Elapsed Among The Stars

We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. 

Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... 

and then we return home.

Australian Aboriginal Proverb

Another afternoon passed. 

The orange evening light coloured the living room, and the pendulum on the clock relentlessly marked the time. Since yesterday an annoying buzz spread all around at irregular intervals, but at the moment everywhere was still damned silent.

Only the chaos inside me is desecrating the illusory quiet night..., Alioth thought.

He went back to the armchair and closed his eyes. He realised that the noises outside had stopped, and they had been replaced by an annoying silence. He had not eaten much in the last three days, and he felt frail. 

Things had changed irreversible three days ago on Wednesday, when huge craters had opened in all the worlds rural areas. Alioth and his wife, Gienah, had had one of those circular depressions inside their property. From that moment on the air seemed infected, lightly purple coloured and smelling of sulphur. He stopped going outside the house then because he was afraid of infection. And that would be possible.

In the last newscast he watched before the Tv signed off the air for good, a scared newscaster with clammy skin said that the normality of human life had been invaded by an unknown biological species with a superior intelligence, also responsible of an unimaginable disaster.

Bullshit. Why would a superior intelligence destroy the Earth and the human race? Maybe they would control us, or use us for scientific experiments. What a bullshit...

In his opinion, at other times governments had mocked and tried to scare the population. But his faculty of reasoning wavered after tv broadcasts had been interrupted, replaced by an annoying buzz.

In the last two days, he heard sporadic news on the radio, spaced out by Richard Wagner's Walkürenritt - running in a continuous loop - and reiterating the facts. And that was after Gienah's death. 

He poured some wine into a crystal glass and drank it. Then it was empty, again. 

How many glasses of wine I have drunk in the last three days?

He took a look at the table: purple, circular ring traces of red wine marked it, but it was pretty hard to count all the faded rings. 

The only ring that he had ever worn in his life was found in a bag of crisps. That kind of crisps became his favourite, with a flavour journey that started surprisingly sweet and ended with a slow burn. The ring was a silvery fake but extraordinarily shiny, and it was a present from a girl. Where is my ring? I don't remember when I had taken it off. In fact, I don't know why I am not wearing it. 

He smiled wistfully, his mind wholly absorbed by a thought of her radiant face. Only another glass of wine would keep that memory of her alive. He grabbed the bottle and filled the glass to the brim. 

How many bottles of wine remain?

The first time he saw Gienah, he was at university, and it was the best time of his life. He was playing the drums during  an Halloween rock contest. She was under the stage, looked closely at him. That night he played badly, because of those eyes: dark sparkling diamonds which said everything. The name of his band was "Damned Souls", and they didn't win  anything that night, as usual. Outside the light of the day had expired, and the night became dark. The disturbing silence continued. He had risen to search for another bottle of red wine, but he didn't find any, none at all.

I have drunk all the wine...

He rose up again, only to turn on the radio and switch on the floor lamp. No sound came out from the radio: no broadcasts, no music, no voices. Nothing, nothing at all. He recollected that he had tried to use the telephone in the afternoon, but the lines were dead. 

Holy shit.

Later, he decided to make a search of the house to look for the ring, but unfortunately, he didn't find it. Maybe, Gienah had found it among his papers at the studio, and she kept it in one of her old fashion jewel cases scattered all over their home.

Probably she did.

And that meant the ring would require time to be found. In fact, she used to collect antiques - especially jewel cases - since she had found an old  gramophone in the attic of this house, that they bought three years ago. Since then, their place became a big Pandora's box, full of antique objects as a collection of memories. He lit the lamp and fortunately it worked. The red light instantly warmed the room, but not his soul. Nothing would be the same: no more laughing, no more nightly strolls, no more tales to write or lives troubles to solve. And no more love. He felt like he was dying from within. 

I need a drink, where is the alcohol?

He remembered that there was a bottle of single malt whisky on one of the shelves in the cellar, and it would be necessary to get drunk to endure his plight. Especially to face the music.

He rose one more time from the old armchair and went down into the cellar again. Suddenly he heard light thuds above his head and noises around the house. He had never seen those creatures which they had talked about on the TV, and - if they had invaded the Earth -  they had been cautious not to show themselves to him. Until now. They probably intended to do so in the fullness of time. 

And if it wasn't bullshit?

