Part 1 - Part 01

What was it? I examined it carefully and found its long neck was broken. I touched it with my hand, it was warm but dead. I looked at it closely. It had a round body the size of a basketball, two long stick-like legs, like those of a stork. It had a half metre long neck and a head that looked like that of a duck. It had no tail, wings or ordinary feathers. It was black and hairy. The hairs were actually thin centimetre long feathers. Had I just committed a crime? Of course I had! What was I going to do with it now?

The best thing to do with it, I thought, was eat it. I knew how to prepare it… remove its feathers, clean it and roast it, just like we used to cook chickens back in the village. It would be a shame to waste it. My grandmother had said that it was a crime to waste food and if you did waste it you would be cursed. So, I began to re-acquaint myself with preparing a chicken. Deep down I was happy, an answer to my prayers, to eat some fresh meat.

The first thing about preparing a chicken after it had been killed was to remove or pluck its feathers. But before doing that you must soak the chicken in boiling water. I had no boiling water or a container in which to boil water, so I decided to peel the skin right off it, feathers and all. I cut the creature’s skin from the neck to its legs with my pocket knife and began to peel it off. I found it was easy. I then cut off the head and legs and opened its innards. It was just like a chicken. I took the heart and liver out and removed the gallbladder. Everything else I threw out. I then trimmed a straight branch of wood and threaded it through the creature’s insides. I did the same with the heart and liver but with a much thinner branch. I placed the meat on top of a clean rock and started the fire. I realized I didn’t have enough firewood so I rushed out and got some more. The fire was burning hot and bright. The flames danced around creating moving shadows on the cave’s walls. The fire burned for a long time. It created enough coals to roast the meat. I was getting impatient so I decided to roast the heart and liver first and see what

they tasted like. It took a few minutes. I felt my heart pounding as I broke a piece of liver off the stick. I waited a few seconds for it too cool before I had a taste. It was wonderfully delicious. It could have used some salt. But where was I going to find salt?

I gobbled up the rest of the liver and heart and was ready to eat more. Patience, I said to myself, patience the chicken needs to be fully cooked before I can eat it. Fat began to drip on the coals and gave off an appetizing aroma. It took hours of cooking before it was fully cooked. I kept testing it by sticking a sharp toothpick-like stick into it. If blood came out it wasn’t done. Finally clear liquid was coming out which meant it was cooked. The meat was very tender and cut easily. I put the entire bird on top of a clean rock and began to cut chunks out of it with my pocket knife. And as each chunk cooled I ate it. At some point I realized I had eaten too much and decided to lie down for a short rest.

The next thing I remember was waking up in the dark and staring into a woman’s face. I jumped. She smiled at me. I smiled back. As soon as I got up she took my place and sat down on my bed. It was dark so I decided to revive the fire. I threw some dry grass into the ashes and stirred them up. I then threw some more dry grass on the glowing embers and puffs of flame began to appear. I added some dry wood on top and we had a burning fire.

For a moment I thought I was dreaming. I touched the flames. I felt the heat of the fire. I was not dreaming.

I looked at the woman again and noticed she was watching me with curiosity to see what I was doing. She was a small figured woman, just like the other one, but this woman’s face looked different. She wore a mask with white and dark figurines on it. She also wore a shirt with glowing neon shapes on it. I looked at her face closely. She wasn’t wearing a mask. I looked at her hands; they too were black and white. She looked like she had veins of black running on a white background. She looked strange, very strange. Her smile also looked strange, like she was mocking me. But what did I know? I knew nothing of what they looked like or their behaviour.

I was wondering why she was here and asked her in English. She didn’t respond and gave me a strange gaze and a mocking smile. Was it possible she was a night creature and couldn’t speak?

Here I was looking at a genuine alien. In ordinary times I would have a million questions to ask. Now, unfortunately, I couldn’t even muster one. I then realized that in this situation I was the alien.

I cut a piece of meat from the bird and offered it to her. She didn’t react. I put it in my mouth and ate it. She kept looking at me. I cut another piece and offered it to her. She took it and ate it. There was no reaction. Only the same mocking smile… I cut another piece and offered it. She looked at it and did nothing. I ate it. I then went closer and sat on one of the rocks next to her. She smiled and turned to her side and pulled out a purse. I hadn’t noticed her having a purse. She pulled out what looked like half a melon. It had a pink skin. The light fruit was neon yellow and glowing, just like the shapes on her shirt. In the centre of the melon were black seeds looking like frog’s eggs. She pointed to the melon. I took it and tried to bite a chunk from its side. She laughed without making a sound and took it from me. And there was that mocking smile again.

