Joshua's Adventure (working title)

Joshua sat on his milk crate chair, bored as hell as usual, for another nine-hour shift.  He’d been there for three hours already and only had two customers.

“Oh man, I wish the day could be a bit more eventful.”

Then, as if granting his wish, there was a terrible crash from within the beer cooler at the back of the store.
Joshua rushed to the back and into the cooler. Rubble was everywhere and there was a gaping hole in the sidewall.  Also among the rubble was a man, who was now picking himself up…literally.
What struck odd with Joshua was not so much that there was a hole blown into the side of his beer cooler, but more so that the man he was looking at was not screaming in pain over the loss of his limbs, and his fingers… and toes.
Gone was the anger over the hole in the wall, he was now more concerned for this mans well-being.

“Oh my God let me go call for help!”

“No need sir, I am quite alright!”

“What?  But your limbs and appendages are all over the place?”

“Well yes,” the man stopped to collect his thoughts,” but that shouldn’t be cause for alarm.  They’re re-attachable.”  And as the man said those very words he placed his right arm in it’s corresponding location and with a pop it was back on.  Joshua couldn’t keep his mouth shut.  He’d never seen such a thing before, and quite frankly it came as a bit of a shock.

“How…did…you do that?” Joshua asked.

“Do what,” the man paused and then looked behind him,” you mean get through this wall here?”

“No…well that too, but no…your arm.  How did you do that with your arm?”

Joshua could hardly get the words out.  He could not for the life of him get over the idea that a man could blow himself through a wall, the force of which actually ripping his limbs off, and then just get up and put them back on as if nothing ever happened.

“How the hell did you do that?  Seriously you were like oh there’s my arm let me just put that right back on!” Joshua shouted.

“Oh terribly sorry, it’s so common for me I forget not everyone can do it.”

“I’m pretty sure no one else could do it!”

They argued for a few minutes before it became clear to Joshua that the man, whose name was still unknown, was not from, for lack of a better word, the real world.  The man began to tell Joshua that the mountain, which was apparently what was on the other side of the wall has been around for more than three thousand years, if not longer.  Which amazed Joshua because the wall and the store in which it was apart of had only been around for maybe twelve years.  Which Joshua mentioned to the stranger.

“Well then time must go by faster in my world, or you could say time goes by slower in your world.”  The man chuckled.

And indeed those statements were true.  In fact time went by so fast in the strangers world that virtually no time had passed at all in Joshua’s.  So little time, in fact, that if Joshua were to step out of the cooler he would actually bump into himself, who would be rushing in to see what all the noise had been about.

“So were you excavating for artifacts?” Joshua asked.

“Heavens no.”

“Then why did you blow a hole in it?”

“I did no such thing I was…” the stranger was quickly interrupted.

“Stop hiding in there!” Came a voice from the other side of the hole. 

And just as sudden as the voice had appeared so did a giant hand.  The stranger jumped out of the way and before Joshua could do the same the hand grabbed him and pulled him into the hole.
On the other side was quite an intimidating sight to behold.  One can only imagine that a hand that’s large enough to envelope Joshua must have an absurdly large body, and indeed it did.  The giant brought Joshua right up to his one eye.  The giant had the capacity for two but the other one was apparently missing.

“Where’s me eye!” the giant shouted.

Joshua was at a loss for words.  He was experiencing quite a culture shock and was having trouble keeping himself from freaking out entirely.

“Wait a minute…you’re not Bobly!”  The monster shouted angrily, squeezing a bit harder as he did.

“Where be Bobly little man!”

Joshua had regained some composure and would have told the giant that he didn’t know who Bobly was but that it might be the man still on other side of the hole, but he was having trouble breathing do to the giants tight grip.  So he did his best to gesture it in hopes that the giant would release him.

“Hmmm?  What’s that?  ‘e be still in that ole?” the giant asked.

The giant was apparently very good a gestures because in the lack of oxygen to his brain Joshua had tried about everything to convey that message except for pointing directly at the hole itself.  If only he had done that, then he might have been let go sooner and would not have begun to loss consciousness.  At least then he would have an explanation for how he survived being violently thrown to the ground.  His last sight before blacking out was that of the giant leering into the hole with his good eye screaming for Bobly to come out.