Jaz - Taken

JAZ
2050 CE

He had just bought his first home and was so excited to move into it. Of all places, it was downtown. Close to everything. He wouldn’t need a car at all to get anywhere. How lucky could a guy get? Especially when he didn’t have a ton of money. He had finally, FINALLY, graduated, and when he was accepted at this prestigious lawyer firm right downtown Tulsa, he couldn’t be happier.

He met one of his neighbors as he was moving his second box of belongings into the new house. “Hmm,” the man said, “so you bought this house. I didn’t think it’d ever sell again.”

“Really?” Jaz responded. “I just signed the final papers last night.” Since he was a well-built able-bodied man, Jaz asked if he could go ahead and bring that box in, the one that was sitting on the tailgate of his friend’s truck.

“No way,” the man responded. “I’m not coming in that house.” He turned around and hurried off.

Well, okay, Jaz thought, one unfriendly neighbor. Surely everyone’s not like him. Jaz didn’t have much furniture yet, but he did have his own bed. After he got that in and set up, he took the truck back to his friend.

The next day he reported for his first day of work. He got up early, and after a brief walk he entered the doors, wiping his hands off on his pants. He was so nervous, but put a confident smile on his face and presented himself at the front desk. After brief introductions, he was shown to the room which was to be his office, and several folders were given him to look over. He felt his day was off to a good start, and when he left he walked home whistling.

His week went well. He got things unpacked in his house and put up, and when he was sorting through his shirts and suits, hanging them in the closet, he noticed a door at the back of the closet. He wondered about it, but was hungry, and decided he’d check it out later after he had eaten. However, he didn’t think of it again until he was drifting off to sleep that night. Tomorrow first thing, he decided, after breakfast that is. He didn’t like missing meals, most of all breakfast. He thought a good breakfast always gave him a good start to the day.

The next morning, he opened his closet door, and studied the door at the back. He noticed some writing at the door handle he hadn’t seen yesterday. The door was tan just like the wall, making it almost unnoticeable, but the writing was black, and said in cursive, “Do not open or go through this door.” Strange, he thought. That’s so strange. He backed out and sat down on his bed to think about this.

What should he do, he wondered? Being a cautious person, he decided to let it go for today. He had been thinking about what his unfriendly neighbor had said the day he was moving in. I’m going to talk to him. That’s my next move, he decided. He had seen a few of the other neighbors, but no one had approached him or welcomed him to the community. He had even seen a few strange looks when he visited the local Jif-Stop. Nagging questions were beginning to fill his mind.

He walked to the neighbor’s house, but no one was home. At least no one answered the door. He walked to the next house to introduce himself to them. A young boy, maybe 8 or so, opened the door. “Who is it, Andy?” he heard from the other room.

“I don’t know,” the boy answered.

A young woman came around the corner. “Yes?” she asked.

“I’m your new neighbor, Jaz. I moved in two doors down, and I wanted to meet you and let you know who I am.”

“Oh my,” she answered. “Did anyone see you come to my door?”

“I don’t know. I kinda doubt it. Why? I knocked on my first neighbor’s door, but there was no one there.”

“Well, I want you to leave through my back door, and please don’t let anyone see you. Come this way, and I’ll show you to the back.”

“Hey, wait a minute. I don’t understand this.”

“Well, it’s simple. People disappear from that house and then the police put us all through the third degree. I don’t want to be the last one that saw you. So please go, and make sure you sneak back across the back yards.”

“This just does not make sense. Can you tell me more?”

“I just want you to leave. Please leave and don’t come back to this house.”

“Okay, okay.” He felt like she would have pushed him out if he hadn’t kept moving. He left since he saw he wasn’t getting anywhere with her.


**********


Mysterious! I’ll just go to the Jif-Stop and see what I can find out there, he told himself.
Looked like there were only a couple of shoppers there, when he arrived, but there were some stockers and a couple of clerks. He’d just query them all, he thought.

