Chapter 6
I woke up to a warm glow of flames dancing in the fireplace and producing a generous amount of heat along with enough light to look around the room. The popping and crackling in the hearth was a welcoming sound within the maddening silence of the AVERWOODS. And then my ears keyed in on the heavy nasal sounds of Miles who was sound asleep in the other room. With each inhale and exhale; the noises triggered a memory of my youth. It was one of a dozen days that I stayed over at grandpa’s house---this memory involved grandpa shoveling long and smooth lines across his driveway after a heavy snow and it was his driveway that appeared the cleanest of snow in the neighborhood he lived in ---cleaner than any sultry day in July. I didn’t mind that Miles ended up in the bed I was supposed to be in as I preferred the couch. I felt rested. I then looked out the window, at the blackness of the forests and wondered what time it was but remembered this was an alien planet. Does ALVERON have the same twenty-four hour day that Earth has? I made a mental note to ask Miles about this when I’d see him tomorrow.
Then my mind began to play tricks in the darkness of the AVERWOODS. I pondered the idea, “What if a day to the ALVERONS is like a month to humans? What is time really in another galaxy? I could be stuck in this BALLASTAH for a month; unable to leave because of these blood-sucking ROTIAN monsters outside. I heard a screeching noise that sounded close to the BALLASTAH. The shrill cry sent chills through me that the fire couldn’t temperate. I got back on the couch and tried to think about something else.
I wondered when Miles was going to give me the reverse serum that changed this smallish state I was in. I felt like most of my confidence and perhaps bravery were gone after the change. Mind you, I didn’t perceive the courage that welled inside me during the events of the past week. My thoughts churned around the fear of what was unknown outside and beyond. For a brief time, these thoughts agitated worry in my head but boredom eventually sunk in and I fell back asleep. When I woke up for a second time, I saw sunlight peaking through some branches outside my window and all the thoughts from earlier that morning seemed ridiculous to me.
The fire was still burning strong in the hearth. Miles must have got up and thrown another log or two on for me. I lay there, aware of the comfortable couch that had given me this good rest. It was hard to get up but I was anxious to talk to Miles and my stomach was long overdue for a good meal. I walked out into the bedroom and then the living room but it appeared Miles already left for the city to get that coat I asked for. Maybe he’ll bring the serum that changes us both back I thought. Then something occurred to me that I hadn’t paid attention to when we first arrived in the BALLASTAH yesterday. While it did resemble my apartment, everything was closer to the floor and meant for a smaller person. The countertops, cabinets and even chairs and dinner table were short. I realized then that the plan to change me back was not at this location; but, if not now, when?
I walked over to a cabinet in the kitchen that was stocked with items my apartment on Earth would have. Snappy O’s cereal, breakfast bars and my favorite chocolate covered mint chip cookies. There’s only one place in the universe that makes these I thought and wondered where Miles had stashed these on the trip while heading to ALVERON. In fact, there were canned goods with all the familiar labels on them. I looked at an object that was of course made of GLYSTIN metal---a refrigerator? I opened it up and saw plenty of bottled water, lunch meat, cheeses, milk and eggs. The refrigerator was cool inside and I studied the outside of the fridge to locate the cord with a plug attached to the wall; thinking that would be bizarre to find in this in an elevated alien BALLASTAH but nothing was seen. Battery operated maybe?
I looked at the countertops that were full of fruit and vegetables as well as some breads and pastas. Then I went into the bathroom that didn’t have running water but a large tub filled with warm water and my favorite shaving gel, razors, soap toothbrush and toothpaste which were neatly lined in the cabinet. I became conscious of the fact that there was no way Miles could have fit all this food and furniture from Earth on the spacecraft we traveled in. Someone went to great lengths to ensure my comfort on ALVERON; right to the miniature replicas of my furniture back home. I was flattered and perplexed at the same time but decided to finally eat something and get ready for the day before Miles got back.
A few hours later I heard the transporter cut through the silence of the AVERWOOD FOREST. I couldn’t wait to see Miles as I was anxious to ask him all of my questions. A few minutes later, Miles head popped through the floor and he greeted me with a cheerful and curious, “Hello human.” I waited for Miles to settle in before I gave him any questioning on all the items in the BALLASTAH or my interesting thoughts on time at ALVERON which I had earlier this morning. Miles handed me a very suitable coat that was made for my present measurements and this triggered my most important question immediately when he handed it to me.
“Miles, why am I still this size and when are we both going to change back?”
