Golm

Golm - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

An old man, who worked for the ski lodge, was picking up pieces of garbage when he saw something near a group of trees. He went to investigate, but to his surprise, he found a body lying there. He gasped; he crouched beside the body. He checked for breathing and a pulse. There was breathing and a small pulse. “He’s alive,” The old man thought. The man shook the body to check for consciousness, but there was none. The man pulled out a radio, turned it on and said, “This is Dylan Grusteau, come in please.”
The voice in the radio replied, “This is station 3, what is your situation?”
The man looked at the body and answered. “I have an unconscious youth, aged 15 to 20. He has breathing and pulse, but they are weak. Over”
“We copy. Are there any injuries and what is your position?”
“The man has no visible injuries, except light bleeding by the fore head. I am about 100 m west of the bottom of ‘The Mutant Camel. Over’”
“Copy. We’re sending help now. What medical supplies are necessary?”
“Um, I’m not sure, bring equipment for a broken back. Over.” Dylan was feeling the body a little more.
“10-4.” The radio messages had been sent.
In 5 minutes an ambulance arrived. The paramedics rushed out of the back, carefully put the man on a stretcher and put him in the ambulance. Dylan went in the of the ambulance too. As the ambulance rushed to the nearest hospital, Chuck was in the lodge looking for me.
He asked the clerk and she replied with some concern to Chuck, “Did you lose sight of him by ‘The Mutant Camel?’”
Chuck answered, “Yes.”
“And was he wearing a black and red jacket?”
Chuck answered, “Yes.”
The clerk suddenly looked horrified; “He’s being rushed to the hospital as we speak!”
“What!?!”
“I just got off the phone with the medical team and I was to ask around, and see if he was with anybody. He has a broken back!”
“You’re kidding!”
“No I’m not! If you have a car, I suggest you go to the hospital over in Frankington right away!”
Chuck was stunned for a minute, and then he rushed to the hospital in his car.
There were numerous signs in Frankington, pointing to where the hospital was, so he got there quickly and with no problems. When Chuck got to the hospital, he asked the receptionist where the ER victim was carried off.
The receptionist asked, “The one from the ski hill?”
Chuck answered, “Yes! Where is he?”
The receptionist needed to know some answers she said, “What is his name?”
“Herry!” He stopped and corrected himself, “No Herridan. Herridan Macdonald.”
“Are you a friend of his?”
“Yes, we were snowboarding together.”
“Did you see the accident?”
“No.” Chuck got really impatient. “Can I go see him now?”
“Just a moment!” She pulled out a clipboard and a pen. “Now who are you?”
“Chuck, Chuck Williams. Now where is he?”
“Chuck, I need to see some identification, please.”
Chuck reached into his pocket, got his wallet and flashed his driver’s license. “There. Now where is he?”
The receptionist pointed down the hall and told Chuck, “Down the hall and to your second left, sign says ER.” Chuck started to run. “But you can’t go in sir!” The receptionist yelled.
I was laid on the bed; still, I wasn’t moving an inch. Chuck pressed his head against the window in fear of my condition. He saw the doctors begin operation on my back. Chuck watched in horror, as he didn’t know what was to become of his friend. Before a doctor came and slid a curtain around the operation area, Chuck saw the doctors choose their tools and wheel in the big equipment. A nurse quickly found Chuck with his face pressed against the glass, watching the faded shadowed figures moving around behind the curtain. The nurse directed Chuck to a room where he could wait and phone my parents. It was standard, but difficult operation and luckily they believed that I’d be able to walk still. The surgery took 6 hours and it was a complete success. I was going to be as good as new, that was, if I could wake up from my coma. Apparently, my chances of waking up were very slim however.
Chuck had informed John and Fiona about what had happened with as many details as he had. They were going to come over when John’s shop’s business hours were over. I was hooked up to a life support system, redressed and was placed in my own room. Chuck was sitting on a chair beside me, almost breaking a tear, when John and Fiona walked in. Chuck asked them, “What took you so long?”
John answered, “Those stupid papers they make you fill out! Do they need to know everything? The nerve…”
John couldn’t finish; He and Fiona were looking at me. Fiona said bursting with tears, “John, look at him. He’s so quiet.”
John remarked, “It would be an improvement if he wasn’t in that coma.”
Fiona sat on my bed beside me. She looked at John and said, “This is farther than he’s ever been from us. I don’t want him to die, John.”
John said, rolling his eyes, “He won’t, he’s just sleeping.”
Fiona dropped a few more tears as she begged, “I know we’ve had our differences, but as I see him lying there, I don’t want to loose him.”
John laughed, “Fiona, you never can make up your mind. One moment you’re pouring poison in his food and now you’re pouring tears. You crazy bitch.”
Chuck interrupted. “Mr. Macdonald, you’re foster son is in a deep coma, healing a broken back. Do you not understand that his chances for surviving are extremely slim?”
John smiled and told Chuck, “I don’t really care. He makes it, yippee. If he doesn’t, well life goes on. He was just a spoiled brat anyway. Well, I won’t make as much money if he’s dead, so I hope he pulls through.”
A nurse walked in the room. “Hello. How is everybody?” She greeted.
Fiona answered, “We’re fine, but I’m not sure about Herridan.”
The nurse sighed, and then she told everybody that, “Herridan is in a situation we cannot control. We can’t do anything, but watch him sleep. It’s up to Herridan’s soul to find the right moment to come back to us. I know this is difficult for you three, but there’s nothing we can do. The doctors did all they could on his body, but they can’t help his mind. I suggest you just go home and try to live your lives. We’ll tell you if anything happens to him.”
They agreed and left my room. The nurse checked if my equipment was working properly. She walked to the door, turned off the lights and walked out. I lay there, wondering if I’d ever wake up.

