The Meteor

ByAbd al Weled

Halloween, the night of rising spirits, of deeds left undone and the past coming to haunt the present if something isn't done to safeguard the future.

In the background a radio is heard "... tonight will be the best view of the comet dubbed Loki due to its strange look and behaviour. Previously unknown the meteor suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and is circling the Earth changing its orbit every few hours. Experts are dumbfounded. Even though some people are proclaiming End of Days has come no mass panic has yet broken out. "

Outside it is silent. Halloween isn't much of a happening here aside from a few parties. Inside the school auditorium, it's different. The latest top 40 songs are pumped through the speakers at an almost deafening volume. The kids are having a great time. The adults that have volunteered to supervise not so. In the corner, a couple of kids are trying to enjoy a drink they just got from the counter.

"Gods, I can't handle this crap anymore," Micah sighs, "Hey Rafi, come outside with me." That's directed at Rafi, his best friend. They do almost everything together.

"Sure. No problem. The Dj is refusing to play Slipknot anyway." Rafi replies in a mute tone, though he can feel his heart swell and his breath stagger. Micah just has that effect on him. Right then a slow song start and Rafi perks up. Rafi grabs Micah's hand and guides him to the floor. Micah looks startled.

"You're supposed to be a devil, right? They do what they like and me being an angel I only do what's right and dancing with you is the only right thing to do.", Rafi reasons.

A few jeers are heard, but are quickly shushed. A blushing Micah smiles and allows himself to be guided to the dance floor. He has to admit there was a certain logic to Rafi's argument. Not to mention the chance to hold a cute boy in his arms.

A crash was heard and a ripple of sorts move through the room making people dizzy and nauseous. Confusion moves through the crowd when they realize they've been changed.

An undead rogue is calling out "You will never catch me alive" while a night elf paladin is chasing him. The paladin suddenly stops to a halt and a Holy Light is emanating from him. He mutters a few words and further on the rogue is suddenly hit by a lightning bolt seeming coming from nowhere. Onlookers gasp as they look at the charring remains of the rogue as the paladin continues his search for the fallen. About a minute later the remains vanish and the renewed rogue pops back into existence.

"RAD!!!", he exclaims excitedly and bounds off to other places.

Three seemingly junked out hip-hoppers are seen pogo'ing through the room: "Je bent

een sjembek dat seurt, want je weet niet watskeburt." "Watskeburt...?"

"WATSKEBURT!!!!"i

A little angel pops up and starts singing:

"'Cause I always see a sunshine that keeps on following me. Not a cloud in the sky, 'cause you're always right next to me. I'll do you no wrong, maybe I should just let it be. 'Cause I know you're gonna have your wicked way with me..."

Two more pop up and reply"... your wicked way with me. "ii

The three hip-hoppers look annoyed and counter by rapping: "Voorjekijkendoorlopen. Wie denk je wel niet wat je bent. Wat denk je wel niet wat je doet voordat je kont me voet ontmoet."iii

Rafi feels strange, but fitting. He discovers he can see in the hearts of the people around him. So much confusion. Calming people he sends out relaxing thoughts. This... is really strange. He knows he's not an angel, but there he stands, still on the dance floor wearing a beautiful white gown from which right white wings sprout. A golden halo seems to light him up from within.

Micah also feels different. A rush goes through him as he checks out the mirror image of him he's seeing in a window. His blond hair is faintly glowing with a dark light. No, it wasn't just his hair. He emitted a kind of black light all over. Woah, that looked so cool. His skin, already quite fair, has lost all of the bruises and scrapes it had before. His eyes now burn a violent red and seem to be able to pierce a man's mind. He looks at Rafi and likes what he sees. Not quite the sophistication of Oualid, but good enough for a bit of frolicking. His wings, soft to the touch and as black as the night outside, shiver.

"Let's blaze, Rafi", Micah whispers.

"Micah! No, we have to stay here. We don't know what's happened."

"I don't care what happened. I just know I feel strong, ready for action and that this joint is as boring as the 6 o'clock news."

"but... "

"No buts. Join me or be a bore and hang here."