“Oh that,” Miles said this with a shrug like it was the least important thing on his mind. “William, I’ll get you back to your normal size when things settle down with the NOBIANS. It’s much easier to hide you at this size. Besides, the BALLASTAH is already tailor made for our present stature. Look, I’m not asking you to deal with anything I’m not dealing with too. Just relax and enjoy the next few days here in the AVERWOODS.”
This was a good point made by Miles. He was in fact, still the same height as me and not complaining about it. The shared condition made me feel at ease and it wasn’t like I’d be this height forever. We then decided an afternoon walk in the AVERWOODS would do us both some good. I was excited about the possibility of exploring this alien forest for the first time. Being out here really brought back memories of my childhood as I grew up near a densely wooded area with streams and rock piles to climb. Miles and I were two insouciant souls; like a couple of kids that afternoon in the AVERWOODS, as the thrill of exploring was in our hearts. We couldn’t believe the luck when we came upon a canoe down by the stream. A thought occurred to me that it had been placed there for me but Miles seemed to act like it was good fortune so I went along.
The biggest thrill came when we used our fashioned spears to tag ALVERON trout; at least that’s what I called them, Miles had a much stranger name for them.
“We’re eating well tonight,” Miles said as I pulled in my third fish of the day.
I stuck my hand in the water and moved it rapidly for cleaning. For as cold as it was outside; the water was surprisingly warm. I had to ask Miles about this.
“The best way I can describe it to you Baxter is think of an hour glass. There are times when the hour glass is nearly full on the top and close to empty on the bottom while other times the bottom half of the hour glass is completely full and the top half is empty. So it goes here on ALVERON where the resources for survival on the planet are shared.”
I didn’t quite understand it. It sounded like grasshopper; yen and yang talk to me as it was an extraordinarily bizarre reason. As I sorted through Miles’ explanation; I heard a noise that nearly shook me out of the canoe. It was as loud as a lion’s roar, deafening almost and startling in the tranquil AVERWOOD FOREST.
I looked at Miles, “What was that,” I asked.
Miles raised his pointer to his lips and squinted past me and toward the river’s bank on my left. Movement in some thick brush caught our attention and we stuck our paddles in the water, mine catching a rock at the bottom of the stream to stop our forward progress and we maneuvered behind a dead tree limb on the bank. We waited and watched the feverish movement of bushes just a half click ahead of us. Then a massive dark image crept out of the dense brush and into the stream. A beast in stature of nearly eight feet and black hair that covered every inch accept near the crown of the head. Two ominous horns shot out of the mammoth skull of the beast.
I whispered in astonishment, “What is that?”
Miles put his hand over my mouth and
pressed his pointer over his lips for emphasis. The beast turned and looked in our direction but only for a second and then continued across the stream. We slowly backed the canoe out of hiding and paddled upstream toward the spot where we had discovered the canoe. Miles was silent through this and I followed. We walked as quiet as the forest would allow to the BALLASTAH. Miles finally spoke when we climbed inside and the color in his face resurfaced.
“That’s a GARGIAN. They’re very dangerous in these woods.”
“But I thought you said the ROTIANS were the only thing dangerous in this forest.”
“They are; I mean, normally, this part of the season the GARGIAN go into their layer for a rest and don’t come out until the water is cool. I didn’t think I’d ever see one of those again.”
Miles appeared shaken and I could sense that he was holding something back about this dangerous GARGIAN creature.
“So, what does that mean for us,” I asked?
“I’m afraid we’re forced to stay in the BALLASTAH as much as possible.”
“But does the GARGIAN stay near the water, what if we avoid the water entirely and just stick to the trails in the forest?”
Miles shook his head, “I’m afraid were stuck here. I can’t risk anything happening to you William. It’s just too risky.”
I attempted a final ploy to this discussion but Miles blurted out, “Look, if you were to be captured by a GARGIAN, I can assure you that your final moments would be wishing for death.”
This emphatic statement from Miles silenced me on the subject and I cleared any thoughts of leaving the BALLASTAH unless Miles gave the okay from that point on. After that, the mood lightened back up to normal between Miles and me when we started frying the fish over the fire.
That evening, Miles told me a story, as we both sat in front of the fire, bellies full from the catch earlier in the day.
The story started out like this: “There was a great storm that came upon a village one morning. People were unprepared as they had never seen winds so strong and rain fall so heavy. The destruction that the storm brought was unimaginable. People ran for their lives to be saved by finding shelter but many didn’t succeed and were lost forever. The ones that did live were left broken and changed forever as many of their loved ones cried out; but, could not be saved.”
Miles looked into the fire as it flickered with intensity in his eyes.
Miles went on, “It was found out many years later that one brother had betrayed another to save his children from death; leaving the other brother and his children to sure destruction. However, both brothers survived but one lost everything in that storm. That brother had a vengeance burn in him toward his brother that would last the rest of his life.”