* * * * * *

I was standing, and I was dreaming. I was in a dream, one that I couldn’t escape from. I barely ever dreamt, mostly because I could never sleep well enough in the streets. But now I am dreaming the deepest dream I have ever been in. So deep, that I swore I had my 5 senses. I could fell the damp air around me, the smell of a humid forest, the taste of mountain air, the sound of death, but what did I see?
I saw mountains with trees scattered along them. The fog engulfed trees, sky and myself alike. I walked slowly down the mountain I was on and saw no people, no animals, and even the trees that were there looked half-dead. The ground was moist and muddy, but still covered with grass. I far ahead of me I saw burning fields, dark, smoky skies and a black horizon. I didn’t like where I was, so I ran down the mountain. At the base, I saw a town. The town was like the trees, still, lifeless and swallowed with fog. I continued down the mountain, then along a small dirt path, until I reached the town. I heard voices coming from inside the town: cries and screams and moans. I really didn’t like where I was. I felt cold. Seeing the town through the front gate, I felt as if it were a zombie, lifeless, but yet living. The town seemed to be very old fashioned, one with high walls around the perimeter. It seemed far older than medieval ages, perhaps it of the dark ages or of Roman times? I went through the front gates. The gates were made of thick bars of rusted steel. The top of the gate and along each new support in the walls, were decorated with statues of dragons. I had opened the gates, and their squeak echoed off the mountains behind me. Each step I took echoed off the lifeless homes. I stopped. I heard other footsteps; I turned to look, but nothing was there. I was becoming very afraid, but I pressed on. I continued on towards the center of the town, a sort of Town Square. The town was old, there were no cars or stores, just a carriage or a fruit stand. There was a decaying horse stable and a small podium for a town crier to give announcements. I was in the center of the town and I still saw nothing, just a thin fog and a deserted town.
I then saw a shadowy figure, a person perhaps? The person realized I noticed him and ran away behind a building. I had no control over this dream. So I thought, “Why not, I’ll chase the little critter.” So I ran towards his direction, calling, “Hey, you! Come here!” My voice echoed off deaf walls. I turned behind the building he turned around, and saw an alley and he was at the end of it, still running away. I chased after him. I still couldn’t make out what he looked like. It was as if he were taunting me to follow or something. He turned down another alley and I followed. After a long chase through the backs of houses, he came to a door. I hid behind a house and peaked around the side and saw what he was doing. The figure looked around to see if I was following him. He didn’t see me.
He got excited, as if to say, “All clear.” He then opened the door and stepped in.
After a few moments, I walked up to the door. The door was made of 4 wooden boards and had a ring for a handle. I was convinced that I had traveled back to a world of dungeons and dragons. I hoped I didn’t end up with any of those, as I walked into the house.
It was pitch black inside; I couldn’t see a thing. I walked slowly with my arms feeling around. I bumped into what I thought was a bucket. The bucket rolled and made a lot of noise. The bucket rolled what seemed to be forever, then it hit something and stopped. Then I almost jumped out of my shoes, as a voice said to me, “Herridan. You’ve come at last.” The voice was deep, loud, serious and clear. It knew the perfect tone, to prevent me from gaining courage.
I asked, “Who’s there! You better show yourself.” I put up my fists, even though I couldn’t see a thing, I threatened nervously, “I’ll kick your ass!”
The voice laughed, “Herridan. You are a unique man. I hope you’ll know what to do.”
I asked again, “Who’s there? How do you know my name? Know what to do what? Come on just turn on the lights ok?”
The voice told me, “I hope you are prepared for this task. You will face fear, danger, opportunity, lo…”
