Through the Looking Glass Ch. 08

Hello fellow Lit readers, and thank you for the comments and interest in this work. I apologize for keeping you waiting for the next installment. I'm involved in another project and it's taking up a lot of time. I just hate it when 'real life' gets in the way of your fun, don't you?

Well, I think you get the basic theme of this story, so now... it's your turn. I have quite a few directions I could go with this, but I'm curious as to what dimensional antics you'd like to see our heroes travel to. If you have a suggestion for a chapter, just leave it in the 'comments' section; I always check them. If your idea has promise, I'll write a chapter using your suggestion. Make sure you leave your username so I can credit you for your idea.

I only ask two things: (1)As always, your idea must follow the rules and guidelines of this forum. And (2)I know I've added a few weird things in my chapters, but let's not go off on a tangent with this. No flying space monkeys or strange ray beams that turn people into celery stalks, okay? Heh, heh, heh... let's try and keep this 'on the ground' so to speak. I look forward to seeing your suggestions.

Okay, enough talk; onto the next chapter. Enjoy.

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Mitch scanned the surrounding area, but didn't see any hint of a city where Birchwood was suppose to be. Small hillocks of tall grasses and creeping vines were scattered everywhere where there should have been houses.

"I don't understand," he mumbled, still searching for signs of inhabitants, "The city was never built in this universe?"

Lisa saw the same thing he saw: mounds of foliage, and larger groupings of greenery beyond, "I don't see any hint of a house, a building... not even a road."

"C'mon," said Mitch, taking her hand and guiding her down the hill to the vast field of green ahead. Once there, their view was the same: nothing but mounds of green, one after the other. Mitch paused and stared at the small hills, confused.

"Something's not right. These hillocks don't... look right."

Lisa urged him to continue walking and said, "Maybe this is what the area looked like before the city was built. In this dimension, maybe they haven't..."

"No, that's not what I mean," Mitch said, staring at a particular vine covered mound, "Look at the hills: they're all... uniform. Stacked next to each other, right in a straight line. That can't be natural; it must be... whoa!"

Lisa lunged after Mitch as he pitched forward and landed with not so graceful thud, grabbing at his foot and wincing in pain. She dropped beside him and reached into her bag, pulling out the first aid kit.

"What happened?"

Mitch gritted his teeth, "I tripped over something; stubbed my toe."

Lisa looked it over and spray some cold compound on the sore digit, relief spreading on Mitch's face as the pain was numbed. She set the kit aside to rub his foot... and produced a clinking sound, making both of them look at the kit on the ground.

"That wasn't a rock," Mitch said, pushing up off the ground and crawling over to the kit, with Lisa brushing the tall weeds aside. They both moved and pulled at the grasses until the object Mitch found with his foot was revealed.

A tricycle, rusted and in pieces with the hard plastic wheels cracked and crumbling off the hubs.

Mitch dug through more of the grass until he hit their roots and found what he expected to find: pieces of asphalt mixed with the soil. He rose from the ground and trudged through the weeds to an unusually shaped mixture of shrubs and vines. Lisa joined him and helped him clear away a section of leaves, and gasped when an object underneath presented itself: a car, old and rusted through to the point of collapsing in on itself.

"No wonder we couldn't see it," he said, looking around at the evenly spaced hills of brush, "nature covered it with growth. The city's still here."

"But what happened?" asked Lisa as she made her way towards one of the large green hills.

Mitch followed her and answered, "I don't know. Was it a disaster of some kind? A plague, maybe? Or maybe they just abandoned the town and left it to rot."

"But why? What could have happened to make everyone just pick up and leave?" Lisa edged closer to the mound of green and started pulling at the leafy vines, "A war, maybe?"

"Maybe," Mitch helped her uncover what they knew must be a house, their suspicions proving correct when a front door appeared with house numbers nailed to it. He looked at Lisa, and she nodded knowing what he had in mind. Carefully he pushed the door open, producing squawks from the rusted hinges, and the pair peered inside.

The living room that appeared was dark, despite the light from outside shining through the doorway, but they could see that the home had been deserted for years. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, with some of the creeping vines finding their way inside through the broken windows.

