The beach was rather crowded that morning, as most people were busy buying fish for the Easter holiday. Several wooden shops littered the landscape and a thousand boom boxes churned out thumping rhythms.
Jason sat under the covering erected behind a shop where he had recently procured a beer. Upon his arrival however, he was greeted by the presence of an ex-lover of his whom he had not seen since they broke off their relationship.
Her name was Caroline, she had bronze complexion and her hair jet black and curly. They broke off their shared only a verbal greeting and he sat next to her on a log. After sharing a light conversation, Caroline got up and with a quick goodbye was on her way.
“How did I mess that one up?” he asked himself before turning away from watching her posterior swishing off into the distance. While he sat there finishing what was left of his beer, he was joined by his cousins who proceeded to order some beers and broke out a bag of marijuana which they smoked casually. Several beers later they decided to go and walk the beach exploring the happenings of the morning. Several tables were laid out where men and the occasional woman were gathered playing cards or any of a variety of board games.
They were standing by a table observing a game of dominoes when a heavy thundering sound could be heard, after some scanning of the sky and water they were relieved of their curiosity. There out I the water appeared two beautifully painted speed boats which were running at a cruising speed along the length of the coastline. The pilots of which were clearly foreigners.
The presence of the vessels caused quite a stir amongst the locals whom all but abandoned their activities to go and follow as best they could the course of the vessels uttering cries of cheers as they encouraged the pilots, who, due to the stereotype of foreign nationals piloting speed boast in local waters, they all (the locals) assumed these to be transporters of some illegal substance, namely marijuana (export) or cocaine (import).
The spectacle was shortly enhanced by the appearance of the coast guard helicopter which must have been lost in the chase and had only just caught up (or so the assumption went). The pilots of the speed vessels however seemed none affected by its appearance and simply turned their vessels around and went for the small cove which was home of the beach.
The spectators followed the boats and were soon surprised to see several other crafts of varying dimensions arriving at the cove. But the most striking and all be it frightening revelation was a large animal which swam closely behind the vessels just arriving.
The spectators were caught in a state of disbelief as no-one could decide what exactly the creature was! The primary consensus was that it was a sea cow, since most have heard of the animal but never having seen one, the all slowly gravitated towards the idea. Then, the creature came close enough to be better observed and it was realized it must be some sort of dinosaur type animal. As it emerged from the water its features became discernable. Its head was rounded at the top and its eyes seemed to be little beads inside gigantic sockets. Its mouth was short and rounded at the tip. Its body seemed to be lacking any skin as the various muscles and their connecting tendons were clearly visible.
The locals, closest to the beach front were so terrified by the revelation of the beasts features that they clamored inland as fast as their feet would take them. As if the revelation of the beast was not sufficient, one of the larger vessels veered to the shore and no sooner had it arrived there did several humanoid beings emerge from it and made their way inland. Pandemonium erupted at the approach of the critters who exhibited great similarities to the beast in the water. Their bodies shared the same brownish green tinge and their muscle fibers were exposed due to the absence of any skin. Their heads were rather large and rounded and divided down the middle similar to how a human brain was halved. In every other regard they seemed to be alike humans.
The boat pilot departed their vessels and came ashore in a bid to reassure the crowd of the peaceful nature of the strange visitors, one of the pilots even got on the neck of the great beast and rode it up the beach. The humanoids took refuge from the sun under any shade they could find, trees and awnings along the beach. After some time the foreigners succeeded in getting the locals to relax and they were returning from their hideouts slowly but surely.
The locals began approaching the beast closer and closer in a bid to get an up-close look at such marvels. Soon they realized the humanoids could speak with them, in their own language. Though there was no sound or any physical indicator of their have spoken somehow the humanoids were able to project their thoughts into the heads of any and every one, given there must have been some distance limitation as those far off seemed to not have the experience expressed upon them. It was also apparent that they needed no words to be spoken to them, for they somehow were able to sense the thoughts of those in close proximity to them.