When Rafi kept on hovering in indecision Micah snapped open his wings. "Fine. Be like that. I'm outta here."

With that Micah disappears in a flash of fire leaving Rafi and the rest in a stunned silence.

Worried about what Micah might be getting into he notices he can follow Micah's trail as he focuses on Micah in his mind. Curious to see if he can do what Micah can he focuses all his power on where Micah is and wills himself to be there. In a whirlwind he disappears as well.

Reappearing behind their school he looks at a frightening scene. Micah stands in the middle of a group older teens who are looking terrified and cower on the ground.

"Micah!", Rafi screams. "Oh, my god, what have you done?"

Micah looks up and smiles.

"Hey, Rafi. Glad you decided to join the party.", Micah smiled at him. " Nice exit you made. I heard the windows pop even from all the way out here. And as for these guys... I haven't done anything yet. I just appeared and there they were looking all scared and shit. You'd think they've never seen a demon before."

Micah giggles.

Rafi scowls. "I think it's a fair bet they haven't, aside from movies that is."

Only then they noticed a light show in the corner of their eye. They turned around and saw that beyond the horizon was there was something alight with neon flashes and colours that could not be described other than that they seemed to be colours out of space. The brightest spot could be found near the trenches, the bogs and the moors where past villagers had harvested peat for fuel. Something had come down when no one was looking and the world had changed dramatically.

"Micah?"

"Shh!" Suddenly Micah gets quiet and seems to listen to something distant.

"Rafi," he says in a frighteningly serious voice, "You're right. There's something in the air. Something's coming and someone will be taken away... and something else is already here."

Micah shivers and looks a little deflated.

"It's getting cold. Will you hold me? Please?"

Looking towards Rafi the feeling of loss is plainly visible on his face. Rafi's heart breaks and tears are welling up in his eyes. Such sad words from such a sweet boy... He opens his arms and Micah crawls in.

The two boys stand there for a while, oblivious to their surroundings. They're alone now the others they have encountered have run away and have long since gone. In the distance, fires are burning. Whether they're bonfires or buildings can't be seen from here, though the direction indicates it's somewhere near the market square. For some reason, it looks nice, comfortable, like a flickering hearth fire.

If the world ends now Rafi feels he dies a blissful boy. Relishing the warmth of the body in his arms he wishes for time to stop.

Even though with all his might he is wishing for this moment never to end there is that pull that is stronger than he is. Something is calling out to him. Reaching out with his mind he feels a disturbance in the fabric of this plane. There is something that doesn't belong. Gently probing he can see the twisting currents of time and space coiling back and forth, colliding with each other, merging and then ripping themselves apart. Rafi has to tune out part of his mind for the echoes of agonizing screams bounce back and forth through his soul.

Squeezing Micah tight he tries to keep a clear mind. A frightened Micah struggles to get free and in his turn, he has to help Rafi. Plunging into Rafi's mind he is shocked to find it almost torn apart from an extreme form of abuse. Without knowing what to do he reacts instinctively and coils himself around Rafi's mind in an attempt to keep Rafi together and to keep out the forces that agonize him. He is relieved it is working, when he feels Rafi calm down and slump down unto his knees.

"A rift in the fabric", Rafi whispers, "The local fabric of reality is being unwoven and slipping off its anchors. I can feel the essences of the primordial chaos slip inside. We must not become like Mu and dissolve into the void."

"Sssh, don't speak, Rafi. Don't expend your energy.", Micah cried.

"No. We must find the rift and seal it. We're the closest that are available. That's why we're affected in this way. I can feel it."

Rafi looks towards the wetlands north of the village, towards the impossible glow that still stains the night sky.

"So, we just go there, remove whatever's screwing up the world and try to repair the damage?"

"No, we don't need to repair the damage. This plane is on auto-repair and... we'll have to fly. Moving like we did before won't be possible due to the interference."

Trying out his strength he spreads his wings and attempts to fly. He manages a few strokes, before he cries out in exhaustion and falls down.

"Ok, so, that's out as well. Not enough strength."

