Timeline: Present
Point of View: Claudia & Ralph
Location: Earth (Ralph’s Apartment)
Claudia slept on the couch all through the night and most of the next day. As she did, Ralph, if he were on the outside looking in, would have described himself as a creep. He didn’t leave the apartment, didn’t do much other than sit across from the woman and stare at her, wondering about what she’d gone through and if she were, in fact, crazy. Or rather, if he were the one going crazy and imagining her.
When night eventually came, he slept in his own bed, but with the door open so he had a visual on the woman at all times. Not because he wanted to invade her privacy, but because a part of him was rather fearful of her. He placed a kitchen knife on the bedside table, and had a leg from an old kitchen chair under his pillow (he found it in his closet. He could remember putting it in there some time many years before, determined to “fix it” someday).
He awoke every couple hours not really sure why he did. At first he thought it was because he was anxious and fearful that the crazy woman might try to kill him in his sleep. Then he realized it was because the woman snored. Loudly. It seemed to vibrate the floor boards and rattle the silverware in the kitchen drawers. He was concerned he might get kicked out of his apartment for noise complaints, because the sounds were as violent as the red planet. He remembered again how the woman had said she’d gotten quite sneaky during her time in the other world, which he knew now to be utter bullshit. She could sneak around during the day maybe, but at night her nose became a bull horn sent miles in all directions.
Once light filtered in from behind the window shades, he got up, farted three times to empty the tank (the final one a real squeaker), and pulled shorts up over the boxers he’d slept in. He’d shower and change them later, if he felt like it. In the bathroom he pissed for what must have been a new world record, then nearly left without flushing. He stopped himself.
There was a lady in the building now.
He wiped the seat clean and flushed.
In the kitchen he made a bowl of cereal and poured orange juice, then sat at the table to continue his creeping on the woman.
She snored as he stared, and his fruit loops did tricks in his bowl.
He thought about his 11 am shift at the store. He couldn’t leave the woman here alone, and he couldn’t really kick her out either. Sure he could kick her out. She’d be easy enough to lift and drop outside the door, which he could then close and lock. But he knew he was only kidding himself. As much as Ralph liked order and repetition, he knew he had some responsibility to helping this person get back up on her feet.
Ralph, it’s more than that, his mind told him. There’s more going on here, and everything is different now.
He shook those negative thoughts from his mind. He couldn’t really handle that kind of pessimism. Not really. It was just a normal day, and once this woman, this violently noisy woman, woke up he would bid her adieu and move on with his day.
His checked his phone, which showed the time as 9:27 am. He only had 33 minutes to call into work before he’d get an infraction for calling in too late. If he were to call in at all for that matter. He’d be rolling the dice on this woman being awake and out of his apartment by eleven. Claudia seemed like the kind of person that considered waking up by eleven an early day. He sipped his orange juice and watched her, then shuddered as her snores pierced the fleshy muscle between his ears.
He called into work at 9:57, using up eight precious hours of a dwindling balance all too often wasted on new video game releases. Oh well. So it goes.
At 11:30 he considered waking her up.
Instead he made himself a peanut butter sandwich.
At 1:30 he was starting to get irritated. He walked up beside her, hand hovering over the woman’s shoulder, and nearly tapped her. Her nose quivered as the ballad of her nostrils continued, and his confidence left him. He went into the kitchen to make himself some pizza rolls.
The microwave beeped loudly once the pizza rolls had become lava, and he watched Claudia, hoping it was enough to wake her.
It wasn't.
At 3:35 he tired of sitting around watching her and decided to sit around and watch the television instead. He turned on a show and got through three episodes of an anime before Claudia stirred. He paused the show and stood from his recliner. He watched her hopefully.
Claudia rolled over on the couch, repositioned her blanket (the only spare one Ralph had in his apartment), and then proceeded to continue her deep sleep.
Ralph cautiously un-paused his show.
At 6:15 he considered making something for dinner, having long since accepted that the woman would never wake. She was now a permanent fixture in his home. He’d have to buy another couch.
He was in the middle of debating between more pizza rolls or a frozen pizza when Claudia spoke.
“Hey,” she said.
“Jesus Christ,” Ralph said and spun around and stood. Claudia had sat up on the couch, her hair a tangled mess.
“What?” She asked.
“Nothing, you just… wake up quiet I guess.”
Claudia looked at him like he was a fucking idiot. "As opposed to what, exactly? Sleeping loudly?"
Ralph nodded, but didn't elaborate.
“Did you charge my phone?” She asked.
“No, you… you have an Apple,” he said.
“So?”
“I have an Android.”
Again, the look she gave suggested he were an idiot, and despite knowing his own reasonings, her look made him agree with her assessment.
“Okay,” she said, “I guess, can I use your shower? Maybe get a change of clothes, if you have something you think might fit me?”