She looked me in the eyes, took a seed from the centre, put it in her mouth and began to chew it. I reached over and grabbed several seeds. She took them from me and gave me only one. I put it in my mouth and began to chew it. It was sour but only on the outside. The slimy and clear part was sour. The inside, the black part, was a real seed and tasted like an apricot seed. She took a second seed and so did I. I went for a third but she took away the melon and put it back in her purse.

Seconds later I began to feel light-headed and my worries began to evaporate. The flame in the fire looked beautiful and the water below looked dark and menacing. My entire world began to spin and I fell down on the rocks.

The next thing I remember was opening my eyes and feeling paralyzed from my neck down to my toes. She was nowhere to be seen and I couldn’t move a muscle. What had happened to me, what

had she done to me and why? How had she found me and what was she doing in this cave?

None of this made any sense so I wondered if I had imagined it all. I began to feel pins and needles in my arms and hands and then in my legs and feet. Slowly I began to feel sensations and was able to get up. I went outside. It was a beautiful clear and sunny day. I took a deep breath and smelled the sweet aroma of ripe fruit and flowers in the air. I then looked at my hands. I was shocked. They were not my hands. They had turned completely white and had black veins running through them, just like the woman’s. She was real, I hadn’t imagined her and she had done this to me. The seeds she had given me must have been poisonous. I went to the calm side of the water pool and looked at my reflection. My face too was discoloured, the same as my hands. I didn’t bother to look at the rest of my body. It was too depressing.

I didn’t know what to do. After sitting outside for a while I felt fine. Other than feeling heavier than usual, I was fine. I was unharmed so why fret?

As I sat there, on my usual spot outside the cave, I noticed the yellow sun was behind the tallest tree in the ravine. I figured it was time for me to measure the length of a day in this world in earth hours. I set my watch to 12:00 noon and the month counter to 1. After that I went and got some more fruit and more firewood. And then I hung around the river bank looking around in anticipation of the woman returning. Well, she didn’t. I was disappointed. When the yellow sun had set I went inside the cave and lit the fire. I ate more of the meat. It tasted quite good with the fruit. I waited for the woman. She didn’t come back.

The next day I woke up early, before dawn and waited for the sun to hide behind the tall tree. Eventually it did and I calculated the day and night to be 34.5 earth hours. That is 21 day hours and 13.5 night hours. The next day I did the same with the silver sun and noticed that it too was 34.5 hours, 17.25 hours visible and 17.25 hours invisible. The two suns were exactly opposite to one another. And that’s what I observed at the time. I don’t know if they had seasons here like we do on earth but judging from the trees that had both

fruits and flowers at the same time, they didn’t. They had trees there that flowered and bore fruit at the same time. What I didn’t notice was how the flowers were pollinated and how long they lasted. In terms of wildlife, there was very little. But I did notice that it rained frequently, every two to three days, a gentle rain with small drops and there was no wind at all.

The day after the woman paid me a visit in the cave, while I still wore the black veins all over my body, I saw people gathering at the top of the ravine looking down at me. The black slowly began to disappear from my body. In a couple of days or so it disappeared and I returned to my normal self. But since that day a variety of people passed by and watched me. Every day like clockwork they came and stood at the top of the ravine and quietly stared at me. Men, women and children all dressed in white. They came to look at me, at the big monkey in the ravine. I just sat there doing nothing but they stared and stared in silence. Not a word… not a smile… not a motion. Why were they doing this?

And when it rained they all came dressed in their clear plastic overcoats looking like elongated umbrellas and on their heads they wore funny, tiny clear umbrellas. They looked comical. I stood there in the rain getting soaked and looked back at them.

One day, I believe it was the third day. That day I became angry at them and yelled, “WHAT DO YOU ALL WANT?!” in English, but nothing, not a peep, no reaction at all. I often wondered what they would do if I rushed them. If I ran up the slope and lunged at them. I was much bigger in size than the biggest of them.

But ever since they began arriving I made sure I got my fruit early, before they arrived.

No one came on the fifth or the sixth day. I was glad but kind of disappointed. It was very boring for me moping around in the ravine, too scared to go in the river and too afraid to escape and go somewhere else. So, in a way, their presence was company for me.