The floor boards creaked in protest as Mitch and Lisa gingerly stepped into the room, with her nervously jumping slightly when a few mice scurried across the old worn carpet and ran off to hide.

"Take a look at this stuff," Mitch said, scrutinizing the furnishings covered under a layer of dust, then turned to Lisa, "What's wrong with this picture?"

It took her a moment or two as she scanned the room, but Lisa realized what Mitch was talking about, "There aren't any modern appliances here; no plasma television, no electronic games, no computers..." she glanced at an end table and gawked, "A rotary phone?"

"Exactly," Mitch nodded, seeing the framed photos on the far wall, not one of them in color, "Whatever happened here happened a long time ago," he took in the whole room and added, "Best guess? I'd say nobody's been here for... sixty, maybe seventy years."

"But where did they go?" asked Lisa, looking into the kitchen beyond and seeing an old refrigerator with a equally old gas stove, both dusty with their white enamel flaking off, "Mitch... you don't think..."

"Hold on, we don't know anything yet," Mitch ushered her towards the door, "Let's check out the rest of the city; maybe we'll get some clues as to what happened."

Leaving the dilapidated home, they both set out towards the town and marched passed the mounds of foliage, trying to see any hint of structures beyond the green. Tall towers of vines and leaves appeared once the old neighborhood was behind them, and they knew they had reached the downtown area of Birchwood.

"My God," Mitch muttered, seeing the same overgrowth all around the main street only on a larger scale. Buildings were covered in growing plants with vines coiling around every road fixture, right down to the fire hydrants, "the whole city's deserted."

"Mitch," said Lisa, carefully scanning the building fronts, "does the town seem... smaller to you?"

He wasn't sure how to answer as he and Lisa stepped onto what was suppose to be the sidewalk and started brushing aside some vines clinging to one of the buildings. Lisa managed to uncover part of a window, but suddenly jerked her hand away.

"Ow!" She shook her clenched fist, a rivulet of blood trickling from her palm. Mitch immediately dug the first aid kit out of her bag, glancing at the broken window pane and seeing a drop of red clinging to a pointed edge.

"Hold still, I'll get it," he wiped the blood from her gashed hand and spritzed some antibacterial spray onto the wound, making her wince as the antiseptic stung her palm. Placing a wad of gauze in her hand, he said, "Hold this until it stops bleeding; I'll clear a path inside."

Lisa held her fist tight as she watched Mitch clear away the rest of the stubborn vines from the window. Once clear of plants, they both looked inside and saw what appeared to be an old restaurant. Digging some more, Mitch found the door and they both entered the establishment, being careful not to step on anything harmful with their bare feet.

As before with the house they explored, there wasn't much light. But there was enough to reveal tables and booths lining one wall and some counters directly across, with an antique cash register perched atop the worn counter top glass. Part of the back wall had a long counter with stools in front of it, and behind it were shelves of glasses, dishes, kitchen utensils, and other restaurant paraphernalia. Old racks of crumbling books and magazines were set up here and there, along with stand alone shelves, and everything was draped in webs and dust.

"This is a old drug store," Mitch uttered, peering at the antique surroundings.

"It is?" Lisa looked at the area again, puzzled.

"Yeah. Most pharmacies just handle prescriptions and medical supplies nowadays, maybe a few convenience store items. But once upon a time, stores like this were considered gathering places," he pointed at the dirty counter, "That was a soda counter. The soda jerk would serve drinks, ice cream sundaes, malts, even coffee and small sandwiches to people taking a break from shopping or waiting for a prescription to be filled by the pharmacist."

Lisa raised an eyebrow, "'Soda jerk'?"

Mitch shrugged, "Well, that's what the guy manning the counter was called. He would 'jerk' on the fountain handles to add carbonated water to whatever anyone was drinking and turn it into a soda," he saw her looking funny at him and added, "Yeah, I know; it seems weird, but that's what they offered to folks. This place would be the equivalent of a convenience store or a coffee house back in the..." He stopped, his face being pulled down in a frown, "Oh, God. This means our guess was right. There hasn't been anyone here for around seventy years."

Lisa's eyes lit up, "And that would explain why the town seems smaller. If nobody's been around, that means there was nobody here to build anymore stores or houses."

