Celestial Taxi

Rain started falling harder on the windshield as I drove. I turned the windshield wipers up a notch. I hate driving in the rain. I hate driving. Why am I doing this? Out of the corner of my eye I saw my black notebook on the edge of the passenger seat. I blindly reached for it without taking my eyes off the road. I fumbled around until I felt it’s soft leather cover. This notebook cannot leave me. This notebook is my only record of events. It is proof of my sanity...or insanity.

There was darkness all around me, the skies, the earth. The headlights shone steadfast on the road but it made no difference. My eyes weren't made for the dark. I was trying to remember where to turn. What was the signal? It’s in the notebook. I have it memorized but my heart is beating so fast and loud it’s disorienting. My thoughts cannot be heard. I need to catch my breath. Pullover.

In a parking lot outside of a liquidated furniture store, I turned on the light. I opened the worn-in notebook, ran my thumb over the rounded corners and flipped through the vanilla pages. What was the signal? I found the journal entry: ‘A comet hit, I was transported to a station.” I need to look for a comet...maybe a billboard or something? Dreams are so vague-especially haunting and repetitive ones that torture you for years upon years. I shoved half a granola bar in my mouth. I put the car in reverse and heard a thump.

I was frozen in time, afraid to move. What did I just hit? Suddenly, in my rearview mirror a hooded figure rose up. It was oddly misshapen. A creature from another world, no doubt. I willed my fingers to put the car back into drive but they were stone. It was approaching. My heart was screaming in my ears. This must be my time to die, I reasoned. The figure banged on my window, motioning me to roll it down. I heard a muffled, almost human voice through the glass. I gathered the courage to look at it’s face. It was a kid?!

“LET ME IN!!!!!” she/he yelled, pressing it’s forehead against the glass.

“IT IS NECESSARY THAT YOU PERMIT ME TO ENTER YOUR VEHICLE!!!!”

I could see a stern determination in the eyes staring at me along with something familiar. I frantically flipped through the dream journal looking for anything reminiscent of this child.

“WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!!!!!!” the kid pleaded.

I pushed the button. The kid clambered over to the passenger side and slammed the door shut.

“Who are you?” I asked, suspiciously.

“My name is Iniri. I am the daughter of Orion.” she said.

“What the hell does that mean?” I was puzzled. What kind of junior lunatic did I pick up?

“Just drive. We have somewhere to be.” she said with authority beyond her years.

“Drive where?’ I asked.

Iniri removed her overcoat and I discovered she wasn’t misshapen at all. Her features were delicate yet androgynous. On her side she was concealing a duffle bag. “That way.” she pointed North. I started driving and she unzipped the bag. Out from the bag she pulled a living, breathing rat. I love animals, but even I have limits. I swerved… “What the!!!” I gasped. “Please relax. This is Comet. He is a dear friend. Do you require assistance driving?” Iniri asked, holding the rat close. The rat looked at me, I looked at the rat. Of course his name is Comet.

“Do you have any other rodents in the bag?” I asked.

“No.” she zipped it up quickly and threw it over her shoulder into the backseat.

I began to feel more at ease now because I felt like this was part of the plan. Instead of a Comet hitting, I kind of hit a Comet...with my car. Potato, po-ta-toe.

The rain had stopped and the air smelled of quenched earth. Iniri rolled down her window slightly. I ventured to ask where we were going again. She simply stared out the window for a while and said, “It is written in your notebook.”

“My notebook is just a dream journal. It is probably a meaningless collection of symbols and a few words strung together. For some reason I have this force moving me to act on it. I do not understand it. I don’t even know where I’m going, who I’m with. There’s a rat in my car…” nervous laughter escaped from my throat.

“Dreams are not meaningless. You have been called upon to complete a task. At the end of the task, you will be given a choice.” Iniri explained. “I am being called back to the Threshold. My time here is done. It is time to cast my vote.”

“Vote?” I was so confused. Obviously this kid needed to be on medication or I needed to be on medication. Maybe I was already on medication and these were the side effects...I was insane and operating a motor vehicle.

“I think I should pullover.”

“Very well. Comet can drive.” Iniri said with the wave of her hand. The rat skittered across the dash. I was going insane. There is no other explanation. “Rats cannot drive. Not even in the midst of a psychotic delusion will I let a rat drive my car.” Iniri placed her hand on my shoulder and spoke softly, “You are not delusional. We are approaching a tunnel. The tunnel will transport us to the station. Once we enter the tunnel, let go of the wheel. You will no longer be driving the car.” There was certainty and a strange comfort in her words. All I could do was nod.

