PURPLE SKIES

Day 1

Grace is dreaming.. She see’s dark waters and shadows of ships from far away. A loud chorus of voices erupt from the ships -- singing their dogma..

“Every warrior has a cry

Every warrior cometh wise

I serve to conquer and die with honour!

Valhol vallhol valhol

The strength of the gods shine down on me.

Valhol valhol

Every maiden bores her tale

With strength that shall prevail

Valhallal Vall-HOLUH!

May this warrior be worthy now.

Bless his strength with tides of ocean

Instill in him the strength of Odin.

Valhol Valhol

Valhol Valhol

Valhol Valhol

Valhol Valhol~~~”

Sunrise has already begun and our skies are filled with flyingt beasts.. The beasts fly in between the towns’ infrastructure without toppling buildings. They are weapons of mass destruction under the control of men. I wonder if this is where the past and future collide under Purple Skies?

I jump out of bed because the house begins to shake.

Dan runs in my room and yells

“Let’s go!”

We run outside and look up to see the sky engulfed with clouds that strike fear. The entire sky goes from blood orange and eventually red. Until I opened my eyes my roommate and I lived unperturbed and undisturbed.

Night 1

23:45:06 HRS

The sky changes colors and the clouds move fast like Aurora Borealis. I drift to sleep and dream once more...

A ghoulish looking man dressed in rags had been chasing me around on the beach. Somehow we had ended up on a sand bank further out in the ocean. As I’m about to jump and swim back to shore, the beach disappears. All that was left was a dark void. The sand that the ghoul and I stood on turned into a black rounded stone. The ghoul and I were engaged in a staring contest.

It opened its only eye and spoke

“We meet again...Princess.”

“Why are you here?” I ask.

“Thoughts of old shall reappear--..” The ghoul throws back his head/skeleton proudly. He is a mix of bone and flesh with blood spouting and mucus like secretions.

“Actions of old will rain and smear. Women will bow and slaves exisT! This time has been coming for so long you will want to resist. Your only chance of survival is to bow or fight with their blood.” He smiles.

“Who is doing this?” I ask.

“Man.”

The ghoul looks to the west of the horizon then gets freakishly close to my face. I can tell he’s a dead drunk.

“Your world is about to fall and I wish I was human so I could have my way with you.” He whispers in a sinister tone.

I step back and say

“What have I ever done to you?”

“Nothing.”

I winced back in pain..

"They should have never let you have a choice!!!” The ghoul screams and disappears. I’m alone on the rock and slowly the sandbank reappears..

My eyes shoot open and I stare at the ceiling.

Day 2

010:30:00 A.M.

Dan is in the living room surfing the news. The sky continues to change colors. Dan yells out,

“HOLY MOLY! Grace, have you seen this?”

He hands me his phone so I can scroll through reports of terrorist attacks in London, Hong Kong and NYC.

The news anchor's voice takes over the living room.

Channel 11 News

“Authorities are asking that you stay indoors as the air quality is quite poor today and causing a rare virus.

K: Thank you Rodney. Within 4 hours the entire world has been put on high alert as major cities across the world have been attacked without the unknown cause. There is a highly sophisticated group that has currently hacked major financial institutions, put a hold on Blockchain trading and has also seized assets totaling more than 7.3 billion pounds and counting. This group has claimed responsibility for bombings in Helsinki, London, New York, Los Angeles and many more cities are falling victim to carnage. There is a complete media blackout in the state of Florida and Rod---

::THE SCREEN GOES BLANK::

“What just happened? Do you think she’s still on air?” I look over at Dan.

“Dan looks at the screen and turns around with a sigh.

I start dinner to occupy my time.

Day 3

I walk out to the backyard patio and sunbathe in the late afternoon. My skin is glistening in the sun. I open my diary and read notes from life before. All I want to do is stare at a polaroid of Clark and I sitting together at the beach. He spent the afternoon minding me and our affections.

Whenever I misplace my journal photo-- I google J.F.K. Jr. since they look a little similar. I stare intensely at us and imagine my lover dressed in a pin-striped suit lounging with me. My tears blur my dream vision.

I can no longer keep my time outside. Before entering inside a package marked “Special Delivery.” hovers in front of me via a drone and I’m alarmed at how fast it moves.

My name is written on the package ‘Grace Triz“... I opened the box to find a deep maroon velvet box. Upon opening, a folded note drops from the compact and I gasp at the sight of a golden heart shaped locket with a green heart stone in the middle.

The note read:

“My love. I am alive and well. The coup’s here in Europe were brutal. All countries except Belgium have been recovered by the forces. Stay in doors. Purple Skies are dangerous and so is this locket --which is your passport. DO NOT LET ANYONE SEE THIS LOCKET. If a dragon comes near you and doesn’t kill you, consider your flight 5 mins from take off…

-Your champion ;)

I’m excited and terrified at the same time. I look down at the locket and realize that it can be opened. Wow...Clark put two candid photos of us together.. A photo where we’re locked in a deep gaze and another shows him kissing my cheek.

