"Salinger Twain? A? 17? YoungWriter?" Snowshoerabbit cries in joy, nearly running up to the quartet. "First dragons come to life and now I'm meeting the four superheroes of our city? It's too much to handle!" The doorway is vacant, so to stop people from coming in, I rush to close them. The rest of us, including myself, move to the side of the room. 

The quartet walks deliberately towards the green eyed beast. 

"Though you may look brilliant, you are troublesome," YoungWriter starts calmly.

"You are like the beasts of our school, the bully within," 17 continues, while moving closer to the dragon. It is shrinking is size and fear. 

"The flames to your mouth shall cease, never to set aflame a single hair," said A.

Now it was Salinger Twains's turn. "Stop and rest from this war. Head to the heavens where you will soar," he says, stepping in with the rest.

In unison they speak, "Leave this body, you must by sore. This is the end, for evermore." The dragon went limp and it's body dissolved into burnt paper.

Smoke wafted up from the destroyed Machine. A limmer of the shiny iron of the machine is visible through the ash and charred, bubbled metal.

"That is all. A, YoungWriter, go home. 17, stay," Salinger Twain commanded his fellows, moving towards me. 

"Thank you so much for saving us. It was my fault, wasn't it? Of course it was I always mess up. Oh no! I'm rambling now, god I'm such a mess. Sorry I'm rambling-" I rant, but Salinger Twain cuts me off.

"No it's not your fault, your paper described small dragons, so that what it should have made.  The Machine did malfunction," he adjusts his tie, running a hand through his hair. "but for reasons unknown to you, you will remember all of this, and none of them will. The Machine will be gone. This building will be an online newspaper and magazine company. 17 will stay her under a pseudonym in case someone remembers something. Now, Ms. Person, go home. Leave and go. Be here tomorrow." Salinger Twain turns to 17 and uses grand gestures and tells her what to do. She nods and looks at me, then back at him. I walk out of the yellow double doors down the stairs and to the tube to go to my flat. 

The ride home is uninteresting. Nobody talks about what happened at Prose Laboratories. Listening to an album from a recent musical, I get off at my stop and climb the stairs to street level. I walk a small distance to the 4 level building that I call home. Once inside, I climb the four sets of stairs to the top floor. My flat at the end of the hall is silent. I unlock the door and kick my shoes off by the door. I shut the door. Grabbing a bottle of water, I plop down on the couch and turn on the news. 

"-test reports are saying that the creature is flying around Kensingten Gardens, famous for their Esther Flowers. It has not attacked yet, and the military is coming up with a plan to destroy it as we speak." The newswoman speaks with an video of a large blood red dragon over the garden in the background.

All I say is, "Aw shit."

To be deaf in a world without sound,

Is it deaf, or merely profound?

The birds chirp and the wind blows,

Though nobody hears it, no one knows.

A wave on the shore can crash,

Swords can swing and slash.

Sprinters can leap and dash,

Lightning can strike in a flash.

What does it mean in a world without sound,

To be deaf whilst walking around?

In the end, my inexperience probably shows,

For silence is never heard when reading the words of Prose.

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor.

"No!" Mr. Drewth screamed.

"Daddy?" inquired Plum.

"Mummy is in heaven now Plum."

(Sound of heart beating).

"I'm alive?"

"Welcome to the Closed Door Café." said the waitress. "We still hate you for coming here."

"But how did I get here?"

"This is where all departed coffee lovers come after their last time on earth."

"So, I'm really....dead."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I don't believe it."

"You're going to have to deal with it."

"I'll try my best."

"Now, What would you like to order?"

"A nice hot chai tea, please."

"Coming right up."

Mrs. Drewth had been taken to the hospital for a speedy medical check-up. She needed it, because she hurt her back on her first under-water shark watch. When her results came back from the lab, the Doctors decided that she needed surgery. Her spine had to be put in the former place/alignment. Her husband was terrified and panicked. Mr. Drewth knew how risky spinal injuries can be. He hoped that his wife would survive the procedure.

[Back to Mrs. Drewth]

Waitress: Here's your nice, hot chai tea mixed with some milk.

(Mrs. Drewth read the name tag of her server- her name was in bold red ink Sam.)

Mrs. Drewth: Thank you for the chai. It's actually my favorite kind of tea.

Sam: Mine too. But I can't be caught taking a chai break right now. Otherwise- I could get fired.

Mrs. Drewth: This place has my mind spinning in circles. How do I get out?

Sam: Well, you can't. If it's your time, then you are stuck here forever.

Mrs. Drewth: What?! No. I can't be stuck here for ever & ever. I need to get back. How can I get back?

Sam: I'm not the best person to help you with that. But, I know someone that can.

(Sam asks for Mrs. Drewth's hand. She takes it, and they walk over to Sam's workspace.)

