouts of sex and screenings, Roy bore Witness to the lifeforms of a Planet that bore striking similarities to his own and chose to refer to them as ‘Serpentkind’. Satellite images of the Planet bore out his assumption that It was indeed his own. And so what? What would his bearing Witness for no one in particular do to change the fate of those who actually inhabited It at the moment given. Providing that the transmission was Real and not Staged. Subterfuge deludes and confuses yet those who possess true Faith always recognize False Prophets. For Roy, who was indeed an astute observer of Nature and communicated on a regular basis with God, what was presented before him on the car’s flat screen was certainly as Real as Real could ever be.
Suddenly, there appeared a troop of amphibious ‘Serpentkind’ hovering around a Lighthouse. It was night and in the background Roy saw high cliffs that rose from the ocean which were lit by a large bonfire that burned at the edge of one of them. An Effigy, attached high on a pole in the middle of the fire, kicked at the flames as they approached. At least it appeared so to Roy, for the cliffs were in the distance and it was not easy to discern it in great detail. As the flames rose, the Effigy began to whine like a dog being burnt alive, its ghastly cries filling the nightsky. It then burst into flames and shrieked its last breath. At that moment atop the Lighthouse, appeared an bushy-haired eyeball that was being pulled on by a severed hand. The Lighthouse tilted backwards revealing a blue-ray geometric pattern at its base. Out of the base emmerged a yellow and black Octopus which caused the amphibious Serpentkind to scatter. The Octopus was followed by the same sort of beef-curtains as those which had smothered the ‘out of place’ car in the last Revelation. They lifted the Octopus high above into the nightsky which transformed into day and broke up into different planes.
As the Octopus rose ever higher, Roy was able to discern two familiar continents of the Northern Hemisphere. The beef-curtains spiralled downwards onto the Planet’s surface and were replaced by a coloured Octogone which bore the sign of the Ancient Ones. A beam of light rose from them, through the Octogone, and upwards into the vagina of the Octopus. Satellites floated around the now red and black Octopus whose arms had changed into Serpents. It was at this point that Roy realized that the flat-screen was not functioning at all but what he was actually seeing was really happening as seen through the windshield of the car.
What was the role of the Serpentlopoda? thought Roy. But before he could even begin to imagine an answer, his Succubus leapt from the backseat of the car and threw him into a Lust-Lock. As he came up for air from his Succubus, he caught glimpses of an seemingly endless array of television programmes he had known from his time living on his home Planet. Other programming, however, featured Serpentkind and an ‘Otherkind’ of which he had trouble discerning just exactly what it was he was Witnessing. Familiar, unfamiliar… in the end it didn’t matter for the anti-matter counted for even more while he was creaming the insides of the Mother-to-end-all-Mothers. Satellites buzzed around the ‘out of place’ car with some actually colliding into it and coming out the worse for it.
Roy laughed at the stupidity of the Soul-less-Losers who, instead of concentrating on their own worthless lives, had the audacity to survey (from a safe distance, naturally) the lives of those they envied while broadcasting useless clap-trap in order to sedate them into a life that was anything but.
Roy and his Succubus continued their sexual bout as their car continued on its way towards the ‘head’ of the Scorpion Constellation. It was made up of five major stars, with the largest being in the middle while it was flanked by two smaller ones on each side which curved upwards (or downwards, depending...) to form its head. Upon arrival, they fell into an orbit of increasing speed which made Roy's head spin. His Succubus did likewise on his rind which resulted in an orgasmic fireworks that left him in a state of total helplessness and extreme fatigue. His dilapitated condition left him indifferent to what happened next.
The ‘head’ of the Scorpion had fused together as one and a shining mass of huge eyes and massive mandibles made straight for the ‘out of place’ car with the obvious intention of
Annihilation. The Succubus was reclining in the back seat of the car, playing with herself and totally indifferent to the threat. As the Scorpion’s head approached, blotting out everything else from view, Roy smiled as if in relief. Finally, he thought to himself, this Passion Play can drop curtain. At that moment, the Succubus let out a low orgasmic moan that caused the ‘out of place’ car to slip through the gaping mandibles of the Scorpion and shoot-out through the back of its head. It then reduced speed to a crawl and floated daintily through the Cosmos into Libra which suddenly became the claws of the ancient Constellation of Scorpio. They too wanted a piece of the car as they snapped silently in the remoteness of Space.
