Fantasy Collision
Prologue – Truck-KUN
It was quiet and it was calm; the dull droning of voices, machinery and the general bustle of humanity was muffled by the walls as people passed the window to the break room by, the room itself empty but for one man who exuded a sort of cold uncomfortable air that let any who approached know they were not welcome... That man was me.
"Hey Harry, We get her all loaded up for you." A voice broke the silence as it’s’ owner bursting through the doors and into my company his hand was raised over his head and a grin had been plastered to his face. Same as normal I suppose. "Your' trucks been loaded up; seems like you've got a lot to carry today, finish up your break and head on out; I left a list of the orders and their addresses on your dashboard." Mike grinned sauntering forwards with a mix of mirth and pride that crashed against the barriers of disassociation and isolation I had erected against him. It was an old battle; one we had repeated for many moons neither of us willing to yield ground to the other, a matter of pride with our way of life on the line. I sighed laying down the paperback I had been reading into my pocket, I was just going to have to finish it when I got home.
"My name's Harold please use it." I rose to my feet brushing away the crumbs from my lunch and grabbing the uniform coat folded on the coffee table in the middle of the rom.
"Hey you've still got five or so minutes relax or you'll work yourself to an early grave." Mike was a worrier, the middle aged man pushing ever closer against my barrier, the walls between us beginning to groan and creak. A strategic retreat was called for.
"The sooner I finish work the sooner I can clock out; I have stuff to get back to." I pulled on my coat and before my 'friend' could follow I made my way outside of the door and into the loading bay jogging quickly in the direction of the car park.
I had been working for blue crescent for over two years by then I suppose; and in those years I had battled daily against stress, sleep deprivation, exhaustion; and Mike's overwhelming, soul crushing, almost inhuman level of positivity. Blue crescent is an electronics company based in Europe, it deals with design, production and distribution; the company is of a moderate size and is spread across a few dozen countries of course each outpost fights a daily battle against its competitors in order to stay afloat and as soon as a large company moves in and the number of customers dries up that branch of the company is severed, closed down and locked up. Yet somehow for each factory closed another is opened somewhere else, it was like a game of cat and mouse that would never end. Of course since London was a major city there was still a fair number regular customers in the populace, not enough to warrant a large store, just a warehouse to which goods could be sent and from which they could be distributed once ordered. And it was my duty to see that any delivery arrived on time. Not that I ever really did - the only reason I managed to deliver anything on time was because the sooner I finished up my deliveries the sooner I could go home.
I took a deep breath stepping out onto the asphalt hands shoved deep into my pockets as I glanced upwards towards the summer sun, the air was fresh and carried with it the stench of exhaust, two of the three trucks parked promptly besides the thin row of cars that had been driven in alongside a single bicycle that belonged to one of the interns. As a general rule interns were cheaper than regular workers. A yawn crept out from my lungs sending a shiver down my spine as I fished the keys for the truck out of my pocket, the steel grey truck emblazoned with the image of a blue-crescent-moon upon its side sitting just a short walk away.
The sooner I got my work finished the sooner I got home; Julia would complain I wasn't home on time.
Ah! That's right; to correct the obvious mistake Julia is not my girlfriend, nor is she my wife, lover or romantically involved with me. She isn't related to me either and she isn't my roommate. Julia is my pet... Okay that sounds worse than what it actually is; she's my cat, Julia is my cat and she was waiting for me in the Truck. I shook my head to clear away the random cloying thoughts and opened the door. I really needed to go home and take a nap.
I sidled into the truck settling down into my seat staring blankly at the wheel before me. Just needed to keep going; day in and day out life was always the same - the same faces, the same feelings the same sufferings and anguish but all of that was made pointless if I just gave up.
For a moment my eyes drooped low and by body leaned forwards, dull and lonely eyes staring blankly at the dials and hands and buttons displayed on the dashboard before me. It would probably be best if I just tried to sleep...
A spasm of pain shrieked through my arm that moment, as those dull eyes of mine; ringed by circles turned to face the little creature that had crawled onto my lap and was nibbling at my hand. A low sigh escaped my body as I smiled back down to her; "You're right, let’s get going..." And with that I started the engine as the small warm body covered in black fur with piercing blue eyes stared up at me. I had yet to realise exactly what she had done and to this day I cannot say whether it was the thing that had saved me or condemned me.
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I had six deliveries in total, a fairly smaller amount than usual... That was probably Mike's doing; he tended to give me the easier assignments, for all intents and purposes that overly positive air-head was my boss, and he tended to do whatever he wanted to. I let out a sigh looking at the roughly scrawled hand written note with my delivery route written on it in green ink; still despite it all I couldn't bring myself to hate him. Well that was to be expected I guess, he was the only person I considered my friend, or rather he was the only person who was willing to consider me his friend. I just liked my friends at a comfortable distance.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Ah, well looking at the note it seemed like I had three deliveries to the usual clients; computer, electronics and mobile stores that were either buying individual parts or the completed products. But it also looked like there was a house call for a personal computer, some monitors being taken to a videogame store and some kind of fancy super-computer going to a university on the edge of town. All of them would be easy with the exception of the university as I would need to drive out of the city to reach it. London was a strange city, high-rises and apartment complexes bordered suburban landscapes, the wide roads of the city centre turned to thin winding paths that dived and strafed within the city of walls, a labyrinth in concrete fitting of city that had stood since near the founding of England and it was a mix of old and new a great heaving mess of buildings and people all mixed up together.