Alioth arrived at the cellar door, opened it and went inside. He didn't turn on the light because he was well-aware that Gienah didn't like that lamp. It made a pale yellow light, and one night, when they were in the quiet of their bedroom, she told him that she would - "never in her life", she said - turn on that light, but she didn't tell him why. And she kept her word because she used to take an old lamp with her every time she went down to paint in the cellar. 

And now, Gienah's body lays on the cellar floor. 

I'm so Sorry, my Little Love.

Oh Good, I need to find that damned bottle.

The bottle of whisky was precisely where he remembered. He snatched the bottle, dreading to see Gienah's body on the floor of the cellar. But he looked, And she wasn't there. What the fuck?!...

Alioth stood still, frozen. He had laid her down, after her suicide. He had found her body two days ago, two steps across the threshold, lying down on the doormat. She had been out of the house the day before, sitting on a bench in the garden, spending time finishing reading a book. It was an Asimov's novel, and the title was "The Stars In Their Courses". When she returned home, she felt sick. She was making coffee in the kitchen, and she had been unusually quiet during the day, afraid maybe, after seeing the strange huge crater in their garden. 

Alioth rushed into the kitchen after hearing her shout and the thud of her body as it hit the floor. He had carried her to their bed on the first floor, where she slept for a few hours. He stayed with her, listening to her breathing. 

When she awoke, she looked very tired and weak. She spoke in a distant voice when she said that she deserved to die before the night ended. Alioth smiled without care, and warmly caressed her face, suggesting that she needed to rest. He glanced sadly at her and went out of the room. When he came back with warm soup, his heart skipped a beat. She had been a nurse, and she knew how to use medicines. When he had been downstairs, she had ingested a lethal drug. Maybe. And now she was dead.

Oh Gienah, My Little Love what did you do?

But if he had glanced under the night table, he would have seen a small bottle of rat poison, the same bottle that he had used in the cellar three days ago, when the strange noises had started. But he didn't.

Apparently, there were rats in the cellar, but he wasn't sure. Maybe something else...

Alioth felt troubled, 

where was Gienah's body? 

He instantly wanted to leave the cellar. He closed his eyes, and a great tiredness came over him. He turned his back on the basement and started to climb the stairs. Finally, closing the cellar door, he went to the kitchen, mechanically filled a glass one glass and went back to the living room.

I'm going to feel well in a moment. Yes. Very, very well. 

He opened the bottle, and he drowned his guilt feelings in the malt whisky. 

Why did I leave you alone? Why did I not stay with you, my Love? How could I let it happen? 

He drunk the whisky to the last drop, all the time trying hard not to think of her missing body. After an indeterminate time, he fell asleep, but - after a while - the disturbing buzzing restarted. He woke up then, with a severe headache and an irrational desire to go outside. And it seemed he had stopped to blame himself for Gienah's death.

Come Outside, you can search for your ring...

said someone in his mind, and of course, that voice of silk sounded so tempting, blending with his eager desire to go outside. Outside, where a possible infection - the same, which had infected Gienah and pushed her to suicide - would damage him too. He instantly recalled her missing body, and he felt gutted, but the wish to go outside was stronger in comparison. It was overwhelming.

Alioth lost his mind and felt that the only reasonable thing to do was to go outside and leave this empty house, where he felt nothing but insecurity, fear and suffering. But maybe all not was lost.

Maybe Gienah waits for me, and she has my ring… He thought. Alioth went outside their house finally, very drunk. The silence of the night was disturbed by the constant buzzing, 

maybe space shuttles?

And there was no evidence of human presence. Probably none for miles, if anywhere...maybe nowhere.

The sky was dark, and it looked as if the moon was afraid to shine. He started to smile, confident he could feel Geniah's presence around him. His eyes were wet with tears of joy. I am about to reach you, My Little Love, and I hope you will be happy to see me again. He gave one last look at their home, his past, entering into the clearing, being sure he would never be back.

The clearing extended farther, his house was wind-blown, and branches of the trees swayed excessively as a grotesque holy roller (religious fanatic) dancer, during a ritual. He trekked, until he reached the overhanging rock of the mountain peak, above the small town where he had always lived. 

He could hear the buzzing throughout his walk, but more intense and bothersome. He thought he could see faint shapes in the dark night, and he was almost sure that some of those were stalking him. He didn't feel frightened,  nor out of his mind, just impatient to take a hard look at one of those creatures, only needing to see inside his eyes.