The grand spectacle of the arrivals was soon passed and locals resumed their activities, making the most of a beautiful morning. Jason was sitting by a table where three of the foreigners were having refreshments. He had he had expressed his curiosity as ti the origins if the humanoids and their beast, and also how they the foreigners came to be the chaperones of such unusual creatures. One of the three foreigners who had a strawberry blonde dreads and a sunburnt complexion, looked up at Jason and asked
“Have you lived here long?”
“Yes all my life!” Jason replied
“Have you seen or heard of anything falling from the sky over the past month?” the foreigner asked
“Not here no! And it’s a pretty small island so maybe it fell on some other island and news of it haven’t traveled to us here as yet.” Jason suggested.
“”could be! You think it could happen without anyone noticing?”
“It is always possible. But why do you ask?”
“Our friends are seeking something which fell somewhere in this area, but we must get to it quickly! There is a sect called the ‘Wardens’ they too are on the hunt for it and if they get to it first our friends the sentinels and possibly us could be lost forever.” Replied the dreaded foreigner “my name is Rodrick, this is Emmanuel and to my right is Kennick. We are Bermudans.”
Jason looked at the three men, Emmanuel was tall darker than the others and had a low cut. Kennick looked like he was the oldest with touches of grey highlighting hid dark brown hair.
“I’m Jason!” he said which earned a nod from the three Bermudans. “You still did not say how you came to be mixed up with these—these sentinels.”
“I can’t even remember, but we were out fishing when they first spoke to us and we have been together since. They told us they were travelling across the ocean of time, recovering several treasures that were scattered when star exploded and the energy destroyed the planet orbiting the star.one of the planets was home to the most advanced race in the universe. It was an experiment by these habitants which led to their star being destroyed. The treasures scattered hold the power once assembled to set all suns on a change that would cause its core to collapse and thus destroying the star. The Wardens are next in line in their advancement and they seek to possess this power. But they are not a noble race and the fear is that the Wardens will use it to emaciate all traces of life in this universe and maybe others.” Rodrick explained to Jacob.
“What makes you think that treasure is here? I mean it could be anywhere!” Jason inquired.
“True! But there is some technology onboard the craft used by the sentinels and it gives them some kind of indicator as to the location of the treasures. We simply try to help them get to where the treasures are. They claim several are on this planet and this is why they had been dispatched to recover them.”
“So they have dispatched across the galaxy to… to find these treasures? What makes them think these others?”
“The Wardens”
“Yeah the Wardens, haven’t already gotten hold of those items? Jason trying to make sense of all this asked
“I can’t say but last week we found one of said treasures. Though I’m uncertain what has become of it. I haven’t seen it since.” Roderick said in a contemplative tone.
The group sat quietly for some time before the silence was interrupted by the approach of a creature Jason had not noticed before. It seems like an oversized dragonfly but its wing speed must have been so rapid as to render them invisible, only two facts suggested their existence. The sound of a heavy hum and the fact that the creature hovered in the air. The locals stood in awe of the new arrival which buzzed about from here to there. It’s sped almost instantaneous for it moved from point to point almost as quickly as light. It soon approached the other sentinels and they all faced each other as though conversing before one stepped out of the group and stared at the sky. The flying beast approached the table where Jason sat and without any communication Jason could hear, Rodrick got up and nodded to Jason then he and the other two Bermudans departed.
Aroused by his curiosity, Jason got up and ran after them,
“Hey Rodrick! Wait!” he yelled as he approached the group. “I would like to join you. I wanna see the treasure you’re looking for.” Jason expressed to Rodrick who was still walking towards the awning beneath which the sentinels stood.
“It wouldn’t be for me to decide.” Roderick explained
“Ask them, to let me! I could show you guys around after all it is my country.” Jason had only just finished speaking when inside his mind he could hear the Sentinel’s voice agreeing with him
‘We will be better off if he accompanied us. The site is in a deeply remote spot, we might attract the wrong attention.’ Roderick turned to express the sentinels confirming Jason’s suggestions but just as he did Jason blurted out that he had heard the message himself.
“That shit still trips me out.” Jason said speaking of the telepathic communication used by the sentinels.
