Magic Mushrooms.
© Tim Barker 2000
Blimp
took the hand of Excelsia and led her to the clearing. All was quiet except for
the sound of trickling water in a nearby stream. Blimp took out a flint,
collected some twigs and began to start a fire. Excelsia took out the fish, pierced
them with sticks and placed them over the freshly-made fire. In the distance
they could hear the drums beckoning all around to a tribal gathering.
After they finished their hearty meal Blimp kicked earth
over the glowing embers and Excelsia buried the bones. They had been out the
night before, watching the stars when they had noticed a bright light enter the
sky. At first they simply thought that it was another flying star but as it
grew nearer they could discern red and green lights emanating from its surface.
Next they noticed that it had a discernible shape, kind of like a wild mushroom
only much, much bigger. It seemed to come down in the Forest of Lost Souls.
When they returned to their tribe they entered a
thronging crowd. On a rock in the centre stood the tribal elders, trying their
best to quell the low murmur of the assembled people. One of the elders pointed
to the forest and put his fist in the air. The sign of enemies. He then pointed
to a hastily erected wooden cage, just to the left of the rock. Everyone turned
and looked. Inside there slumped three figures clad in silver furs with
spherical heads.
Blimp and Excelsia pushed their way through the crowd
until they were directly in front of the caged strangers. One of the elders was
beating his chest causing the bravest member of the tribe to prod one of the
strangers with a spear. This resulted in a peculiar action from the stranger.
It reached down and produced an object from within its furs. The object emitted
a strange beam of light which fell upon the attackers upper torso. Instantly he
reeled back. Blimp noticed that a hole had been burnt right through his heart,
exposing cauterised flesh.
The crowd began to scream and stampeded in wild panic.
However, Blimp and Excelsia stood their ground. Soon everyone, even the elders,
had vanished back to the sanctuary of their caves. Blimp and Excelsia were left
all alone with the caged strangers.
Blimp took out a parcel of fish wrapped in a folded leaf.
Gingerly he approached the cage. However, his efforts were hampered by the
continual tugging of Excelsia, trying to hold him back. He reached the cage,
with Excelsia in tow, and handed the parcel to the nearest stranger. The
stranger took the gift then began to unfold the leaf. Strange sounds emanated
from the strangers head region. Blimp was puzzled by this as he could see no
mouth.
Suddenly the stranger reached up with its silver hand and
touched the side of its head. Instantly the head opened to reveal the face of a
smiling woman. Blimp and Excelsia were astonished. The woman took some of the
fish and put it to her nose. Finally, she put some in her mouth. As she ate her
mouth emitted more peculiar sounds. Blimp and Excelsia didn't know what the
noises meant but realised that she was happy to receive the morsels.
Soon all three of the strangers were feeding on the fish.
They had revealed themselves to be two men and one woman. When they had
finished their meal they all stood up and approached the front of the cage.
Then one of the men reached into his furs and pulled out a strange looking
object. With it he began to cut the bars of the cage which, so far, had kept
them at arms length.
Blimp stepped back, pulling Excelsia after him. It wasn't
long before all three of the strangers were standing in front of them,
extending their silver clad arms and pointing towards the forest. Blimp guessed
that they wanted to return to their place of capture so he took Excelsia by the
hand and led them towards the trees.
The strangers seemed to know where they were going and
chose the most direct route possible. Blimp and Excelsia had trouble keeping up
with them as they were considerably taller than themselves and their pace was
correspondingly faster.
Within no time at all they reached a scorched clearing in
the forest. All vegetation had been crushed or burnt. In the centre sat the
large mushroom star that Blimp and Excelsia had seen the night before. The
three strangers, whose faces were now obscured, again raised their hands and
shook them. Both Blimp and Excelsia realised that this must be a parting
gesture so they both grunted and did the same.
The strangers approached the mushroom and a hole
appeared, into which they all climbed and suddenly they were gone, disappearing
into the sky to live amongst the stars.
Blimp and Excelsia made their way back to the meeting
rocks. Particularly curious members of the tribe were beginning to reappear,
perplexed as the strangers had vanished. Blimp and Excelsia just pointed to the
sky when anyone looked their way.
Years later when the caves of Gamma Second were being excavated
by a team of archaeologists they noticed a giant mushroom painted onto the
walls. They put it down to an ancient Psilocybin cult.