I interrupted, “This is a dream, I’ll turn on the lights you stupid voice thing!”
The voice becoming stern, yelled, “This is not a dream, this is the bridge to another world. I’m trying to tell you something!”
I laughed, “Another world? This is my dream!”
“Just because it’s in your mind, doesn’t mean it’s yours.”
I got really stern, “Now listen, whatever you are, I want to know what is going on! Now turn on the lights and show yourself!”
The snap of a match filled the room. Then a torch, held by someone, came over to me. I froze. The face was unclear, shadowy; my dream was censoring the face. Why? None the less, his presence made me tremble. I was panicked, I don’t know why, but as he got closer, I became scared out of my mind. I was frozen stiff, but my bones shook. He was inches from my face, he said, and I’ll never forget this, “Are you ready Herridan for your destiny?” I couldn’t talk. I was so petrified; I could not budge.
I wondered why I felt this all had so much meaning to it. It was just a weird dream. I consciously thought that this was all just crap, but deep inside, I knew that what this man was saying, was for real! The only movements in my body were these conflicted thoughts blasting back and forth in my brain. The mysterious man looked at me.
Just then, something grabbed my arms. I tried to shake free, but their grip was too strong. They were dragging me to another part of the room. I continued to shake and claw, but I still was being dragged. They eventually pulled me down onto a table or chair, I couldn’t tell. They held me down tightly as the man moved over to me. My heart was beating so fast; it was the only sound I heard besides my own breathing. If this was a real dream I would’ve woken up from fear, but I hadn’t woken up yet. The man gazed at me. I froze again. The things grabbing took this opportunity to tighten around me. They pinned me to the surface so hard, that I felt it necessary to call the surface and I one object. But my eyes went straight back to his gaze. It was so frightening I could barely breathe.
I burned inside, but I froze on the outside. My heart was exploding, but my veins were imploding. My eyes were opened, but I saw nothing. My brain was dead, but I was alive. My soul floated, but my body was crushed. I knew what fear felt like and it came from this man’s gleaming glare. “Herridan. I wish you luck. Godspeed.”
There was a pause, a few seconds, but they seemed like centuries and lasted forever. I still was frozen. Then a shot of pain went through my spine. It was small, but the pain kept growing. I started to scream. It was agonizing! I thought the pain would stop growing, but it continued growing. It didn’t seem to stop. I kept screaming, louder and louder! The pain kept growing and growing, and I couldn’t wake up! I could never wake up! My dream was so deep, I was feeling every ounce of this. I couldn’t move or wake up. I couldn’t squirm; I was pinned down. I could only lay there and endure the excruciating pain. I screamed out all my breath and I couldn’t inhale. I could no longer scream. I was suffocating and suffering more pain than 5000 people could ever endure. My eyes were popping out of their sockets and were as blood shot as a soldier. My jaw was opened so far it was about to snap off. The pain kept growing and I was convinced that I was in Hell, damned to this eternal increasing pain.
But some how, as much as I was before, I found the hidden will and enough of it to start to resist. I was fighting the pain even harder than before. I wanted to shout a war cry, but my lungs were empty. The pain kept growing, but my rage grew faster. The intense desperation and determination and will to survive blinded my nerves of the pain, but blinded my eyes with my mind’s inferno. I would have died long ago, but this was a dream, I was immortal. So I didn’t want to spend forever enduring growing pain in my spine. I fought with all I had and about an infinite number times more. Just as I was about to give up from exhaustion, everything stopped.
The pain was gone. My body resumed normal function. I was still frozen. My mind was chaos. I felt myself shutting down, but I looked at the man one last time, before I died.