Then, early on during the seventh day, the two men and the woman who had brought me here showed up. I remember holding a wooden

spear in my hand pointing it up towards the sky. I had made it a few days earlier in anticipation of going fishing in the river but was still afraid to go into the water.

On the way to Apserpon

The woman, arms crossed, stood at the top of the bank looking into the distance. For some reason she didn’t want to look at me. The two men came down the slope, approached me from the side ready to grab me by my arms. I pulled away and leveled my spear. One of them grabbed it hard and hurled it into the river. I was impressed with his powerful throw. They grabbed me and lifted me up by my arms like I was made of feathers. They carried me up the steep slope. They were strong, very strong. I could barely make it up the slope carrying my own body.

Before we reached the top the woman had turned around and left. She was ahead of us about ten steps. At the top I flexed my arms and they let me go. I began to follow the woman and they followed me. We reached a monument with stairs underneath it. I immediately recognized it. The woman went left and into a flying cab waiting for her. We went down the stairs. I noticed there was no one upstairs in the open or in the tube station downstairs. A car looking like a glass jar was waiting for us. Perhaps it was the same glass jar we had come in a week ago? I entered first and sat in the back, which turned out to be the front. They sat behind me. I was expecting to go back where we had come from, but that was not the case. About an hour later the glass jar stopped at a station. The door opened and we stepped out. Traveling for an hour at that speed I figured we were on the other side of the planet. They took the lead and I followed.

We came out of the tube station and walked through another typical park and out onto an old road. We followed the road on foot for about ten minutes and arrived at a wire and metal gate a few metres high. The gate was closed. One of the men pulled out something which I assumed was a key, opened the door and the other one shoved me inside. The first one then slammed the door shut and locked it. Without looking at me the two men turned around and walked away.

My first instinct was to jump over the fence and run away. It was a very high fence but I could climb over it. But where was I going to go. Obviously they wanted me there for a reason. I decided I was going to stay.

I turned around. There was nothing but junk as far as the eye could see. They had put me in a well-fenced junkyard and locked me inside. Could things get any worse? They sure could and did! I was attacked by what looked like a dog. A mean, vicious junkyard dog! I know it sounds funny but that’s what happened. The small beast was relentless. It kept grabbing at my pant legs as I struggled to get away.

It wasn’t a dog but I’d like to call it a dog because it growled and acted like a dog. It didn’t bark but attacked like a dog. It grabbed my pant leg and tore it off. My leg was now bare. This was the only pair of pants I had.

After the little beast tore up the bottom of my pant leg, it came back for more. I grabbed the nearest object I could find. It was a metal pipe. I smacked the little beast on the head and showed it who was boss. It charged again. I raised the pipe. It stopped charging but wouldn’t leave. It kept circling around me like a vulture. The creature looked funny… comically funny like it belonged in a cartoon. It had long grey-black hair and looked like a cube with a head like a turtle, four short legs and a bushy tail. It had a round furry head with a short snout and long sharp teeth. It kept growling and circling. No matter how much I threatened it, it refused to go away.

I looked around. There was nothing but junk everywhere, metallic junk and wood. About fifty metres away from the gate was a tall, beaten up bluish metallic structure. The door on it was partially open. Perhaps I could go inside, shut the door and leave the little beast outside, I thought. Holding the pipe in my hand I began to walk towards the building. The little monster followed close behind. I stepped inside. There was junk everywhere, the door was stuck, it wouldn’t shut. I noticed the building had lights and they were on. It was boiling hot inside. Flies were buzzing around everywhere. They didn’t attack me. To my right was a high pile of wood stacked nicely. I climbed up on the wood. The little beastie stayed at the bottom. Thank God it couldn’t climb. I climbed to the top of the woodpile which was flat and smooth. There was a tall opening leading to the next structure behind the woodpile. It was blocked at

the bottom but there was enough clearance at the top for me to squeeze through. I climbed down. The place looked filthy. It was a very large room and there were metal tables all over the place. There were what looked like cupboards and cabinets all around the walls. To the far right there were what looked like shower stalls, like those in a prison or a gym. The place looked like a factory that had been looted and all the tools were missing. In front of the showers there was a stand with two streams of clear running fluid gushing vertically, peaking at about fifteen centimetres. It looked like a European street fountain but with two spouts about five centimetres apart. I wondered what that was for. I was hoping the fluid was water.

