Read Online The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski - Free Book Online
Authors: Tony Bertauski
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was so real.
A long blink and the sun was lower. The field was nearly empty. There was half a spaceship buried a hundred yards away, its back half was on fire. It looked like the Millennium Falcon. There were distant explosions and gunfire. Someone shouted orders nearby. Another person went flying past on the back of a dinosaur.
Another long blink and it was night.
The ship was gone, replaced by an empty crater. Two moons were high, one full and the other half-crescent. There were several campfires in the field. Some people were singing, others laughed loudly while chasing each other. Girls squealed. It looked a lot like summer camp. Except for the people flying past the moon.
Dawn arrived.
The Yard was empty, except for the crater and dead campfires.
The sun was rising somewhere behind him. The shadows were long and dusky and the sunlight turned the trees a weird shimmery magenta. The quiet was disturbed by an occasional frog. Danny closed his eyes again. He was going to sleep when he felt someone very close. It was a girl.
She was inches from his face. Her eyes were green and her hair red, like candy. Her nostrils flared and her eyes searched his face. There was desperation in them, the eyes wide enough to expose the whites around her irises. She leaned in and pressed her cheek to his. She smelled like a beautiful flower.
“Find him,” she said. “Tell him we found you.”
And then she was off.
Danny hadn’t even blinked. She moved so fast, it was like she hadn’t been there. Maybe he would’ve believed he imagined it if not for the lingering scent.
He went to sleep for the last time. The next time he would wake, it would be in his bed, back in his body. But he would wake with her smell upon him and her words.
Tell him we found you.
ROUND
One-Car Accident; One Dead, One Missing
HOBART , Oklahoma . – A blue Ford F-150 hit a tree off route 55 and caught fire. Both occupants were ejected from the vehicle. One was a female in her late teens and pronounced dead on arrival. The other occupant is a male, also in his late teens, and severely injured. Neither person had identification on their body.
The female was Caucasian, 5’ 7”, 130 pounds, long red hair and green eyes. The male is Caucasian, 5’ 10”, 180 pounds, shoulder-length black hair, and brown eyes. He was taken to Elkview Hospital but was mysteriously missing shortly after being admitted. He was last seen wearing denim jeans, work boots and a brown t-shirt.
If you have any information regarding their identification and the male’s whereabouts, please contact local police.
10
Danny stared at the popcorn texture of the ceiling. His face was fat; his lips rubbery. Every joint in his body ached.
The curtains were closed. A sliver of light etched the dusty air, falling on a plastic cup on a tray next to his bed. Danny reached for it, winced when the scabs on his elbows cracked and his entire head throbbed, front to back. The crown of his head was crusty and bruised. He leaned on one elbow and took the cup, drinking the water in three swift gulps, noticing the medical equipment on the tray, the blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and bandages.
Mr. Jones’s smell was all over the place. Danny threw the covers off and sat up, the floor cold on his bare feet. Nothing but underwear .
He didn’t want to think about Mr. Jones putting him in bed. Problem was, he couldn’t remember anything. A cloud filled his head. He dropped his face into his hands to think a moment but it was hopeless. There was a strange taste in the back of his throat and all he could think about was more water.
He took the cup to the sink. There, in the mirror staring back, was a circular bandage in the middle of his forehead. He touched it, gently.
The fog cleared.
The Haystack and the fan and the mist. The needle.
Vertigo smacked him. He held onto the sink. It got worse. He sank to his knees and crawled to the bed while the memories settled. It was strange how his
A long blink and the sun was lower. The field was nearly empty. There was half a spaceship buried a hundred yards away, its back half was on fire. It looked like the Millennium Falcon. There were distant explosions and gunfire. Someone shouted orders nearby. Another person went flying past on the back of a dinosaur.
Another long blink and it was night.
The ship was gone, replaced by an empty crater. Two moons were high, one full and the other half-crescent. There were several campfires in the field. Some people were singing, others laughed loudly while chasing each other. Girls squealed. It looked a lot like summer camp. Except for the people flying past the moon.
Dawn arrived.
The Yard was empty, except for the crater and dead campfires.
The sun was rising somewhere behind him. The shadows were long and dusky and the sunlight turned the trees a weird shimmery magenta. The quiet was disturbed by an occasional frog. Danny closed his eyes again. He was going to sleep when he felt someone very close. It was a girl.
She was inches from his face. Her eyes were green and her hair red, like candy. Her nostrils flared and her eyes searched his face. There was desperation in them, the eyes wide enough to expose the whites around her irises. She leaned in and pressed her cheek to his. She smelled like a beautiful flower.
“Find him,” she said. “Tell him we found you.”
And then she was off.
Danny hadn’t even blinked. She moved so fast, it was like she hadn’t been there. Maybe he would’ve believed he imagined it if not for the lingering scent.
He went to sleep for the last time. The next time he would wake, it would be in his bed, back in his body. But he would wake with her smell upon him and her words.
Tell him we found you.
ROUND
One-Car Accident; One Dead, One Missing
HOBART , Oklahoma . – A blue Ford F-150 hit a tree off route 55 and caught fire. Both occupants were ejected from the vehicle. One was a female in her late teens and pronounced dead on arrival. The other occupant is a male, also in his late teens, and severely injured. Neither person had identification on their body.
The female was Caucasian, 5’ 7”, 130 pounds, long red hair and green eyes. The male is Caucasian, 5’ 10”, 180 pounds, shoulder-length black hair, and brown eyes. He was taken to Elkview Hospital but was mysteriously missing shortly after being admitted. He was last seen wearing denim jeans, work boots and a brown t-shirt.
If you have any information regarding their identification and the male’s whereabouts, please contact local police.
10
Danny stared at the popcorn texture of the ceiling. His face was fat; his lips rubbery. Every joint in his body ached.
The curtains were closed. A sliver of light etched the dusty air, falling on a plastic cup on a tray next to his bed. Danny reached for it, winced when the scabs on his elbows cracked and his entire head throbbed, front to back. The crown of his head was crusty and bruised. He leaned on one elbow and took the cup, drinking the water in three swift gulps, noticing the medical equipment on the tray, the blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and bandages.
Mr. Jones’s smell was all over the place. Danny threw the covers off and sat up, the floor cold on his bare feet. Nothing but underwear .
He didn’t want to think about Mr. Jones putting him in bed. Problem was, he couldn’t remember anything. A cloud filled his head. He dropped his face into his hands to think a moment but it was hopeless. There was a strange taste in the back of his throat and all he could think about was more water.
He took the cup to the sink. There, in the mirror staring back, was a circular bandage in the middle of his forehead. He touched it, gently.
The fog cleared.
The Haystack and the fan and the mist. The needle.
Vertigo smacked him. He held onto the sink. It got worse. He sank to his knees and crawled to the bed while the memories settled. It was strange how his
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