I put it on and go to sleep..

Day 4

11:30:05 A.M.

Eventually the night breaks into morning and I wander outside into my backyard. Dan announced that he went to collect food rations. I sit outside listening to the sounds of nature while a large iguana basks in the sun. I meditate on the peaceful sounds and sights of birds and dragonflies..

ZAAAP! I jump. ‘ What on earth was that?’ I look at the transformer for 30 seconds and notice a snake wiggling vigorously. I wonder why it climbed so high -- then it becomes obvious that the iguana had climbed to its death once the tail stopped swaying.

Death makes me feel indifferent now.

Day 5

02:56:00 a.m.

I hear it.. The purple sky has turned black and a beastly screech comes again. It’s the beast… I know it and since it’s night time I sneak a peek. The sight is disgusting. Corpses are charred, skulls turn to ashes. Blood and corpses illuminated by fire as far as I can see. The belly of a beast appears and soon lets out a deep roar. It slowly lowers its head. A green heart shaped jewel identical to my locket is embedded on its forehead. This beast is a dragon. Someone is riding on its back!

How exactly did my love come in possession of this locket with the same jewel. My mind races as I turn around and return to bed.

16:15:06 HRS

Dan is quiet across the hall so I stay quiet. He complained of a headache all morning.

I walk on the balcony wearing a velvet hooded cloak from Clark.

I cannot stand the putrid smell outside. I must retreat.

The dragon with the heart flies up to me.

“Hi.” I whisper to it after a few seconds of a silent staring contest. I feel nuts.

The dragon blinks and blows air from its’ nostrils. It looks up and around then flies out of my view. Something inside me says to wait...

“If a dragon comes near you and doesn’t kill you, consider your flight 5 mins from take off…”

OH MY GOODNESS!!!. We have to leave. I ran to get Dan.

“Dan!” I burst into his room and regretted it. He’s standing and twitching and has blood all over his face and clothes. He lunges at me and is missing both hands. I scream and shut his door. I run to my room and lock up.

I go back to my window and let out a cry looking frantically in the sky for a sign. It’s getting harder to breathe. Once again I hear the song

“Valhol Valhol

Valhalla..”

“GRACE!” The dragon has returned.

A man emerges from the back of it and jumps through the window. He’s wearing a gas mask and puts another on me. Afterwards he immediately stabs me with what he calls ‘The Antidote.”

“Any others?” asks the Rider.

“One other. He is contaminated. He ate his hands!” The Rider looks away. I can see the disappointment in his face.

“Do you have everything?” asks the rider.

“What’s everything?” I begin to cry.

“Your passport!” He yells through his mask. I look up and show him the locket. He smiles with an approving nod.

The dragon lifts up his head to spew fire as we jump on its back. It slowly hovers towards the sky.

Dan breaks down my bedroom door and runs out onto the balcony. He looks normal again.

“Hey! Wait! You can’t leave. Come back! I’m hungry!! HaHaHa it’s your duty to be my slave! Haha!!” His laughter is manic.

His face explodes and half of it flies towards us -- his sinister half smile coming right towards the dragon. I’d scream but screaming is normal now.

I must have been staring at the sky for a while when Clark claims we are entering a ‘hypertravel space zone.’

“We will be in Marseilles for dinner soon,” he says.

“How is that possible?” I ask.

“Anything is possible now.” He grins. It’s Clark. I’m sure of it now.

“Clark..may I ask you to be clear with me?”

“Granted.” He winks.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I’m a hybrid humanoid of the 165th Top Secret, Black Elephant Forces. I have been assigned to protect this sector of planet earth.” Clarks eyes are dark.

“Am I your property?” I ask matter-of-factly.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“This is the New world. We have to use these labels and you must obey the rules to stay alive." Clark says passionately.

I dare not object. It appears that he’s letting me down slowly; I really have no choice.

“What's happening with Purple Skies?” I ask calmly.

“Good is pure and evil cares to be absolute. The constant practice of killing and deception has led to the necessary torment of mankind. First comes Purple Skies. “ Clark grins at me proudly through his gas mask..

“So you will be a politician under Purple Skies?” I never take my eyes off of him.

“Yes. I will be more than that, love. I will be ABSOLUTE and no one will ever stand in the way of that.” He speaks softly to my terror.

He pets the dragon and motions me to look around. My old world has vanquished. Far below the view is infested with chaos; war in the Midwest; New World soldiers and citizens are gunning each other down.

Purple skies spread up the east coast into Canada where people are suffocating from the lack of oxygen. The purple skies bleed over into the ocean with rain clouds of blood spilling bloody rain droplets.

The ghoul from my dream has returned only to conquer me as his concubine and continue his life under the ‘Order’ of his war torn lands of Purple Skies.