Once again Roy smiled languidly, thinking the end had finally come – but alas! – it was not to be. His Succubus creamed a long stream of steaming vaginal fluid that turned the ‘out of place’ car into a combination sauna and jacuzzi. The Scorpion’s claws recoiled in pain at the discharge which shot-out as hot vapours of steam from the side air vents of the car. Indeed, no such sensation had ever been felt in such Deep Space which could cause an entire Constellation (or two if you prefer) to literally back-off in fear. No Angel sting this, nor Demon either. With great anger the Scorpion flicked ‘Shaula’, its tail-end dubbel star, and sent the two audacious Entities and their 'out of place' car far out into even Deeper Space.
And so it went as the car lunged abruptly out of orbit and careened upwards into the void that existed above the Scorpion Constellation. As they sped through Space their car emptied the ‘cream’ of the Succubus and its occupants soon found themselves high and dry and dead to their world and everything else that surrounded them. Silence, along with stillness, commanded the ambience inside the car. The two satiated Entities gazed at each other in wonder at the other one’s capacity to continue. For a brief moment they actually experienced an understanding that went beyond their incessant coupling. Tenderness, compassion, concern and above all a need to help and be with the other. With each other. Their respective flesh slipped over the car upholstry and the two intertwined to become almost one body that contained two different sexes. Yet they continued, each one, to inhabit their own proper mindset. Together, they orgasmed non-stop sharing exactly the same pleasure and sensations. The quality of their orgasms had changed to multiple charges and discharges that expended and expanded through their quivering bodies as though electrified by the Heaven’s themselves. Time was lost, as were they, in the bliss of Deep Space that once again took on a familiar face. At least for Roy.
It was there that he bore witness to the Serpens Constellation. It was a little known Constellation but Its presence certainly helped to clear up the question of metamorphisis between ‘Mankind’ and ‘Serpentkind’.
It had imposed this Act through Its constant struggle with Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer which splits the Serpens Constellation into two parts – Cauda (tail) and Caput (head) – both of which took form over the human body along with some other physical modifications such as the third breast which was possibly modeled after Antares, the red super-giant star from the mid-section of the Scorpion Constellation. Happily for Roy, his interest in Astrology was paying off bigtime… but it was perhaps for that reason (along with his large member) that he had been chosen to bear Witness in the first place.
Roy, whose body continued to orgasm as one with his Succubus, continued to ask himself - Who or what was it that had placed him to bear Witness? The only Entity capable in his mind was God Itself. While he had a good relationship with the Creator, he was at odds to decide just what it was that he had done which allowed him such great Privilege. As he and his Succubus flew over Serpens Caput, Roy caught a glimpse of the cowled head staring fixedly in his direction. Its star-connected body began to writhe around the Ophiuchus Constellation. Intertwined, the two Constellations vibrated light and shot out orgasmic sparks of bright colour. Roy observed all this with his head leaning against the cool side window of the car. Were the Constellations imitating himself and his Succubus or were the Constellations responsible for the ‘Cosmic bliss’ that the both of them were experiencing? He was awestruck and overjoyed by what he was Witnessing. The 'out of place' car doubled back towards Serpens Cauda and from there descended towards the Eagle Nebula.
Upon arrival, Roy broke down with joy for he Witnessed in real time what no ‘homo sapien’ had ever seen – the ‘Pillars of Creation’ – which formed a part of the Eagle Nebula. A Nebula is an inter-stellar cloud of dust that is made-up of various gases and can eventually form into a Star. The 'Pillars' towered high over the car and it seemed to him that even his Succubus cowered ever-so-slightly in awe of what could only be described as a chef-d'oeuvre de Dieu. Strange faces, flowers, butterflies and bees took form ever so slowly and changed into other forms never seen before by Roy but spectacular to view none-the-less. At a given moment, all the 'Pillars' grew stubby feet in two rows like those of a caterpillar and eventually a head appeared on each. With large eyes and wide mouth they smacked and snooked while curving downwards to inspect the 'out of place' car that floated at their feet.
Roy was ready to jump out his pants (if he had been wearing any) as one of the 'Pillars' bent so low as to have its face pressed against the windshield of the car. A coarse tongue of spacedust and other cosmic debris emerged from its gaping mouth while it licked the car - for any sign of taste? The Succubus had jumped into the backseat of the car, her head peering over it with eyes wide in amazement. Apparently covinced that the two little Entities inside the little 'out of place' car were of no danger or importance, the 'Pillar' righted itself and began to sway in a circular motion. That caused the others to do the same and soon Roy and his Succubus were witness to The Space Dance of the Pillars of Creation which resided in the Eagle Nebula.
