Hank's Story

Posted on Tue Nov 14th, 2023 @ 7:23pm by Brohs & Wendy

1,240 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Secret Spies
Location: USS Samurai, Cargo Bay Bulkhead
Timeline: MD 1, 1300

It was Hank's turn to tell a story, and he was ready. Gathered around him were about a dozen of his frequent companions, hanging from various appendages in the ventilation shaft. Some hung upside down and some right side up, but they were all firmly attached by their feet to something.

The Brohs appeared bat-like, in that they had wings, with grasping feet, but they were hairless. Instead, they were covered with scales, somewhat dragon-like, and they had a double spine.

There were probably half a dozen stories which Hank *did* know, and he planned to tell his favorite tonight. Having the mentality of a Terran nine-year-old might have been considered a handicap by some, notably the mothers of Terran nine-year-olds, but the Bros knew no other life nor capability, so they lived happy, unfettered lives, for the most part.

Hank waited for the typical Broh teasing and cat-calling to die down around him, spread his wings, and then furled them comfortably at half-mast and began.

"I heard this story from Blake, who was a dude who could fly the gnarliest gap, spittin' barrels, and come out the far side laughin'. He said he heard it from Fred, who wiped out in his sleep. And he heard it ... I dunno. He heard it, that's where it's at. I believe it's real ... because of the colors."

He cleared his throat and settled into the story.

"Once, in the long ago time, we lived in a different place. It wasn't made of metals, and there was a glowing orb in the sky sometimes. It's been called a lightbulb, but it was bigger than any lightbulb we have ever seen, and sometimes it went out, like Wendy's power source. We were happy there, and lived in rocks and caves. We roamed all day, finding food and water easily, and even then, we played Jump the Gap." He paused dramatically to look around his audience, making eye contact with each of them and building suspense.

"All good things come to an end, and so it was with us. One day, a brighter light than our glowing orb appeared in the sky ... and it came toward us ... closer ... closer," his voice descended almost to a whisper, "... and when it went out, there was a metal ship sitting outside the caves, on the ground." His voice hushed for a moment, and then hurried on, louder.

"We all ran into the caves, as far back as we could go, trembling and afraid. What was this thing? We didn't know 'metal'. We didn't know 'ship'. We only learned them to our sad dismay after many days of experience. How long we stayed in the caves, no one knows. No one thought to make stick marks on the wall, as our orb flashed off and on Gradually, we calmed. Slowly, we thought about looking out. No one did, for an unmeasured time.

"Finally, one female, Betty, let go of her perch and slowly flew toward the entrance to the out. No one followed her. No one expected to see her again. Then we did. She flew back as slowly as she had left, and she had a story to tell. We gathered around her, and we listened as she told what she'd seen. What we came to know as 'ship' was still there. There were creatures going in and out of it. They were scraping up our dirt and taking it inside. They were putting our food in containers and taking it, too. They spoke some kind of language, but it was hard to hear, and it wasn't like ours."

Again, Hank paused to let his listeners think about these things, before he continued, "But the strangest thing was ... they were all different colors! She ... when we followed her back and looked ... had never seen so many different colors. A few were what we recognize now as red. A few more were gold. But most of them, the most fearsome of all, were ... blue! We learned many things about the blue ones, lessons that stick with us still. We must always fear the colors, but the blue," he shuddered dramatically, "the blue are the worst, the most diabolical of all! The only ones you can trust, and then sparingly, are the ones who wear a pin with snakes on it. They are the bone-setters.

"Never forget. The colors are bad, fearsome, strong. They want to open your head and -" here he made a loud sucking sound with his tongue, "scooooop your brain out!"

Even prepared for this moment, most of the listeners drew in a noisy breath of horror, as if they had forgotten this story point. Several actually shuddered.

"That's right. And how do I know this? Because the story says they caught our fathers and took them inside the 'ship', along with everything else they took from our home. They restrained us and put us in cages. Then there was a mighty shaking of the 'ship' and when it stopped ... everything was taken out that had been taken in, including our fathers ... and our mothers."

A silence had fallen over the group, a silence of respect and sorrow, and for some of the younger ones, a silence of confusion. This was the first time they'd heard this story, but they would remember it forever.

"We were left in the cages and taken inside this base, set on high surfaces, as if that were going to keep us from escape. But we were smarter than the colors! They left us alone, thinking the cages would hold us in. They had not noticed our wing hands. They didn't know what we could do. They didn't know we can see in the dark. We were smarter than they were!

"When they didn't come back, we took the restraints off each other, and we opened the cages. We flew up to a grate over a ventilation shaft, and we took it off. Our fathers and mothers flew into the shaft and away. They followed it for many sleep times, and finally came here, where there were no colors to be seen outside. Here we settled, and here will will always be safe from the colors ... as long as they don't know about us. Because, if they do ... they scooooop our brains out!" He made the sucking noise again, and a collective shudder went around the group.

For a while, everyone was silent, thinking about the story. Then a young one piped up. "I don't believe it. It's just a story."

Hank gave him the evil eye and said sternly. "You'd better believe it, and you'd better stay away from the colors, or you'll find out for yourself, and it won't be pretty. I myself have seen a room with jars with brains in it. The colors are barbaric, and they are still doing it."

A couple with a young one detached from the wall. "Thank you, Hank. That is an important story to hear, and a lesson to remember. We're going to play now."

One by one, two by two, three by three, those hanging on the walls said something similar, detached and flew away until they were all gone. Hank relaxed for a moment. Maybe it will save their lives some day.

Finally, Hank detached also, thinking: I'm going to go find a game of 'Jump the Gap'. It is good to remember, but better to play.

 

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