He glanced at her clothes, covered in red dirt and tears. He could see the skin of her stomach beneath a hole at the bottom of her shirt. He stared at her figure, significantly smaller and leaner than his, then felt bashful when he caught her eyes. “I can find a sweatshirt and some sweats, maybe, then we can head to the store when you’re ready. Do you have…” He was about to ask if she had money, then caught himself before saying another stupid thing. “Do you have anything else in mind for today?”
Claudia thought for a long moment. She’d spent the last month trying to escape the other planet, and now felt an odd desire to return, to continue exploring, to find… the place beyond the plains. There was more power there, untapped and waiting, but she had to be better equipped before she returned. Not to mention had to find a way of getting back there first.
“Shower, clothing, phone charger. Then I have to tell you more, and we have to figure out how we can travel back, when needed.”
“Excuse me," he asked, the pizza rolls doing back flips in his gut. "Go back? You can’t be serious."
“We first need to find others, to make a plan. Lisa… she told me there are others, but most people don’t return. Most people either go there and die, or they go there, somehow come back, and never go again."
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"Who the fuck is Lisa? There was someone else over there with you?"
"Yes, we'll get to that. But Ralph, about being there… You've been there how many times?”
“Three that I remember distinctly, but sometimes I have nightmares that might have been real... But three that I know for sure."
"Sure, even so. Three times. Apparently that’s basically unheard of, as far as she told me. I think we should try to find others that may have done the same."
“How?” Ralph asked, “and why? For what reason? Why not leave that place behind us? There’s nothing there for us.”
“Because the creatures over there know about us, Ralph. And they’re trying to figure out how to get here. If they succeed, they would probably swarm our planet before people even knew what happened, because they’re all bred for domination.”
“You said they fought with sticks and crude edges. Even if they’re intelligent, how could they pose any risk to us?”
“The creatures you called minotaurs aren’t the only creatures over there. The minotaurs live in the forest, and while their technology is more crude, they are vicious combatants. Even if we were to fire at them with weapons, they’d carry the edge of surprise. How many people would they kill once they got here? Lisa said some of the other creatures there are more advanced. What if they were to control the ability to travel here before we learn to control travel there? We’re in the middle of a race to understand how our worlds are intersecting. If we don’t understand it and close the door… It’s like the race for nuclear arms. You either create and control the nukes, or…”
“You’re the ones getting nuked,” Ralph finished for her, surprising Claudia. It was a catch-22 in governing. In order to maintain peace, you needed to maintain leverage, power, and knowledge over foes. Claudia was considering the long play, and didn’t want to be caught with her pants down. She nodded her head, then asked again, “Shower?”
“Oh yeah. Here. This way,” Ralph said, and guided her.
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After her shower, Ralph had given her some of his smallest clothing he could find, buried deep in his dresser drawers and at the edges of his closet rod. He wasn’t one to throw out clothing, feeling it was a waste, and so his closet was full of old, small clothing from his late schooling years. She came out wearing his sweats and t-shirt, baggy but good enough for the moment. He was ashamed of finding it more than a little hot, seeing her in his clothing. Fuck, I gotta stop that, he told himself.
They left the apartment and he walked her to a store in the opposite direction of his place of employment. Once there, Claudia picked out a few shirts, pants, and underwear while Ralph waited by the cashier's lines. When she returned, she grabbed a wireless phone charger off the rack and flashed it in his face as they checked out.
Ralph received the message loud and clear.
Before heading back to the apartment, Claudia paused on the sidewalk, and Ralph nearly walked on by. It was a pleasant day outside. There was minimal wind, and the sun was warm. There weren’t many people out and about. The air tasted clean. He felt like a sunflower, taking in the beauty of the world.
He turned once he noticed she’d stopped. “What?” He asked.
“How much money do you have in the bank?”
“Basically nothing.”
“Credit Cards?”
“No, I have no need.”
“Shit,” she said.
“What?”
“Do you have a gun?”
“Before we go back, I'd like to pack supplies.”
“I thought we were going to try to find others first?” Ralph said. He saw someone look their way from across the street and whispered, “Also, keep your voice down.” He wasn’t sure why he felt like being secretive. Possibly he was trying to hide their crazy from the real world. She was probably part of his imagination. He was just a guy talking to himself on a beautiful day. Nothing to see here.
“Yes, but what if we somehow end up back there? What if there’s some kind of cosmic energy that surrounds us, and just being near each other might be enough to set it off? Last time I was there, I was under-prepared. This time, I want to have a backpack full of food, survival materials, and… writing material. Maybe even a camera.”
Ralph thought about the show Doomsday Preppers, and wondered again if he was spending too much time with this woman. He could just leave, he thought again. Nothing was tethering him to this person, not physically. He could just turn around and walk away. He’d pop in some pizza pockets when he got home and call it a day.
But that wasn’t possible. She’d chase him down. He could sense that from her. Fuck. “Well,” he said, “Let’s stick with what we’ve got, get back, and make a plan first. We can make a list of what we want to pack in these backpacks and go from there.