Flashes of light ricocheted off each 'Pillar' as they thrust into each other with their long bodies. Their massive eyes glowed with a wild light while their mouths grinned a mile wide with a sort of hideous abandon. On it went, with Roy and the Succubus looking up in silent wonder, which over Time, caused both of them to fall into a trance that transformed into a out-of-body experience. To their surprise the Dance stopped suddenly and the 'Pillars' stood stock still, slightly diminished and with all colour leaving their bodies of cosmic dust. The radio crackled to life inside the car and a strange wheezing could be heard as if someone were recovering from an extreme effort. Finally a distant voice came to be heard but not in a language that could be understood by Roy. His Succubus listened closely however, and by the way her face had paled, he could see that what the disjointed voice was saying was far from re-assuring. She looked at Roy with terror-filled eyes that began to shed tears. This was something that was obviously beyond her control yet she could not verbally explain anything to him. Indeed, verbal communication was the one thing that neither of them could share. Up until that point in time, this had not bothered Roy, in fact, he rather enjoyed the 'silent breaks between sex'. But now serious shit had hit the fan and it gave him a cold creeping feeling in his sphincter that time was of the essence.
With her hands his Succubus pointed towards the black expanse of Deep Space behind them. Then for the first time she took the steering wheel and pressed her foot on the accelerator of the car. Nothing happened. They continued to float at the bottom of God's 'Pillars of Creation' which remained grey, inert and very menacing. Roy understood that they had to make tracks but neither he nor his Succubus controlled the 'out of place' car. In the past he had believed that it was she who had done so but now it was clear that it was not so. So... what to do?
The voice on the radio kept babbling and soon turned into many voices. So many voices at one time plus an increase in volume that made both of them cover their ears. A low-frequency pulse emanated from the radio which caused the car to vibrate and the 'Pillars' to slowly collapse. Roy tried to turn off the radio but it didn't change anything. Cosmic dust began to separate from the 'Pillars' with smaller and then larger chunks of cosmic debris following. At this point panic and despair should've taken over both Roy and his Succubus but luckily for both of them something else was present at that moment which caused the car to jetisson out of there as fast as Deep Space could carry them.
And so it went and so it was that the two Entities in the 'out of place' car saw the flash that ended all and is what we call a 'Supernova Explosion'. It signaled lights-out for the 'Pillars of Creation' and appeared to the two in the car as a silent, massive burst of light which lit Deep Space for a fraction of a second. Happily for them they were out of reach and therefore out of harm's way.
At that moment in Time it became clear to both the Succubus and her Roy that things had pretty much reached their Apogee. Nothing could be said of course, but everything was understood. So much so that for the next while the Cosmic Sex Discovery Package Tour took a bit of a nose-dive as both parties had seen, felt and experienced much. Roy's recurring questions went largely unanswered and as far as his Succubus was concerned - she wouldn't be telling even if she knew. So after a bit of a break to recover, the two Star Entities of the 'out of place' car got together to do what they did best in the hopes that the next Constellation would offer some more Cosmic Thrills. Their Voyage continued but instead of a Constellation they fell into a Hole blacker than that of anything their respective bodies possessed.
At first they didn't notice anything, so engrossed in each other's genitalia that they could've landed on the head of a pin spinning through a dwarf nebula. The pin would've made for a better choice but ultimately what tipped them off was the absence of all reference points of light. Barely alarmed, they just shrugged it off and continued their incessant act of copulation. But between breathers, Roy felt a strange wave of lethargy that required more and more resolve to continue the fun and games with his Succubus. Eventually she seemed to thin out to the point where he could barely feel her. One last squeeze of her middle breast was all that was permitted him before he finally realized that the Voyage was coming to an End.
That which had summoned him from his home Planet to bear Witness, was now in the process of arranging other accomodations. Even Roy knew that all good things must come to an End and in a way he was grateful - for all the Climaxes, Revelations and for the Voyage itself. It was at that moment that Roy saw through the car windshield, far, far away in the distance, a tiny speck of light.