I went towards the fountain and stopped in front of it. I looked around to make sure the dog wasn’t there. It wasn’t. I touched the gushing fluid with my right index finger. I wanted to be sure it wasn’t some sort of chemical, acid, oil, or fuel. I felt my wet finger with my thumb and then took a whiff. It had no odor and it wasn’t slippery. It had to be water. I dipped my finger in again and licked it. It was water. I drank some but not as much as I wanted. I wanted to be sure it was safe and wouldn’t make me sick or cause me to pass out. Passing out was not an option with the little beast circling around.

I looked up and noticed the big room had an indoor terrace right above the showers. It was a long terrace that extended the full length of the room. There was an open door that led to the outside in the middle of it. It was too high for me to see outside from where I was standing. I looked around. There at the far end, away from the showers, was a black metal door perhaps leading to another part of the building and beside it, on the right, was a staircase leading to the terrace above. I looked around for the dog. It wasn’t there. I went to the far end and pushed on the door. It wouldn’t open. I pushed it hard. It still would not open. I turned right and climbed up the stairs. They were rickety. They were probably hundreds of years old. I went straight for the door that led to the outside. It wasn’t open like I’d thought. It was a plastic-like, clear solid door. I pushed it hard but it refused to open. I then pulled it. It flew open. There was another terrace on the outside. It was littered with bird droppings. There were benches for sitting and they were covered in bird

droppings. They looked like little mountains. I looked down. There was a tree down on the ground on the opposite side near the side fence. It looked black. I couldn’t tell if it had black leaves or if it was loaded with black fruit.

I closed the door and went down again. The ceiling of the room was very high, I would estimate about ten metres. The drawers in the benches were empty. I opened one of the cupboards. It was disgusting. There were brown clumps of something that had rotted many years ago and had fossilized. I opened another cupboard. This one had glass jars covered in dust. Everything was covered in dust, the floor, the tables… It had even gotten inside the cupboards.

I pulled out a jar. It was heavy. I took it to the fountain and washed it. It was sealed and had a purplish red, solid looking substance inside. I was hoping it was food and not some sort of lubricant or grease. There was one way to find out.

I looked over the jar and besides it being a perfect square it looked like an ordinary half litre jar with a lid on it. I identified the top. It didn’t have a screw cap. The lid, also made of the same material, lay flat on it. There was a tab about two square centimetres on its side attached to the lid pointing downwards. I pulled the tab away from the jar and heard a hissing sound. I then pulled it up and the lid flew open. The lid didn’t fall off. It was attached to the jar top on the other side and pivoted open. The substance inside looked like fruit jelly. I took a sniff. It smelled delicious. It had to be food.

I couldn’t help myself. I stuck my finger in it and put some in my mouth. It was delicious. It tasted like figs dipped in honey and butter all mixed with nuts. I ate as much as my fingers could reach. It was so delicious I didn’t care if it was poisonous. I had no idea how long the jar had been there. The substance inside it was not stale… Not that I could tell.

I put the lid right back on and put the jar back in the cupboard… for later. I knew it wouldn’t last long after it was opened. I was going to look for a utensil or a stick to eat it with. But for now I had some exploring to do. I went through every cupboard… and found nothing but petrified stuff. I then began to look in the cabinets. They too

were empty, except for one. It had clothes in it. Among them was a long coat. It looked like the kind doctors wear but it was brown. There was also a pair of brownish work trousers. Perfect, I thought, a solution to my pants problem. I pulled out the coat first. It wasn’t brown, underneath all that dust, it was bluish just like the colour of the building. The pants were also blue. I shook the pants several times until the dust on the surface flew off in a dense cloud. I took my pants off. I put on the pair I had found. The waist was too wide and the legs were short. They were made for a shorter person but I didn’t care. But the waist was a problem. What to do with the waist?

I looked around for a string or belt. There was nothing of the sort in the cabinet. I looked at the pants. There were no loops for a belt but there were two little tabs sticking out from each side inside the pants where a belt was supposed to go. I pulled on them slowly and the waist began to tighten. I pulled on both tabs. I kept pulling until the waist fit perfectly. The pants felt comfortable. The material was soft and smooth. Perhaps there was something like that to lengthen the pant legs, I thought. I sat on the closest bench, bent my knee and looked. I found a tab inside near the bottom of the pant leg. I pulled on it. It made the pant leg shorter. I pushed on it, twisted it, moved it left and right… Nothing! I pulled on it again and made the pant leg even shorter. I was getting frustrated. I had a perfect pair of pants and had ruined them. I pulled on the tab hard and fast. It suddenly shrunk and disappeared. I looked for it. It was still there but it had shortened. I stood up. Now the pant leg was too long. I felt relieved.

