Impressions

Is this a graduation party? Wow, it's in a pool. Everyone crowd onto this boat, it's time to go.

Enter: green, murky, shallow swamp. What's this, a wagon train of canoes? Where are we going? Oh look, a snake. How cute. No, don't get out to catch it. Oh well, at least the water's not that deep. Holy shit, get back in the boat! THAT one's humongous! Look!... wow ... look how it swims in a spiral... I'm pretty sure snakes that big don't grow well in water this shallow.

Ah, back at port. Hey, look, another group of people. Wait - that's - that's us! No, no, stay back. Look, they're going in the buiding. We can watch them from this overhang here. Damn, we're trapped in some sort of time flux. How do we get out? No, we can't ask our past selves! That'd completely screw up the space-time continuum! What are you thinking?



Wow, this place is really kind of dark. But look at all these fish and reptiles and such! No, sorry, I don't work here. Hey, Kevin, nice store. Boy, it sure is dank.



Maybe if... if I angle my way across the lawn here they won't notice I'm gone... no, they're telling me to get back in line. Dang, college campuses are too open. These people seem nice enough, but I can tell they've got something nasty planned for us.

What? I'm a finalist in some stupid talent competition? Fine. I don't know about the rest of you, but my goal is to not win. Oh? My turn? Well, I was already up here. I can't really turn back now.
What is a ball to a puppy?
Is this some sort of analogy test? No, wait. That's simple... a toy. That's right, I'm supposed to be trying to win. Now maybe if I kneel down amidst these small children and look introspective I can gain get some of the audience to like me. Let me study this book. Here.

Well, now that that's over with I can- wait, what? we have to go to kyra's musical? Dang it, I thought I was finally free to do what I wanted. What, we're ALL in it? Um, okay. Let's get in this capsule-shaped thing and drive there.

Okay, I guess I'll get in costume and pretend I know what I'm doing. I hope Mrs. L.H. isn't mad at me for not coming to any rehearsals. Kellen seems to have a decent idea of what's going on, I'll follow her. Whew. This is ridiculous, but it's not that bad.







I like this house. Some of you should stay outside.

It's got to be here, it absolutely has to be here... I'm sure I left it here in the other dimension... quick, the wind is picking up, we have to find it before the universe collapses. Try turning on and off all the lights and here, hold this. Shit. Electricity's gone out.
No, no, I know it was here... goddamnit!
I know this is where I left it!
I know, I know, it's time to go,
running out of time
but
I know it's here

Don't Think Too Much

The beginning of a new semester. I have been placed in a drama class packed with stupid people, taught by (God help us) Mr. Bennet. Fed up with his inneffective teaching, I spy a blue mat that is slanted to provide a very nice slide. I crawl towards it, finding that the floor is slanted in tiers, like a very steep ramp, or an auditorium. I have difficulty making my way up it, elbowing people aside. They begin to follow me, seeing that the slide looks like fun.
Justin Prentice pokes his head out of a side door. He beckons to me, knowing that I want to get out of this place, away from these lemmings. I let them all pass me, then slip through the door.
It is an attic-like room. It is dusty and crowded with the sort of things people can't bear to give away, but can no longer keep in their living space. A rocking horse, faded photographs, old linens. Justin, Cynthia and I gather ourselves for a few minutes, then decide to slip out the window and away.
The window is narrow, but I slip out sideways and crouch unsteadily on the roof. Below is a guard, meant to keep the students confined. I bearwalk along the slanted roof to the opposite end, where the guard can no longer see me. I lower myself from the gutter, past a kitchen window, where I can hear the cooks chatting busily, and onto the ground. Sneaking over green grass and gravel roads, I head up the mountain.

Having found what I needed on top of the mountain, I fashion a bobsled out of a garbage can and slide back down, shooting past the camp where I was held captive (I hope Justin and Cynthia made it out) and into the forest.

I find myself in a sort of desert-designed cluster of bulidings, all concrete and whitewashed. Someone leads tours of the complex while the sun sets over a wasteland. We see the piping laid for an external shower system, or perhaps a watery playground. It looks like fun.
We enter a testing building, the inside of which is dusyy and dim. The decor is primitive - a dirt floor, crude wooden counters and shelves. Here, a myriad of rats are held in small cages. I was not there long, as I found it extremely cruel, but I remember that one very large and vicious white rat was put in a cage with a number of smaller, brown rats. It killed many of them, while sparing a choice few.

I head for the exit of the compound in disgust. A moon has risen in a dusky sky. The buildings are still lit with a rosy glow from the west. As I walk past the open door of a classroom, the professor calls me in. He says, "Miss, maybe you can help us solve these questions." I hesitate, as the symbols on the board mean absolutely nothing to me. But he seems adamant, so I seat myself, all thirty eyes of the class on me.
I set to work on the first problem, recognizing a few concepts from calculus, but soon I am stumped. He writes the second question on the board:

"Am I afraid of Industrialism? Or am I afraid of Priests?"

Priests came before industrialism, so obviously one is more scared of them. But that makes no sense.

I give up, confused and humiliated. I am not their calculus saviour. In the back of the class, I seat myself to the brother of an old friend of mine. He is now fat, smelly and creepy. He asks me invasive questions, I make my excuses and leave hurriedly.