"Rafi. Don't overexert yourself. We can walk", Micah exclaims as he rushes to meet his best friend.

Helping up Rafi he can't help but ask, "So, how do you know all this?"

"I really have no idea. When I think about what's happening the knowledge just pops into my head."

After a moment of silence and Rafi scowls a little. "It seems I get this knowledge a bit slow. Apparently when something like this happens," Rafi waves his hands around indicating the events of the night,"someone is chosen to fix it. That person needs to be close by and have the means, the strength to stop what's happening."

"Strength? You can barely walk now."

Rafi smiles. "Yes, in this case, you are the strength."

"Me??? I can't do this. I'm... I'm just a boy. I'm nothing special."

"Micah! Never... say that again. You are the best person I know and you do have that strength. Without you, I probably would have given up ages ago. Only because you are willing to be my friend I can stand living."

A tear is welling up and slowly makes its way across Rafi's cheek. Not knowing how to respond Micah draws Rafi near and wipes away the tear.

"I'll always be there for you. I'll promise you that."

During their trek through the village, they see all around them the results of the meteor's crash. Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins roam the area. In the centre the fire they saw earlier did indeed come from the townhouse which has burst into flames. Above it witches dance and cackle offering the souls of their victims to their master. It seems the bonfire, that is created on the town square, is the source of the blaze as it has risen from its pyre to lay waste to the town. In front of the walking bonfire, a figure can be seen commanding it.

Across the square people can be seen milling about inside the elementary school. The younger kids seem to have been transformed in little princes and princesses, mini vampires and various pokemon. Some are crying, but most are awed at the sight of the giant burning man.

Going away from the centre the boys head north. Darker beings roam these streets. A group of shadows that must have been the local goths hide in the cloak of Nyx. Always having tried to be invisible, now they almost have succeeded.

Then, in front of them, the wetlands stretch out towards the horizon. Rafi shivers and Micah offers him his cloak, which he gratefully accepts.

The wetlands are an area where, in the past villagers got the peat they used for fuel for stoves and hearths. It is like a marsh through trenches and canals have been dug. Along the north partially overlapping the river are a few lakes that were created when storm surges ate away the land between the trenches.

Most of the wetlands are off limits due to it being a nature reserve and a national historical landmark. Despite this, the local youth love to go in and create forts and wage wars on each other. Battles have been fought; empires have been won and lost as well as lives. All these wars have been fought in broad daylight. Tonight wars will be fought of a different kind.

The closer the boys come to the wetlands the worse the weather seems to become. Clouds hide the favourable light of the moon and winds have flared up. From the west, there is the scent of approaching rain. Somewhere a wolf is howling. It's a lone and desolate sound and the boys feel as though they're the only life left. Having lost the light of the moon it now becomes too dark to see as they have long since left the comforting lights of the streets of the village.

They follow the path that meanders around and through the wetlands. Partially it's a dirt path. At higher ground there is stone and crossing the trenches are wooden pontoons. To get to the meteor they will have to go off the beaten track and into the unknown.

Rafi creates a small orb of light that hovers around them gives them a sense of direction. In the distance, other lights can be seen moving across the water, dancing. Curious to see if other people are around they move towards the lights, but the lights move away from them at the same speed seemingly keeping the same distance at all times. Then Rafi understands. Will o' the wisps, he whispers. Some are pockets of marsh gas igniting in the rich air. Others, like the ones that seem to slowly dwell across the water, he notes are souls of people who have died here in ages past. Then there are the bright, high-spirited lights. Those should be avoided at all times. So far removed from the emotions of man and its kin they can seem malicious. They view us as flies whose wings have been detached walking around in circles never really going anywhere.

Ignoring the capricious lights they move on towards the unlight ahead of them. Behind them, Micah then hears a sound like something is moving through the water.

"Rafi?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something behind us."

"That's just your imagination running wild."

The sound was heard again and the boys stop and turn around. Peering through the darkness that even the orb now has trouble penetrating they see nothing.

"Probably an animal like rats.", Rafi muses. "Let's continue." "That sounded way bigger than a rat to me."

