Happily Ever After. Not Tales of the Unfortunate by D.A. Sanford - HTML preview

Actual photo of the Leatherman

He was so precise in that circuit through more than forty towns, people knew the day he would be there and they would feed him. The town that I live in was one of his stops. He had a cave in Tory’s Den

When he did not show on his expected day, they searched for him. They found his body on March 24, 1889 in his cave in Mount Pleasant, New York’s Saw Mill Woods. It was determined that he had died of cancer of the mouth. He was buried in Ossining, New York. In his pocket was a French prayer book He, even though he accepted food, was a private man. People have speculated as to his identity and reason for what they have called a penitence journey. Most common is that he was rejected by the woman he dearly loved in Canada. None of the rumors will ever be proven.

Recently, despite public opinion against it, they tried to exhume him to get DNA. After what was called a circus, careful digging resulted in a few metal nails. The body, along with the wood coffin, had completely disintegrated.

Even in death, he eluded those who wanted to disturb him.

God’s make mistakes

It’s a waking nightmare. I am at that point that in waking, the dreamland portal is still open and lingers for that instant. That instant is what causes confusion and makes you elated, worried, or angry, depending on the dream.

Mine was the one where all my loved ones were celebrating a holiday. Laughing and swapping tales of events that were the same but different prospective. One by one, they excused themselves with them saying that they would be right back. One by one, they never come back.

I am left behind at a table that once was full of plates and now only an empty pizza box with only a lone bit of grease.. I actually woke in terror that went instantly into anger.

The wall that my bed is against now has another hole that I need to patch. I don’t bother to paint them anymore.

Not wanting to go back to sleep, I try but my mind is now in full 2 a.m. mode. That is the time that most people that have real issues wake but the mind generates all the odd scenarios. What did I forget, I need to do this, I’ll be in trouble if they find this out. None of which actually happen.

The only solution is to get up. I used to turn on the TV for the music. That is no longer an option because of some “good intentioned” medaling god. I am on another world. I have a house in what I would call the country.

Unlike those fantasy stories, there is no magic, no real adventures. Today I need to tend my garden. It is this worlds start of summer. I need to work hard to grow the vegetables to tide me over the winter. There is hunting and fishing. Some to eat but most gets smoked, canned or dried, for the winter.

This is my magical life of adventure.

It seems like that god made a mistake. This world had a plague and as far as I can tell, all humans died. When I woke here, I found only bones encased in clothes. Power had gone out. This house had a drilled well. I was able to hook up a hand pump inside. I haul water to the toilet so that works. No need for an outhouse.

During my first winter here, I closed up most of the house and lived in the room that had the fireplace for the four months until it got warm.

That dream I have, you see they did not leave me, that god made a mistake. He meant to take my neighbor but misjudged the location, misjudged this world. That god is senile and needs to retire. I had screamed to him to correct his error but he is a might deaf. I’m quite sure that he has totally forgotten.

My only thought is that his superiors will catch this but I hold out as much hope as meeting someone else. I have thought of killing myself but that is quickly dismissed. I would draw that god again. Nope, I am stuck here in this dead world.

The only things here that are interested in me are the cats and some dogs. They were left when their owners died. Most of the special breeds that were totally dependent on these people died off locked up. Almost all of them stay away from me. They, for the most part have gone feral. There is an odd pair that have attached themselves to me. A black and white cat and a black and tan dog. It seems that they want my company. It is not the food because they both hunt and bring back their catch. I sometimes feel that they know when I get too deep in self pity.

They will either insist that I pet or will romp all over as to distract me by aggravation.

When I go out scavenging for anything I need, they are always near me. At times they will race to get ahead of me so that they can lead me back from where ever I have been.

“I don’t know how I would ever find my way home without you.” I tell them. They will look back at me with a look that said, “You are damned right! You would be lost without us.

You may need a collar and leash.” They are the closest thing to company that I have but I do tell them that I wished that they could talk back.

