Body Renewal

A SHORT NOTE

For a very long time I couldn't write because of my anger at COVID-19 and what it was doing.

When I finally returned temporally to Texas and received my COVID-19 vaccine injections the next night I dreamed the start of "Body Renewal".

The following night "Kidnapping of a Were" started filling my dreams, and I still dream and think of them both at different times.

Between the two of them I've written 10 parts and I still haven't finished either one.

I will be posting parts of them separately every few days. Hopefully you'll enjoy them.

Constructive comments are very helpful to me. Words italicized are for special information.

Body Renewal Part1

I was sitting on my living room sofa trying to decide what to do.

On the coffee table in front of me were three piles. On the right was an opened bottle of whiskey with a half empty glass. On the left was my 9mm Glock loaded with hollow points. In the center was the half inch tall report of my cancer, its spread, and the best guess how much time I had left.

I had thought it out. I didn't have any real family left. I had made out my will and it was notarized. I paid the cremation expenses with orders for my remains afterward. Why endure the pain and time dying slowly?

I could call 911 and say I heard a gunshot at my address. Hang up and kill myself and I reached for the phone, Gil, my next door neighbor and close friend, charged thru my door.

"STOP! Ted, before you do what you just decided to do listen to my plan. An unusual plan, true, but it is doable for you" he said.

Sitting across from me in the recliner Gil continued "When you first met me you commented about what an out of place nerd I was! That was a true assessment of me. The truth was I had just arrived on your planet a few weeks before from my home world called in English is Sesbeys, so I'm a Sebeysian. Now it is almost time for me to return. This body is only about seven years old, with a useful life of well over a hundred years normally. I want you to use it from now on. I can exchange your essence permanently into this body" he stated.

I felt and must have looked like a young man caught by his mom and sisters going into a whore house from his offer. "What do you mean?" I stammered.

"My people grew this body for my time here. Now I'm leaving soon. When I leave here I'm required to destroy it after reentering one of my real forms for the last time. I am offering it to you." he explained.

Gil stopped and looked at me and continued "The trade would be easily done. You know me, my life styles, and habits. You have left me everything in you will, so you get to keep all your stuff plus all of mine. Stay here, move on, or whatever you want to do for the rest of your life. I will leave you a cache or library of info about me, inside of your brain, which you will be able to access instantly. Your penmanship, movements, and most everything else will mimic mine for a period of time." he simply stated and then added "At first for you it will be like the experience of driving a different kind of vehicle for the first time." After a moment he questioned "Besides what do you have to lose and what do you have to gain with this trade?"

Thinking that just minutes ago I was reaching for my gun and now I was offered a new start. I quickly agreed.

"Great. We need to go over to my house to start the transfer. I can transfer out into one of my real bodies in minutes, but it will take about a day to get your essence into here and triple checked. You will be in limbo/asleep till it is completed" he explained.

As we walked from my cream colored New Mexican style house to his Turquoise brightly colored matching home. I was also struck by our differences my 5' 8" 150 pound aged stooped over body to his 6' 3" 240 pound muscular body. Entering his house we went directly to his guest room, which was painted salmon color with Mexican art and textiles everywhere, where I sat in a, one of his many, recliner facing a made up bed.

Gil left and returned shortly afterward. He walked, like one of those zombies from the TV shows, over to the bed, where he laid down on it. Behind him was a figure just like the aliens portrayed from Area 51 and other shows. The alien was tall, thin, elongated head with a silver translucent body wearing a blue ribbed jump suit. It winked and smiled at me showing me his translucent green teeth and at that I lost awareness of what was happening.

Slowly becoming aware I felt the lack of pressure of my breathing, the absence of pain in my lower stomach and back. Trying to open my eyes the light sent bolts of pain into to them, causing me to bring up my hand to cover them but it moved too fast and painlessly, as it hadn't for a few years, that I hit myself on my forehead.

A strange chuckling voice stated "Don't wreck yourself on the first test drive Gil."

I lowered that arm back down while slowly reopening the eyes. I hadn't thought of it as my body yet. As my eyes were reopening I saw the brownish-yellow haze was missing after years of my looking thru aged stained eyes. Everything was in focus and clear, in contrast to the semi blind old man I had been, as it hadn't been for years without contacts or glasses. I knew for sure this wasn't a used up eighty-seven year old body.