"Again, probably just your imagination running wild again."

When Rafi sends the orb to investigate and illuminate the surroundings they are suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and they freak out and scream. They rip themselves loose, fall because of the clinging soil and hold up their hands. A blinding light envelops them and the thing stumbles backward hit hard by the pure light.

"A bog corpse", Rafi wheezes.

"A what?"

"Bog corpses are the animated corpses of the people that have died in the wetlands. They're the other half of some of the lights we saw. As long as they're separated they can't continue to the next existence."

"They're usually really harmless and always staying below the waterline, but at stormy nights or like today on Halloween they can break the waterline and surface. The stories about them never mention sunny days and clear skies."

"So, how do we get around him. He's blocking the path."

"Simple. They can't stand light, so we only need to get more light and it will clear the path for us."

That said and done Rafi calls the light orb and attempts to brighten it. When that fails he whispers to Micah "Lend me your strength."

Tapping into Micah's power he sets forth a blaze that obliterates the bog corpse by accident.

"Oops."

Micah giggles nervously. That sets off Rafi giggling as well. The tension they didn't know they had is lifting and it's making them a little giddy. This makes them unaware of movement on the ground. The soil here is soggy. The boundary between land and water is getting less and less. Already their feet are firmly embedded in the ground and slowly sinking deeper.

When they realize what's happening they struggle, but that only leads them deeper into the sucking ground. A slight purring vibration moves through the gunk in which they're trapped and the sucking increases. Slowly and inch by inch they sink deeper. Panic sets in as they suddenly feel a slight burning on their skin. Acid. They realize they're slowly being digested and that makes them double their efforts. Unfortunately, this excites the ooze into increasing its acid production. The burning turns to pain as their epidermis is slowly being dissolved. The pain turns mind numbing and the boys have all but succumbed to the agonizing pain and their movements are slowing down not being able to push out anymore. Now only their heads remain untouched by the ooze.

It finally sinks in that they won't be getting out. They won't live to see another day. No more fun-filled days at the beach, no more canoeing on the river or playing football on the school pitch. No more sleepovers with their secret activities. Rafi looks at Micah, that wonderful boy he's loved for half his life and sighs. No more to hold him and to hear him giggle at a joke. That lovely, gorgeous boy, who turned into the demon he dressed up as, will be no more.

"NO!!!!", Rafi screams rocking the surface of the ooze.

With all his strength he gathers all the power he can sense and focus it on the ooze. At that split second Rafi realized something. Oozes are mainly filled with water. Water disappears in droughts. He has to think quickly. How could he separate the ooze from the surrounding marsh and cut off its link to the water? Also, how could he force a drought without boiling himself and Micah? He can't just wait for the ooze to become dehydrated. They don't have that much time. He could speed up time, but that would only speed up their own demise as well. He'd have to find another way to get the water out of the ooze. Perhaps squeeze it out? No. A shudder is going through him as he imagines the ooze being squished to a pulp and them with it. He could coax it out. Yes! Water can't resist something dry. When you see something dry sucking up moisture it's not the dry stuff sucking it's the water relishing the dry stuff. Scientists call it entropy. It's the nature of energy to balance things out. The same principle works here. He hasn't got the strength yet to dry the ooze out with force alone. He needs something easier. The air has by far fewer molecules that need to be dealt with so it's easier to dehydrate thus causing an imbalance. That balance needs to be straightened out. So the excess of moisture in the ooze will move into the dried up air, therefore, drying out the ooze. The hardest part is to maintain a barrier around the ooze.

Touching the edges of the ooze he sets the barrier in place. There's no need to remove more moisture than necessary. Also, a smaller barrier uses up less energy. When the barrier is set up Rafi turns his thoughts to the air and creates a second, smaller barrier and then he sets in motion a circulatory mechanism designed to pump out the moisture inside the barrier. The air barrier is designed to repel moisture from outside so it won't be seeping in. It will still let oxygen through allowing the boys to breathe.