The fire popped and Miles looked down.
I said to Miles, “But the brother that saved his children, didn’t he have a responsibility to rescue them?”
“He did; perhaps, maybe there was another way for all to be saved though.”
“That storm sounded crazy though,” I tried to go on but Miles got up and announced he was tired and off to bed.
I dozed off shortly after Miles went to bed. A ray of sunlight on my face woke me up the next morning and I felt refreshed as it was the first decent night of sleep I had experienced since the last night in my apartment. Miles was already up and making something called GNOCKTA to which Miles explained had similar stimulating effects on a person as coffee does. This excited me until I tasted it.
“Very bitter---needs sugar,” I exclaimed!
This got a laugh out of Miles as he enjoyed seeing my puckered facial expression. This reminded me of my dad and uncle on my 21st birthday. We were at a bar and Uncle Dave ordered a scotch on the rocks for me and told me to drink up. I did and mirrored much of the same contortions in my mouth and eyes as I have demonstrated to Miles. Dad and Uncle Dave laughed hysterically at this site but it was one of the best times I ever had with the two of them.
“Are you feeling awake yet;” Miles saying this with a smirk.
“Yeah, awake and ready to brush my teeth,” saying this with a grin as Miles appeared to be in better spirits today.
The rest of the day, Miles and I played cards and carved BACHTOS; these are wind instruments that look and sound similar to India’s Bansuri. I immediately thought of the Bansuri demonstration at a recital that I attended in college. Mine, of course, didn’t come out right but Miles BACHTOS worked beautifully. The sounds that came from it were hypnotizing and sacred. I initially used my failed attempt at making BACHTOS as a drum stick and beat the floor while he played. This didn’t last long though as I quickly preferred to just sit back and listen. Miles played for what seemed like hours.
On Earth; Miles was this ‘Mr. Perfect,’ computer programmer guy that seemed great at everything he did. This didn’t seem to change much on ALVERON but I took delight in that he presently didn’t look so much better than me.
Our day stuck in the BALLASTAH didn’t turn out so bad after all. Miles was a true entertainer as he demonstrated his three magic tricks for me. Two of them were pretty good but the third one needed some work.
This brought a mischievous grin to my face as I thought, “Mr. Perfect isn’t so perfect after all.”
I couldn’t be upset with Miles for being good at everything he did though. Miles numerous talents kept things interesting while we waited for the council to arrive; which I hoped would be tomorrow. The evening ended with a more upbeat story than the night before about a cute circus koala he’d seen ride a unicycle while juggling when Miles first arrived on Earth. I didn’t believe him as it sounded too impossible to be true but the way he told the story made my stomach hurt from laughter. He then played more BACHTOS music until softening each note till I fell asleep.
As sweet and delicately the second night in the tree house ended; day three in the AVERWOODS began with excitement. Miles was shaking my arm.
“William, wake up,” further nudging me out of a deep slumber that the alien couch had so effortlessly aided me in.
“What’s going on Miles,” I asked, noticing that the sunlight was barely present through the window.
“The plan has changed. We’ve got to get to the city this morning to meet the council---hurry;” Miles said as he stuffed a few items in his backpack and headed for the kitchen.
Hurry was not part of my vocabulary this early in the morning. I needed to eat something, brush my teeth, splash some water on my face, comb my hair and maybe sit down and read something before I get out the door. I missed my computer and TV. Not having these things was one part of my day that I was still adjusting to. It would have been nice to know if the Knicks were playing competitive basketball and were still edging closer to first place in their division. Routines are hard to break and it almost takes being snatched by an alien to break these morning rituals that get a person going before the day begins.
I slowly got up from the couch and stretch a big one out while yawning and Miles pops his head through the door, “Good; you’re up, I’ll meet you down by the transporter and hurry!”
I managed to get to the bathroom and brush my teeth and hair; making myself at least somewhat presentable for the meeting that I knew nothing about. It was a good thing that all this was happening so quickly for me this morning because my nerves would have surely kicked in; causing those weak knees and butterflies I get before big presentations. I climbed out of the BALLASTAH but gave it one last look and thought about it as it would be the last time I’d set foot in here.
Surely they’ll be ready to set me up in the city today, I thought.
And so with that, I headed toward the path that led to the transporter. When I arrived, I saw Miles speaking into a device on the transporter, probably letting the council know we are on our way, I guessed.
Miles looked up with a smile and said, “It’s about time sleepy head.”
I smiled back and jokingly asked, “Hey; is there any way we can bring
that couch with us to the city?”
