Awake
Julius Butcher
Synopsis
Three short stories are compiled in this e-book, each one taking the reader to different areas of the science-fiction realm.
Counter Attack: After the alien invasion the Earth is devastated. Small groups still resist and fight back, but their days may run out soon. By luck, they have the chance to take revenge on the aliens.
Calm, Calm West: Everett Marshall is not an ordinary sheriff, he is from the future, doing a job. If he does it well, the Wild West is going to change for good. Unfortunately not everyone is satisfied with the expected result, they want the West as Wild as it is. And they have better gadgets.
Awake: Before William Calver had an accident and fell into coma, he had put a card into his wallet, allowing the doctors to use his organs to save lives. He couldn't imagine that they will use his whole body. He couldn't imagine that it will save his own life.
Counter Attack: After the alien invasion the Earth is devastated. Small groups still resist and fight back, but their days may run out soon. By luck, they have the chance to take revenge on the aliens.
Calm, Calm West: Everett Marshall is not an ordinary sheriff, he is from the future, doing a job. If he does it well, the Wild West is going to change for good. Unfortunately not everyone is satisfied with the expected result, they want the West as Wild as it is. And they have better gadgets.
Awake: Before William Calver had an accident and fell into coma, he had put a card into his wallet, allowing the doctors to use his organs to save lives. He couldn't imagine that they will use his whole body. He couldn't imagine that it will save his own life.
Excerpt
It started with that terrible car crash. I don't really remember the whole
thing, just fragments, flashes of images of a truck coming right at my car, the
world spinning around, the scattered glass flying everywhere and the sharp pain
in my head. Then everything went dark and silent.
Someone said that when you die you see your whole life playing in front of your eyes, like a movie. Nothing like that happened to me, and I didn't see a tunnel of bright light either.
They also say that people in comas hear everything, so it helps to talk to them. There may be some truth in it because I think I heard someone talking, though I didn't understand the words. I didn't have any sense of time passing. The five years I spent unconscious could have been easily twenty. Or months or days. I don't know how much time passed before I started to hear voices. They sounded like someone talking, but I couldn't grasp the meaning. Time after time I saw blurred figures and I understood a few words, but then the darkness embraced me again. It seemed that the periods came more frequently, when the smoky shapes appeared. Sometimes my body felt weightless, and I had the feeling that it moved without me moving it. These were strange experiences, on the cusp between dreams and reality.
Then something very strange happened. I heard a woman's voice, sounds of voluptuous pleasure. It was distant and low first, then it became louder, then an outline of a human body loomed up before me. My vision cleared, and I found myself unambiguously positioned on top of a woman, who was clearly enjoying our interaction. An enormous feeling of pleasure overwhelmed me, then I slowly sank down to the darkness again. I hung between being and nothingness, the thoughts escaping before taking shape in my mind.
Later, and I have no idea how much later, I heard other sounds. They were different. It was like pulling the pillow over your head when you don't want to wake up. A light comes in, you hear noises, but you're not awake enough to catch their meaning. Then I woke up.
If I'd been able to expect anything about being in a coma, I would have expected to find myself laying in a bed, under white sheets, tubes connecting me to medical machines. Instead, I found myself in a gym, running on a treadmill, the world jumping up and down with the rhythm of my steps. I heard dynamic music, which got louder and louder, becoming disturbing. I heard the clapping of my soles on the equipment, and all those other noises you heard only in a gym. I saw people around me, stretching and leaning and working on all kinds of fitness machines. I was sweating, my heart was pumping quickly, and I felt my muscles aching from the exercise. I smelled flowery air freshener and the smell of sweat. I was happy to feel again. I was happy to live again. But how the hell had I gotten to the gym whilst unconscious?
I wanted to stop the treadmill to have a rest and to think about what just had happened, but instead, I realized I was grinning and waving to a hottie in close-fitting shorts.
"What the hell?" I said. At least I thought I said it, but no sound left my mouth. Even my mouth wasn't moving, I just continued the heavy inhaling and exhaling. I stumbled, almost falling off the treadmill, and I quickly pushed the stop button, grabbing the rail with my other hand.
"Who was that?" I heard my own voice.
