The Strangest Love Of All - The Sequel - Part Seven

It was quiet. Perhaps too quiet.

Groggy and with a slight headache, Bobby’s eyes slowly opened, almost afraid, yet excited as to what he would see.

His eyes shifted left to right. To the left were some of the tallest mountain ranges his eyes have ever visited . To his right in the distance he could see a city, perhaps five or six miles away. Because of the distance, he wasn't sure, but the buildings seemed to have a much different look than cities on earth. What lay between him and that city is a river of rushing water. Trees unlike any he has seen before, decorate the landscape around him with their wide limbs and larger than life leaves, though not green but more like a velvety burgundy color.

His next big thing was when he suddenly realized he wasn’t dead and breathing normally. And he knew without a shred of doubt he found Alpha-Earth One, for in the sky, just as blue as it would be on Earth, were the twin suns. This would mean by nightfall; twin moons would arise.

“It’s all here, just the way she described it! I made it! I really, really made it!”

Standing, he walked in no particular direction for a few minutes before he found an asphalt road. Looking in the direction of the city, he took the road and began walking toward its direction. The further he walked, the more the landscape to his left and right changed. Np trees wrere found, only what looked like acres and acres of bluish-yellow grasslands. He saw a metallic flashing sign ahead: NO TREPASSING.

After walking another mile and the city becoming closer, he had a terrible thought cross his mind.

How do I find her? I don’t even know her last name. Where do I start looking? I can’t just walk up to people and ask them if they know her at least not without knowing her last name. What if she isn’t even in this city? She could be in any city on Alpha-Earth One. I mean, it can’t be the only city on the planet.

He suddenly stopped walking and sat down on the side of the road.

“Oh, Elyse … I want to find you so much.”

Laying back, his eyes closed, and fell asleep.

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

It couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes when he felt his feet being kicked.

“Come alive there, mister.”

Somewhat groggily, Bobby opened his eyes to stare up at a man dressed in what appeared to be a uniform.

“Ah—who are you?”

“I am Officer Bryant, and as for you, who are you and what are you doing on private land.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know this was private.”

“Nonsense. Everyone knows this stretch of land for a hundred miles is private.”

Getting to his feet, finding himself a good six-inches shorter than the officer, looked up slightly saying, “Well, I’m not everyone. I am new here.”

“New are you? Where do you come from? Curtston? Magmaddon? Dustriville? Come on, man, speak up.”

“I’m not from any of those places and if I told you where I was from, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“And why wouldn’t I? No one tells lies here. Do you have your identification?”

Bobby reached for his wallet and pulled out his driver’s license and handed it to Officer Bryant.

Looking it over front and back he said, “Where is this San Francisco CA at? I don’t recall that being from around here or anywhere close by.”

“It’s a city and a state. The CA is for California.”

“Never heard of it before. I think what we need to do is take a ride to headquarters and do a thorough workup on you. Now please, get in the transport.”

That was when Bobby saw it for the first time. This transport was more like a helio-vehicle from the future. It hovered a good foot above the road.

“But I haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t broken any laws, have I?”

“Of that I cannot say, but once you are back at headquarters we will find out more about you. Now get in and don’t make this worse for yourself. I don’t want to have to restrain you.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he hopped up into the vehicle, and the door on his side lowered from the top silently. Officer Bryant sat in the front, but Bobby couldn’t see a steering wheel.

“This is Officer Bryant, number 61152” he said into thin air, “ I am transporting an unknown back to HQ. Arrival time in 17.34 minutes.”

“Acknowledged 61152.” Another unknown voice. Bobby tried to peer closer to where Bryant sat, but couldn’t make out too much as the meshed screen between him and the front restricted a great deal of his view. But he didn’t think there was any indication of a car radio to be seen.

Within the time he thought that, there was a sensation that pulled Bobby back up against his seat and the vehicle took off at a blinding speed.