was looking up. I did as well and saw a plane flying over. It dropped something. The big black object hurtled toward the ground. I knew what it was. A bomb, but this one was much bigger than all the others.
I didn’t have time to run into the tent. The thing hit the ground and flames hurtled toward me. This was a big bomb. It came the same way the bullet did, very slow. I wasn’t scared at first; I knew I would survive it. But then doubt hit me. What if the bullet took away my invincibility? I opened my eyes wide and tried to move, but could not. I was engulfed in the flames and the world went black for what seemed like the one hundredth time.
10. The Hut and the Child
After the bomb went off and my body was destroyed I appeared in a nice meadow. I stood on the bank of a little lake amongst the pretty flowers and tall grass. There were frogs and birds and small furry animals I didn’t know the name of. Turtles sunbathed on logs and dragonflies buzzed around. The area had a serene beauty to it. I wandered about, relaxing in my good fortune to find a place that wasn’t noisy or dangerous. That changed quickly. Clouds came in and a storm approached. It wasn’t a little rain shower. This was a powerful storm with strong swirling winds and lightning. It grew so strong that even the largest trees could not withstand its might. I was blown around with ease. I hit a tree and tried to brace myself from the wind when I saw another tree had split up and was coming straight at me. I couldn’t move in the strong wind. I was quickly filled with small and sharp pieces of wood. A large branch went right through my head.
I didn’t go through the darkness this time. Immediately following being run through with a branch I appeared at the bottom of a deep canyon. A small stream was at my feet and I could see the top of the canyon several hundred feet above my head. This looked to be just as nice as the meadow at first. I listened to the stream and felt a nice breeze blow by. It was calm and quiet and there wasn’t a single person around to confuse me or question my sanity. I followed the flow of the stream to see if it led me anywhere interesting. It took me around a curve and I saw a wall of water coming toward me. The entire canyon started to rumble violently. I stood calm and waited. The massive surge swallowed me up. A large rock came out of nowhere and took me out.
I opened my eyes and saw a field of wheat. A minute later an outbreak of tornadoes came out of the blue. I was lifted off of my feet and smacked back down.
I stood in the middle of a busy road – hit by car. I was piloting a small airplane—fiery crash. Standing in a bank—shot by a robber. Swimming in the ocean—eaten by a shark. Sitting in a hospital bed with a lot of injuries—died slowly from losing too much blood.
I finally closed my eyes and waited for all of this to end. I heard crashes and rumbles. It just kept coming again and again. There was no pain involved. I might have been brutally killed thirty or forty times before things finally slowed down. I waited for more but it seemed to be over.
My eyes slowly opened, anticipating the worst. I was upside down, floating in the air. I could only see white in every direction. I must have been in a cloud. There was no air current and no reason to fret anymore. I liked floating there. I didn’t need to think or to wonder about how I would get to someplace new. That would come one way or another. That seemed to be the way of things. I was going to let the world choose what I would see next.
I hoped to float forever. The clouds parted below me and I saw land. The view was stunning from way up there. It was barren as far as I could tell. Each crack and crevice shaped the land and gave it a spirit unseen except by those with a high vantage. I wanted to take mental pictures that could be conjured up whenever I felt cheerless.
My body began to drop slowly. The ground gradually took the form I was more familiar with. I wanted to go back up, to see the world from a view rarely seen. I only dropped faster. I righted myself and touched the ground, a little put out.
A whimper. I scanned the area for the source of the sound. A lump broke the flatness of the ground. It looked to be a little dirt mound. At least until it started to move. It shifted and revealed itself to be a child, a boy, only six or seven years old. He saw me, wiped his eyes, and sat up.
“Hello.” I said gently. “Are you lost?”
He looked around. “I think so. I was looking for something but I never found it.”
“What was it?”
“My home.”
My breath caught short. “Do you live around here?”
He shook his head. “I don’t remember anything. I woke up and I was here.” He started to cry again. “I can’t remember where I was.”
His story was similar to my own. Whatever happened to him might just be the same thing that happened to me.
I sat down next to him. “You know what? I had that same problem.”
“Really?” He sobbed.
“Yes. I don’t remember much about my own home either. And the first thing I can remember is standing on a cliff. Do you think we have gone through the same thing?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Well how about you come with me and we’ll find your home.”
“Where are you going?” He wiped his eyes again.
“Wherever this land takes me. Do you want to come?”
He nodded quickly. “I don’t want to be alone.”
I put my arm around him. “You won’t be again. We’ll find your home as fast as we can.”
He smiled timidly. “Okay.”
I helped him to his feet, picked a direction at random, and started somewhere. He proved to be a good companion. I had someone to talk to and he kept up with me well. There wasn’t much to see and even less to talk about. The only thing he could remember was sitting on the ground right where he was. He didn’t want to move in case somebody was looking for him. I was the first person he saw. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there, only that it was for a long time.
I told him all about my adventures. He found them very enjoyable. His favorite was my encounter with the giant lake monster. I told him in great detail how it all happened. He gasped at the part where I hit the water but I told him that I was practically invincible. As I told the stories I grasped just how strange they all were together. He kept asking me if I knew why I was at this place or how I ended up at another, but I had no idea. I was becoming used to the changes and weird events but I really would have liked some answers.
“Maybe there was a clue somewhere.” He said when I finished my stories.
“What do you mean?”
“Somewhere in one of those places there might have been something that would have told you how you got there.”
I thought back but nothing stuck out. “I don’t know.”
Something stood up against the flat ground in the distance. It looked like a little hut. It was a strange place to have a home. I didn’t want to nitpick when I was just so thankful to possibly find another person. The boy and I went straight up to the hut.
“What is your name?”
“Ambrose.”
What a strange name. I don’t think anybody had used that name for one hundred years. I hoped he was named after an ancestor.
“My name is Lawrence.” I said without hesitation.
We shook hands.
The little hut looked like it couldn’t have been anymore than one room. It had wood walls and a straw roof. I knocked at the door.
An old man answered. I stared at him for a minute before realizing where I had seen him before. The tuft of white hair on the right side of his upper lip gave him away.
“You.” I snarled. “I remember you.”
His eyes widened and he tried to shut the door but I pushed it wide and slipped into the hut, Ambrose right beside me.
“Now I don’t know you and it is very rude to barge into someone else’s home.” The wizard said.
“You don’t remember me? I pushed Heradus’s body into the light and then you both di
sappeared without helping me.”
He scratched his chin. “That does sound familiar.”
I was so relieved he said that. After meeting so many people who didn’t believe a thing I said it was nice to have somebody who remembered me.
“Now I need you to tell me and Ambrose here how to get home. I think whatever happened to me happened to him as well. We both have spotty memories and appeared here without any knowledge of coming.”
“What makes you think I know anything?” He said, sitting down at a small table.
The hut was very small. There was a table and one chair and a painting of the wizard on the wall.
“You’re a wizard you must have some way of getting us home.”
He looked us over distrustfully. “And what’s in it for me.”
I pointed a finger at him. “If you help us I won’t bash you.”
He laughed. “I’ll just disappear. I say you should be friendlier to the person who knows all of your secrets.”
“That reminds me,” I said, “I have seen a pair of eyes twice now that I am certain have some deep knowledge of me. Do you know anything about that?”
“I don’t believe I do.”
“So am I crazy?”
“You might be, but don’t let that stop you from getting to the truth.”
He took a pipe off the table and lit it. Instead of smoke little green frogs came floating out with every breath. They swam around in the air and disappeared a few seconds later.
I smiled at him, hoping he would see how friendly I was. “Can you help us?”