It was scary that it wasn't me, yet it was my body who spoke. Independently from my will. I wanted to wipe the sweat from my forehead but instead I continued holding to the rail. I wanted to get off the mill too but instead I started pushing the control buttons. My body wasn't responding to the commands I was giving it, like it was living its own life. I was scared shitless.
"Just hallucinations," I heard my voice.
"What's going on?" I shouted, but it again remained in my thoughts.
"Jesus," I said out loud. "This cannot be. No, it cannot be happening!"
"What can't happen?" I asked another silent question.
"He's woken up. He's woken up!" my body said.
"Who's woken up?"
Someone said that when you die you see your whole life playing in front of your eyes, like a movie. Nothing like that happened to me, and I didn't see a tunnel of bright light either.
They also say that people in comas hear everything, so it helps to talk to them. There may be some truth in it because I think I heard someone talking, though I didn't understand the words. I didn't have any sense of time passing. The five years I spent unconscious could have been easily twenty. Or months or days. I don't know how much time passed before I started to hear voices. They sounded like someone talking, but I couldn't grasp the meaning. Time after time I saw blurred figures and I understood a few words, but then the darkness embraced me again. It seemed that the periods came more frequently, when the smoky shapes appeared. Sometimes my body felt weightless, and I had the feeling that it moved without me moving it. These were strange experiences, on the cusp between dreams and reality.
Then something very strange happened. I heard a woman's voice, sounds of voluptuous pleasure. It was distant and low first, then it became louder, then an outline of a human body loomed up before me. My vision cleared, and I found myself unambiguously positioned on top of a woman, who was clearly enjoying our interaction. An enormous feeling of pleasure overwhelmed me, then I slowly sank down to the darkness again. I hung between being and nothingness, the thoughts escaping before taking shape in my mind.
Later, and I have no idea how much later, I heard other sounds. They were different. It was like pulling the pillow over your head when you don't want to wake up. A light comes in, you hear noises, but you're not awake enough to catch their meaning. Then I woke up.
If I'd been able to expect anything about being in a coma, I would have expected to find myself laying in a bed, under white sheets, tubes connecting me to medical machines. Instead, I found myself in a gym, running on a treadmill, the world jumping up and down with the rhythm of my steps. I heard dynamic music, which got louder and louder, becoming disturbing. I heard the clapping of my soles on the equipment, and all those other noises you heard only in a gym. I saw people around me, stretching and leaning and working on all kinds of fitness machines. I was sweating, my heart was pumping quickly, and I felt my muscles aching from the exercise. I smelled flowery air freshener and the smell of sweat. I was happy to feel again. I was happy to live again. But how the hell had I gotten to the gym whilst unconscious?
I wanted to stop the treadmill to have a rest and to think about what just had happened, but instead, I realized I was grinning and waving to a hottie in close-fitting shorts.
"What the hell?" I said. At least I thought I said it, but no sound left my mouth. Even my mouth wasn't moving, I just continued the heavy inhaling and exhaling. I stumbled, almost falling off the treadmill, and I quickly pushed the stop button, grabbing the rail with my other hand.
"Who was that?" I heard my own voice.
It was scary that it wasn't me, yet it was my body who spoke. Independently from my will. I wanted to wipe the sweat from my forehead but instead I continued holding to the rail. I wanted to get off the mill too but instead I started pushing the control buttons. My body wasn't responding to the commands I was giving it, like it was living its own life. I was scared shitless.
"Just hallucinations," I heard my voice.
"What's going on?" I shouted, but it again remained in my thoughts.
"Jesus," I said out loud. "This cannot be. No, it cannot be happening!"
"What can't happen?" I asked another silent question.
"He's woken up. He's woken up!" my body said.
"Who's woken up?"
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About The Author
The writer in Julius Butcher lurked for a long-long time until he decided to let
him loose. He started to write short stories for his and his friend's amusement.
Meantime, he had read everything he could put his hands on to improve his craft.
His first e-book consists of three short stories, each one taking the reader to
different areas of the science-fiction realm.
Julius lives in Belgium with his wife, four children, two dogs and three cats. He doesn't know the number of his birds and fishes anymore.
Julius is eager to get feedback, so if you like his writing, please leave a review.
You can contact him by
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