Intergalactic Species Retrieval and Rejuvenation

The first part of two

At a solitary desk in the depths of his friend’s unfinished basement, a young man named Donnie sat questioning his fate as a writer and a human being. Until now the thought that his efforts to create something exceptional and affecting would be lost and buried along with his body had never occurred to him. The thought terrified him. His ideas, the only immortal thing within him, forever destined to bounce around inside his coffin. He could hear their screams now, pounding at the dirt and cedar willing the world to hear them. He stared at the tufts of pink insulation and the wooden slats that lined the ceiling and walls of his friend’s basement. Donnie searched for inspiration in the blinking red and blue lights of the Wifi router sitting across the room from him. He heard somewhere that certain colors can boost creativity… or was it certain colors can help and prevent sleep, he wasn’t sure. He gave up staring at the lights and went back to watching his cursor blink in and out of existence. He spent a lot of time observing the mundane existence of the cursor, enslaved and controlled, always carrying out commands sent by his master; the keyboard. He wondered where the cursor went in its regular disappearances from the page. He wondered if the cursor wanted to leave the page as it did or if it was its fate. Donnie rested his chin on his folded arms and watched. Donnie understood the ridiculousness of his observations but did not care. He felt that his existence on Earth was much like the cursors existence on the page. He’s yanked in and out of experiences never really feeling that they had actually happened, floating between reality and limbo unable distinguish the two. Suddenly all of the philosophical inquiries Donnie had made only a few seconds ago were flipped, squashed, and scrambled out of existence when the whole first floor of his friend’s house was torn from its foundation and scattered around the suburb. Donnie stared, dumbstruck, at the throbbing lights hovering above him. He knew in an instant that this event was the climax of his life and that maybe all his problems were solved, but unfortunately he was entirely wrong. Although in Donnie’s mind he had been sitting at his desk a few moments ago struggling with self-doubt and metaphysics, he had actually been performing a series of events that make up an exposition. That makes the current event of first floor removal, throbbing lights, and self-realization part of the rising action. Soon enough Donnie would be undergoing tests and trials of ever-increasing tension, eventually leading to a very decisive climax. Falling action then ensues and finally the denouement. But Donnie’s ignorance to this philosophically enlightening (or obliterating) fact is crucial to his happiness and more importantly, the story. So Donnie continues to stare at the lights above him, a smile cresting his lips. At this point thoughts of what this mysterious flashing object in the sky might be come to the surface of his jumbled brain, dripping and gasping from the plunge.

A UFO? Am I being abducted? The thought terrified him with excitement.

At that moment a swift mechanical arm snatched him up and he blacked out immediately.

               Donnie awoke to a small green man with huge eyes licking his face. He instantly burst out of the silk sheets that covered him and launched the violating green man across the room. Donnie stood to the side of the bed, fists clenched and legs spread ready to fight off any other creatures that decided to taste him. The unfortunate green man lay sprawled out on the ground emitting a strange squeaking noise. Donnie suddenly felt such an overwhelming sense of confusion that he began to cry.

“I don’t… I don’t understand” he sobbed. “Where the hell am I, and what the hell is that?” he said, pointing to the green man squeaking loudly on the ground.

A loud but friendly voice echoed through the room. “I’m sorry, that’s my dog. I’m not sure how he managed to get into your unit but I assure you he’s harmless.”

Donnie quickly forgot about the odd green dog as he surveyed the room and realized that the wall he was facing wasn’t a wall at all, it was a giant window. Behind the large window stood a crowd of terrifically ugly purple creatures. Donnie leapt back in terror, tripping over a side table and knocking over a lamp. The creatures reacted to his fall with surprise. Their large black eyes widened into glazed magic eight balls and a few extended long slender fingers toward the glass while others furrowed their caterpillar eyebrows at each other in puzzled expressions. Donnie thought he heard a collective gasp that sounded quite like his mother when little Donnie took a tumble off his bike. He lay there, contemplating the scenario. Donnie was a very intelligent and reasonable man. He used logic and reason to overcome daily problems, often family and friends would seek him out for advice in sticky situations. But Donnie did not see any logical or reasonable approach to his current situation. Currently, he saw four options:

1.      Completely shut down and will himself to suicide

2.      Continue on in his current bewildered manner, bumping into things and slowly experiencing these new and strange circumstances.

3.      Turn himself into a clock. (Donnie felt that he had always contained within him a unique ability to identify strongly with inanimate objects. He had never done it before but he thought that possibly, given his current situation, he would able to turn himself into the clock hanging from the wall)

4.      As a newborn baby with fully developed emotional, social, kinesthetic, and problem solving skills, get up and experience each strange and new circumstance with open arms.

Donnie stood up, staring at the clock for a split second, feeling its gloomy soul with his mind, but ultimately deciding to go with option four. The creatures observed him intently through the glass, reacting to each movement. Every step he took towards the glass elicited a new but oddly human expression. At first they were looks of curiosity, but as he got closer they changed into looks of fear and confusion. Before Donnie could reach the glass the loud and friendly voice sounded again, brutally violating his ear drums.

“Can you see us?” The voice insisted

Despite Donnie’s decision to approach his circumstances with open arms, this question left him gawking.

“Well of course I can see you!”

There was a long pause and he heard faint discussion from what he thought was a kind of intercom system. The discussion stopped and the voice boomed once more.

“Prove it.”

“What?! Are you serious?!” Donnie replied. He thought he felt another bout of confusion tears coming on but he held them back. The reply was so brief that he thought it was sarcasm.

“Yes.”

So Donnie walked to the window and looked one of the creatures directly in its bowling ball eyes and waved. The creature stumbled backwards frantically, tripping over one of his friends behind him.

“The glass doesn’t work! The voice boomed. “The aquatic arthropods from Europa lied… Come on in I guess.”

There was a loud click and a whoosh as a door opened up to Donnie’s right side. Open arms, open arms… He said to himself as he walked through the door.

 

               The man at the intercom was like the creatures at the window. Wide-eyed and purple skinned with lanky fingers and a plump roundish torso. He hopped off his seat at the control module and walked up to Donnie in confident stride.

“Welcome welcome welcome, I am Zolgann Yereyerey.” He said, extending a hand toward Donnie. Donnie hesitantly met him half way and grasped the lanky hand.

“I’m sure you’re wondering where you are, Earthling.”

Just as the creature said Earthling, Donnie realized the gravity of his current situation.

I’m not on Earth anymore… Sweet sane Earth.

“And why are you sure of that?” Donnie said, hoping against hope.

“Because you’re no longer on your planet of residence!” Zolgann replied jovially. “You are aboard the Intergalactic Species Retrieval and Rejuvenation Vessel.”

“Intergalactic?” Donnie questioned

“Yes. We gather endangered species from all over the galaxy and house them in our self-sustainable moon-sized spacecraft until they are fit to recolonize a different suitable planet.”

Donnie felt woozy. His feet fell away from him, plunging into the ground, and his head swam.

“Are you alright?” Zolgann asked, looking concerned.

“What do you mean, Endangered?”

He knew he didn’t want to hear the answer but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. Donnie teetered, waiting for the answer, almost wincing in anticipation.

“Well, I guess you have to find out eventually.” Zolgann said, glancing at the floor. “A Red Supergiant Star, positioned roughly 2 billion kilometers from Earth is on the verge of collapsing. It is large enough that your Earth will be consumed upon its collapse, thus ending your species. So that’s why we picked you up!”

Open arms… open arms. He repeated in his head.