Mrs. Drewth: What are we doing in the kitchen area?

Sam: This is where you can get all your answers.

Sam: You wanted to find out how to get out of here. My work buddy over here will help you.

Mrs. Drewth: Ah. Okay. (Chuckles.)

Sam closes the kitchen door and then opens it.

The door seems to have led to another place. Sam looks at Mrs. Drewth, and motions to her to walk through the door. She guides her customer, and leads her to the other side.

Sam: This is the information and questions office or I.Q.O.

Mrs. Drewth: The I.Q.O. It sounds a bit similar. That's strange. I have never come across it before.

Sam: The person I was telling you about works in office B4.

Mrs. Drewth: Is that on the second level or the first?

Sam: It's on the third. There's the ground floor, then the first floor, and then comes the third floor.

They use the elevator to reach the third floor. Sam speed walks to the office. Mrs. Drewth tries to keep up with her. She's nearly tired by the time they're at office B4.

A team of young men and women are moving about in the office. Sam taps one lady on the shoulder.

Fern: Sam! Hey, what's cooking?

Sam: You have a client.

Fern: Ah. Hello. I'm Ms. Fern. (Fern greets Mrs. Drewth).

Mrs. Drewth: Hello. Ms. Fern. I'm Mrs. Drewth.

Sam: She's new here.

Fern: Welcome. Hope you're having a wonderful stay here Mrs. Drewth.

Sam: Not exactly.

Mrs. Drewth: What she means is that I'd really like to head back home. Is that possible?

Fern: I'm not sure. I'll have to check with the heads.

Sam: I'm going to head back to work now. It's been fun hanging with you two lovely ladies.

Fern: Bye Sam. Bingo tonight?

Sam: Yeah. Sure!

Mrs. Drewth: Thank you Sam.

Sam: You're welcome Mrs. Drewth. I hope you get back home soon.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Fern makes a call to the top office. One of the heads pick her call.

Fern: Sorry to disturb you.

Head 1: What's the situation in B4?

Fern: A woman by the name Mrs. Drewth is here at the office. She says that she wants to head back home.

Head 1: Okay, that shouldn't be a problem?

Fern: (laughs nervously) No. It's not. One quick question. How can she get back home?

Head 1: (sighs) Come on this is all in the training manual Year one guidebook. All she has to do- is go to the Closed Door Café and ask for iced tray-loop mix. Then she has to think of where she wants to go.

Fern: (Slaps her forehead) Yes, the tray-loop mix. Thank you your headliness.

(She places the phone back in it's place.)

Fern leads Mrs. Drewth back to the front door of the building. She closes the door, and then opens it. Mrs. Drewth wonders how they do that. Is it by magic? She'll have to try it for herself someday.

Mrs. Drewth sits in her same spot in the Closed Door Café. Sam asks for her order. She tells her she's getting the special iced tray-loop mix.

Seconds later Mrs. Drewth has her special drink. As she takes the wonderful drink, she thinks of her family, and home.

**************************************

Your mouth is moving

There's no sound

It's just your mind

Crying out

Nothing is nothing

But it's still loud

It's heavy enough

To choke you out

Ever expanding

It knocks you down

Cutting you off

A sanity drought

Nothing increases

Invisible shouts

More than torment

Nerves tightly wound

There's no escape

When silence surrounds

(Part of The Dragon book series, all made up....Enjoy reading).

In a world of magic, royalty, fantasy and powerful beings. The greatest and wisest of all are the dragons. For a long time the Eryeandorians have looked to the dragon for help. Dragons have given assistance to the kingdom. They have helped them win battles against mighty enemies. These winged creatures don't bother themselves with earthly trouble/fights. But they will always be ready to help anyone who needs it.

'The Dragon of Eryeandor' tells a story about the last surviving dragon in the kingdom. This dragon feels like the people of the kingdom have forgotten all the aid they received from the past dragons. The people of the kingdom forgot how kind the dragons had been from the beginning. Soon, they were all being hunted down. Their skin was used as war armor. Their teeth were used as sharp weapons. Only one dragon was left in the land.

As the last living dragon in the entire kingdom, the Eryeandorian Dragon decides to seek vengeance. The dragon roars near it's cave, and kills any person that dares to capture it for armor use.

Now in fear for their own lives, the people of Eryeandor ask the Kingdom's Dragon charmer to cast a spell on the dragon. One that would at least either put it to rest, or in a frozen death state. They didn't want to lose their only/last Dragon.

The Dragon charmer once at the dragon's cave speaks with the dragon. And asks it how far it wants to go with bringing death to humankind. The Dragon tells the charmer that it only wants to be free. It also misses it's family.

The Dragon charmer grants the Dragon it's wish. With a wave of his hand, a portal is opened. The Dragon sees a gateway to another world. A place full of dragons; a land without human-beings.

