Tell me a story...
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Okay, it is the final part of the Aether story (this part is a little longer, sorry). I am still trying to figure out what story I want to do after this. I hope you all enjoy the conclusion to this tale. I still look forward to reading your stories... so come on!
In case you missed it, Go back to Part IV
Part V- The Aether Beyond
As John entered the core, everything around him changed. The blinding white subsided and shifted to an inky blackness. He felt himself coming back together as his atoms rejoin to recreate him anew. John looked around and saw he was floating in space again, just above the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Hello, John,” said a familiar voice.
John spun around and saw the old man with the galaxy robes floating before him. John rounded on the old timer but stopped short as the man raised a waggling finger.
“Be at ease child,” said the old man. “I do not wish to harm you.”
“Tell me what you want?” said John angrily.
The old man smiled and drifted closer to John and pointed past him, towards Earth.
“I don’t understand,” said John as he saw nothing but the world slowly turning.
“Look closely.” He thrust his finger towards the planet again.
John looked again and noticed a small spacecraft drifting over the horizon; it was his cruiser. “But how?”
The old man smiled again, “The end always comes back to the beginning.”
John shook his head in anger. “Tell me who you are,” he demanded.
The old man chuckled. “My name is Aether and I am the universe itself.” John gave him a puzzled look. “Well actually,” Aether corrected himself, “I am more like the maintainer of what has already been created.”
“You mean you didn’t create this?” asked John.
“No, I am not the beginning, if that is what you are asking,” said the old man.
John hung his head in dismay. “I don’t know what I am asking.” After a moment, he looked to Aether, “Why me?”
“It would be easy for me to say that you are a mere cog but I have watched and admired your devotion to your female consort,” said Aether with pride in his voice.
“My wife?” asked John.
Aether nodded. “You see, your particular lifeform has always fascinated me,” said Aether. “You have something that we, the creators, do not have.”
“And what’s that?” asked John.
“Free will,” Aether drew closer and smiled. “It is your free will that gives you hope, and determination. It is your free will that allows you to weave fate as you see fit.”
John took a moment to think but his confusion was replaced with fury. “So, was everything you put me through a test? I am an experiment?”
Aether laughed heartily. “Not a test, so to speak, it was our desire to understand the human heart.”
“The human heart?” asked John.
The old man pressed on. “In death, your body will return to me, the universe itself, and I will use you to create new life as I have done since the beginning of time.”
Aether drew closer to John and pressed a finger to where his heart was. John felt a course of electricity run through his body. Aether spoke again, “Your heart beats because of the spark I have given it, but it continues to beat because of your will to live.”
Aether removed his finger and John clutched his chest. “You are the designers of your own fate and us gods, elements, makers of the universe, admire you,” said Aether with a bright smile.
John nodded thoughtfully. “So, what now?” he asked.
“Your promises,” said Aether, “do you still intend to keep them?”
John thought for a moment and finally understood what the old man meant when they first met. “Of course,” said John.
“Then close your eyes,” said Aether. The old man pressed a finger to John’s forehead and he felt himself flying at the speed of light. When he stopped he opened his eyes and saw the ceiling fan in his bedroom spinning lazily overhead. John was surrounded by a fluffy white comforter.
“Ellie?” said John frantically as he pushed the covers out of the way. A flash of scarlet, the perfumed scent of lilac, Ellie laid next to him sound asleep. John breathed after what seemed like an eternity.
Ellie stirred and turned to face him. She gave him a hug and mumbled, “Promise to always love me, John.”
John pushed a strand of scarlet hair behind her ear. “I promise to always love you.”
He closed his eyes to savor the moment but his alarm blared. When he turned to switch it off he was back in the cockpit to his cruiser. He looked up at his control panel and saw an emblazoned fire icon hovering over his number three engine. John scrambled for his radio.
“Ground control?” asked John. Only static poured through the receiver; John’s heart sank.
“Grou –” he started but was interrupted.
“This is ground control.” The reply crackled through the receiver. John breathed easy and stated his problem. They told him that help was on the way.
After a moment, he looked out his starboard window and saw an old man in a galaxy-printed robe hovering in view.
John smiled. “I’m keeping my promises,” he said.
The old man returned his smile and disappeared. John leaned back in his seat and sighed. Somehow he knew things would be all right.
The End (thanks for reading
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@trose18 I see what you did there... war is horror for some people. I think I want do a memoir, we shall see.
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@trose18 said in Tell me a story...:
@azzurranna said in Tell me a story...:
@evan-elderson You should write a horror next!!!
based on ur experience
like american horror story
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@azzurranna said in Tell me a story...:
@evan-elderson You should write a horror next!!!
based on ur experience
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@evan-elderson Yay ^.^
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@azzurranna I don't know, I haven't done any horror stories but can certainly try.
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@evan-elderson You should write a horror next!!!
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@azzurranna thank you
. Yes, I try and write stories that emulate how I feel. Thank you so much reading and I am glad you liked it.
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@evan-elderson Loved it. He has some strong dedication to his wife going through all that.
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@sup ugh... maybe I will try. I actually had a sudo-poem in mind.
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@evan-elderson Its time for a poem :))
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@sup thank you, bro... now I need to think of what to do next.
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Great man!