Miles gave a half nod to this and said, “Wait till you see what they have in the city. They’re setting you up really nice. They’re also going to give you the serum you’ve wanted since you got here.”
I climbed in the transporter and we flew away. Over the trees we took flight, only this trip in the transporter was much more comfortable as the coat Miles brought, kept me warm. I reflected on the days spent in the BALLASTAH as we flew just above the tree line. Those few days I will never forget--- thinking: if I ever get back to Earth, would I be allowed to bring that couch from the BALLASTAH with me. I snickered a little at this.
Then a loud popping noise came from the back of the transporter and I turned around to see flames and black smoke. Miles worked feverishly at the control panel, trying to get his communication device to respond but a series of blue electricity lines appeared and rendered the controls and everything else on the instrument panel dead. The transporter began to jerk around violently side to side until it just dropped from the sky toward a cluster of trees. I quickly tucked my glasses into a pocket in my pack as we descended and it didn’t take long before we found ourselves cutting through tree limbs that inevitably slowed our descent to the ground. The transporter stopped with a thud on a large tree limb but teetered as the weight of the transporter was too much for the limb to hold. The limb snapped, causing us to free fall even further but this time, with the huge tree limb attached to the transporter below us. I heard something as we headed toward the forest floor---water. I looked down and saw that we were headed toward a rapid moving river.
The tree limb hit the water with a thunderous splash and we traveled downstream on rough and white rapids. The water was all around Miles and I as each of us could hear the other yelling when we edged closer to a giant waterfall. When we went over the edge, the tree limb separated from the transporter as we fell deep into the canyon of river water runoff. Miles and I separated ourselves from the transporter and dove into the water before the vehicle crashed into the rocks below.
I opened my eyes and despite my blurry vision, saw Miles struggling to free himself from a rock he caught his foot on at the bottom of the river. I swam up for air and then went under to free Miles. At this point, Miles was almost done in from the struggle and lack of air. I swam down to where he was and gave everything I had to lift the rock so Miles could swim free. He began to float toward the surface but needed my help to get there all the way. Both of our heads popped out of the water and we swam toward the river’s edge, pulling ourselves out. Every muscle in my body ached; especially in my neck. I looked at Miles and noticed blood gushing out from a cut below his left ear. I grabbed a corner of my coat and ripped it off. As awkward of a place it was he got cut, I managed to wrap it around his neck like a scarf and tie it. I knew this was a temporary fix and that he would need to get that stitched up.
Other than the pain in my neck, I had some minor scrapes and bruises from the tree branches we hit on the way down. Both of us were out of breath. Neither Miles nor I could manage to say anything so we just laid there till the shock of what had just happened wore off. I noticed our packs that were caught in a cluster of rocks about fifty yards away.
“My glasses,” I walked over there expecting the worst but when I pulled both packs out of the water and examined everything; my only pair of eyes and all the contents in the pack were still intact.
“Thank God,” teeth rapidly battering as I said this.
I walked over to where Miles was laying. “I’ve got to build a fire,” saying this as a gust of cold wind blew through my soaked clothes.
I set Miles backpack next to him.
Miles said, “Wait here, I’ll get one started for you.”
I curled up in a ball and leaned against a giant rock to get shelter from the wind. Miles came back with some sticks and a few large pieces of wood.
Miles had a fire going that any nature survivalist would’ve been proud of. After the fire warmed me up; Miles presented a new problem to me that had me on edge the rest of the day.
“The ROTIANS will be feeding tonight. We have to get on high ground or in one of these trees before nightfall. You’re going to need to get dry before then because there will be no fire tonight.”
I looked at Miles with an expression that would tell most people I’d been punched in the gut. The thought of spending the night in a tree somewhere in the cold sounded terrible but being eaten alive by a hoard of ROTIANS sounded worse. I thought of the blood on Miles neck and how they would surely smell it if they were near us.
“We need to bury that dirty cloth covering your wound before nightfall too,” adding this but not sure it’d make a difference in the amount of attention we’d receive from the ROTIANS.
“Right,” Miles agreeing.
After burying the cloth; we walked toward a tree that had a limb low enough for two short stubs like us to climb up. I really wished for my long legs and arms while I scaled the tree that would be our safety haven for the night. I was glad to be small when I reached our destination near the top of the tree that provided little wiggle room. The cold wind had gusts that were much stronger up here than down on the ground. Miles found a limb on the other side of mine.
“Hey; the trunk seems to be blocking the wind on this side of the tree, let’s switch,” Miles offered.
I was all too happy to comply so Miles took my side and I took his. Our backs were against the trunk, both of us facing opposite directions.