The car picked up incredible speed and soon Roy was mesmerized by what he saw. His Succubus, a giant anew, had a whirlpool of brilliant white shapes swirling around her upper body. Above her head she held a cane, with a shining pointed metal end and a carved inscription that he could not decipher. In the middle of the whirlpool of shape and light, was a glowing orb around which everything seemed to gravitate towards. Below his Succubus, floated a giant of a Planet. Certainly not his, he thought. But then he thought again. And then he felt his 'out of place' car being pulled into the maelstrom that surrounded his Succubus and he quickly realized that he was being sent to another Planet that She was in the process of forming right before his eyes. The radio came to life - 'Confirm your position'
He Panicked. 'No! No!' he cried. 'Not there. Not to a new Planet!'
The car continued toward the whirlpool while Roy turned the steering wheel hoping the car would respond to his Command. It didn't. White as a sheet, eyes popping out of his head, Roy Witnessed his own life approach that of another one of which he would have no say as to its shape or its conditions. A calm feminine voice came on the radio -
'My Killer unto Stars... my killer unto stars... my killer unto stars... my killer unto...'
Act III.
Roy found himself sitting naked, on the terrace of a café located in the centre of his hometown. It was a warm spring day with the birds singing merrily under the deep blue sky. Insects were busy buzzing about while bees and butterflies alighted on colourful flowers. The fact that he was naked didn’t disturb anyone as everyone was dead. Human skeletons littered the sidewalks and roads around him. They were still clothed however. Smiling to himself, Roy took a sip of his beer and reflected on the situation. Human folly had finally been rewarded, thought he. All the abuse of Nature, all the disbelief and lack of Faith in something Omnipresent finally caught up to the sad race called ‘homo sapiens’ and had left it dry boned in the latest Petro-Chinese fashion.
Roy sighed deeply and took another pull on his beer. Then he frowned as he realized that this fate had more than probably taken his girlfriend’s life who lived a few kilometres away in another town. He finished his beer and made his way up the street that led to the ‘100 Steps’. The steps descended into a valley that contained a winding river that had long ago been constricted with ‘concrete banks’ and ‘reservoirs’. This was done to protect the many beautiful homes, appartments and restaurants that aligned the River from being flooded in the winter and spring. Unaturally, this prevented Nature from doing its job in leaving behind nutritive soil and ground water. Perhaps this was for the best as the River was far from clean.
When Roy reached the top of the ‘100 Steps’ what he saw did not surprise him. The River had flooded and reclaimed its rightful place in the valley and on the Planet. Sticking up out of the slow moving water were rooftops and upper stories of the buildings that had been stupidly built on the flood plain. Another smile crossed Roy’s face as he descended the steps that now finished at the River’s edge. His studio appartment, which faced onto the River, wasn’t far away but without a boat of some kind it would be difficult to access as the water was still too cold to swim in. So he decided to pray to God for a boat and in a short time one came floating towards him and landed at his feet.
Roy climbed inside and rowed to his studio. Upon arrival, he peered through the window of his appartment and much to his relief he saw that the water hadn’t risen above the floorboards. However, the entranceway into the building was under four metres of water. So he took an oar from the boat and began tapping at his studio window all the while slowly increasing the force. Soon he had made a hole big enough to stick his arm through and turned the handle to open the window. He secured the boat to the metal bar that laterally transversed the bottom half of the window and then paused to take in the scene before him.
Nothing had been touched in his studio. Apart from a good layer of dust, everything was exactly as he had left it. The door to the appartment was still locked. Roy asked himself just
how long it was since he had left on his Astral Voyage with the Succubus, yet for the life of him he couldn’t even imagine. One thing he didn’t have to imagine were hunger or thirst. Checking his little kitchen he saw that it was well-stocked with victules and drink. That struck him as odd as he couldn’t remember having stocked-up with such things. With the electricity gone, Roy still had his gas stove so he could heat up a meal and down a few beers along with a few whiskies. This went on well into the night until he crashed-out on his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
His dreamnt of his Astral Voyage with the Succubus. He re-lived many of the events that had gone on but also new ones that he hadn’t experienced. The whole thing was fragmented, topsy-turvy like, and seemed to circle and spiral around the edges of his Inner Psyche. The Reality of it was frightening and fascinating at the same time. Roy turned and twisted as he slept, crying out and in, looking for a way to escape the madness of it all. Suddenly his body fell limp. He found himself in his girlfriend’s hometown… she asked him if he could go to the butcher’s to buy some meat for a barbecue that evening… he was overjoyed for everything had returned to normal… the streets were busy with shoppers… he stood happily in line at the butcher’s… suddenly, from the corner of his eye he spotted an ‘out of place’ car coming down the main avenue… his joy turned to anger as he ran from the butcher shop shaking his fist at the Succubus who was smiling… and then laughing at him…
Roy awoke, half-covered in sperm-stained sheets and with tears pouring from his eyes. He trembled as he got out of bed to make a coffee. As he drank it, he cringed with loathing at what was to come. Yet he couldn’t escape it. Oh no! It was Real enough. The day was cool and cloud covered. He gathered those items in his studio that were important to him and filled the boat. It was necessary that he arrive at his girlfriend’s place. Something was nagging at him to go as quickly as possible. After pushing the boat off from his window sill he hadn’t gone more than a few metres when the whole building began to groan and slowly collapse sideways with the current. It did not make for a promising start to the day to watch his home sink into the River
It didn’t take him long to arrive at his girlfriend’s town. Her house was not far from the River which had risen to the beginning of the bridge that crossed it. Roy brought his boat up onto the land and left it there. He would come back later for its contents. Fully-clothed skeletons couldn’t steal and there was no lack of them in the town. He headed up the main road but crashed cars and scattered skeletons made for slow-going, so he took to the side roads until he arrived at his girlfriend’s house. The door was slightly ajar so he made his way slowly inside.