I figured out how the tabs worked and adjusted them so that the pants fit me just right. I cut the pant legs of my own pants off at the knee and turned them into shorts. I put the coat back in the cabinet. It was too hot for a coat in this place.

Pleased, very pleased with my find, I was ready to go exploring again. I must not forget to take my dog repellent pipe standing against the side of the bench, I thought. I grabbed the pipe and looked at my hand. It was brown. I was sweltering in the heat inside the building and all that dust that had flown off the clothes was stuck to my sweaty hands and face. I figured it was time to test one of those showers. I looked around. There was no dog. And except for

the insects buzzing around, there was no one and nothing around. Good, I thought, I can undress now.

But before undressing I went to the first shower, the closest one. How to turn it on? How to turn it on? The showerhead was solid and pointing vertically downwards. It had holes in the end and a little handle on the side. I pushed the handle back and forth. It was stuck. I went to every shower. It was the same. I found a piece of metal in the corner of the room. I went back to the first shower and hit the handle with it. The handle broke and fell off. Oh, the hell with it, I thought. I’ll go to the fountain and wash my face and hands there. I did that and then put my right thumb on the right spout to see how high the water on the left spout would go. It went almost double the height. I turned my head to the side and wet it. The water felt cool on my ear. I then blocked the left spout with my left thumb stopping the water from running. I wanted to see if I could build up enough pressure to turn the fountain into a momentary shower.

Suddenly there was a loud sound in the big room. It scared the hell out of me. I almost fell to my knees. I let go of the spouts and looked in the direction of the sound. I saw water dripping from the first shower. After waiting for a moment to let my heart stop pounding, I again blocked the two spouts and watched the water flow out of the showerhead. It was rusty brown at first but became clear very soon. All I needed to do now was find something to plug the spouts and then I could have a shower. I was hot, my entire body was sweating and I could use a cool shower right about now.

There was a pile of lumber right behind me in the next room. I could cut some sticks and make stoppers for the fountain. Even make a wooden spoon to eat the delicious fruity stuff with, I thought.

I climbed up and went out through the same opening I had come in from. The dog was still there at the bottom of the woodpile, waiting for me. I had my pipe in my hand. I waved it at it. No reaction. I contemplated killing it but had second thoughts. In my frustration I jumped as hard as I could on top of the woodpile. The dog took off like a shot towards the inside of the big room. I’ve got you now, I figured.

I watched it go about ten metres or so and stop. It turned around and started coming back towards me. It had something in its mouth. It had caught something. It looked like a creature the size of a red squirrel. It had it in its mouth and was bringing it back. The rodent kept squirming trying to get away. I must have scared it when I jumped on the woodpile. The dog stopped in front of me, looked at me and clamped its sharp teeth on the rodent. The little creature stopped moving. Looking at me the dog then began to eat it, biting its head first. It looked disgusting.

I jumped on the woodpile again. No reaction from the dog. It kept eating. It ate it, tail and all. It then licked its lips and lay down in front of me, watching me. What was I going to do with this monster which refused to leave me alone, I wondered. I’d have to sleep up here on the woodpile, away from its reach, I figured.

I looked at it and said, “So, you’re a rodent catching dog, eh? Or maybe you’re a cat…? I don’t know. What I do know is that you’re a pain… And I don’t know what to do with you.”

I sat down at the top of the woodpile, put my face in my hands and we kept staring at each other for what seemed like hours. I was bored. I didn’t have the dog’s patience. I wanted to go outside. It looked like evening was approaching and the yellow sun would be setting soon. I wanted to look around outside before going to sleep on the hard wooden bed. Unfortunately the dog was in my way. Then it hit me. Why not go out the back way. I could jump off the terrace, do my exploring and perhaps climb back up. If not, come in through the front door and run up the woodpile before the dog had a chance to chase me. Besides, I had the pipe in my hand.

I got up, turned around and slipped down to the next room. Just then I realized I had forgotten to make my stoppers and wooden spoon. Oh, well, I’ll do that later, I thought.

I went straight for the stairs. I looked at the big metal door beside them. What could be behind there, I wondered. I decided to try opening it again. I pushed hard but still it refused to budge. Then I decided to pull. The door flew open. There was a hall leading

forward and another to the sides. The entire place was lit with artificial lighting, electricity perhaps?