* * * * * *

I woke up. I opened my eyes. I was alive! It was only a really, really, really bad dream. I was in a massive snowboarding crash and lived to tell the tale. I sat up. I felt my back, it was fine, “But surely,” I thought, “I would have broken it during the crash. Maybe it healed while I was asleep.” I looked around; I was in a hospital bed. The clock, on the wall, said 2 am and the calendar said it was August 4th. When I had crashed, it was March 27th. I had been in a coma for 4 months. I sat for a little while longer to recollect what happened.
I felt fine, so I took all the wires off of me and got out of bed. I had no clothes on except my boxers, which were a little small. I looked on the shelf that was in my room; there was a medical chart. I took a look.
It read:
Macdonald, Herridan.
Age: 17 Sex: male Health Card #: 9694 124 132

03/27/02, In fatal snowboarding crash. Found in coma. Severely broken back, two broken ribs, broken collarbones and concussion. Time of accident aprox.13:00. Arrived at hospital at 15:00. Surgery on lower back at 15:19, ended at 21:52. Operation successful and coma victim put in room 234. No status changes reported.
05/17/02

Apparently, I had gone through a lot. Even in my dream, which still questioned me. Why did I keep thinking it meant something? I was a little cold, so I got back in my bed. I was sitting on something. I got out of my bed to see what it was. Nothing was there. I scratched my head and felt around my buttock, maybe it was just a wrinkle in my boxers.
I almost wet my pants. It was no wrinkle. I felt a tail coming out of my tailbone; out of me. I asked myself in sheer bewilderment, “What the hell?” I slapped myself, maybe I was still dreaming. I wasn’t. I clutched it, pulled it and it didn’t move. “I… have a…tail?” Yes a tail. A real one attached to my body. I touched it and I could feel my finger through my tail. I was in shock! I didn’t know what was going on. I knew I wasn’t dreaming this time, but I thought I was, it was the only explanation. Why did I, for some reason, grow a tail while I was in a coma? Then I also questioned how could my back have fully recovered in 4 months? Then it hit me.
The man in my dream, he wasn’t killing me. He was healing me and giving me a tail. That’s why I kept thinking my dream was for real. Still, I was confused over the new theory. I felt my tail again, just to check if I wasn’t dreaming again. It was there and it was real. I walked over to a mirror, pulled down my boxers a little and took a closer look.
It came out just above my crack. It looked to be about 10cm long. It was bare skin, no hair. It did have muscles, bones and nerves in it; I could feel it, so it was functional. I couldn’t move it though, mostly because I didn’t know how and that it might have been too young and weak. I was mainly still flabbergasted, but there was a hint of excitement that my new tail was functional and not just a slab of flesh.
I was certain now, that this all meant something: my dream, that man, my tail, everything was connected somehow. Then it hit me, I couldn’t stay here, I had to run away again. I had to figure out this mystery and this time I couldn’t be caught. I a frightening thought came to my mind, I said to myself, “If I stay or get caught, John and Fiona would remove my tail. I can’t have that happen because my tail means something. I had to leave forever this time.” I looked out the window; I also had the factor of being caught for the 15th time and that meant that I would really get beaten or get killed if I’m caught.
All these facts and hunches added up. There was just too much to gamble, both ways. I could stay, not believe any of this, get my tail removed, risk my dream’s reality being destroyed and live with John and Fiona more, but not get murdered by them. Or I could leave, keep all pieces to this puzzle, risk getting caught and live alone with out John and Fiona. The clock now read 3 o’clock. I had very little time to decide this. I’d love to ask someone, but they wouldn’t help. I sat on my bed and thought everything through.
After an hour I still hadn’t gotten anywhere. It probably had gotten worse. I had played flip the coin or other games to help me decide, but they didn’t help either. Then I remembered one thing that man in my dream said, “Are you ready for your destiny?” With that in my head, I decided. “I’ll leave my whole life behind. I’ll leave, live alone and figure out what this all means.” I put my foot down. “This time I won’t feel any regret.”
I opened my window to escape, but I thought, “I need some supplies!” I was practically naked. I thought about where I could get some supplies and realized that there might be some supplies in some sort of clothing donation room or a storage room. I went to my door and snuck out.
The hall was dark and quiet. No one was in the hospital, so I thought. I ran down the hall looking for a supply room, in my boxers. I spotted one near the front entrance and obviously it was locked. I looked left and right and listened for anybody in the halls. No one was there. I took a deep breath and kicked the door open. I clutched my foot for a few minutes, because THAT REALLY HURT! Especially in bare feet.
I stepped inside the room and flicked on the light switch. The supply room looked like a miniature department store. It was full of stuff that was donated to charities that could be useful. I grabbed two big backpacks, lots of clothes, two pairs of shoes, a sleeping bag, a lighter, a first aid kit, a pocket knife and lots of energy bars. I felt like a drifter with all these supplies, but then again, that’s what I was. I also broke into the pharmacy and stole their money.
It was now 5 o’clock and some cars were starting to park at the front. I thought about stealing one of the cars, but that would be too risky, I didn’t want to be hunted down by police now. I got out through a side door and thankfully no one saw me. I ran on foot until I got into a park. I looked at the hospital, so far away, and thought about all the things I was leaving behind, my few belongings, Chuck and my foster parents. Only one of them was significant enough for me to reconsider my decision. I smiled and said, “Good bye.” and I walked towards, somewhere I didn’t know.
In the morning a nurse noticed I wasn’t in my room. Other employees also noticed that the supply room and the pharmacy had been robbed. They informed the manager and he informed John and Fiona of my actions. Fiona was shocked to hear I had healed so miraculously and John was angry that I stole stuff and ran away again. Chuck heard eventually and knew I wouldn’t be coming back.
By then I was in the next town and laying low. So the authorities wouldn’t catch me. I had roughly $5000 on me, thanks to the pharmacy, and I could only wonder how long this would last.