Slowly, but steadily he feels the air getting drier and the surface of the ooze reacting. Checking the mechanism above him he's satisfied he only need to use a trickle to keep it going. His mind goes back to the earth barrier around the ooze. As the ooze feels it's getting drier it will reach out and look for water. This will make it have to turn its resources to water foraging and less to digesting its occupants, therefore, lowering the creation of acids and relieving the boys of their torture. This also causes the barrier to have more stress as the ooze is bashing it to get out. He will need to completely focus his mind on maintaining the earth barrier. He quickly looks at Micah who's looking like he's in bad shape. He looks so cute when he's being digested Rafi muses in the process of which he almost loses his focus and thereby dropping the barrier.

With all his might he redoubles his attention to the barrier. The ooze is now really fighting to get out. Its tendrils lashing out and thrashing at the barrier. It's instinct looking frantically for every little bit of water, but to no avail. The water it's losing is immediately going up into and then directly taken out the barrier and into the outside. The ooze is slowly losing the fight. Rafi can feel it's movements slowing down and getting less focused, more erratic. For a moment, just a moment, Rafi feels a twinge of guilt at so deviously killing a non-sentient creature. Then it's gone. It's kill or be killed right now. When he senses no more movement from the now hardened creature he releases his final blow. A small pocket of energy he kept behind he now unleashes unto the ooze and obliterates it causing a dust cloud to cover the nearby area. Checking the earth barrier is still intact he removes the air barrier and stops the pump. Relaying the energy for the pump he now uses it to raise the earth barrier slowly so they can get out of the hole the ooze left behind.

When they're safely on higher ground Rafi quickly checks Micah and tends to his burns infusing him with healing energies.

"You know... looking at you I could get an anatomy lesson.", Rafi muses.

Micah giggles and coughs scrunching up his face in pain and twisting a little. "Please, don't move. Let the healing take effect. It will only take a moment."

When he recovers Micah barrages Rafi with questions and exclamation how cool Rafi was. Rafi blushes and tries to answer the questions while ignoring the praises.

Then something emerges from the night. It looks like energy and it's a little fuzzy. Micah backs up immediately not trusting his strength yet. Rafi looks at the formless shape and smiles.

"Relax, Micah. He's harmless."

"You sure?" Micah eyes up the thing suspiciously.

'Where am I?', the spirit asks.

"You're in the material realm.", Rafi explains. "It's not the time for you yet. Go back to where you came from and wait."

Before the spirit vanishes Rafi calls out to the spirit. "Remember, the key is love. That chain can never be broken." Then the spirit is gone back to where it came from.

Micah releases the breath unaware that he has been holding it.

"I really don't need another surprise like that anymore", Micah mutters a little phased. All the bravado of the earlier evening completely gone. Not even his standard optimism was visible.

"No, now we only deal with the meteor. It's right over there.", Rafi comments as he points to a spot further on which seems to lie in the middle of the largest of the lakes.

"Ow, I really don't like this. It's down there? How do we get there? I certainly can't swim that far.", Micah prepares to turn around, but Rafi stops him.

"Micah, I need you here. I may have been able to vanquish the things we encountered, but only because you were here. You are the rock that I rely on, my support base, my foundation. " He looks Micah right in the eyes as he says it again. "I need you here. We've come so far it's too late to turn around and do nothing. We have to finish this now."

Micah sighs and looks dejected. Seeing his best friend so forceful triggers a spark in him. Rafi's right. We have come so far and yes, it's probably too late to turn back now. Looking back at his friend he smiles and gives him an impromptu hug and a peck on the nose.

"You're right, Raf. I'm being a baby. Let's go kick ass.", Micah replies screaming the word ass.

When they arrive at the crash site they stand there for a moment facing a choice they have to make. Neither of them feels much about wading into the lake and dive to the meteor. They don't know what's down there and they suspect the water will impede their movements too much if a fight is needed. There seems to be nothing else besides raising the meteor and depositing it on the shore.

"I don't know if I will have enough energy left for this."

"You can use any of mine. It feels like there is a lot of it left. I think your little speech earlier replenished it along with my optimism.", Micah almost literally bounces.