He went to the back and picked out a Diet Coke. As he went to pay, neither clerk wanted to wait on him, but as he was paying he started talking, telling them, “I’m new in town and I’m wondering what you two women know about the house that I just brought.”

“I don’t know nothing,” the redhead said.

“Me too, nothing at all.” This was the older lady and he figured that she was probably the manager.

He saw a middle aged lady coming up the chip isle; walking to her he introduced himself and, began asking her about the house.

“Young man, don’t even think about buying that house. It’s jinxed, cursed or something. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t even walk by it. You need to look for something different. You don’t want to even think about that house,” she was walking off before he could get over the shock of her answer.

He had noticed a stocker toward the back, so he headed that way. “Sir!” Good time to use manners he thought. Maybe that would get him further. The man was headed to the back. Jaz tried again, “Sir, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.”

The man had stopped and turned toward him. “I don’t know nothing about nothing,” he said and walked on to the stock room at the back.

Well, Jazz thought, these people don’t want to talk to me. Guess that’s that, and he left the store. He saw both clerks watching him out the window as he walked off the store premises. Now what, he wondered. The post office, he thought, and headed that way. After trying to talk to about five people there and getting nowhere, he headed home. What a waste of time, he thought.

He put the door out of his mind, and after eating a sandwich went to work on his yard. The lawn needed to be mowed, and the flowerbeds needed a lot of work. It just made sense to mow the lawn first, so that’s what he intended to start with. He was glad his dad had let him have one of the old lawnmowers he never used anymore. He pushed it out of the small storage room behind the house. After adding gas and checking the oil, he tried starting it. No go, oh no. Now what he wondered? His dad had told him that it was working when he quit using it. Wish I had more mechanical know-how. Maybe my neighbor is home, and he knows about these things. No one answered next door, so he went in to call his dad. It took all afternoon to get the lawnmower running and to get the yard mowed. He went to bed tired, glad though to have that done.

He kept going to work and asking questions in different places. No one knew anything; other than 3 people had disappeared from his house, and the police had not solved the mystery. He checked on the door every so often, but nothing changed there. He searched the library for the history of the house and didn’t find anything on it. He went to the abstract company and searched through his abstract, but nothing seemed out of place. The house had been repossessed by the lending company three times. Jaz figured that was from the three who had disappeared. After about six months, Jaz could take it no longer. He called his dad and told him that he was going through the door tomorrow. They had discussed the door again and again. He had asked his dad what he should do and what he would do, but his dad wasn’t much help in either area. He told his dad that he couldn’t take the suspense of not knowing what was behind the door. It had been on his mind almost constantly since he had found that door. His dad told him to call as soon as he found out, which he promised to do. He wrote a letter for his dad explaining everything he knew, and everything he had found out so far. Then left it on his bed where his dad would be able to find it, if he didn’t show up again.

Then he went into the closet, opened the door and walked through.

**********


Do not turn the page or read any further!!!


**********



Okay, okay, I knew you’d do that. You don’t seem to be any better than Jaz was at following directions. No guarantees or promises about what follows. So just because you want to find out what happens to Jaz, go ahead and turn the page!



**********



When Jaz woke up, he didn’t know where he was. He didn’t even realize he had been asleep. Or had he? He didn’t know what had happened. Slowly things began coming back. Oh yeah, the door. What was it about a door? He couldn’t seem to remember. What was it about a door? Seems like it was green, or was it?

He looked around. He was sitting in some kind of a central area on the ground. There were houses around him. He saw a man looking out of the window of one of the houses. He got up to go to that house and fell right back down. Goodness, he thought. What’s wrong with me? I’ll rest here a bit and try again. Wish that guy would come out and talk to me. He sat there a few minutes and tried again. No luck, but finally after three more tries, he stood up on wobbly feet. He headed shakily to the door of the house closest to him. It was the same house he had seen the man peeking out of. When he knocked on the door, the man opened it on his second knock.