"How much do you want to bet our laboratory isn't here, either?"

Lisa nodded, "Or the warehouse where the park was the last time? I'll bet half the stores and shops aren't even here," she gazed at the quiet soda shoppe with a sad look, "But it still doesn't answer the question: where did they go?"

Mitch thought for a second, then, "The library should be here; it was built around 1910. We'll take a look in there, if we can find it through all of this growth."

They exited the old shop and plowed through the weeds and grass, carefully stepping around mounds of leaves that were obviously covering something in the road and on the walkways.

The pair headed towards a large, squared off hill of greenery, Mitch saying, "If I remember it right, the library should be that one."

But right in the middle of the 'street', both of them froze at the sound of something grumbling. Turning slowly, they saw something they somewhat expected to see but weren't ready to deal with.

A mountain lion, narrowing its gold eyes at the duo and baring its sharp teeth in a menacing growl.

"Mitch..." Lisa clung to his side as his hand reached into his pack.

"Easy, I had a feeling we'd run across some wild animals," he whispered, bringing around his gun. He pulled Lisa behind him and stared down the animal holding out his palm, "Nice kitty..." he raised the weapon and pointed the barrel at the big cat.

"Mitch, don't."

"I don't want to hurt him either, but if it's a choice between him or us," he clicked the gun's hammer into place, "I vote 'us'."

"Just fire off to the side, scare him off." Lisa watched nervously as the large feline slowly paced back and forth, edging closer to the pair.

"Somehow, I don't think he's the type to be easily scared," Mitch said, aiming for the the lion's head as it drew near, "Down... stay! Get back!"

The growling cat ignored the warning and crept towards the scientists with only one thing on its mind: food.

Mitch, making sure Lisa was protected behind him, steadied his arm and started to squeeze the trigger. The cat kept advancing; Mitch finger curled tighter around the trigger, and...

The pair were both startled when a haze of lavender light suddenly surrounded the animal, freezing it in its tracks... then lifting it a few feet off the ground. Mitch quickly took his finger off the trigger and studied the strange glow all around the cat, its body unmoving and making no sounds. A tight beam of purplish light lanced out from the field, and both Mitch and Lisa tracked it back to its source just behind them and saw...

There were four of them, slightly taller than he was and wearing some type of bib outfits colored in light and dark browns... which contrasted sharply with their skin. For the most part, their skin pigment was the color of the sky with spotted patterns of blue siding their faces and their arms and shoulders, each one of them a different hue from navy blue to turquoise.

The one in front, sporting shades of dark purple, was holding a box-like device tipped with a tube emitter and that produced the beam of light aimed at the lion. With a four fingered hand, it adjusted the mechanism and caused the animal to rise up and be placed in another location, all the while the one next to him/her held a similar device but tipped with a small pyramid glowing red. That one threw out a beam of red that ran over and traced the animal's body.

Once down, the being nodded to another and switched off the device, his partner doing the same. The lion began circling itself once it was released from the field, confused and not understanding what had happened. Another being held out a wand-like piece of hardware, and small white bursts of light shot out and touched the ground around the cat, setting off sparks and crackles around its paws. It growled in fright and took off like a shot into the underbrush behind the covered buildings.

Too afraid to move, Mitch and Lisa continued to stare at their rescuers and took in the rest of their appearance. Mitch wasn't really sure what to do, nevertheless he lowered his gun and clicked the safety on.

The four beings had strange faces, humanoid in appearance but slightly off from what was (to Mitch and Lisa) the 'norm'. Their mouths were thin and wide topped with noses that were small and appeared flat against their skulls, and their eyes looked like the eyes of a fly with segmented lenses tinted red. Their hair, if that was it was, hung down in different lengths and had the look of seaweed fronds, colored the same as their skin patterns but darker.

The four beings slowly walked up to the pair of scientists, the one in the lead brandishing his 'holding' device. Mitch tightened his grip on the gun as they neared, and the 'leader' sensed it coming to a halt and motioning to the two others with the wand weapons to stand down. He/She hooked the device onto a belt clip, then nodded to the one with the red tipped box.

The being slowly stepped forward and held out the device to the scientists, Mitch seeing a small view screen on its face. An image of the lion was shown to him, then the view of its musculature, its internal organs, and finally its bones. The humanoid then motioned to the device, then to Mitch and Lisa.

