Tales of the Courier – The Sands of Time
Gritty and dry, with sand all over. Moving hurts, everywhere. Lifting his head and shaking sand away, creates a momentary wave of dizziness, that passes quickly. His sand cocoon is thick around, as he shimmies free. The force of the blast had been intense, and had cleared the area extensively, leaving more, sand.
Shaking his head again, to clear the sand from his ears, he decides the faint humming sound isn’t his blast worn ears playing tricks. Then he sees it.
The container, that had previously been a polished steel hat trick, had created an enormous crater. The road was now divided into before the crater, and after the crater. He is standing fifty yards away from where he dropped the container on the road, and the glare of deep red light that emanates from the crater, is near blinding.
time to go
Time to go, he kicks forward and nearly trips over an object directly in front of him. The hat trick. Nice one, all stealth. He grins, glad to be back at work.
The object is a cylinder shaped container, made of what appears to be polished steel. It’s large enough to shoulder and carry, he does, and walks southward again. His thoughts are about an old earth saying, the one about…deja vu…but that wasn’t it. He stops cold.
He was thinking about a journey that started with one step, again….for the first time. Shifting the container to the other shoulder, he treks out again. Now he’s thinking the heat of the day, and the spooky, no body chit chat, was getting to him.
Remaining in this zone, was an unusual condition. Things were not adding up, and the details, were need to know only. Business as usual, as far as 1courier was concerned. And now he stops cold, again. He shifts the container back to the other shoulder, it’s getting unusually heavy.
Setting the container down, instead, he thinks moving away, is something he’s done before, and he does, rapidly, back up the road, faster, as the blast rips him forward, tumbling head over heels, before landing hard.
Full Circle
In the sand. It’s everywhere, gritty and dry, and he shakes his head to clear it from the sand. He grins, this ain’t right. He gets free of the sand cocoon again, for the first time. And takes a knee, time to think on things. He’s definitely got that deja vu feeling, now.
He’s looking in the direction of the dropped container, and it has become a deep crater, glowing an intense, deep red. The light is near blinding, and he shields his eyes, as he gazes. Proximity. The word echos in his mind.
The pale green moon of this world, has begun it’s ascent, marking the night sky with a moon glow, and bringing a breathtaking, galaxy view, with it. There is a shooting star, suspended in mid flight. The trail of the object is bright, and follows it, as it hangs motionless, and bright, in the night sky. One double take confirms, the stars ain’t moving.
Time. He was out of it, in more ways than one. Something else Cheeky had said, reverberates through his thoughts. Interesting, that he hadn’t seen the connection, until now. Time was funny that way. He stands, knowing the next moment, will trigger the loop.
Time to go, he kicks forward and neatly avoids the stealthy hat trick, just in front of him. He grins, nice try, but it was time for work now. He adjusts his stride, relaxing a little, and leaving the hat trick in the road behind. The pale green moon of this world has begun it’s ascent in the night sky.
The Pickup
Within minutes, the ride pulls up, as he walks along. Cheeky’s voice is a welcome addition to the onset of the quiet evening. “We’re late 1courier, time to go.”
Getting behind the wheel feels like business as usual, and he floors the accelerator pedal, to get the ball rolling again. The ride leaps forward, and the road rushes eagerly to meet them. Time flies when you’re having fun, he remembers that old saying too, as the wind whips past the ride.
“Our pickup is just ahead 1courier, twenty minutes out at current speed.” Her tone sounds ominous and concerned. He clues in as to why, at her next words. Their effect is enough to get this job interesting again, and he grins as he listens.
“We will retrieve our cargo from the scavenger group just ahead. It is a liaison 1courier, not a conflict. They are expecting us, and we are late.”
Comment here