Junkman is Awake by D.A.Sanford - HTML preview

The junk man is awake.

I don’t remember drifting off to sleep but I wake up in a totally unfamiliar setting. I am not in my station but in a room, a normal bedroom. I am in the softest warm bed I have ever been in.

Just a noise of what could only be helicopters coming from in the room. I look and there are small helicopters flying around but they all have moving eyes and mouths full of shark teeth. All are laughing as they fly off yelling “The junk man is awake.”

The junk man?

A man comes in and gives me a change of clothes. “Take a shower and come on out. I’ll get you a good breakfast. Just a warning, my ultra’s are excellent pranksters. I have asked them to leave you alone.

He looks at the helicopters and tells them to go to their normal form. Now I see six inch people and hear them say that they are going to have fun. “See you later Junk man.”

They all walk out talking about all the pranks they need to try.

The shower was spacious. Since it was almost a year since I had one I took a long time. In the station, it was warm water and a rag. That was wonderful but I still cannot figure out what exactly happened. All I can figure is that I was darted and I have been captured.

Only thing is that there are no guards.

Walking into the hallway, there was a six inch female there to lead me to the breakfast area. She is being pleasant and holds a polite conversation but when I ask how I got here, she just tells me that the gods of all are here and will explain.

“That whistling you heard was what was left of a defense satellite. Space junk blew away both you and your station home.” The male god of all tells me. The female god of all tells me that my background love is the reason I was picked to serve a new position.

“Your work for that charity is why you were picked. That furniture that people cast out as trash, is now treasured items in others homes. Excellent product and an affordable price. People knew that love was put into every piece. You helped so many people.”

Now the man who first talked to me, Richard. Boss of the Electronic Commandos, talks. “There have been many a world that we helped but also many that had to be totally remade. What you are being asked to do is collect the junk in space and on worlds that are going to be recycled. I will be letting you know which worlds are going to be reclaimed. Most of what you pick up will be rendered into the base materials. Others, you will be at liberty to remake into items that will help both freed worlds and other deserving worlds.”

Now the male god of all picks the conversation up. “The goblin fleet has a number of confiscated ships that the crews tried to invade their space. Most have been used for defense but there a lot that are just too old to be of use. We will take you there, if you accept the role of junk man. You can have anyone you would like. The goblin mechanics will modify it to suit your needs.”

I now must voice my feelings. “This is a lot to digest. I was killed by junk and now you want me to collect junk to help others. I work for this commando guy? Okay, but I don’t know the first thing about space travel, let alone how to repair, navigate and other things. What are you going to do? Zap me and I will know everything? I like the concept of gathering useless items and make then useful again. How much time do I have to decide?”

They laugh and tell me that this realm is actually out of time.

I figure, what the hell. I’m dead anyways. “there will be one proviso.” I tell them. “If I do take the job, I want to clean up my world first. That junk in orbit was causing a lot of trouble. Only thing I hesitate about is that they will just go back to filling their space up again.”

I am told that I will be given the liberty of visiting that space and just be allowed to clean the area.

After that meeting, I am showed around. This place is a nut house in a miniature scale. Camo golf carts, jeeps and all sorts of weird moving things. All on that level occupied by his ultras.

Six inch people that can shift into anything they can think of. I have to watch every foot fall otherwise I hear grotesque sounds of things being squashed. I have been told that the imps cannot be killed or injured.

“That is just to throw you off.”

They do like dead pranks. Drowned in the pool, frozen under ice cream. That one got that group barred from the ice cream for a while. I actually am getting to like them.

I was asked if I wanted to join them in their favorite online game. I figured, why not. I’m looking for the game set up but next thing I know, I’m in a stream and then in the actual game. His imps are being wild. Changing into things beyond imagination and then, after fighting, they are now getting drunk and chasing their partners into the brush.

This is the strangest thing that I have ever been part of. I am having fun.

We all are back in his home.

I have thought about it and ask him to call those gods back. I tell them that I will take the job. Then they just touch my head and I know all that I need to know about the job including the ship knowledge.

They take me to another world. There are actual goblins here but unlike those cartoons, these are very pleasurable people. It really is fun because they do exist. There are many others that I have only seen in cartoons or in the movies.

To me, the strangest thing is the felids, I was politely corrected at first when I called them cats, actually mates to mouse folk. Their children look to have the best of both.

After a tour, we sat down and they were given the scope of my new position.