Dreaming

DREAMING

Evenings in New Rochelle were wild. Parties popped up in parking lots and people swarmed around make-shift bars made from folding tables. As quickly as they appeared they vanished, just to pop up in another part of town. CE wandered back to town along the same road that had taken him there earlier in the day. There was little similarity between the colorful sun drenched morning displays and the starkly contrasting bright lights and dark forms of the night.

The town center was as full of life as it was during the day. Tourists in their bright colors and groups of dark skinned natives in sleek black shirts and loose pants passed near each other but rarely engaged in more conversation than an occasional nod or hello.

CE found GTs door with little trouble. As he approached, he went through the ritual of telling himself he should stop and go back; but his body pressed on like he was being pushed by some imagined force. Without all this electronic gear attached, he received no data feeds to drive his optical implants and he was not--as best he could tell--being tracked.

How many dark places had he been in over the past 40 years? He never felt threatened, even when he should have. He was more afraid of being exposed than of being robbed, beaten, kidnapped, killed, or any of the myriad of other real dangers found in places where people tried to find what they perceived others to have.

CE passed through the first door through a small dimly lit featureless chamber and then through an opening separated by a wall of dangling beaded strings that tinkled as CE brushed them aside. From the darkness inside, he could feel the eyes bearing down on him, examining his movements. The light from the bar drew him out of the darkness. The men faced inwards towards their drinks and the women looked outward towards the entering customer. Their only concern was whether CE was there for the drinks the drugs or the entertainment. CE passed a few suggestive looks as he headed toward a small break in the line of bodies. As he waited to get the attention of the girl who was busily taking orders and pouring drinks, a hand landed on his shoulder. CE turned to see GT smiling next to him.

"You couldn't resist my offer?" GT asked as he held out a hand to CE.

"I guess I was a little curious about what was going on in here."

"Anything you want...Crystal, get my friend a drink." The scantily clad barmaid came straight over.

"What can I get you sweetheart"

"Let me have a Piton" CE liked the local beer.

"This is Heather. She can show you the ropes." GT directed his comment at the small girl with a fair complexion. "He is my guest tonight. Crystal will bring you the beer. Why don't you go in the back?"

CE found himself confused by the darkness, the spots of light and the shifting forms in the background. Heather took his arm and led him through a door into a small space little bigger than the plush couch it contained. She pointed to the seat and said sit down. As CE sat the beer arrived. Heather took the beer, drew closed a curtain and straddled across CEs lap handing him the beer. "You've never been here before?"

"No" CE took a drink of the beer. It had a weird metallic taste.

"We can do anything you want. If GT says you’re a friend its all no charge. But a tip is always nice."

"Actually I don't really know him; but he seems to know who I am.”

“Why are you in S.L.”

“I'm working on the energy project."

"Oh…Can I have some of your beer?" Heather took the drink from CE and poured some into her mouth. "Have some more it's a special brew." she continued.

CE took the drink back, took a quick look at the label and drank more. Heather took the bottle and placed it on a small table. As she kissed CE, he began to feel the effects of the drug. "I want to run a program on my optics?" CE asked as he reached over to turn out the small red light overhead.

"Leave the light on, you won't need a program" she replied taking CEs hand and placing it back on her leg.

CE soon lost track of what was real and what was imagined. Heathers image faded out, to be replaced by Carey's. The small seedy room changed in CEs eyes to be an ocean side room he had enjoyed years ago and had wished he could have the Carey with him. His senses were bombarded with real and imaged touch, sights, taste, smell, and sound, all seamlessly combined together in CEs mind. The drugs suspended the passage of time. CE's focus on the moment became more intense than he had ever known before. The experiences lingered in CEs mind to be savored in all their subtleties. He had complete control over the experience.

Heather and CE now lay motionless together on the chair. Their eyes darting wildly behind their eyelids as their minds continued what their bodies had started in an intense drug induced REM sleep.

CEs dreams took him away from Heather to an isolated beach. Unlike normal dreams everything was crystal clear and unlike virtual simulations all his senses were working overtime. The smells were richer the feelings deeper. He could smell the beach, hear the breaking waves, and feel the sand between his toes. CE had complete control over how he interacted with the environment.

CE was walking toward a jetty of broken rocks. The beach banked around in front of him toward the jagged formation. Rocky brush covered cliffs were to his right and a calm dark sea was to his left despite the harsh light of an overhead sun. Near to where the rocks tumbled into the sea in the sheltered water near the beach CE could made out the form of a thrashing black mass half covered in the shallow water. A voice in CEs head explained that the drugged killer whale wouldn’t drown because it had made its way to the beach where it would sleep. As CE moved toward the scene smaller forms became visible circling on the beach and in the water splashing and barking. The young seals on the beach were trying to make their way past the killer whale back to the safety of the pack while the older seals desperately tried to keep the whales attention.

“He’s hunting the seal pups. He’ll be fine.” The voice explained.

As CE turned away from the scene, directly in front of him stood a large black bear. It looked at CE but with only moderate interest. CE stood still, partly from fear and partly because he was sure what else to do. The bear stood sniffing the air, passing looks at CE and at the action further down the beach. “You can use these antlers to defend yourself” the voice advised. CE looked down at his feet where he saw the set of antlers the voice mentioned. CE reached down and picked up the white polished antlers. He held the surprisingly light structure looking it over carefully. He couldn’t quite figure out how it could be used in his defense and dropped it back into the sand.

CE took advantage of the bears disinterest and slowly backed away, moving along the beach away from the odd scene. CE turned away and began moving more quickly. He could sense the bear behind him and knew he had to press forward or risk being chased and cought. As CE moved along the beach became increasingly narrow, the wall of rocks and evergreen bushes pushed increasingly closer to the waters edge until they spilled into the sea. Knurled arm-size branches snaked inches over the sand. The dense tangles of smaller branches twisting upwards with deep green spoon shaped leaves formed impassable barriers. A gap in the growth formed a path leading away from the beach into a maze of bushes. The path led CE away from the beach and through low loose sand dunes toward a road running parallel to the beach. Ahead, through the bushes CE could see the shape of two more bears: a large gray adult moving along the road and a smaller cub following 100 feet behind; the cub complaining loudly. CE knew that behind him somewhere was the other bear and he had to move ahead.

He waited as long as he could for the to bears to pass and then he quickly and as quietly as possible made his way to the road. He moved through the hot heavy sand, stumbling and tripping as he tried to move forward. As he fell forward and drug himself along, dried branches and thorns stabbed into his hands.

CE stood at the roads edge. The searing heat rising from the road boiled inside his strained lungs with each heavy breath. To his right, the bears stopped and turned toward him. He thought he might be far enough away that he could run to safety down the road in the opposite direction.

CE never stopped to see them chase. He knew they would. The crunch of gravel slipping beneath his feet and his heavy breath was all he could hear. "How long can I run before they catch me?" CE asked himself "I have to find someplace to hide. The tree has to be big enough that they can't take it down and small enough for me to scale."

There it was; to his left; through a small clearing; a small tree with several small trunk shoots. Not many branches to scale but he could get high enough. "Maybe." he thought. Still not looking, he jumped up and scrambled. He wasn’t high enough and they were coming. His legs were well within their reach. They could easily grab and drag him down. CE hugged the trunk and walked his feet up a parallel shoot as high as he could get them. He couldn’t do this for long. The bears were below him now circling and growling. They tried to decide if he was food, sniffing and wondering how easy he would be to kill. "Would they give up before I fall?" CE wondered. CEs muscles strained and quivered. He imagined them tearing him to pieces.