After a quick good-bye. The dragon walks to the dragon world, and the portal closes.

There's a soft cry heard from the mouth of the cave. With a snap of his fingers, the Dragon charmer transports himself closer into the cave.

In the corner of the cave, there's a dragon nest. Within the nest- the Dragon charmer finds a group of hatchlings. They move their tiny wings. One hatchling sneezes- and a tiny fire-ball comes out of it's mouth.

The Dragon charmer snaps his fingers and displaces the baby dragons. He sends them all to a safer location. His own home, that is located far away from the rest of the kingdom.

There once was a man, who always moved with a briefcase. When someone asked him why he did just that, he would just simply reply:

"A man should always be prepared for anything life throws at him."

And this gentleman was called- Mr. Portmanteau. The really pecualiar fellow who was always ready for anything.

One day, some children in the community decided to go pay a visit at Mr. Portmanteau's toy store. They all ran right into the artsy building.

There was a gigantic front/entrance scarlet door that led into a really fun space. It's like their little minds were set alight and put into play, the minute they walked right into the toy store.

Mr. Portmanteau called all the kids. He asked them if they'd like to take a tour of his toy store. They all agreed in one accord.

They all heard a loud chime. The clock struck nine. And soon there was a piercing whistling sound from a large tea-pot. It definitely wasn't time for tea. This was no time for breakfast. In a couple of hours time, it'd be lunch hour.

One of the kids asked Mr. Portmanteau what inspired him to become a toy maker. He told the kid that he's been making toys even in his toddler days. His parents were toy makers and they had a feeling that their son was too.

In a span of less than a 1/4 of an hour, they had seen most of the toys in the toy sections. Mr. Portmanteau now led them to a small gas chamber.

Once there, they all stepped in the cylindrical shaped room. With a twist of a knob, turn of one lever, and soon the space was filled with a rosey gas.

A few young ones shut their eyes tight. Mr. Portmanteau told them not to worry. The gas wasn't toxic in any form.

When the air was clear, they noticed that they were all much smaller, shorter and the room was enormous. The children all panicked and several started yelling. Mr. Portmanteau asked them to keep calm, & quiet. They would only be in this state for a short while.

The toy store owner led his team of scaredy cats to a section of the room. This part of the tour could only be accessed in tiny height- and size form.

Mr. Portmanteau took a quick look at the wall clock. He instructed the children to follow him to the other side of the toy store. They all moved obediently to the corner of the room.

Then Mr. Portmanteau pushed one of the bricks on the wall, & a hidden door was revealed. There was a secret room. The children were surprised to see a great hall of tiny people.

They asked Mr. Portmanteau who these small people were. These were the toy maker's helpers. The little population of teeny beings that helped create many of the toys in the store.

The kids had never come across such beings before. They looked like humans, but they had skin spot marks and stripes like a tiger. The complexion of their skintone was indigo. They had starry azure sky-like and magenta colored eyes.

The children played with some of the new toy creations. There was one that looked like a car, but it could also be used on water as a speed boat. The kids were all so glad and excited to tour the toy store.

Soon it was time to head back to the larger space. Mr. Portmanteau pulled a floor lever and the kids watched in amazement as the wall opened before their very eyes. The moment they were all out of the toy maker's helpers area, the wall closed right behind them.

A steady beat of a drum was heard, the kids all felt a tingling sensation in their bodies. Was the room getting smaller, or were they getting taller?

There was a ding heard coming from the front-desk of the toy store.

"That must be a customer,"said Mr. Portmanteau.

The kids all jogged right behind him.

Imagine the client's face when he saw a man being followed by an ensemble of children. They all greeted the client who seemed ready to head on out of the store, as fast as he got in.

The kids all thanked Mr. Portmanteau for the fun tour. He tipped his hat and bid his young customers adieu.

When the last caustic touch of

the skin hissed on our tongue

to poison us,

we erased the word bite

with a softer language of

good time for killing the snakes

mowing our grassy green lawns

taller roses for shorter thistles of

cutting sharp talk, rewinding us

to kinder beginnings

marching off to family counseling

as all of our conversational sharks

fed on tiny fishes of ocean seaweed

hurt leading time to swallow the water

we were thirsty, with therapeutic dry wells of

hope, becoming one again as we were meant to be

a family that survives.

I'm not a bad person

For being an atheist

I just want to live free

Free without ridicule

Free without a door knock

To live by my own means

I'm tired of being force fed

With ultimatums

Blackmail

Follow me or else........

Threatening me with hell

Hell at times can be in the present

On earth

I've been there

Don't judge me

I don't enjoy a blind faith

You can't lead me to a false hope

Please stop!

I know what is right and wrong

I know how to respect people and be curtious

My beliefs are this.....