Passing from the hallway, through the kitchen and into the living room, Roy saw exactly what he had imagined. His girlfriend’s skeleton was sitting upright on the sofa-bed watching a television that had long ceased to function. Her legs and hips were covered by a blanket as were the skeletons of her two doggies. Shit! thought Roy. Feeling remorse and not just a little bit sad and lonely, he sat next to her and held her hand. He found his thoughts continually returning to all that they had done together over so many years. Dusk had arrived by the time he came out of his stupor and he decided to go back to his boat to retrieve his belongings. He took a wheelbarrow from the shed in the garden and made his way down the sidestreets to his boat. It took him three trips, there and back, to empty the boat. Afterwards, he sat in the large wooden chair in the garden, looking at the crescent moon all the while wondering what the hell it was that had stripped the flesh and emptied the fluids of those whom had existed before.
Nightshadows danced and flitted on the white walls that contained the garden. They folded across the foliage and silently laughed at Roy, the Outcast sitting alone in the solid oak chair. He was well aware of them and over time they would become a familiar nocturnal occurance. They would also lead him to Insanity. That was a place that he did not fear for he had lived amongst It all of his life in various degrees. While he had managed to distance himself from It, he knew that what he had experienced in his Astral Voyage with the Succubus would only make the Trip back easier in the end. Yet there he was – alone and alive amidst a woe-begotten race that would soon enough turn to dust and disappear forever leaving no trace. Roy smiled to himself for Nightshadows could neither scare nor destroy him. In the end he would simply trade places with them and all would be as One.
Roy took to a routine of speaking to his girlfriend and watching T.V with her. He would make meals for the both of them, do the washing up and finish the evening with a good beer and a whisky. He fed the dogs and took them for a walk. He cleaned the house and made travel plans for his girlfriend and himself. At night, they would all sleep as usual in the bedroom that gave out onto the garden. Sex, however, was a thing of the past. In short, Roy had gone off the deep end. He was crazy. He had finally arrived at Insanity.
One fine day as he was watching T.V with his girlfriend and the late summer rays of sunshine poured through the window, Roy heard her voice anew. He turned to look in her direction and there she was, alive and well, asking him if he was going to offer her a beer. Her sudden appearance caused him to jump from his seat and rush over to her. She smiled, a little surprised and confused, asking him what the matter was. Nothing was the matter, thought Roy, no, nothing at all as he kissed her and went out to the garden shed to fetch a large bottle of beer from the fridge. The doggies were playing tag in the garden and everything was as it had been. Roy was beaming with joy as he poured the beers while his girlfriend took her place in the hammock that stretched out under the large red maple tree. They sat and talked as usual while the beers flowed and the evening arrived. He couldn’t believe it. Had it all been a bad dream? Perhaps he had recovered from some strange mental illness… He didn’t know and he didn’t care. All he knew was that his old life had been returned to him. Roy silently thanked God for that.
It was at that moment that his girlfriend asked him what was for dinner. Roy looked at her askance. Her eyes widened. Had she said something wrong? No… no, he replied. He trailed off into silence and she continued, suggesting that they have a barbecue. Roy remained silent, his head lowered. His girlfriend, laughing, told him to ‘stop the cinema’ and go across the street to the butchers to buy some meat. His demented smile startled his girlfriend but before she could comment, he was off to the butcher’s.