“Where am I?” Jaz asked. “I don’t know what’s happened to me. Did you see me fall? I couldn’t even stand up.”

“Sit down over there. I’ll go get the General.”

“The General?”

“Yeah. If someone showed up, he told me when he got to my door to go get him. I’ll be right back.”

He left before Jaz could ask any more questions. My mind is about as slow as my walking, he thought. I’m really tired. I’d just like to lie down for a while. About that time the door opened. In came a tall, thin man. The first man was telling him about Jaz’s arrival when they were walking in.

The tall man approached Jaz and told him, “I’m the General. How are you feeling?”

He looked up at him, “I’m really tired. I just need to lie down for a while. I don’t know what’s going on, or even where I am. I just need to lie down,” he repeated.

The General looked at the other man, “Plaiasa, go ahead and put him in one of your extra rooms. How’s the guy that came in yesterday?”

“He’s still sleeping. Been up just twice, drank a lot of water and a little of the broth.”

“Good, good. Keep up the good work. Take good care of this new recruit; let him sleep as long as he will. When he wakes up give him water and broth too. I’ll come and check on him in a few days.”

“Yes, sir.”


**********


In a few days, Jaz woke up, wondering what was going on and where he was. He knew someone had been taking care of him, giving him water and broth, and helping him to the bathroom. When the guy came in again, he intended to find out some things. He got up and sat in a chair that was in a corner of the room, going over the questions that he wanted answered. There was no clock in the room, but he estimated that 30 minutes or so had passed, before someone came in.

“Well, good morning. Looks like you’re ready for a good breakfast. Come on in to the kitchen. I’m cooking eggs and sausage. Be careful though, your legs are still going to be wobbly until you are up on them for a while. ”

“Mmmm, it smells good in here,” Jaz said, as he sat down on the closest chair.

“By the way, my name’s Plaiasa. Here, have some coffee. That’s my new name given to me by the General.”

“Really? He gave you a new name? Why? And where are we? And how did I get here?"

“All I can tell you is that you’ve been chosen for a very specific program. The rest of your questions will have to be addressed to the General.”

“When will I see him again?”

“He plans to be here later today, specifically to see you. Remember meeting him when you first came?”

“No, not really. How long ago was that?”

“Four days ago counting today.”

“Could you go get him right now, after we eat that is? I’d really like to talk to him as soon as possible.”

“Maybe he’ll come while we’re eating. Let’s wait and see. Here’s a plate for you.”

“Thanks," Jaz said as he started eating. He hadn’t realized he was so hungry.

After they finished eating, Jaz asked Plaiasa to go after the General. He told Jaz that he needed to go lay down for a bit, so that he could be well rested when the General did come.

“Hey, man. I really need to get this all straightened out. None of this is making sense to me.”

“I’ll make you a deal. You go lay down and I’ll go look for him.”

Jaz headed to his room listening for the front door to close. He must have drifted off to sleep. Later someone was banging on his door, and he hadn’t even heard anyone come back in the house. “Come in, come in,” he said as the door was opening, and he was sitting up.

“You may not remember me,” he said, “but I’m the General. Come on out and let’s talk.”

They sat down at the table, with Plaiasa hovering in the background. “I understand you have some questions. We’ll start with them first.”

“I want to know where I am and how I got here.”

“You are on Celem, which is a small planet between Earth and Mars.”

“Hold on, hold on. You mean I’m not on Earth?”

“Sounds like you heard me. What’s your next question?”

Jaz gave him an irate look and said, “How’d I get here?"

“You came through my zpamosin system.”

“Really, and what’s that?”

“What’s more important is, why, why are you here. That’s what I’m prepared to answer.”

“I don’t care about the why. I just want to get back home.”

