They Took Her Home

“Last night I had a dream. I was walking in the desert, a snake slithered beside me, and I kneeled down beside a bush to see the footprint of a bear in the sandy soil. Within the toes of that large print cactus grew their spines stark white against the sandy soil from which they sprouted. When my gaze returned to the blue sky above I saw a raven gliding upon the unseen currents. I continued to watch the raven until I felt the snake coiling about my legs and it was then I noticed it was a rattlesnake. Its head turned up towards me, the rattles upon its tail silent and I knew at that moment I was dead.” Her blue eyes turned up towards the man sitting across from her in the booth of the diner. They had a haunted hollowness to them and he was startled to see this. Just a week before she was vibrant, happy, and starting her 4th year of college.

“So what do you think?” she asked watching him intently. “You are the doctor here. Am I crazy or what?”

Ryan did not know what to say to Krystle. He could not make a diagnosis as he was just a resident but she was showing signs of depression and that was not good.

“Krystle, you need to see a practicing psychologist and tell your story to him or her. They will be able….” His words trailed off as she was shaking her head at him.

“No, no. I can’t do that Ryan. I don’t have time. I can feel my life force slipping away. The snake…it is draining me. It is the embodiment of….him.” her voice had dropped to a whisper, eyes darting around the almost empty diner as if someone was listening in on their conversation.

He was confused at who this ‘him’ was but he was beginning to feel scared for her. Perhaps he should take her to the hospital with him and hand her off to one of the resident psychiatrists on duty.
A flash of light outside caught his attention for a moment, just a gleam of something silvery in the darkness outside of the reach of the lights of the diner. He barely had time to register what it was when the glass window they were sitting at exploded inward. Glass rained down around them and he heard Krystle scream, a high pitched terrified sound that was cut off so suddenly his own heart ceased to beat for a moment. He shook his head and tried to stand but something heavy was on top of him. The noises within the diner were strange and alien to him. Intense clicking noises that, for some alarming reason made him think of the mandibles on an insect, made shivers race down his back and scrabbling sounds that were like many hard soled feet upon tile. He heaved upward, the heaviness on his back shifting slightly and he began to realize it was the tabletop resting atop him. Another shove sent the formica slab to the floor beside him and sprang to his feet. Expecting to see a vehicle crashed into the diner he was momentarily frozen to the spot when he saw no vehicle. He saw light, bright white light that was almost blinding and he could hardly look at it. Automatically a hand came up to shield his eyes from the brightness that flowed into the broken diner front but he could see nothing. No one around moved, there were no more strange sounds, and there was no Krystle.

A whoosh of air came in from outside and that seemed to spur him into action. With a running leap he was crossing the threshold of the destruction and running outside to the parking lot. Hand still shielding his eyes he looked upward as he felt the immense pressure of something very large hovering above. There was a shape, round, but barely discernable behind the bright light. A helicopter perhaps, he lamely thought and then a thought struck him hard taking the wind out of his lungs in an ‘ooooo’ whoosh. There was no sound, no wind, no movement, only the light and the silence.

Last week, she told me about this last week. “Oh my God.” He breathed as he realized what was above him. The ship was like she had described in her dreams. It had always been a part of her life, she told him, like a haunting that followed her from home to home. Relentless in its pursuit of her and unmerciful towards her each time they arrived. His nerve endings were on fire under the scruntiny of the light and he knew they watched. His fate was being decided at this very moment and he knew he should run but he could not move. Feet glued to the pavement he stood staring up at the hovering shape behind the bright light and wondered if they had Krystle.
The light went dark and nothing moved, not even the air. Silence permeated the area and Ryan wondered where everyone else from the diner had gone.
The ship rose into the night sky, blocking the stars from his view and he sank to his knees trembling from head to toe.

“They took her.” A voice said from behind him and he turned to see an old man with a cut on his forehead oozing blood down the bridge of his nose.

“Took her where?” Ryan asked, still stunned and off balance.

“Home.” The man said and then he walked off down the road, disappearing in the darkness.

“They took her home.” He asked aloud to the stars in the night sky. “They took her home.” He said again, softer and then began to silently cry.