About the Creator
Stieve Fernandez
Hello am a 36 year old Jamaican national three years into my journey of creative writing
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The note
The rain fell in enormous drops outside. Mr. Martin Swanson, stood quietly by the window of his down town apartment, which he shared with his wife. It was his first time being married and he thought somehow he should have felt something, a change, or anything! Instead he felt nothing. Mrs. Veronica Swanson, was asleep on the couch in the living room, where, they had, under an hour ago, had their first argument of their life as a married couple. He thinks it was rather silly, but what did he know. Outside the window a woman with a large black umbrella was making her way towards the new mall. The wind was having its way with the umbrella, which the poor lady fought desperately to hold on to. “Women!” Mr. Martin Swanson said. Moving away from the window Mr. Martin Swanson made his way over to the dinner table, where, a crystal decanter stood triumphantly with a vintage wine they had received as a wedding gift. Two wine glasses sat wearily on the table. One, by his chair, the other, next to the decanter. Veronica had drank half her glass and he figured he might as well go finish it off for her. The wedding last week was rather small as most of his family couldn’t make it. “That’s pretty telling!” veronica had said, when he notified her of their inability to attend. She was of the opinion, this was somehow because of her. It was true, on several instances veronica and his sister Bethany had gotten into arguments over nothing in particular. And though they had long since agreed they both simply couldn’t get along. Mr. Martin Swanson did not accept Veronica’s point of view that his entire family refused to attend for that very reason. “It was logistics!” he tried to affirm, to no avail, “We moved from the mid-west to the east coast to be closer to your family! So now it is easier for them to attend than my folks. You know they don’t have any money.” He told her, to no avail! So there they were Mr. and Mrs. Martin and Veronica Swanson! “Well everything in this life is a struggle!” he thought. “Why not struggle to stay in love?” he sat on his chair by the table and tipped her half empty glass to his head. Two hours later, the rain was pouring even heavier than before and was now enhanced by the occasional flash of lighting and its accompanying crashes of thunder. Mrs. Veronica Swanson had just been awaken by an ear piercing blast. She went to the window and closed the curtain. It was dark outside and the orange glow of the street lamp’s metal halide bulbs spread across the room in swatches. She turned on the lighting in the apartment, and saw that her husband had left the general area. “Must be upstairs.” She thought. She straightened the cushions on the couch and chair, swept the floor, then picked up the empty decanter and the two empty glasses. She was in the kitchen rinsing the crystal when a thud could be heard upstairs. “Well a bottle of wine, serves you right!” she said. When she was done with the house work she picked up a book and read while she sat in the arm chair. “Drinks the wedding gift to himself, must a married his self!” she says as she read her book. They met one October evening. He was a waiter then. She was newly transferred to the Ohio state hospital and was out for the evening with her new colleagues, who were trying to make her feel welcomed. He had been working at that restaurant for some time and was known by several of the members of her dinner party. The resident surgeon was obviously disappointed that she was dating a waiter and not someone ‘a little higher up on the social ladder’ was how he had put it. But there they were. Married! She smiled at the thought and paused her reading for a second, slowly ‘should I go up there? Maybe they could talk for a moment, if he could manage not falling over!’ she thought. Mrs. Veronica Swanson got up and went to the kitchen where she put some water on the stove. She had already been prepared when the kettle started whistling. Having already placed the tea bags in the teapot and placed the tea pot along with two teacups on a serving platter, she poured the water from the kettle into the teapot and placed a sleeve of snack crackers along with some cheese she’d sliced on the tray next to two saucers. It is surprising that four years went by so quickly. They had hit it off instantly, he was rather great with words which would make anyone stop what they were doing and pay attention to him. He had waited until she was standing alone smoking a cigarette. Walking over he asked for a light. Then one thing led to another and they were exchanging contact info. He would call twenty times an hour which at first she thought was annoying. But after some getting used to, she found she couldn’t do without his attention. Now she called at every chance she got. They had their first real argument in a hotel room they had occupied for a weekend getaway. He had gone back to the room leaving her by the pool and upon his return found she was engaged in a conversation with some guy who was also staying at the hotel. It would have passed without occasion had the guy not