Abduction

On a cold night down that misty farm road, a lone man lay suspended in the air. Loose button up pajamas blew gently on his paralyzed body. A slight wind chilled his exterior causing the poor victim's skin to react. No one saw the phenomena because no one lived down that road except for him.

Somewhere hovering in the sky was the predator slowly reeling in its prey. Over the Victorian farmhouse, past the lines of fruit trees, and centered above the pond where summer days lended fun memories, his body slowly ascended. A night sky without moonlight was chosen with purpose. The kidnapper knew the territory. Knew their prey.

Pale white skin became brighter as the light illuminating the scene grew closer. Just below a dark cloud peaked the stomach of a great mass and just below that was an opening. Seamlessly this unconscious and motionless form drifted up into the belly. The small portal sliding shut behind him.

According to legend this was not the only abduction in that town. In the early 1960’s a woman was reported missing without a trace of break in or struggle. Police investigators interviewed her family and discovered she went upstairs around 9:00pm to rest before an early morning shift at the grocery store. The next morning she mysteriously vanished and was never seen again. Investigations came and went with no plausible verdict.

Eyewitnesses claim seeing obscure lights and a large dark cloud in the sky that night. No doubt there will be others that come forward claiming the same thing about this night. The soft glow illuminating this moonless sky slowly surrendered to the darkness. Without a trace or sign of struggle, another victim was gone.

The ominous mass glided through the air without a sound. The gray turned to static then turned translucent then became nothing. It was gone. The farm, the road, the memories all gone. No one would ever see this man again.

Within the invisible walls of the artificial cloud were rooms. Within those rooms were deep chambers that had many doors and no windows. Blue lights lined the bases of the hallways and allowed for visibility of the twenty foot ceilings. Sometimes the hallways would creak as the man floated through each corridor while his kidnappers followed behind.

The procession never stopped moving. Never delayed. Never hesitated. It always marched steadily down many hallways and chambers until it finally halted. Inside a large spherical room were several tables and two machines that looked sterile with dark black hoses protruding from the top and running down to the floor. A small half dome cap rested upon its top with a hinge connecting it to the body of the machine.

Upon a table lay a seemingly lifeless frame of a young woman, mid twenties perhaps. Her hair, naturally blonde in another world, now expressed a silver hue. The victims feet pointed exactly away from each other and her arms did the same. Motionless, she couldn’t have escaped even if she tried. Apart from being sedated, her muscles were so thin and weak that a bone might break if she attempted moving in this condition. None of us can ever choose our fate, but hers was most certainly and most involuntarily sealed.

The man was now laying beside her with a similar posture, feet pointing exactly away from each other, arms doing the same, and body still. Until in a sudden burst of what seemed like his last chance to break free, he opened his eyes and flailed about in the blue hue of the room. Sitting up and breaking for the door, his captors rushed to recover him. Down the hall he flew. Breath heavy. Eyes open wide. Feet pouncing the floor loudly. Somehow, miraculously he found the portal outside.

Pressing a large silicone button he felt the frigid breeze upon his skin once more. Freedom eagerly waited to greet him. With no plan and pulsing adrenaline he leapt carelessly from the dark hall. In vain he ran and in vain he leapt.

Something strong and forceful resisted his escape, grabbing his waist and reeling him inside the invisible cloud. He felt significant pressure on his head and everything went dark.

Thoughts ruminated and raced through his subconscious. Synapses fired rapidly at first but it all became a leisurely blur within a few seconds. Inside his own body, his own head, he was standing in the same loose button up pajamas from the night he last remembered. An empty void surrounded him. Others describe it differently, but to him it appeared as one long tunnel. A tube running somewhere that seemed empty.

Retreating slowly to the floor his thoughts winced and reared trying to contemplate the experience he had. Terror struck him abruptly so he changed course. Instead he thought of something sweet, home. Subtle streams flowing into larger rivers could be heard along the lush green hills surrounding his small farmhouse.

Through the second story window he saw the wild pine trees edged alongside his pretentious fruit trees. The ones he trimmed so lovingly everyday with care as he prepared for the harvest that fall.

In the kitchen he smelled sweet red wine and fresh goat cheese on the countertop while the stove brought a pot of squash stew to a low boil. Sitting in his favorite chair now he crossed his legs as it squeaked like it usually did. The coffee in the clay mug met his lips and the chirping birds basking in the sun met his hazel eyes.

A beam of sun leapt through the window and grazed his bare foot upon the ceramic floor. Looking at his foot now he grew internally bleak knowing very well this would become his new home.

A glowing monitor beside the bedside of this unfortunate victim displayed his every vibrant and dismal thought. Flashes of rooms with sweet sunshine appeared and left as the scene eventually grew cold. A tall lengthy figure edged away slowly from the monitor lowly humming. The hum now became a soft cry as it sat beside both victims.

Thinking, pondering, remembering a previous life, its breath increased. The cry widened to a weep. Its eyes squinted harshly. This commotion caused attention from the others. Each one looked at the monitor display and watched the playback of their latest victim. Stepping away one by one they began to match their comrades' emotions, each cry louder than the last. Several minutes passed. Finally the tears ended and the sniffles halted.

Each one stood and surrounded the man from that misty farm road wearing those loose button up pajamas. They stood and they stared. The hinge atop the machine turned and the half dome cap was finally lifted. Time to go home.