"I don't really have a schedule today as long as everything gets delivered." I muttered voicing my thoughts aloud to keep them clear and out of the fog; "I'll just leave the university to last; it’ll be less of a hassle if I go later and there are fewer people." I let out a sigh turning my eyes back to the road Julia mewling besides me laying on the seat next to mine stretching beneath a bolt on sunlight.
Summer had come it seemed, the one short weak of summer that those who lived in Britain waited for with eager earnest. Of course I hated it, partly to ruin everyone else’s fun and partly because I couldn't stand hot places; it made it difficult to sleep. It wasn't just the sunlight that had come this weak either; the streets were crawling with tourists as well. Not just foreigners but people from up and down the country would visit London for one reason or another usually just to see the sights and take a break from their jobs. The same went for the majority of foreigners as well, young men and women toting backpacks and hanging around in groups of two or three pointing and laughing and taking photos. And mixed among the crowd were masses of youths almost uniform in appearance with black hair marched along by a teacher. School students from china come on trips with their high schools, Colleges and etcetera. The roads were for the most part choked, and the air conditioning in the van had gone bust in my first few months of the job. The truck was a piece of crap. I wiped away the moisture gathering on my brow and turned into a near empty street slowly gaining speed as I made my way to my first destination. The game store was closest to the centre of the city and I could work outwards from there delivering to where I needed to go; it was best to be methodical, doing pointless things like that helped to keep my sanity intact.
And within a few moments of the thought popping into my head I turned a second corner glancing at the inbuilt satnav blinking in the dashboard. Right the store would be at the end of this road. I looked up a small grim smile crossed my face pulling away at my cheeks as the traffic lights before me flashed green, it seemed fate was smiling on me. The mass of foreign students of around the college age halted as the lights turned off shuffling back onto the pavement. I had been where they were two years ago, of course now I was twenty, living far away from my family, with only a pet cat company. And I loved that cat dearly. Eh, these kids probably had a brighter future than I did. I released a sorry sigh my eyes drooping down for a moment before they caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of their vision. The crowd shifted slightly and exhaled sending a young girl stumbling forwards into the road where she collapsed, she fell to her knees in the middle of the road... it took a moment for the thought to register in my mind; she was in the middle of the god damned road!
I moved with force slamming my foot down on the brakes Julia screeching besides me as she was thrown from her seat. But I had built up too much moment, this huge hunk of junk as going too fast and the wheels were screeching as I strained to stop it. I pulled the wheel hard but it resisted my pull, and no matter how hard I dragged it away the truck wouldn't change its’ course, and even if it did I'd just plough into the pedestrians standing stock still on the sidewalk.
And then from the group of students a second body burst forth, small and slow but brave none the less.
A young pudgy man rushed in front of the truck grabbing the girl who stood on her knees facing down the truck in sick anxiety, fear and shock. He knocked her away pushing her from the path of the truck rolling to the sidewalk and out of harms way; out of my way, grazed and bruised but alive. Of course there was a price; life for life and blood for blood. In that moment my body locked up, I passed the traffic lights in the blinking of an eye, and just as quickly the young man vanished. He disappeared from view and a shock coursed through the truck as its steel frame was dented. My body wouldn't move as my brain failed the process what had just happened, it was impossible, the young man couldn't be dead, no there was no chance that could have happened. It was a ridiculous thought. I felt my stomach well up beneath me as my eyes caught the flecks of blood smeared across the wind shield as the game store drew closer into view, my body wouldn't move and I couldn't command it to do so; it hit the curb hard and leapt into the air before diving down to strike at the store screams from the panicked public ringing in my ears.
Time seemed to slow after that the moments crawled by, they trickled past and left me staring in mixed wonder and horror.
The glass before me cracked as the automatic doors of the shop crumpled beneath the force ton of steel impacting them driven home with hellish force the trucks body screeching as the chassis collapsed and scattered shelves and game into the air where they seemed to hang. Time grew slow as the broken windshield scattered and my body sat rigid caught by my seatbelt Julia flying past my face in panic. Carnage death and destruction, it couldn't be real; I couldn't be the reason for a tragedy like this, but I couldn't draw my eyes away, from the bloody stains covering the bonnet of the truck. In the end all I could do was force my eyes closed: and that was the end of it... Or at least it should have been.
I should have died then and there, but as I sat eyes squeezed tight a sense of vertigo playing with my senses time began to speed up again. There was no jolt of force or resounding crash I just sat there in silence waiting for my death until at last I opened my eyes and stared up towards a canopy of leaves framing a clear blue sky through which dark shapes soared. Shapes with wings and tails, heads and feet and claws, creatures with horns and scales and teeth and eyes that glimmered in the light like uncut jewels. I looked up at the dragons flying but a ways above my head a sing word escaping my lips. "Huh?" It was even really a word, but it seemed to be enough; to tip the equilibrium of my current situation the branches beneath my creaking as the tree within which my truck had been lodged began to creak sending myself and my truck plummeting to the earth.
Well maybe it wasn't earth any more.