As night fell, the reptile emerged from the forest as he approached the tired neighbourhood. The world was quiet, blissful, and content. Jackson’s eyes darted around like he was looking for a strange noise. Only to shake his head to drown out the buzzing away. He mumbled to himself a string of nonsensical words to cope with his new world and condition.
But first, he knew he needed to get dressed. He needed to cover his scales. Jackson jumped over someone’s fence to steal their clothes from the close line. He examined them, finding their styles and colours odd. To him, it seemed fashion took a different turn to be a lot more revealing and self-expressive. Jackson even noticed the bikini looked smaller than before he was put underground, there was even a blue-collared shirt.
After he ripped a hole to make room for his tail to put on his new clothes that seemed to fit him. It would keep him warm. Jeans were not comfortable, but he knew he needed something to hide his reptilian form. Even if the outfit looked crude.
Jackson turned around, he looked through the backyard window and noticed the family watching a film on a large screen. He tried to look for a projector, but it became clear that the source of those images was coming from the screen itself. Jackson even noticed the film they were watching, Walt Disney’s Pinocchio. The reptile frowned, confused as to how they were able to get a film that was popular in his time into their possession and watch it inside of their homes.
As he examined the interior of the house more, he found further oddities that he couldn’t explain. He had a good view of the kitchen and noticed they had a silver fridge and other appliances that didn’t exist before. He was expected to find some luxury items that were common, but were nowhere to be found. Jackson felt that he was transported into a different world, one that was totally alien to him. There wasn’t a radio, a record player with records, a magazine rack, he couldn’t even find a telephone table.
The reptile shook his head as he left. Jumping over his fence as he curled his lips before speaking in a harsh whisper. ‘No, that change is too rapid.’ Jackson kept to the wall as he prowled to the front yard. To his luck, he found a neglected newspaper on the ground. He found it odd. How would they leave the newspaper on the ground when it was their only source of news about their country and the outside world? Was the family lazy inside? Jackson wasn’t sure, but it was an opportunity to find out what.
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Jackson grabbed the newspaper and ripped the plastic sleeve off so he could find the date. 2nd July, 2016. ‘No, that can’t be right. 75 years!’ Jackson mumbled as he read the paper in shock. The front page had a company called ProTech about to start its new power plant in Miami that promised to put an end to fossil fuel usage. News of the election and the controversial republican candidate, a terror attack in Bangladesh, England withdraws from the EU. The last story caught his eye as he never imagined the UK would break up. He flicked through page and page, watching how the world changed while he was trapped.
‘Some will be alive!’ Jackson hissed to himself before chucking the newspaper away. ‘No, you’re wrong. I will find them.’
With a pained grunt, Jackson grabbed his head as he fell to his knees. He was reminded of that day. MODOC forces swarmed the town, rounding people up against the walls, their hands in the air. Jackson was hiding, he watched how the hospital got a new coat of crimson paint.
‘Enough!’ Jackson shrugged it off, gritting his teeth as he tried to stand up. ‘There are answers out there.’
Jackson peered over his shoulder, his gaze furious as he stared down the empty street. ‘A lot had changed. Same can be said with medicine.’
He took a few steps, only to halt to turn around at nothing. ‘I will silence all of you! We are not allies.’ The reptile kept moving, keeping his head high as he returned to the forest to once again hide from humanity.