Dash: Into Space!, an alien abduction comedy, continues. Catch up with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7 at the links. Last episode, Dash woke up in a strange place. This week, he takes a tour.
Chapter 8: Having a Ball
The corridor went on and on. It curved slightly to the right. There were no doors, corners, or exits. Dash wasn’t sure how long he had been running, but he knew he was slowing down. He was winded, lungs burning, legs shaking.
But the glowing ball stayed right behind him.
Right behind him.
Never overtaking him.
Even though Dash wasn’t even running anymore.
He was down to more of a quick jog.
Dash slowed to a trot. His humming pursuer matched his pace.
Dash walked slower. The ball rolled slower.
Finally, Dash stopped.
The glowing globe stopped too.
Dash turned around.
The glowball sat motionless. Its pulsing lights were mostly orange and yellow now, gradually morphing to green and blue.
“What do you want with me?” asked Dash. “Why are you chasing me? What is this place?”
The ball responded with a crackle of static, followed by a series of strange insect-like clicks and an eerie electronic hum.
Dash backed away. The ball advanced.
Dash stopped backing away. The ball stopped advancing.
“What is this place?” Dash shouted, his frustration and confusion boiling over.
“What is this place?” said his own voice, coming from the ball.
Dash was startled. The ball evidently contained a voice recorder. But was some unseen operator controlling it remotely?
“Who’s there?” he asked.
“Who’s there?” echoed the ball.
“Where am I? Please tell me!” Dash took a step toward the ball.
“Where am I? Please tell me!” The ball rolled back.
“Okay, stop it! You’re freaking me out!”
“Okay, stop it! You’re freaking me out!”
The playback was in almost perfect sync now, with Dash’s words coming back to him just a split second after he uttered them. It was like speaking into a microphone.
“Quit saying whatever I say!”
“Quit saying whatever I say!”
“Stop it!” Dash stalked forward.
“Stop it!” The globe rolled back.
Dash lunged for the ball. Flashing yellow and orange, it rolled out of his reach. Dash went after it. The ball rolled away. Dash chased it down the corridor, back the way he had come.
Dash hadn’t entirely caught his breath, but he ran at the retreating sphere as hard as he could. The fleeing glowball stayed always just ahead of Dash, never letting him to get close enough to grasp it.
Soon Dash was winded again. He stopped and doubled over, hands on his knees, huffing and puffing for breath. Damn you, Nick Tyger!
The ball stopped.
“I’d really like to wake up now,” Dash said. “This is the most exhausting dream I’ve ever had.”
“Why are you chasing me?” said the ball, replaying Dash’s question from a few minutes ago. “You’re freaking me out!” it added, again in Dash’s pre-recorded voice.
The glowball rolled menacingly toward Dash, who jumped back.
“Hey!” said Dash, backpedaling as the ball advanced. “Hey now!” Dash kept retreating.
“Quit saying whatever I say!” said the ball, slowly stalking him.
“I’m not!” said Dash. He lunged angrily at the ball, which instantly reversed course. “You are!”
“I’m not!” said the ball. “You are!”
“No, you are!” shouted Dash.
“No, you are!” said the ball.
“Am not!”
“Am not!”
“This is crazy!” Dash threw his hands up. “What is this? Some kind of nutty psychology experiment? I want to go home.”
“I just want to go home,” repeated the glowball. It paused beside Dash for a moment, then rolled away, disappearing around the bend of the corridor.
Dash stayed where he was. He was starting to think this wasn’t a dream or drug-induced hallucination. And if it wasn’t a dream then where the hell was he? What was this place? How did he get here? And, really, he didn’t care about all that—he just wanted to get out of here. He just wanted to go home. He felt tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
The glowball returned and stopped in front of him. “I just want to go home,” said the ball. It started back down the corridor, but this time it paused before going out of view. “Why are you chasing me? I’m not! You are!” it said, again with Dash’s words.
Dash frowned. The stupid ball was remixing his words now. Was it trying to communicate with him? “You want me to follow you, is that it?”
“I just want to go home,” said the sphere. It rolled a few feet and stopped again. The swirling colors inside it were now mostly yellow and green, with some streamers of blue.
Dash sighed. “Oh, why not?”
If this was a dream, the glowy ball would lead him somewhere, like a will-o’-wisp. If it wasn’t—well, following the glowball beat just standing here. Naked. In a strange place.
Dash followed until the ball stopped. Dash couldn’t see how this part of the corridor was different from any other.
“Okay, here we are,” he said. “Now what?”
The ball chirped and a section of the wall irised open, creating a portal several feet across, but only about four feet high. The glowball rolled through. Cautiously, Dash ducked down and followed.
He blinked when he saw what was on the other side.
“Oh my God!” said Dash.
Nothing could prepare him for this.
Here ends Chapter 8. Hmm, I wonder what is on the other side of that door?
Find out next episode, when Dash says: “I wonder if there are any pants in here?”
Thanks for reading!
Dan McGirt