The Change

Nature at its best

The Change

One morning, like many others, the sun appeared crisp and clear in the vivid blue sky, in yellow orange brightness as is its custom, while it climbed just over the tree tops of the evergreens between my cabin and the vast quiet lake outside, to settle in as day break.  It broke through the silence, through the window of my room, which happened to be facing in that direction. It woke me up from a sound sleep, covered me with the warmth of a new day dawning . I could only squint, avert my eyes and turn away.

After bacon, eggs, black coffee and some crumbs tossed together in the mix, I made my way to the lake where dumb fish were waiting for multicolored lures to hypnotize them, fool them, trick them into submission for an invitation to a delicious dinner, where they would be the honored guests on the plate.

The forest seemed a little greener today as I sojourned over dead pine needles, turned brown, strewn on the path as I maneuvered along it at a modest pace, with a loud crunching sound underneath, the only resonance heard in nature. When I arrived at the sanctuary of the granular sandy shore, the water appeared to be more than the usual blue I had grown accustomed to. Insects and birds must be hiding. There was no sign of life. The vegetation all around seemed to be props from a museums prehistoric era on display; plastic and silent. I feel good but something is a little off.  Something is missing from this picture.

All of a sudden my hair fell from my body.  My thick beard, my long wavy brown hair on my head, gone in an instance. No more eye lashes, no eye brows, no hair on legs, arms or any body parts for that matter.   It all came off instantly in a whisper like solid thin shards of glass, colored crystal, reflective shinny silver falling all around. I felt naked.

My skin turned to silver as well. It felt metallic to the touch. My head became larger, transformed into a perfect oval. My eyes grew large too; black and almond shaped. Things were getting strange.

A day of fishing changed into something different. While I was reflecting on these anomalies other odd things began to happen. My clothes fell away from my body, not because of any effort on my part. I simply shrunk three times shorter than my usual size. I was now 2 feet tall, bald, now naked and as you might guess, perplexed.

I wonder if there was something in the bacon. They say bacon is not good for you. That it is loaded with nitrates and carcinogens.

Before more things could go south I decided to head back to the cabin cautiously. I realized quickly that my left foot had gone missing, vanished. There was no warning, no pain, no feeling. It simply disappeared. I blinked my large almond eyes and my right arm and hand where gone. I hopped as rapidly as I could on my one good remaining leg and foot towards my living quarters singing; I'm turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so. I think I'm turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so.

By the time I got to the door all my limbs were gone. I rolled in looking like two segments of a limbless silver snow man; a round body with an oval head on top. Things were not looking up.

Numbers, equations, parades of blue green galaxies flew into sight within me. All of a sudden beyond the billions of light years, in the timeless orchestration of the cosmos, there, just past the dark matter walls of destiny, emerging from total darkness, on the wild ecliptic, where void ends and life begins, I could see.

It is hard to explain so I will not.... Back to the cabin, the forest and reality.... Someone came knocking at my door or was it my imagination. No... Yes... Someone was there. The knock came again. This time louder. I could not ask them to come in because by this time I had no mouth, nose and my ears were clearly receding, disappearing inside the orb, which by the way, seems to be me, what I have become at this time.

Two strangers enter the small cabin. They wonder if anyone was staying there. They see some strange oval silver object on the floor. They squint their eyes, not because of the light coming from the sun, but because they could not figure things out. Perhaps they were looking for a cup of sugar or maybe some bacon.         

Author's Note

Stranger things have happened