"Thanks, bro.", Rafi squeezes Micah's hand.

"Let's get this show on the road.", he exclaims as he prepares to tap into his energy reserves.

Micah looks around, starts to say something and then shuts up. It's no time for wisecracks.

Rafi scours the layers of mud that make up the bottom of the lake until he finds an anomaly in the readings he's been receiving.

"I think I found it. It's the only thing off down there", he whispers.

Tapping into Micah's powers he first tries to pull it up by himself, but that doesn't seem to work. Then he decides to uses the earth's forces. Padding the anomaly with air pockets Rafi manages to make it lighter than the surrounding water thus forcing it to rise to the surface.

On the lake, bubbles are forming. The surface is frothing and churning as something big is coming up for air. Now for the first time, they can see what they're up against and it's mind-boggling. Colours that define logic, movements across the meteor that have no equivalent in human speech and sounds never heard before on Earth. The boys are dumbfounded.

/Greetings./ They suddenly hear in their mind. /I thank you for raising me./ The meteor's colours change and are glowing a little. Figures are doing a little happy dance.

The boys look at each other in puzzlement and then back to the meteor. It's alive? "Eehm, greetings?", Rafi replies a little unsure.

/sends its colours turning a mute marsh with a little of ocean's churn.

"ET phone home", Micah whispers in Rafi's ear giggling a little.

/My parents may be able to remedy the damage I have caused/. Hope is sent through the link.

"You're a kid?", Micah exclaims surprised.

I am sorry for the trouble I have caused, but I have been caught adrift and incapable of communicating my base. Might you have a means for me?

/, the meteor am

Rafi looks at Micah. "I think you and it are related. Your room sometimes looks like how the village now looks", he giggles at which Micah turns a little red.

Sensing no wrong Rafi agrees to contact the creature's home plane. Going into a trance he uses the frequency the creature exudes and forms a portal to the plane that fits with that frequency.

/Welcome. How may I redirect your call?/ they hear.

"Eehm, we're trying to contact the parents of eerm... psst, what are you called back there?", he asks the slowly shimmying creature. It replies with something totally beyond any human means of reproduction.

Turning back to the portal he asks "Eehm, did you catch that?" /One moment please.../

Music is replacing the voice and the boys groan. Why has waiting music to be so revolting in every plane?

/Suddenly a distinctly motherly voice erupts from the portal. /My son. Where is my son?/

/Mama!/, the alien boy shines with a brilliant joy. /Heads up. I'm coming through./

The boys step back and allow a larger meteor-like creature to come through the portal blazing in worry and relief.

/

/ The boys giggle at the 'handful' noticing the lack of hands on the mother and her son, while the alien boy actually manages to create a recognizable blush. /

/

Turning to her son she says /And you, little rascal, no dimensional shifts for you for an /

/Yes, mama./ Shame radiating through.

/Then let's go./ and with that, the two move back through the portal and the portal vanishes.

In the distance immediately the chaotic noise they've been hearing all the time is dimming.

"Let's get home before else happens. This has been quite the night.", Micah says looking at Rafi who has turned back into a boy. Rafi returns the look and is a little disappointed Micah isn't a demon anymore. He looked hot like that.

Thank you for helping my boy. He's a real handful and sometimes he just ventures out on his own.

There's no need to tend to the damage to your plane. From what I can sense of your plane's dynamic it will have bounced back by the morning.

Aeon. Do I make myself clear?

"Yeah, and let's be careful. I seem to have lost my powers and I don't feel like swimming. I just wish there was some more light so we could see where we're going."

Just then a black cloud moves away and reveals a large, full moon. They immediately see they're close to the path back to the village. Walking through the village they see dazed people walking aimlessly towards some common goal. Home. The boys follow as well and when it's time to part they say goodnight with a hug and a little kiss. Back home Rafi writes down what's been going on. It might make a nice essay for class, he thinks. The next morning the villagers wake up wondering about the strange dreams they had.

i De jeugd van Tegenwoordig - Watskeburt

ii Waylon - Wicked Way

iii De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig - Voorjekijkendoorlopen