I felt a lump rise and bubble in my throat as we approached the tunnel. It was regular in every way and yet that bubble dropped like a lead balloon as we entered. As if I was a merrionette controlled by strings, my hands dropped away from the wheel. The tunnel was black as a moonless night. There was no light to be seen except my headlights.

“Why is it so dark? Am I dying?” I asked somberly.

“You are all dying.” she said matter of factly. “But now you are transporting me to the station.”

“What are you voting for? What is this about?” I needed to know.

“I must vote in favor or against the continuation of your kind. I have spent time amongst you, observing. I have gathered the intel of others like me. I know enough.” She jutted her chin out slightly.

“Are you plotting to blow up the planet? Do you have nuclear weapons?” She must be a terrorist in training, no doubt..

“There are an infinite number of galaxies in the great beyond. Beyond the veil of what you know as space and time there are other worlds, other paradigms. There are many levels of existence beyond your comprehension. Earth, as you call it, has a connection to all of this but the connection is being severed. The oceans are being choked. The planet is shrouded with noxious particles that emanate from the atmosphere. Everything is being destroyed. To put it in your terms, Earth is the “Mother” and she is being raped and pillaged every single day. Her children, the innocents are murdered, slaughtered, caged, and destroyed for sport and habit. You eat and you fight and you reproduce. You obsess over money when the Mother is dying. You stare at reflections and worry about social media while mountains of garbage pile u while the Mother is dying. You lie, cheat, steal.You kill each other. The Mother gets angry and creates great storms of wind and water. The Mother warns you with disease. Do not destroy her forests. Still you do not listen. You suffocate the Mother. You bleed the Mother dry. She responds with fire. Still you do not listen. No one is listening.”

The rat is staring at me. Iniri is staring at me. I feel the weight of billions of guilty souls upon my shoulders.

“We want to save the Mother and the innocents. All the galaxies in the universe have planted seeds of wisdom and promise over hundreds and thousands of years in hopes your kind would save yourselves. Save the Mother. They have failed. There is an innate selfishness...a pervasive evil that lives in each of you. It rots. I can smell it. So can Comet.”

The rat returned to Iniri’s lap. The irony of being called disgusting by a rat did not go unnoticed.

“So what is going to happen?” I dared to ask.

“I will reach the Threshold, the point where all the veils between worlds are transient, and I will cast my vote to save the innocents, save the Mother but purge the rest.” Iniri turned to face me. Her face was stone. Her decision was made. Somehow, I could not blame her.

“How will we be purged? Can any of us be spared?” I asked, still only half believing I wasn’t crazy.

“The purge will happen organically. Your kind will destroy themselves and soon. We are not monsters. We are not vengeful. The universe exists in harmony. The vote is simply a refrain to intercede. There will be an opportunity to be spared, if you choose to be. You are a transporter. Some others have been chosen for other tasks. Very few are born with the Reception, like yourself. Even those who have it, many times choose to deny it.”

The tunnel was as endless as my questions. I came to understand that human existence will soon be no more. The details of our undoing were not shared but it will be at our own hands. My car sped up and suddenly a swirl of lights was visible at the end of the tunnel.The car slowed to a halt and I opened my eyes to see a commuter train stop.

“Comet and I must get to the platform. Things will be a bit fuzzy in the morning. You will not remember all the details of this night. You will not remember me or Comet. You will feel the significance of the events that transpired but you will never recall exactly what happened. I have placed a duffel bag with a monetary amount of $20,000 in your backseat. I wrote a note in your little black notebook reassuring you that there was no robbery or illegal activity that took place. You will be rewarded with money when you transport one of us because that is what your kind holds in the highest regard. Best of luck and congratulations for being spared. I hope to see you someday when you pass the Threshold.”

Iniri walked onto the platform with Comet. A silver flash bolted past and she was gone. I pulled away and drove into the tunnel only to find it was an ordinary tunnel. In and out the otherside. Suddenly there was such a loud buzzing in my ears. It reverberated through my skull. I drove into the parking lot of a pancake house. I crawled into the backseat and closed my eyes, willing it to stop.

I woke up to the bright sun shining in through the side window. Startled, to find myself in my backseat I bolted up only to be greeted by the worst headache of my life. Did I get drunk in the parking lot of Pippy’s Pancakes? I looked down at the strange duffel bag I was sleeping on. I unzipped it to find $20,000 in cash and my journal. Instantly I began to panic. I opened my little black notebook to a folded down page. In handwriting unknown to me it said: “You did not rob a bank or obtain this money illegally. This is celestial taxi fare”. Celestial taxi? I laughed. No way. I hate driving.