It's 4:02pm

K.j.a. (c) 2017

It was 5:59pm when I almost died, 6:01pm when I fell in love, and 6:03pm when I killed a man.

But I digress…

I know it was 5:59pm because the clock on the wall was the first thing I could focus on from the ground after I was coldcocked hard in the back of my head.

“Is he the one, April?” I hear a gunshot and screams, as I watch the second hand tick away on the old clock.

“Or what about this one?” BANG! More screaming. More ticks of the clock.

“Or this bastard?” BANG! Deafening silence now. I watch the second hand get close to slip into a new minute.

“Or...maybe, this bastard lying on the ground?” I could feel the gun pointing at my head even though I couldn’t see it. I braced for the BANG! that was meant for me. I was going to die at 5:59pm, seconds away from 6. My life did flash across my eyes.

The BANG! never came. I lived to see 6pm, and I took the sweetest breath I ever took. My muscles still fought how I wanted to move, so I waited.

There was silence, save for the raging breathing of a madman, the whisper breath of my own, the soft cry of a woman, I assumed to be April, and the ticking of the clock. I focused on that clock, until it struck 6:01pm.

I was going to live or die in the next moments of my life and if I were to die, I wanted to do so on as much of my terms as possible. I rolled over to face my nemesis. My eyes caught April first.

Pretty April. Nice April. A girl you would never think would set a man to rage is such a way. It seemed counter to her pleasant personality. She was a lady that always seemed off the market, so I never thought much about her besides the warmth her smile left on me each day in passing to our cubicles.

Locking eyes with her now, something changed, shifted. Here was a woman, looking at me, wanting nothing more than to somehow save my life. The value that she placed on my life stirred something deep and almost forgotten.

I saw the pain in her soft tears, and suddenly wanted to take away that pain. I thought about the need to wipe away her tears, and for the second time this day, a life flashed across my eyes, a potential future life.

I live a life with April, from this God-awful moment to a tentative first date, to a first kiss, to a first entanglement of flesh, to our marriage, to our first born and then second. Through all of the laughs and the tears, all of the love-makings and fights, all of the shared triumphs and tragedies. Until a final scene, a final smile from her, old and grey and still too damned beautiful, holding her withered hand. Feeling my own smile and closing my eyes. Either falling asleep or dying blissfully, knowing I shared a full, rich life with the love of my love.

I snapped back to the here and now. I stand and look at the clock once more, seconds away from 6:02pm. I fell in love with a woman, a love that reached to the depths of the marrow of my bones. With whatever life I had remaining to me in this world, I needed to make sure she lived, even if I did not. Tick…

“Is it you bastard?” The gun moved back to my face, away from April’s. “If not, you better get back on the ground.”

“No,” was my simple reply.

The madman shook, the gun still pointed at my face, “Don’t you understand? I can’t let her go? I can’t let anyone else have her? Do you want to die? Are you the one trying to take her from me?”

“Actually, I do understand,” I looked at April for just a moment. I pored as much love into that look as I could. Something for her to keep from me once I died, if I died. “I understand why you feel you cannot let a woman like, April go. I do. I also don’t want to die, but that is not my choice, it is yours. And I am not trying to take her from you, she is not something to take, but rather someone to join mutually in mutual love,” I glanced at April one last time, then I looked at the madman again. He looked toward April then me. “You agree, don’t you? What you hate is not that she left you, but that you lost whatever love you had. You lost it, not her, or whomever you believe she is with.”

He crumpled a bit. He weakly turned the gun back onto April, then on me, then on himself.

Bang!

I tried to reach for him before he pulled the trigger, instead I watched his body collapse to the ground, as April fell into my outstretched arms. I held her tightly, letting her bawl through the aftermath of the carnage, I held her tightly against the pounding of my heart.

The clock read 6:03pm, the time that I would forever remember, for it was the time my words somehow killed a man.

In four minutes, my life forever changed. I had no idea if I would ever share the life with April that flashed before me, but in that impossible moment, I allowed myself to believe.

~~~

Afterward: This story was based on my entry to a challenge asking for the first line of a story. I decided to expand on that first line here.

Insanity of man

     smoke and haze

     hang heavily in the sky

     branding skin

     of our struggling earth

Insanity of man

     footprints of destruction

     in puffs of soupy smog

     trails of diesel

     from buses’ tails

Insanity of man

     shadows flicker

     brave the grey

     staining the earth

     a death echo

Insanity of man

     airborne residues

     fallow sickening glow

     wind poisoned

     by sooty lungfuls

Insanity of man

     suicide doses

     torrid tongues

     veils of smoke

     thin wisps exhale

Insanity of man

     pollution scattered

     intoxicated ashes

     seared flesh of world

     smoke bonfires.