This is my life.

The one thing is that I was able to get a SUV going. I found a hand crank pump and set it up with a long hose so I can pump the gas. All I need is to open the door and ask if they want to take a ride and they will jump in with no hesitation. I drive looking for things that will make life easier.

I now have a gas generator. Would like one of those propane ones but until I can get something going to help lift it and a propane truck, I’ll stay with the gas ones. My companions seem to like the music. I like the ability to be able to use a plugin griddle to cook food. I missed my coffee maker but now I have it.

Not to spoil my two, but I could not help it. The supermarket’s fresh meats and raw vegetables had long since gone the way of people and no longer stank, but the canned goods last almost forever. As long as they show no signs of puffing or eating through the metal, they are good. I cleaned out the canned dog and cat food.

They seem to like it but they do act strange. I can only figure that it is because of their hunting.

We now have gone through several winters together but now we are entering spring again. Time to take those seeds I dried and the potatoes that are sprouting eyes. I have

learned that, if I let some of the vegetables go to seed, I can get the original version of that one. I now have hardy plants.

There is something odd about this spring. I haven’t heard the song birds yet. By this time, the males should have returned and be staking their territory. They are not here, The game is getting scarce. I have found more and more dead animals. Something is up.

My two go out hunting and bring back some of their catch but of late, they have not brought back any. They went out this morning. I see the dog bringing back something.

He really is not looking well. He collapsed at the edge of the property.

The object he brought back was his cat buddy. It appears that it died and the dog was bringing it back to me. I am broken. My only companions are dead. I look at them and neither have injuries. No obvious reasons that they should both be dead.

I feel that I am not right. I feel very tired.

Maintenance and reclamation unit is now surveying the world.

“I’m glad that they retired that old god. He told us to eliminate any sentient life here so it could be used to relocate another world’s life here. This new replacement god found that we were not told that all but the plant life had to be eliminated. The transfer will involve the wildlife also.”

They look around and see bones. They will set off a spell that will fast decay the bones,

“Good fertilizer” one of them comment.

Waking up, I know this place. This is the same place where that the old god was. “WTF”

A young man appears. “I have replaced that old god. He was retired. That planet he put you on, it’s sentient life was so evil, it could not be saved according to his report. Rather than letting them destroy themselves, he had them exterminated. He thought a peaceful world was going to be destroyed because it’s sun was going to explode. All life was going to be moved.

He only had the people killed but even that planets animal life is as delicate as the people so all life needed to be exterminated. Unfortunately, he forgot that and put you on that world.”

I have had enough. “Aren’t you supposed to be all knowing? How could your group let him continue for so long? He aimed wrong and took me instead of the real target. He

put me in a world that had no one. I had two companions and I saw them die. I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to hear anymore.”

He tells me that they are going to correct these mistakes.

“What are you going to do? Putting me back into my own world is the only thing that would rectify what has happened to me.”

“That can’t be done. The world he placed you on was your old world.”

I am stunned. My family, my friends, gone. I cannot process that. “What are you telling me? My world did have its trouble makers but the vast majority were kind and loving.

You’re telling me the whole world was condemned on the word of a senile old man?

Fuck you all!”

He seems offended that I question the gods.

“That’s enough of your insolence! I have decided that you will not go to the final life. You are not yet worthy. I have just the thing.”

I once again wake up and I am in a different world. I am on a mat on the floor. I am naked. I am human. I feel my neck and there is a collar. Two humanoids come over to me with a leash.

They are my companions from the other world. The cat hooked up the leash and told me “Walkies”

Old habits

A meteor air burst will cause a 32K degree fireball. The material thrown up could cause an atomic winter for years. The burst will generate a shock wave that exceeds anything that the strongest nuclear bomb can generate. That was the biggest problem.