Roy crossed the street that was crowded with pedestrians and cars. Everything appeared normal. He took his place in the line-up awaiting his turn. His anxiety was slowly making an exit. He felt better. Reassured, he smiled to himself. At that very moment there was a strange commotion going on out on the street. Roy tried to see what was going on through the butcher’s window but too many people were blocking his view. He didn’t want to lose his place in line yet something was pulling at him to get a better look. Rushing out onto the street he was aghast at what he saw.
His Succubus, standing naked with long hair flowing in the sun, stood tall in a large convertible, her massive sporran gleaming and her large white breasts with dark red nipples erect and inviting, waving at the crowd of hysterical admirerers. Roy cried out like a wounded animal and raised his fist in defiance towards her. The rapturous crowd turned towards him – scowling.
The Succubus laughed, a shrill other-worldly sound that caused the angry crowd to stiffen and be silent. Their bodily fluids came streaming out from all orfices while their skin remained taught for just a few seconds before crumpling to their feet. Finally, their skeletons went clickity-clack to the ground. Only their eyes, which seemed to still be alive, held an un-Godly like stare for a few seconds more before they also dimmed to Eternity.
Roy was horror-stricken. Not just because of what had happened, but also because he had been spared. Or so he thought. His Succubus took her place behind the wheel of her ‘out of place’ car. She looked at Roy with a sad smile. She looked at Roy for a final few moments like a Master looks at Its favourite. She looked at Roy knowing that he would do well in his next Life as she drove off towards the River.
Roy was beside himself with anger. It wasn’t fair that she should leave him alone amongst the Dead. It wasn’t fair that he should have to finish his life with the bones of his girlfriend and her doggies. It wasn’t fair that…
Suddenly, the shrill snap of the Succubus’s laughter beamed into Roy’s ears causing all his bodily fluids to burst from their orfices. His flesh floated a few seconds before falling to his feet while his eyeballs played pinball down his rib-cage, into his pelvic girdle and down his leg bones. What he saw had been split-up into a Collide-o-Slope of multiple images accompanied by a feeling of loathing, disgust and nausea. Roy’s soul slid through a whirlpool of differing Lifeforms before finally taking its place far, far away on another Planet that had been conceived by his Creator.
CODA
The Succubus continued her way towards the River and when she arrived at the partially flooded bridge, she stopped to take in the scene. The River carried all the Crap that ‘homo sapien’ had manufactured, exchanged and used until it was all Useless. The poor Planet didn’t stand a chance.
She drove her ‘out of place’ car on the water, across the bridge and upwards towards a ridge that dominated the River valley. Looking across the vast expanse of half-submerged buildings along with the floating rubbish that the species was known for, she sighed deeply knowing that God would help her rid the poor Planet of all the Crap deposited there by ‘homo frustratis’, as she prefered to call them. For a long time the Succubus stood, as if waiting for a Sign. The days shortened and grew cold. The dark clouds above passed slowly. The River froze. A death-like stillness set in over the whole Planet. Yet she remained naked and impassive, awaiting for the Moment of Cleansing.
One morning the Moment did arrive. The black cloud cover cracked open making way for a beam of blood-red sunlight to warm ever so slightly the grey skin of the Succubus.
Coming out of her winter slumber, she stretched and shivered, her succulent, curvacious body arousing the Fire deep inside the Planet. She raised her arms to the Heavens and sang a spell of love and caring, injecting It with compassion that encompassed all that which would live anew in Harmony. When she stopped her song, a deep groaning could be heard coming out of the Planet. Soon a wind picked-up and blew so strong and for so long that all that had ever existed in previous times was wiped off the face of the Planet forever. The Voice of --- had spoken. Mother Nature lowered her arms and smiled.
All was well with the World.
THEND
RAWDTHYME
'The Year of the Golden Pig' - text & images - © Rod Kirkpatrick 2007/2024
'Yendor XVII' - text & images - © Rod Kirkpatrick 2009/2024
except*
*image#14 - french text © Per-Jakez Hélias 1979
'Zenisis' - text & images - © Rod Kirkpatrick 2011/2024
'Hepsebah' - text & images - © Rod Kirkpatrick 2014/2024
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'Often,
the only Thing
that restrains Humanity
from the Abyss
are Moral Boundaries.
In this,
Science alone
is not only Useless,
but
Anathema.'
Elieser