I turned left. There was a storage room but there was nothing in it. I came back and went straight. There was a washroom. It was disgusting. The toilets and sinks were filthy brown and covered in dust. I came back and went right. There was a door at the end of the short hallway. I figured it led outside. It did. The locking mechanism was broken and it opened slightly after a strong push.

I pushed harder and after something snapped, the door flew open. A pile of dry bird droppings was rolling away. It looked like a huge chunk of dirty styrofoam. I let go of the door and it sprang back and closed. I panicked. I thought I had been locked out and yelled a bunch of profanities out loud. I tried the door. It wasn’t locked… But it was too late. I spotted the dog running towards me and growling. I stepped back inside and closed the door. I was very angry. This dog was getting on my nerves. Something had to be done.

I went back to the toilets. I was curious to see if they worked. I went to the first stall. There was no water at the bottom of the bowl. The toilet looked similar to the ones we have on earth. I looked for a handle to flush. I couldn’t find one. Even if I had found one it probably wouldn’t work. There was no tank to hold the water either. These toilets looked like they were a hundred years old. They probably were. I looked at the floor. It was filthy. I looked closer and saw a brown spot rising right in front of the base of the toilet. I scratched it with my foot. It was a metallic object, a coin perhaps? I tried to kick it. It didn’t move. I stomped on it to dislodge it. Then, suddenly I heard a loud growling sound. I jumped up and turned around fast. My heart was pounding. The growling stopped. Had the dog gotten inside? I didn’t see it anywhere. I turned around. The toilet bowl was full of grey and brown water ready to overflow.

Moments later it began to spin and whoosh the water disappeared down the hole. I heard water running inside the wall. It must be the reservoir or tank filling up. It took a long time before it stopped. I pushed on the coin again with the bottom of my running shoe. There was the growl again and then the whoosh followed. The toilet

worked. The inside of the toilet, the washed part, began to turn a tinge of white. It would need a lot of scrubbing, I told myself, especially the seat.

I turned around and left the stall. There were sinks in a line but no mirrors. I went closer. There was glass under the brown rubble. The mirrors were all broken. Part of one mirror still hung on the wall on top of the last sink, but it was covered in dust. I went there and ran my finger along its face. It was glass. It was caked with brown dust.

I tried the handle on the tap above the sink. It only had one handle. All of them had only one handle. It was seized up. It didn’t move. I tapped it with the pipe I was carrying in my hand. Nothing… I tapped it harder. It moved but only slightly. I worked it back and forth, gently so as not to break it. Black fluid began to drip. I worked it some more and eventually got it to work. Clear water began to flow, but not a lot. I shut it off.

Enough fun for one day, it was time for me to go outside. I flushed the toilet one more time for good measure and walked away towards the water fountains for a drink before going outside. The water fountain had dried up. There was no water coming out from either spout. What a disaster, I thought. Then, moments later, water began to flow. About a minute later it had returned to its normal flow. It would seem the water in this facility was gravity driven and shared by all the plumbing facilities. The pump that pressurized the tanks must have been turned off or had died of old age. It didn’t matter to me one way or another. But where was the dog getting its water?

I decided to play a trick on the dog. I got on the woodpile and began to hit the wood with the pipe.

I then yelled, “Hey, dog, where are you?”

Sure enough, as I predicted, there it was, in front of the woodpile growling and biting the wood. What a vicious monster you are, I thought.

While the dog was distracted, I slipped out the back door and went to investigate the tree I had seen earlier from the terrace. I walked

very quietly and arrived at the tree. It was a relatively small tree, about six metres high, but looked very old. Its bark looked like an old man’s wrinkled skin. It had large dark green leaves that looked like those of a maple and a round black fruit smaller that a golf ball that looked like a fig. It was loaded with fruit. The ground was littered with rotting fruit and the flies were all over it. I reached up and picked one. It had a delicious aroma, much like the jelly I had eaten earlier. I took a small bite. It was reddish-purple inside and its juice looked red like blood. But the taste; it was out of this world, as sweet as honey mixed with butter and nuts. They must have made the jelly from the fruit of this tree, I thought.

I filled my shirt pockets with fruit. I noticed that my new pants had no pockets. I turned around and was ready to go when I noticed the extent of bird droppings that had accumulated on the side wall of the metal building. It must have taken many years… But, so far, I had not seen a single bird. Where were the birds? Maybe they had left, or died off?