Claudia was nodding her head as she considered his words. “Okay,” she said. “But let’s not wait long.”
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Ralph shut the door of his apartment. Claudia plugged in the charger and set the phone on top of the wireless disc. She watched it for a long while, waiting for the light to blink on to indicate it was charging. When the light flashed on, she went to the bathroom to change into her new clothing. Ralph took pizza pockets out of the freezer and threw them into the microwave.
Claudia re-emerged by the time they were done, wearing clothes that fit her slim physique. It wasn’t particularly flashy clothing, just a t-shirt and jeans, but they fit her well. She was pretty with her green hair and angular face, and wasn’t much younger than he was. She had said she was twenty-one. Only… seven-years difference. Basically nothing. But she was also eleven years old when you were graduating high school, you sick fuck.
“I feel better,” she said, “Thank you. For everything.”
Ralph nodded, but said nothing, and a brief moment of awkwardness passed between them, neither of them really knowing where to start. They’d come across this incredible power and didn’t really know what to do with it. There was yesterday, and there was tomorrow. So where did that leave today?
“Okay,” Claudia said, breaking the silence. “Before we plan, I should explain a bit more of what I know.”
“Okay,” he said, and they sat down with a plate of pizza rolls between them.
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“The red planet was has four warring tribes, that we knew of at least, all of them sentient. There are what you called the minotaurs. I call them buzzsaws. Because of their teeth. They occupy the forest where you and I collided. It seems when we cross over, most people usually end up in the forest. The buzzsaws send out sentries that roam the trees picking up stragglers. You’re lucky they didn’t snag you when you were a child.”
Ralph was nodding, terrified at the thought. Sure, he returned to Earth those three times on his own accord, but what would have happened if they’d gotten to him first?
“I started in the plains, which apparently is a slightly more uncommon place to land. It doesn’t seem that our place here on Earth has any correlation to the location we end up there, but it seems there is some draw, some connector between our planets, and we end up on the ends of those connectors when we visit.
“When I first got there, I just happened to wander into the forest. Maybe we do attract each other, because Lisa seemed convinced that I was attracted to her... She said there were other places I could have gone. Just outside the forest, beyond the forest, is the city of walls.”
“I’ve seen that place,” Ralph said.
“In the cities is a species of giants, but they aren’t really giants. Lisa said she’d only every seen a one of them, and it was a massive structure made up of sewn-together organisms. Those creatures towered above the buzzsaws, or minotaurs, whatever, maybe two to three times their height. Lisa said they had a kind of hive mind, where the connected organisms thought like one creature, despite being many. These creatures, she said, were more horrific than the buzzsaws, and were brutal. They would sometimes sow their victims into their own flesh, trapping their mind amongst the hive until the creature itself died.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. So the giants control the city. The border between the city and the forest is covered with bodies from the two species. The buzzsaws, more crafty with their resources, found ways to use the trees to their advantage. See, the giants are too large to go beyond the trees, and so they have to cut them down to proceed beyond them. So the buzzsaws hide deep within the trees, using them as cover, and there’s a stand still between the two creatures with periodic battles at that border.
“Across from the forest is a long mountain range that stretches taller and further than any here on Earth. I saw these from a distance, but never went there. In these mountains lives a kind of bird-like creature, and these are the creatures the giants are most at war with. They seek to harvest resources from the mountains, and the birds try to keep them out. Lisa didn’t know why, or what the bird-like creatures looked like, only that they existed.
“Beside the mountains is an ocean that the river of blood feeds into. She said that none of the creatures go into the ocean, because when they do, they never come back. There’s something in there, but it was unknown to Lisa exactly what it was.
“All the way on the other side of the planet is a desert, which it what covers most of the planet, and in this desert is another species of worm-like creatures covered in plates of bone and spikes. They don't have arms or legs and move like a snake, roaming the desert at night, burrowing into the ground during the day.
“Anyway, the important thing to know is that all of these creatures have a high level of intelligence. The giants seem to have the highest level known so far, likely because of their hive mind. However, all of these creatures limit each other's progress, and so their resources are all incredibly limited. On Earth, humans share their resources. We go to war, but we share more than we fight. On the other planet, the creatures hoard and defend, and so their advancements are limited to what resources are available on their specific land.
“The concern is that someday these creatures will find there way onto Earth. And when they do, they’ll wipe out humanity and claim Earth’s resources as its own, just as they’re constantly at war to wipe out and steal from each other.
“Do you understand now, Ralph? Do you understand why we have a certain level of responsibility because of our knowledge of this other place? We can’t just sit around and do nothing. The fate of our planet is at risk if we can’t figure this out.”
Ralph sat there and thought for a long time, not knowing at first what to say.
Then, looking Claudia in the eyes, before he could really understand what was coming out of his mouth, before he could truly experience regret, he said, “Okay, then I guess we need to find others like us.”