screen, then Marjorie, and then Peter's.
"You changed them?" Marie asked, trying to follow the imagery. The dashboard dial again tapped the full symbol. "You can't just take people and change them. They have to give permission."
An image of Bill came into view. He sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands. His shoulders shook and occasionally he wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. Then an earlier image of Bill, younger and with a homely looking woman sitting at a bench in the nature preserve. They laughed and then leaned into each other and kissed. It flashed to another scene, the two of them in a medical ward with the woman lying sickly in a bed and Bill smoothing her hair.
"You're saying Bill did want this?" Kenjal whispered.
The image changed to Marjorie, frail, thinned silver hair. She lay in her bed smiling at the music with the rumble of a vacuum in the background. Halfway through the song she clutched her heart, her skin went clammy and paled. She tried to reach the call button that her daughter had set up by the bed but her face contorted in pain.
"She was dying." Marie's hands trembled.
The image changed to Peter, undressed in his shower stall. His naked body contorted by some deformity. Upper body hunched from a crooked spine and odd bone layout in his shoulders. His hips twisted at an off angle from his upper body. He leaned against the wall, eyes closed, face contorted in pain. They watched as he reached for a medicine bottle and swallowed two pills. After a few moments, his pain seemed to cease and etches in his face relaxed.
"Peter was in pain, trapped in a body that caused him pain." Marie, humbled by the realities of these people's lives, let a tear fall down her cheek unchecked.
Not once in her whole existence had she ever thought of those around her. Moved obliviously though life, not caring about the intricacy of a single other person's happiness, anguish, trials, or tribulations. Yet, here was a whole species evolved to seek out these souls and release them from their bindings, whether it was the mind, body, or spirit that chained them.
The image faded and the exit door reopened, leading back to the shuttle. Marie looked down the shaft for several moments, contemplating where she was going. It was tempting, to end life in this plane of existence. There were always faults in life; hers had been self-induced and not nearly as traumatizing as Bill, Marjorie, or Peters. This was a path for those with no alternative.
She had an alternative; she had options for changing her life on this plane. She turned back towards Kenjal and Don, only to find one of them missing. She stared several moments at the remaining personnel until the realization sunk in. They hadn't felt like there was a choice, they wanted to venture into this new path. They wanted free of their body for some reason, whatever that might be. She'd hope the reasoning was for an unchartered adventure, but would never know.
"Well, do you know how to fly a Boomerang?" Don sent her a cocky grin. "'Cause I sure in the hell don't."
THE END
About the author:
I live in Northern California with my husband where we keep busy raising four little aliens. When I'm not working my day job as a Project Manager, I'm busy writing and pushing my imagination. Having a lifelong love for science fiction, I'm enjoying my journey to become an established author...and anxiously waiting for a confirmed UFO sighting.
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My Blog: Adventures of a Sci-Fi Writer
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