I went back into the building through the back door, had a drink of water and went and sat on the woodpile. The dog was still there… sitting down quietly, staring at me. From the cracks in the tattered blue metal walls of the building I could see the yellow sun setting in the distance. I watched it disappear behind the tree line at the side of the open door. I ate the rest of the fruit and reflected on how to get rid of that damn dog.

The next thing I remembered was waking up in the middle of the night, burning up. Both the jelly and the fruit were very sweet and the sugar was burning me. I needed water. I looked around and then down through the opening into the room where the water was. The dog was still in this room, it hadn’t moved. The inside of the building and the yard were lit like Christmas trees. There was no one here, so why were the lights left on? Had they turned them on for me? I was too tired and burning up to think about it. I needed water.

I clumsily made my way down the woodpile to the fountain. I drank my fill of water. When I stood up I saw movement outside the clear door on top of the terrace.

Instinctively and without thinking I yelled very loudly, “Who’s there!”

Immediately after I yelled I heard many wings flap and a cloud of birds flew by the clear window. The birds were resting on the perch on top of the outside terrace when I startled them. The dog also ran out to the side of the building to investigate. The birds must have arrived after sunset.

I went back to the woodpile but couldn’t sleep. The dog too returned and made a hissing sound before it sat down in the usual place, staring at me. I went closer to the wall of the metal building. It was cool, not hot like during the day. I looked outside through a crack. It was eerie out there under the light of the silver sun. Everything was black and white, even the birds that were returning from being scared away were black and white. I watched them fly by and listened to them chirping at each other. In a comical way they sounded like they were talking. Talking like the chipmunk cartoon characters on television back on earth. But what were they saying? I had to find out. My curiosity was killing me.

I went down the back way, this time very carefully. I walked along the wall, in the not so well-lit part of the room. I then went up the stairs and along the inside part of the terrace. I put my ear against the wall and listened. I nearly fell over when I heard what they were saying.

They said, “Who is there!” over and over again. I couldn’t believe my ears – talking birds.

I went back on top of the woodpile and must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember was hearing the birds flying away in the morning, chirping “Who is there!”, “Who is there!”, “Who is there!” I sat up and looked through the crack in the metal wall. It was getting light outside. The vicious dog was still there… looking at me.

I figured it was time to start moving around, get the stiffness out of my body by doing some chores.

I took my pocket knife out, found a piece of soft wood on top of the woodpile and split a few strips from it. The strips were about ten to twenty centimetres long. I then slid down to the other room. I took out the open jelly jar and, using the longest stick of wood, scooped the jelly out and ate it. When I had eaten all the jelly I left the stick inside the jar and left the jar unwashed.

After that I went to the washroom. It needed cleaning.

When I returned to the fountain I carved out two wooden plugs to plug the spouts. I plugged them and for a while watched the water drip out of the shower head.

I then took all the stuff out of my shirt pockets, took off my shoes and put everything on top of the nearest bench. The bench was dirty.

I then went to the cabinet and took the coat, my short pants and the cut off pant legs and dumped them all under the shower. I stepped into the shower with my clothes on. Why did I do that? I don’t know!

I watched the brown water flow down my feet and onto the clothes I was stepping on as the cool clear water dripped on top of my head. The water was cold and so was I. My head began to hurt. I stepped away from the water flow, took all my clothes off and put them under the dripping shower head. I then stepped on the clothes repeatedly until the water coming out of them was clear.

When I was done I rinsed them under the shower and left them on the floor. I ran water over my body under the shower and then pulled the wooden plugs out of the fountain spouts and set them to the side.

For a moment I stood there and watched the water squirt and dance out of the spouts.

I noticed the shower had stopped flowing. I picked up one of the pant legs, the longer one, and went to the bench. I took my stuff off of it and put it on the floor. I then ran the wet cloth over the entire surface of the bench end to end. The brown dirt wasn’t coming off.

I went to the other bench and picked up the empty jelly jar. The inside was loaded with tiny flies. They looked like tiny wasps. They flew out and left the moment I grabbed the jar.

I went to the fountain and washed the jar. Surprisingly the jelly washed off without scrubbing. I then filled the jar with water and dumped it on top of the bench. I spread the water over the entire bench surface with the cloth.

I got more water and did the same on the next bench. I went back to the first bench and saw the dirt had turned dark brown and was bubbling up. I ran the cloth over it and the dirt came off. The top of the bench gave off a beautiful silvery metallic glow. I scrubbed it end to end and then washed the cloth and filled the jar with water and rinsed the bench again. All the dirt was gone. I rinsed and squeezed the cloth and wiped the surface dry. It looked beautiful. It looked like a mirror. Not a scratch or bump on it.