"Slowly try to move around and then sit up against the headboard." came a strange voice from the right.

Turning that way I saw "The Alien" standing there smiling. Experimentally I moved around, slowly sliding up to the top of the bed. With every move it became more natural without needed thought of each movement. Over the next few hours I was instructed to perform many ranges of motion exercises, which didn't tire or hurt me as they would before the trade.

I needed to pee, so I said "Wait, I need to go to the bathroom." I slide off the bed and timidly took a few steps followed by strides into the guest bathroom. Deciding to go for it I lifted the lid and peed in the bowl for the first time in years. "Good aim," I thought pleased.

Leaving the bathroom I turned toward the kitchen instead of back to the spare bedroom. Got a glass from the overhead cabinet and filled it with tap water. It tasted good, with no medicine after taste for the first time in forever; I went over started to sit in my usual chair at Gil's kitchen table. "That's not your chair anymore Gil. "You know you sit in the "Master" chair at the head table" came instantly from my inner library, so I did.

That was the moment that I accepted my changed status/life/body. I was gifted a new body with chances to go on in a new life, It hadn't taken much to convince me. I sat and had an excited party in my head and tried to imagine what my new life would be like.

I put the empty glass in the sink and walked toward the bedroom, before turning into the living room when "He" called to me. He hovered several inches above the floor in a seated lotus position. I went over sitting in another of the recliners as I got the impression this was going to take a while.

"We need to talk now. After the transfer from your old body, but during the third check, it had a heart attack, which I had some pre-knowledge that it was going to happen, but not when. It was not repairable or curable, so I put it into suspended status. It will only last a couple days at the best, plus I need to get ready to leave." He slowly spoke.

"Knowing this what would you have done if I said no?" I asked. "Honored your wishes." he answered factually.

"What I want to do is tomorrow take your old body out behind your shed to your "viewing of the sundown" chair. The suspension status will last about two hours without being upgraded. "You" will invite Judy and Martin Tedesco to come over for a drink about dusk, so "You" will be found quickly. Gil must be somewhere else in public when you are found. I suggest we go somewhere where I'll be in a normal human form for that, to be seen and to be told what happened. Are you up for that?" he asked.

"Yes. Kinda wondered what would happen to the other body. By the minute it feels more normal here to me. Let's get ready and go," I slowly spoke. Till 5 pm the next day were spent prepping me for my new life.

When I started to the spare bedroom both "The Alien and the inner library" spoke together "Go to the master bedroom Gil."

I was "guided" to the clothes to wear. Blue Jeans, a patterned t-shirt, brown leather vest. I guided in putting matching brown leather cowboy boots for the first time ever, and then stomping down to set them, which felt natural and right even with the slight heel. I could see that the "Library" and I were going to close friends for the foreseeable future. Besides my now being an additional 7 inches taller and 90 pounds of bulky muscle All this was a far cry from my bland 60's style pressed slacks, button up or polo shirts, and florsheim shoes.

In the living room stood Brian, Gil's friend, who was an over the road trucker, but as soon as he spoke it was evident it wasn't him. He spoke too quietly, too cultured. He was the "Old Gil' Grinning he said "I see you weren't fooled by my appearance, but others will be for the short time that is needed. Just remember we're two friends out for supper and a little fun."

We walked out and got into Gil's, I mean my, older Chevy 4x4 Suburban with him driving, which wasn't odd as Brian couldn't stand anyone else driving him because it scared him not to be in control.

He drove about seven miles to the other side of the county to the Roadside Stop Inn, a popular café and bar for everyone in the area.

As we entered we were greeted from all over the bar area as we walked thru to the 50"s New Mexican style wooden tables and chairs, each walls were covered with different pictures, art work themed items in the cafe. After being seated we ordered our old favorites green chili cheeseburgers, fries with ice teas.

While taking our orders the waitress asked us "why no beers tonight boys?" Brian said he had a load to take later that night and I had to drive back from the depot.

As we waited for our food people came over to talk to "me" about problems they saw in the town and county, as "I" was a newly elected county official. I was surprised that everyone excepted the "new" me without any strange looks.