The astronomer’s spotted this meteor almost a month before it was going to impact the earth. They made sure that it was made known to the public. After being briefed, the major superpowers prepared. The first thing they did, hours before the impact time, was to turn the automatic response systems to standby. This was circulated through all the countries that were nuclear capable. Or so they thought The impact was going to be in a middle east desert area, so no one should be really affected. The only problem was that there was a weapons laboratory in the area. When the meteor exploded in the air, that country knew it was under attack and launched. All they had was short range missiles. . Their targets responded.

Secret labs were destroyed, mostly.

At first, the world thought that the entire region from the Mediterranean to western China was totally uninhabitable. What they did not expect was the asinine research being carried out at a lab that was partially destroyed by the shock wave.

People started to get sick. There was the initial large group of people that died. They were, it turns out, the weak ones.

A strange thing started to occur, people started to disappear from the hospitals. Not that anyone cares now but it turned out the governments of the world were taking those who looked like they were surviving, They were never seen again.

That only lasted for a few weeks until the people that made up the government got sick.

Just before the world broke down, the last of the televised news went out that civilization was tanking. There were mutations breaking out. I was one of the ones that did not get sick.

In this world, there was only around twenty five percent of the population that did not get sick. The survivors of the sick were now escaping out of the hospitals, but there were the vast majority that avoided the hospitals and stayed at home.

The mutated now were coming out. At first, they were very cautious, scared but all getting used to their new form. The thing is that they are not acting strange. Contrary to all the fiction stories I have read, they are actually having fun in their new lives.

Felids, canids, harpies, dwarves, elves and such. They all got along with each other.

The one thing that was troubling was their view of us humans. We were the cause of their change, so we really needed to be watched, guided, so we did not get into any mischief and cause further trouble.

They seemed to have forgotten that they were human. They have forgotten that the humans that are left, are not the ones that released the mutation, those ones died in the war but they seemed to forget that fact.

The new races have formed the new world governing body. That is the reason that I have run into the wilderness.

In their infinite wisdom, we humans must be guided, protected from our destructive selves. To that end we need to be gathered into segregated communities, for our own protection. We can be observed to curtail our aggressive nature.

This started the first human habitat exhibit. We are now an exhibit akin to the wild animal parks of old. Money to be made, a world order was made that all humans must report to the government for relocation. This is the reason I have been on the run.

Feral humans have been listed as a threat to the new peace of the world. If they cannot be captured, lethal measures can be used. That is how I have been subject to open hunting season.

Several of the new species have exceptional olfactory abilities, I keep a supply of strong vinegar with me. I also have my staches of ammunition along with rifles and sidearms. If I am to be hunted, I’ll defend myself.

I have become legendary. The epitome of evil humans, but I have become so proficient that I have been subject to so called predator races coming after me. I constantly move to different terrains. Most of the times, rocky but heavily wooded areas. I find that the pine regions mask me the best.

Becoming famous has its drawbacks. I did not know this, but there were whole human exhibits that had to be culled due to uprisings. I continued to fight and flight. Ambush whenever possible.

This went on for a few years. Longer than I would ever expect. I have fled deeper and deeper into the uninhabited areas. The only thing that gives my direction away is the trail of bodies.

The ruling races were starting to have their people decry their relentless pursuit of me and others like me but it seems that some of the old humans, now humanoids, of the government creeped into the new government.

Of those, there were a few generals of old. They knew the area of my last position. They went to their missile command bunkers. They were on standby mode. Hit the power button and all rebooted. They programmed a few of the nuclear missile silos to fire into my area.

I heard the missiles and was vaporized before I realized it.

Those generals celebrated until they heard the incoming warning. They had forgotten that the other countries had placed their automatic response on standby that day. Stand by was set at forty eight hours then reset.

Once there was a detection of a nuclear explosion in this country, the remaining missiles launched. That triggered the countries automatic responses to fire. Within an hour, all life on this world has been erased, burned to ash in seconds.

Old habits, old beliefs, old racisms are hard to break when you have forgotten what it is to be human and become a beast.