The Grey Place

The man opened his eyes. A starry sky was revealed above him. A seemingly infinite amount of tiny specks of light caused the sky to seem ablaze. The man felt dizzy and his head heavy. He was lying on what looked like a gray beach bordered by gray hills and mountains. But strangely there was no sun in the sky. The man reckoned that he had just fallen asleep while at the beach, and no one had dared to wake him. But why was there no water? And why couldn’t he remember being at the beach? Nothing made any sense. He sat up. Pain shot up at the front of his head and he held a hand up to the pained area, as he moaned in pain. For a short time the world was nothing but a blur, but when he woke up, he found a terrible truth was awaiting him. He was no longer on Earth. He was wearing only a thin shirt and jeans and even though it seemed as if it ought to be freezing, it wasn’t. He stood up on his aching legs and looked out across the gray waste. There was nothing in sight. What was this place? He bent down and picked up a handful of the gray dust. It felt light and almost sparkled in the darkness, even though there was no apparent source of lighting. There was a silence the man had never experience ever before, yet it was not the type of blissful silence that he heard people speak of. It was a threatening and hostile silence. And suddenly he heard the voice.
“Who are you?” the voice said. The man turned. A pale man stood about five feet behind him, an emotionless stare on his face. The stranger’s eyes were black and cold.
“I-I-I’m not sure.” The man said, his voice stuttering.
“Oh well,” the stranger said, “it doesn’t matter anyway. Do you know how you arrived here?” the stranger said. The man found that he was unable to answer. It wasn’t that he would actually be able to give the correct answer; it was simply because he was astounded at the absurdity of the situation. It couldn’t be true! Someone had to have abducted him and put him in a TV-studio to entertain the masses. Only, it wasn’t particularly entertaining. “It is irrelevant anyway.” the stranger said, when he had discovered that the man wasn’t going to answer. “What matters is that you are here now. I haven’t had a visitor in a very long time.” The stranger said the hint of a smile on his lips. “Come,” the stranger said, waving his arm toward the man signaling that they were to go somewhere, “there’s something I must show you.” The stranger walked towards a tall hill, his legs moving rhythmically. The man still stood, observing as the strange being made its way up the hill. The stranger turned his head and waved once more. Finally the man decided to follow the stranger. After all, maybe he had some answers to what this place was.
The ascent was tougher than the man had expected, and he was panting when he reached the top. The stranger, however, was as stiff and cold as he had been before. He was sitting in the dusty sand, looking out over vast plain. The man sat down beside the stranger, but made sure to stay at a healthy distance of him. The man looked towards the stranger, who was still staring out across the plain. At last he gathered enough strength to ask.
“What is this place?” the man asked.
“In time,” the stranger said, “you will know. It is not long now.” The man looked in the same direction as the stranger, trying to get a look at whatever he was staring at. Suddenly the blue edge of some distant object moved above the far away mountains. It slowly began its ascent to the black sky. The man shook his head in disbelief as he saw the Earth glued to the black veil.
“I watch its rise every morning.” The stranger said.
“That’s where I come from!” the man said.
“I thought as much.” The stranger replied.
“So I’m on the Moon?” The man asked.
“I believe so.” The stranger said.
“But how is that possible! I shouldn’t even be able to breathe!”
“That is a question I cannot answer.”
“You must be able to explain something!” the man said. “Who are you anyway?” The stranger sighed.
“They always ask that.” The stranger said. “Every single one of them. I am not that different from you.” The stranger said, and looked towards the man. “I was born on that same blue spot long ago, and ended up here much in the way you did. Without any clue of where I was. Many have been here since, but all have left again. Most were just here for a few moments, before disappearing again. Only a few have I actually conversed with. It gets a bit lonely here at times, but I like it. It’s surely better than being locked away in the prison you see before you.” The man couldn’t quite fathom what was going on. This had to be a twisted joke in some way. “Although I do miss the oceans at times.” The man felt pain in his head , but tried not to show it. “But, considering the cruelties I am avoiding, missing the oceans is nothing.” The man held his hand up to his forehead, and succeeded in withholding cry of pain. “Are you alright?” the stranger asked. The man suddenly lost consciousness, and fell backwards. “Shame,” the stranger said to himself, “I was enjoying the company.” The man suddenly vaporized, and the tiny motes of dust flew into the dark sky and disappeared. The stranger chuckled. “Like dust in the wind.”

The man opened his eyes.