Dream XCIV

I was staying in a city to visit my brother; he couldn't put me up, but he recommended a house where I could sleep at night. The owner said the only room available was the top floor, so I went up to take a look.

It was sparsely furnished and a little dusty, but had nice solid wood flooring and otherwise looked comfortable, so I thanked the owner and put my luggage away.

In one corner was a large, dark torso-shaped object hanging as if from a wire. It was black and lumpy and a little disturbing. Right next to it was a full-length mirror.

I lay down to sleep and had dark dreams of being pushed and shoved and thrust at while in bed. It was plain something was trying to force me off the bed. I woke up and noticed that the torso object had moved just slightly.

I called the house owner and my brother and told them to come over and look at the thing. While we all stood there looking it over, a faint blurriness began to form on the surface of the mirror. Within was the image of a beautiful woman. She wore white clothes and had long red hair.

While everyone else stood around and gazed at her, I reached into the mirror and pulled her out. Grateful to be out, she told us she was an alien from some distant planet, and that she was tied in with the dark torso hanging nearby. Now that she was free from the mirror, she told us that the torso should be taken away and kept under strict watch, as it might start to grow and move on its own and become a very real threat to people.

I tried to teach her a little of our culture while my brother made preparations for his long trip. He told me he had arranged to have the black torso flown out by helicopter, off to a place where it could be studied and contained if need be.

For the next few days the woman and I were inseparable. We went to various city locations and she appeared to be adjusting to our world very well.

Then suddenly her face contorted to a look of agony. "They're trying to destroy it!" she yelled. I immediately got on the phone and called the place where the black torso was being held.

A technician told me that the torso had become active and violent, and it was trying to destroy the city. They were using small heat bombs to try and drive it back into some kind of containment, but the thing was extremely strong, very fast, and growing at an alarming rate.

I told this to the woman, who told me in return that she and the torso were bound together and that whatever happened to it would happen to her. I told her I knew of a place downtown where various scientists met, and perhaps they could help. So we set off toward the center of town.

She seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and I wonder if the other facility had managed to contain the torso. Just then we heard the sound of a helicopter overhead and saw one approach, carrying an enormous, building-sized wooden box.

Somehow the box slipped its moorings and crashed to the ground. Inside, a gigantic pink and red mass began flailing around, throwing limbs like an amoeba around as it squirmed in the wooden wreckage. It flopped out of the box and began racing through the city streets...toward us.

I took the woman and we ran to where the city dams were, downtown. They were made of sheets of metal bolted together, but they did a good job of holding the local lake out. I had the feeling that the torso didn't like water and we would be safe here.

I wasn't entirely correct. The thing was able to marshal its courage, and it crashed through one of the dams. As the mass of flesh and the rushing water appeared several blocks away, I knew we still had a chance to escape. I told the woman she should trust me, and added, "I will never abandon you, Esther."

She turned and gave me a frown.