“You’re not going home, not yet anyway. I’m keeping you here at least a month so you can see what this is all about. I think you will be pleased and happy to stay after that period of time. I’m setting up a whole new world here with a new government and new laws. You’re being given the opportunity to be a part of this new government, after you get a better understanding of what I’m doing. Now, I’ll leave you with Plaiasa here. He can take you around and show you more of this place. I’ll be back to talk to you again in a day or two. Of course, you’re free to wander around on your own too, but this is the only bed you have for the time being. Do your best to keep this place in sight until you learn more about the layout of the land.” With that the General got up and walked out the door.

Jaz sat there feeling completely wretched, not knowing what to make of everything he had just been told. He held his head in his hands, with his elbows on the table shaking his head for a good while. Finally he glanced over at Plaiasa, who was still leaned over against the wall. Maybe it would help to get out. “Okay, let’s go,” he told Plaiasa, who was not saying a word. They walked out of the door and turned to the right. They walked by house after house, made the same way as Plaiasa’s.

“About how many people are here now?” he asked.

“There’s around fifty of us,” Plaiasa told him.

“Everyone gets here the same way?” he wanted to know next.

“Yes, yes, the same way.”

They walked up the road a ways. Jaz could tell his legs were getting stronger. He was really glad for that. He saw a forest of trees ahead of which some had been cut down. He supposed those were used to build the houses. They circled around and came back down another street, until they reached a square.

“This is where we get together when the General calls an assembly.” There were a lot of benches sitting around here. After they got back to the house, Plaiasa showed him an identifying mark on the house that they were sharing. Jaz was glad to know about it, because he could see it would be very easy to get lost here with everything looking the same.


**********


Two days later the General came back and moved Jaz to a different house. He also sent him to work in the construction building planing lumber for new houses and buildings that were going up. Jaz kept his ears and eyes open, looking for information that would help him escape the planet. He saw people arrive at different times, but could not make out the system that brought them. He was so anxious to leave, but it didn’t look like he’d be able to escape by himself. One week went by, then two. He saw the General once during that time, but it was just in passing. After the third week, he started counting down the days. He knew where the General stayed and made plans to go for a showdown with him the beginning of his fourth week.

When he knocked on the General’s door, he was surprised at the lavish living quarters that he saw. But he supposed the General had already been here a number of years.

“Well, well, Jaz, right? What can I do for you?”

“Sir, I’m ready to return to Earth. I understand what you are doing here and that you are setting up a better world, but I want to return home.” He was wondering if he should cross his fingers while telling these lies. He did not feel that it would be a better world and he did not understand why someone would want to do something like this. He really did want to go home though. That much was true.

“Jaz, Jaz, I really thought you would want to stay. Let me tell you what I have in mind for you when we get further along with this development.”

Jaz sat quietly, concentrating on everything the General was saying, at least pretending to the best of his ability. He didn’t want to upset the General in any way, so when he asked Jaz what he thought, he answered, “It all sounds tempting. I’m wondering if I do go back home, if there would be any way that I could come back?”

“No, that wouldn’t be possible. I don’t know if your system could take it, and I don’t really know how a return trip would affect you. I don’t want to hold you against your will. You wouldn’t be much use to us that way. Think about everything you’d gain by staying here. Then come back at the end of this week and we’ll talk again.”

“Certainly, I’ll see you on Saturday.” Jaz was pretty disappointed as he left, but not totally without hope.


**********


Saturday finally came. Jaz couldn’t wait to go knock on the General’s door. He hadn’t really given Jaz a time, but he figured he’d surely be up by 7, so at 7 he was at the door. Apparently the General saw him coming and opened the door before he even got there. The General motioned him in and pointed to a seat.

“What’d you decide?” he asked right off.

“I’ve decided to go back,” Jaz replied.

The General sat down and looked at Jaz. He didn’t move his eyes off of Jaz for the longest time. At least that’s the way it seemed to Jaz. Is he trying to hypnotize me, he began to wonder. He definitely didn’t want that to happen, so he quickly glanced away.