When we had just about finished eating a county sheriff's deputy I slightly knew walked up to the table. "Glad we found you so quickly Gil. I hate to tell you and Brian this but your friend Ted Park was just found dead in his backyard. Paperwork on his refrigerator stated you, Gil, were his point of contact. Can you please come to the morgue at the hospital to identify him for us?"

"I will try, but it will be very hard on me to do that." I spoke slowly and softy.

"I understand, but it should only take a few minutes there to do the ID and paper work." the deputy said.

I accepted and walked out to the deputy's car, as we entered it Brian called out "I'll be waiting for you in the hospital parking lot when you finish; it's even closer to the depot than here."

Arriving at the hospital I was guided into a viewing room, where lying on a mobile table was a covered body. When the cover was folded back I was shocked to see how tired, worn, shriveled up and wasted my old body was. Placing my hand on the exposed shoulder I thought "goodbye my old self" and felt the tears running down my face.

Leaving the viewing room I had to spend the next 25 minutes filling out the required paper work before I was able to leave the hospital and go to the parking lot. It was full night with a cooling breeze. Parked in the shadows of the building stood the old Chevy.

Walking up I saw the front seats were empty, but in the back seat was a blanket covered form. Opening the back driver's side door I peered under the blanket and saw a figure that looked a cross between Star Wars Chewbacca and H. Beam Piper's Fuzzy Sapiens. In my mind I heard Brian's voice "Drive by the depot, pull into the back parking lot, stop for a few minutes, then drive straight to the house, and park in the garage. I'm not doing well right now."

I did as directed. During the trip I relearned how much fun it was to drive a real car not an automated skate "Smart Car" going from one place to another.

After parking and closing the garage door I heard Brian's voice in my mind and He asked me to go into the living room and wait a few minutes till he could join me.

I sat there flipping through the countless channels on the TV, not seeing anything worth my time, till the chewy-fuzzy returned. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold that shape for longer. All this moving back and forth plus pretending to be other creatures tired me out. That's why my people made bodies to use here" he said.

"So is this your real form" I asked. "Yes, it is one of our true forms. Before you ask the first alien form you saw was from your mind" he answered. "So what do I call you now?" I asked. "Chewi will work because it amuses me. My real name isn't able to be said by humans," he answered.

For the next day and a half I was brought up to date about "My" major actions of the last seven years that weren't clear before. Mostly about modernization and reutilization of old structures by the company I owned. Running for office to insure the county and state moved in correct directions for the future.

I went to sleep about 9:30 after being informed we had to leave about 4:30 AM to get to the takeoff site in time. I slept soundly thru the night again without waking, which had been very rare for years.

Driving I was directed to an out of the way warehouse, where we hooked up a 42 foot wide lowboy trailer to the suburban. After the connections were finished driving out of the warehouse it surprised me, because the pull and jerks from its weight didn't happen. I was told "You're only pulling an empty trailer with a craft flying in place to the trailer."

We drove out of town toward an area of the national park where reforestation had started twenty years ago we said our goodbyes, and what our friendship meant to both of us.. Pulling into a deserted summer youth campground and parking out of sight part where Chewi walked back, where he opened control panel and slide the activation control down.

The sound of slotted metal doors rolling from back to front was heard softly followed by both the wall sides and the back leaning out about 30 degrees. I reminded me of a strange flower opening.

A very strange ship was exposed. It didn't look like a saucer, a cigar, or any other ship or aircraft that I could think of. I laughed, because it reminded me of one of those strange single high floating clouds you see in the sky from time to time.

As a string of guttural sounds were spoken the ship moved upward expanding as it rose, moved over, and hovered over us as it opened a door in the bottom. Chewi, turned gave me a hug, stepped back, and started rising. As he ascended I heard him utter "That felt weird hugging myself. Remember your inner info is there to help you. I might be able to check on you sometime later." As soon as he was inside the door closed and the ship quickly climbed out of sight.

My inner voice told me Now to close up the trailer and leave. Driving back I was directed to leave the trailer at a scrap yard and received a pre-approved payment for it. As I was leaving the yard it was being dismantled.

I returned to my new home and just sat reflecting on my renewed changed new life for the rest that day. On Monday I went out the door to start my changed and busy life.

End of "Body Renewal" Part1