I went back to the shower, picked up all my clothes and set them on the fountain, beside the running water. They were dripping wet.

With the sun up the inside of the building began to warm up fast. The bench was dry to the touch. I picked up my stuff and shoes from the floor and put them at the corner of the bench. I couldn’t believe how clean and beautiful the bench looked.

I took each piece of clothing, one by one, twisted and squeezed them over the fountain and placed them on top of the bench. I felt uncomfortable walking around naked so I spread my shorts over the bench top in hopes that they would dry fast.

I spent most of the day cleaning. I spent hours cleaning all the benches, the clothes cabinet, the cupboard and all the jelly jars.

After I cleaned the second bench I spread my clothes over it so that they would dry. By the time I was done cleaning all the benches my shorts were dry. I put them on and noticed that my feet were dirty.

I wanted to clean the sink and toilet next but was afraid to walk barefoot because of the broken glass on the floor.

I sat on the bench and waited for my socks to dry. I flipped them over.

I thought of going outside to look for food. I was getting hungry. Outside of the jelly and fruit there was nothing else to eat.

I thought of eating the dog. The thought made me laugh out loud. The echo in the big room startled me.

It was peaceful and silent inside the big room.

Where was the little monster I wondered? It should have been here by now after my loud laugh. Maybe it wasn’t able to get inside the big room. If it did, I thought, it would tear my clothes to pieces.

My socks were still wet when I touched them.

As I sat on the bench I realized that my feet were dirty from stepping on the dirty floor and needed washing before I put my socks back on. I took the empty jar and went to the fountain. I filled it with water and poured it on my feet. I scrubbed them with my hand to loosen the dirt. Then I rinsed them. I filled the jar with water again and walked back to the bench. I sat down on top of the bench and rinsed my feet again. I used the pant leg, which was now dry, as a towel and wiped them dry and then put on my socks and shoes.

I realized the dirty floor was going to be a problem for walking barefoot so, before I went to clean the washroom, I poured water on the floor and scrubbed it. I made a clean path from the bench to the fountain and from the fountain to the shower. I noticed the floor was painted light blue, just like the walls and like my new pants which were now fully dry. I put on my t-shirt and short pants. I put the rest of my clothing, including the long coat and my other stuff, in the cabinet.

Cleaning the toilet seat, sink and mirror were not as difficult as I had thought. I kept filling the jar with water from the sink and splashed

it over the toilet surfaces and against the mirror. After the dirt started to bubble, I scrubbed it with the cloth. I then rinsed the surfaces with water.

I cleaned the mirror last and looked at myself. I had grown a beard and moustache. I looked comical, comically tragic. I had lost weight, my eyes were sunken and I looked like an old man. Looking at my physical state I began to feel very lonely and depressed. I needed to be with people. I even contemplated becoming friends with the dog…

I felt light-headed and stepped away from the mirror. Fearing I was going to pass out and fall on the broken glass I ran outside, not to the other room but outdoors. It was much cooler out there. The sun felt nice on my face. I wanted to sit down but there was nowhere clean to sit.

I went over to the tree and picked a fruit. I bit it but it didn’t seem to taste the same as before. It bled down my finger, a thin dark orange blood… very thin. I looked up and around, there wasn’t a single bird in sight. There wasn’t a sound except for the buzzing of the little wasps...

I suppose people would kill for a peaceful life like this, I thought and surprised myself by that thought. Perhaps there was something in me that liked the seclusion. I felt like I was back in my village in Macedonia. I liked it there.

I figured it was time to make friends with the dog. We couldn’t go on like this forever… I took a second bite of the fruit and it seemed to taste better this time.

I went back inside, drank some water and filled the jar, picked up my dog repellent pipe and went back on top of the woodpile and sat down. The dog lifted its head and looked at me as I stared at it.

Moments later I stepped down from the woodpile and went closer to the dog and sat down. There was no reaction from the dog.

I took a couple more steps down towards it, which brought me within striking distance with my pipe but still far enough away from its reach, and still no reaction from the dog.

Thanks to the little monster I was now bare-legged and if it bit me again it would be biting flesh, so I had to be careful.

I suddenly stood up and quickly raised the pipe up high. The little critter jumped and moved away a short distance, enough to avoid being hit.

I took another couple of steps down and sat down. My feet were now resting on the ground where the dog could easily reach them. The dog, however, didn’t react and lay there like nothing was happening.