The taste of honey

“…and so the red planet colony was bleeding.” He flavored the last sentence. “What do you think?” 

After a pause, the publisher said: “I love it! People'll love it! We’ll sell the movie rights.”

“Uh, I wrote it with Matt Damon in mind.” 

“Of course you did.”

The 21st century was an era of calamities: economic slump, hyperinflation, depression, unemployment, pandemics, ecologic collapse, social unrest, you name it. So big powers did what they always do to reset the economy: “Let’s start a World War!”

Nowadays, I spend my time in the metaverse after spicing my senses with compound B, which is recommended to tolerate self-isolation. At least, my memories of Nina are melting, mixing, and finally fading. You end up remembering a lot to forget someone.

The horror stunned me when I heard that bestial roar. Malthus the giant, that unstoppable juggernaut, that servant of Hel, was storming towards me. I raised my sword and shouted my guts off knowing that today I’ll be joining the ranks of Odin in Valhalla.

“Thinking that the cosmos is random is like thinking that a watch can spontaneously assemble out of random parts,” the man on the conference podium said. “Life has been designed, the designer's cipher is everywhere.”

An incredulous murmur broke the silence.

A disquiet lamentation stained the cold afternoon silence. The Dominion’s soldiers were busy sodomizing the humans who survived the last incursion. One of them was left to witness the martyrdom, and to share what he saw with his own people. 

“This won't be forgotten.”

The evacuation transport arrived at the accident site. Dozens of miners were lying dead at the open pit mine, their bodies exposed to the noxious atmosphere. In their faces, I saw the desperation. Each had a story to tell, but all their stories ended here, today.

Time travel errors are not uncommon, as you may know from basic training. 

Once, a widget error made me jump to a busy corner in Lyon-1962CE. A few bystanders saw me before I managed to pull back. People reported a UFO, our usual cover up at that era.

The demons were quietly waiting for me when I returned home, the sons of the averno didn't even try to hide. Inflicting terror is their favorite trick, but I've learned a few tricks since our last encounter. The pandemonium that followed was epic.

I was stuck in O'Hare waiting for my flight when my lawyer texted me that the IRS had frozen all my bank accounts. Then I had a stroke; I died right there.

The next thing I recall was walking alone, a ghost; I've been wandering alone since then… until you arrived.

Two equinoid creatures were observing me quietly when I woke up. Both aliens’ faces had humanoid features, but their familiarity ended there. I was in an induced soothing state, and couldn’t even remember who I was. That was my first abduction.

No armor could have shielded me from his gentle touch.

“I had a dream,” Anuk said, “I floated outside my body, up to the sky, and I saw the clouds from above.” 

“Tell me more,” his father said. 

“Suddenly, the day turned night, and the land below in a large circle in the dark. I saw no country, only clouds, land, and sea.”

“Oh, that's a power vision, son.”

“Can be true, father?”

“The wise men of the tribe said that the world is a flat vessel floating on a sea of dark water sea.” He stopped to ponder. “I can't find any contradiction with your dream.” 

“I’m broke, and I lost my job.” 

“Are you sick?” 

“No.” 

“So, you are healthy. You'll find another job. Hold my hand and come inside.” 

Down on the street, people watched the man on the building’s ledge going through the window. 

No one noticed the winged man next to him.

There is an infinite library which contains the bibliography of all people that ever lived and that would ever live. I spend most of my days trying to find the book that relates to my life. Sadly, that book is about a man who wasted his all life searching for a book.

“The tea was lovely, and the dessert a delight, oh my!

Thanks, doc. Your psychedelic drugs therapy put an end to my schizophrenia, at last.” 

“You're very welcome, my dear. 

Oh, the all mighty mind: tuned to perfection, crafted to not last.”

The Martians, blind by their hubris, had ignored the utter diversity of life on our planet. 

We, on the other side, learned a lesson of humbleness by watching how the smallest creature on Earth was abler than our best weapons to defeat the red armada.

I live in a sad and colorless world, where apathy is the norm. But once a year, I open a window to your world to see nice colors and happy people. However, that year, I only saw people who feared and distrusted each other. People who hide their faces with shame behind masks.