Dave's Enlightenment [2013]

The screen glowed a sickly grey in the dark room, the only light to illuminate his tired, lined face.

Dave was a digital immigrant, born before the first Tandy had hit the shelves, but was severely hooked for more than a decade, spending long hours reading, watching videos and interacting in various chat rooms all over the web. He was 'in on things' that the other people he knew had no idea about. Not that that was a good thing, he mused, remembering the glazed eyes of those who he had occasionally confided in. The hard lesson he learned was that most simply would rather not know and remain ignorant.

Ignorance is bliss, he thought, for the millionth time and inwardly groaned as he clicked on a newly posted Youtube vid.

'Aliens among us' was his primary belief. Shapeshifters, or aliens who hid their true identity, had been proven by countless others like him and Dave was convinced of it. For the past few years, he held back discussing it with anyone other that those he trusted online. It was too dangerous. You really couldn't know who was or wasn't human 'out there' in real life. Better to just keep it to myself, he figured. Why take a chance by blabbing about such things?

Dave also believed that the aliens were here for a reason... they had an agenda of some sort and he had read of quite a few theories on that subject. Reaping was a big one that worried him a lot. The less people 'out there' knew him, the less of a chance a reptilian would have him marked for a future Sunday dinner. So he stayed home as much as he could, avoiding his neighbours and sticking closely to his extended family. Dave wasn't married himself, but his two brothers were and they had kids. Then there were his parents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, all of whom expected him for to attend holiday suppers, family BBQ's, odd marriages and the eventual funeral that cropped up occasionally. These people he focused on because he knew who they were and trusted them to be human. Either that, or he was a reptilian himself and didn't know it.

Church was out for Dave and so was the local pub. Crowds of any kind made him uneasy, so it was either family or the web for his social circle. As far as work went, he clocked in, did his time and normally went home right afterwards. Groceries got delivered and he was one helluva good cook because recipes were so easy to get online. That was his singular joy in life. He found he could put just about anything delicious together in the kitchen.

But, tonight, as the digital clock ticked over to 11:49PM, GMT, the quiche and white wine tasted flat. It was the Mayan Calendar thing that had Dave bothered. Everything he had learned, all of it, seemed to be coming to a frightful, inescapable conclusion. The elite .05% of the people on this planet were reptilians and they seemed to be gathering in one city... a place closed to the rest of humankind unless they somehow managed to accrue billions in wealth quickly. It was situated in the Middle East, of all places. Who in Hell wants to live in that godforsaken place anyways? But Dave has seen the pictures of the fabulous buildings, exotic cars and housing complexes build on islands shaped like palm trees in warm offshore waters.

Frowning, Dave clicked through a few news sites, hoping to find hints of the coming storm. As usual, there was that fiscal cliff thing that was causing a stir because nobody wanted to give an inch. Also, the constant fighting in Africa, the Middle East and anywhere else there was something someone else wanted enough to kill for, which is just about anything these days. Then there were the usual kidnappings, murders, highway pileups, etc., but what he really needed to see was big quakes, solar flares and tectonic plates grinding together. All was far too normal, it seemed to Dave, and it worried him.

12:10 clicked over on the clock and the chat forums were busy... too busy. Dave headed for other sites that were user-generated and, they too, were loaded with members posting like crazy. Everybody, it seemed, was looking for clues exactly like he was.

Crazy.

Dave just read posts, tripping from thread to thread, website to website. He didn't care about work tomorrow. Why should he? It was all going to Hell tomorrow anyways, so why bother, right? The clock was forgotten as he searched, and searched, and searched. Time flew by quickly and Dave shut it down in weary frustration.

Zzzzzzzz...

The clock radio clicked on at exactly 0700 hours, GMT and the girl bringing the morning news sounded chipper as a robin full of fresh spring worms. A nice sunny winter's day lay ahead with zero precipitation expected, apparently. Traffic was moving well and the mayor had announced that the city bus fares would rise by a few cents in the New Year.

Dave lifted his head off the couch armrest and, just for a moment, looked at the streetlight outside before pulling the blanket back over his face. He felt warm and comfortable in the darkness and listened halfheartedly to the quite normal newscast. The biggest story this morning, it seemed was the mayor's announcement.

Boring.

Under the blanket, Dave did something he'd not done in a while... he smiled to himself. He was truly enlightened. Finally!

reply to post by masqua


Enjoyed the heck out of it! You Sir, are and always will be, the man!

~Heff

So subtle, but so powerful. My imagination assigned Dave the face of the Buddha at the end.

S&F!!!

reply to post by masqua


reply to post by chasingbrahman


Thanks. I think I got the effect right. I wonder how many others, who are spending their days fretting over the 2012 Date of Doom, will wake up the next day with a renewed sense of hope for the future.

reply to post by masqua


Funny you mention that, because despite being a cautious optimist (hey, I study human behavior - I can only be so optimistic ;-)), on January 1st of this year, I had an absolutely overwhelming feeling that things weren't just going to be alright - they were going to be awesome. Despite being chest-deep in a royal disaster, I smiled at what was to come. That feeling followed me the first three days of the year. Not sure what to make of that, given the path our world has taken. But I still feel like the only bad that will come will be the result of a fanatical entity - group or individual - that completely loses its mind.

Originally posted by chasingbrahman
reply to post by masqua

 

But I still feel like the only bad that will come will be the result of a fanatical entity - group or individual - that completely loses its mind.

Prophecies, prophecies... when do your tidings fulfill.

There are two paths before us and the time of choosing is at hand. As an eternal optimist in regards to the intellectual development of the human race, I firmly believe that we will choose that path which will benefit not only ourselves, but the entire circle of life on this good earth. Too bad we always need to wait until we're on the precipice looking at complete ruination.

Originally posted by masqua


Thanks. I think I got the effect right. I wonder how many others, who are spending their days fretting over the 2012 Date of Doom, will wake up the next day with a renewed sense of hope for the future.

edit on 6/12/12 by masqua because: (no reason given)

Believe it or not I love these softly subtle stories the best AND I gotta feeling that its the fact that nothing will probably happen (at least on the 'fire and brimstone' scale) is probably what it's really all about.

Fantastic work masqua