up and leave upon noticing her companion was making his way across the pool deck. Martin was beside himself as to what would have caused his return to initiate the departure of the other guy. She swore up and down that he was nothing to worry about. Martin never got over it. Every time they fought, he would quickly point out how she could not recall what the conversation was about. That was the beginning of the end of her fairy tale romance. He cheated, she forgave him. He hit her during several of his alcohol fueled rages, she cried, moved out, but she eventually forgave him. Mr. Martin Swanson had gotten done drinking the last of the wine the decanter had to offer. His wife was still on the couch fast asleep. ‘How did they get so worn down?’ he wondered. They met at a restaurant he was working over four years ago. She was new in town, he, a staple at Guiliamo’s an Italian restaurant in Cleveland Ohio. The Ohio state Hospital’s staff would dine at Guiliamo’s whenever they had some event to celebrate, and that evening was no different. He could tell from his motions that the resident surgeon was doting on Veronica Mansford, and it was probably his idea to take her out using the rest of his staff as smoke screen to not have to face a rejection of his diner offer by the new nurse. Heck, he had even ordered the most expensive dishes and their costliest champagne. ‘Guys can be so foolish at times. This successful man who had it all simply didn’t know how to pick up chicks. A successful woman wants to feel the rush of power flowing through her fingertips’ Martin had told his friend Travis as they watched from across the room Martin watched the table all night and was making jokes with Travis as to the awkwardness of the group. How elated he was when Veronica Mansford was standing by herself, having a cigarette. The unfortunate doctor had wined and dined the new girl which was who veronica was to Martin then as he knew not her name, only to have his table’s waiter go over and right before his eyes spark up a conversation with the object of his desires. They seemed rather perfect, Martin and Veronica. But there was the battle with trust, he’d caught hints of her secret life on a few occasions even once noticing her ‘I love you’ text message which came into her phone while she was in the shower, he should have left her phone alone, but ‘one needed to confirm one’s suspicions. Right?’ he thought. No name was affixed to the number which had texted her and he never mentioned the message. The love had left him. He wanted nothing more than to fix the relationship, but he kept getting himself into rather difficult situations. There was the debacle with the maid and his first child. He’d taken to the bottle heavily and his charming self, left him alone to figure things out whenever he was ‘under the waters’ as his daddy put it! Yet there they were. Married! The Swansons. They definitely were crazy, instead of separating which the average couple would have done, they married! Martin Swanson made his way up the stairs as the rains increased outside. He thought a note was the proper thing to do, only a coward left without some last word, some sort of explanation. God he was in too deep. What would she tell her family? They all seemed so happy for her at the wedding. “All good things must end!” he thought. He entered the room and sat before the bedside table. He couldn’t figure out what to do, he knew a letter would be appropriate. Yet he simply sat there. The rain was now a full blown storm and the lightning was rather terrifying let alone the thunder. He finally took a note pad from the drawer of the bedside table and a pen. Mrs. Veronica Swanson, was just about to leave the kitchen and head upstairs when she paused, “oh my I almost forgot the spoons!” she said as she turned and walked over to the pantry where she retrieved two spoons and placed them on the platter alongside the crackers. Picking up the platter she went out of the kitchen and mounted the stairs. The thunder had spooked her twice on her ascent of the stairs and she was happy when she finally arrived at the landing. There was a wall desk at the top of the landing above which a mirror stood mounted to the wall. Mrs. Veronica Swanson paused for a moment and glanced at her reflection. She rested the platter on the floor and removing her hair fastener, she brushed her hair with her hands before returning the fastener to her ponytail. She then quickly braided her ponytail, adjusted her garments and letting out a sigh, she picked up the platter and made her way to the bedroom. Inside the bedroom was dark except for a soft glow coming from the street lamps outside. She placed the platter on the floor and flipped the light switch on the wall to its on position. It was in that moment Mrs. Veronica Swanson finally realized she was all alone in the apartment. The note… Veronica goodbye! I am really sorry to be leaving you like this, but you should be better off without me! Judas Somervell, lives at 23rd Bailey Avenue. His apartment is number 14. He drives a small sports car which roars pretty loudly. He gets off work at 3:00pm daily and goes straight to his apartment. But only for an hour at most. 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