Finally the General asked him, “You sure about that? I don’t know how you might be affected by the trip back.” He didn’t know that Jaz had been told by Plaiasa that the General went back and forth whenever he wanted.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay, let me set the Zpamosin to a return trip. Sit here for a few minutes and I’ll come back in just a bit.”

“Yeah, okay, will I return to the same place you picked me up?”

“Give me that address and I’ll be sure I've got that right. You know you won’t be able to tell anyone about this place. If you do, no one’s going to believe you. They’d possibly commit you to a mental hospital, so I just want to warn you about that.”

Hmm, Jaz thought, he’s probably right. I’m not going to have any kind of evidence. No phone, couldn’t take any pictures. I should have found some kind of keepsake. He yelled at the General, “I need to go back to my room for a bit, I’ll be right back.”

The General came right then and said, “No, let’s get you loaded up and on your way. It’s good you didn’t leave; I would have changed my mind then about sending you. Follow me.”

Jaz was right behind him and climbed in the strange apparatus, which had looked almost invisible from the outside. Inside was white and as the General closed the door, he told Jaz to sit down.

Later, although Jaz had no idea how much later, the door of the General’s Zpamosin opened and he fell out against his closet door. He pushed it open and crawled to his bed. Kicking off his boots, and lying down on top of his bed, he drifted off into a deep sleep.


**********


Days later after Jaz got on his feet again, he called his dad. The pages he left for him were gone, so he knew his dad had been there. His call totally shocked his dad who had lost hope of seeing his son again. Jaz found out that his dad had reported him missing and the police hadn’t taken much action at all yet. They had taken his report and had been to the house and searched it. They had also told his dad about others that had disappeared from this very house and they had not been found anywhere.

“There just weren’t any clues anywhere,” they had said.

When they searched the house, his dad had told them about the closet door and they had checked that out, but hadn’t seen any writing there at all.

Jaz could not believe it and hurried to the closet to check it out for himself. When he didn’t find any writing, he didn’t know what to think. His dad let him know when he first came over, he had hurried to the closet and checked it out then and he hadn’t seen any writing then either.

Jaz and his dad left to eat at a local restaurant, with Jaz going over everything through the month he had been gone. His dad listened patiently, shaking his head every little bit. Jaz could tell he was having a hard time believing him. After he finished, his dad came back with questions, such as; what did the General look like, what was the planet like, did they have a moon etc. etc. Jaz had an answer for each question.

When his dad ran out of questions, he said, “Son, it all sounds so unbelievable. It sounds impossible. You have no way to prove anything. The General was right when he told you people wouldn’t believe you. So what are you thinking about doing with all this information.”
“Dad, that’s what you need to help me with. I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, I think you better just hold off on doing anything. I think that’s the best advice I can give you.”

“Yah, I think you’re right. Guess I could put it all in a journal.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Yes, why don’t you do that?”

“I’ll put it all down, dates, and everything that was said and done. I’ll even make some drawings.”

They bid each other good night, after his dad couldn’t convince Jaz to go home with him.

Jaz spent a good amount of time putting everything down in a new journal he had gotten. When he was satisfied with it, he put it in the bottom of his sock drawer.


**********


As he married and moved on, the journal went with him. He told his wife of his experience, but she tried to convince him that he had just been dreaming when he thought that had happened. He even showed her the journal he had written. His first years home, he shared information with some he thought would be interested. But he found no one who would believe him. Eventually he gave up, and the journal was relegated to the top of his closet. In time it ended up in the attic.

Years later when his grandchildren where clearing things out of the house so they could sell it, one of them came across the journal. At first it was tossed in the trash pile, but one of the girls noticed it and picking it up began to read it. “I didn’t know Granddad was a writer,” she stated. Of course, the others had to read it too. They all found it amusing. Thomas took it home with him, intending to ask their dad if he knew anything about it. With everything that was going on, he totally forgot about it, and it ended up in the top of his closet after he realized he had forgotten to talk to his dad about it, before he passed on.

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