"I think I understand," Mitch said quietly, "It's some kind of scanning device; it examines and records things for them to study. They want to scan us."

Very slowly, Mitch made a show of putting his gun back into his pack and then nodded as he held out his empty hands, showing them that he wasn't a threat.

The 'leader' again motioned with his hand at the ones with the weapons, and both of them holstered the wands and stepped back.

Mitch then nodded to the one with the red device, holding his nude body out for the being to examine. He/She nodded back and switched on the box, producing a beam of red that passed over Mitch's form scanning and measuring every part of him. After a moment, the beam ceased and the box beeped at its owner who smiled and nodded. Then he/she tilted her head and offered a hand to Lisa.

"It's okay, honey," assured Mitch, "it doesn't hurt. They're just curious and want to find out what we are."

Lisa stepped up with a few twinges in her stomach, but nodded at the being to give him/her the 'okay'. Again, the red beam lanced out and played over her body, Lisa watching as the light rippled across her naked curves.

After the scanning, the 'leader' brandished another box device, this one smaller and topped with a sphere glowing a dull green. Switching it on, he/she spoke into the device, but the words came out as a jumble of grunts and guttural noises mixed with a few clicks and chirps. Then the being pointed the box at the scientists.

"I'm sorry," said Mitch, shaking his head, "I don't understand what you're saying."

"'...what you're saying'." Mitch started a little when the device through his words out, then chirped a few times. The being nodded, adjusting the controls, and waved his fingers in a beckoning motion, wanting more from the pair.

"Oh, I get it," said Lisa, "That's some kind of language translation device. It records what we're saying, and I think it's trying to translate our words so they can understand us. They want us to talk to them."

"'...want us to talk to them'." Lisa's words were copied and the box bleeped again with the tiny sphere glowing brighter, the 'leader' nodding and smiling, then speaking again to them. But it came out as, "[Blaatie cun understand what I'm saying bon?]" in a deep grunting voice.

Mitch nodded carefully and answered, "One more time; I only understood a few word you said."

Lisa chimed in, "Yes, we'll keep talking; we want to communicate with you."

"'...want to communicate with you'."

The device beeped quickly with its sphere shining a brilliant lime, and the being smiled and hit a few controls on its side. Through a side slot, two small gray disks were spit out into the humanoid's palm, and he/she offered them to Mitch and Lisa. Then he/she mimed pressing the disk against his/her head just behind his odd shaped ear, then pushing a fingertip to it.

Mitch understood and copied the movement, pressing the disk to his head and, feeling the tiny stud near an edge, depressed it making it click.

"I think it's working," said Lisa, seeing a little green status light come on, then did the same with her disk.

Both of them felt a tiny buzz behind their ears as the small devices whispered a whirring sound, and the lead being nodded and spoke to them.

"Can you understand what I'm saying, now?"

"Yes, I can," said Mitch, smiling.

"Yes, we understand you now," answered Lisa with her own smile.

"Excellent," the leader exclaimed, stepping forward, "I apologize if we frightened you; that was not our intent."

Mitch nodded back, "It's all right. I'm sorry if we were a little hesitant. We've never met beings like you before."

The being with the scanner moved up and spoke with a softer voice, "Is your species native to this world?"

"Yes, it is," answered Lisa.

"Then you represent the dominate species that inhabited this planet?"

Lisa balked a little, "Well basically, yes. There are other species here that are less developed, some with the same intelligence and others greater than ours. But, for all practical purposes, human beings would be considered the dominate species."

"'Human'?"

"Uh, that's the name of our species: 'human'."

The soft spoken being nodded to the leader as he/she entered something on his/her device, obviously recording the 'human' name, then spoke again, "How are you addressed?"

Mitch thought for a moment, then realized what the being was asking, "Oh, my name. My name is Mitchell," he gestured to Lisa, "and this is my wife, Lisa."

"'Wife'?"

Mitch turned to the other being, "Uh... 'wife', that means we are a couple. We're mates, and I'm her husband."

"Ah, life companions; I understand," the being said, nearing the leader, "We our also joined together as life mates."