When Alioth got to the top, appalled, he caught a glimpse of what he sought. The broad valley was invaded by an enormous space shuttle, that was emitting this annoying and constant buzzing, which had disturbed his ears for the last three days. He shot a glance in the direction of what was undoubtedly the entry. There was a bright silver light from the doorway, and he felt curious.

Maybe more than curious, because he started to run from the other side of the slope down the mountain side.  He looked spellbound, but something caught his attention for a split second. He suddenly sensed a powerful  presence in the wood, different, stronger than the others perceived up until this time. A shiver ran down his spine. He stopped, went back and stared at a big moonlit tree. There was a shape behind the old conifer, a spruce pine with a dark reddish bark, and Alioth recognized an almost familiar figure, but not in  its entirety. It 

seemed a  human shape, but he had to advance to look closely,  and, in the semi-darkness, he saw the graceful figure of a woman. And he forget about the space shuttle totally.

"Gienah... - Alioth said - I  have found you! You are alive!...I have had a weird dream about you. But we'll have time to talk about that. Come here now, my Little Love, show your sweet face to the moonlight".

The shadow came out from behind the tree. He could recognize the feminine curves of her body, sinuous, and long legs moving toward him. Slowly. He had felt a weird sensation from the beginning of their encounter, but he was also excited to meet her again. Her shape was near enough to let him see her outline, but they looked stronger than usual. The silent female figure was getting closer, and he realised that she wasn't his lady. Or not completely. But someone didn't leave him time to speak, and  glimpsed an unconventional face. Alien shapes grabbed him from behind, spreading a venom onto his body.

Possibly rat poison, or strychnine, which they had absorbed from Gienah's dead body, which they had found on the cellar floor. They had crept into their house while he was sleeping, after his last bottle of whisky. They had purloined her body from the cellar, imbibing the rat poison from her and giving her a new life.

Alioth could feel the venom from their touch, huge hands with two large hook-like fingers, it was working, he started to feel weak and short of breath. He would have understood what was happening to him if he had concluded his medical studies, and he would be able to understand the reason why his body was suffering the loss of muscle movement. This was a serious internal bleeding. He had blurry vision, but he could see Gienah's eyes very close to him. They had become light yellow, like those of her rescuers. He remembered that he was always completely attracted to Gienah's body movements when she used to dance alone in the dark on summer nights, well-lit from the moons rays and convinced that no one was looking at her. But, every time she noticed  him, she used to smile - with the shiniest smile ever seen -  and say :-"One day I will fly back home, lost among the stars. Will you come to visit me?".

Definitely, she wasn't his Gienah anymore.

Alioth's body was dying and his mind was working at full speed, and he was certain that he would never get in to the space shuttle. Delirious thoughts raced  in Alioth's mind, which was intoxicated with whisky and venom. His rationality needed an explanation, and - as a writer -an imagined end to the story. He visualized his old typewriter in front of him and wrote:

"That creature from another world was a mind reader, and a telepathic.

- Come Outside, you can go in search of your ring...

Do you remember me, Alioth? The voice on your mind. You weren’t drunk, it was me. And the ring which you have worn for years was a key; the key to nurturing a dream of saving our species from extinction.

At the beginning of the medieval age,  we had left that ring at the  bottom of a lake. Our intention was to try to study your behaviour and find resources for our preservation . It had a detector, , but one day it stopped working . We have searched for this ring for years and ten years ago it resurfaced. And that was because of the real emotional bond between you Geniah,  the woman who lived in the body that is hosting me. It has been nourished by you , and from your feelings, You know, Elioth? Love is the most powerful sentiment known, and only humans control this ability. And we need this resource.

You didn't lose it, Alioth, it left you and dissolved when the right moment for the contamination  arrived. With telepathic  powers  we have forced most of you humans to commit suicide, and  break the strongest emotional connections with each other. These emotional interruptions  generate memories and feelings of love. Finally, we  had to assimilate an adequate quantity of this emotional power.

Now, We can leave your Heart forever. Thank you, Alioth, and have a pleasant journey". 

Alioth's soul left his body before his death. He had typed his farewell words slowly on his trusty typewriter, his fingers slowly dropping from the keyboard. His mind was dying as well, but his soul grabbed at the last memory.

The last thought that he could safeguard was about Gienah: he had supposed she would have arrived at her home, somewhere in the celestial sphere. And he could see her dancing alone in the dark, lightened by a trail of stars.