Innocent Times

by Gemma Owen-Kendall

  It was coming up to Christmas and my full-time office job was forcing me to take annual leave so I had no choice but to take it as my department was shut over the festive period. I had decorated my studio with some tinsel, lights and a small Christmas tree with a star on top of it, in the hopes to make me feel a bit better about myself, I made a wish for the pain I was feeling to go away. Who knew that wishing on a star could come true.

  I woke up pulling back my turquoise butterfly patterned curtains to a snowy Christmas Eve morning, late morning to be precise but I think it was more lunch time as the night before I had watched a few chick flicks and downed a bottle of pink gin. I lifted my head up from off my pillow to the worse hangover I had ever encountered. Stumbling to the little kitchen area, I downed a glass of water trying to come to my senses.

  Later on that evening my hangover had eased off, so I managed to get out of my slump to go outside. The snow had slowed down and come to a stop by the time I got outside; I gazed up to the starry night sky and seeing how the stars were trying to break through the snow clouds. In the distance I heard a choir singing from a nearby Church ‘Silent Night, Holy Night.’ As I was listening to the lyrics and gazing upwards, a light flew across between the snowy clouds. ‘Perhaps that was a shooting star.’ I thought to myself, but it seemed to near, so close. It was most likely my heavy hungover head playing tricks on me. I decided to head back home and call it an early one in bed.

  That night I was woken up by a bright light shining through my window, I did not realise what time it was, it could not have possibly be the morning already. I ran over to the nearest window, but the light was too bright for me.Then suddenly I was standing on the roof of the building I lived in, I didn’t even know how I had gotten up there. I looked around to see a figure standing before me, he was the most beautiful guy I had ever seen. I did not understand where he appeared from, but I could not help myself but stare at him. How embarrassing for me though as I was wearing my unicorn pyjamas, but he didn’t seem to mind what I was wearing as he just looked into my eyes. His eyes were hazel coloured, and his skin sparkled upon the light that was shining above us. It was like a flying saucer object just hovering over us.

  He pulled me closer to him, his hair was chocolate brown, slightly spikey. For a moment there was no words that I could bring myself to say or ask him. There was something about him that was just out of this world. “Hello.” His voice sounded as graceful as an angel. Then reality hit me as I felt scared and started to shake. “Please don’t be afraid of me, do not fear.” It was like he was trying to make me calm down. “Who are you?” I finally managed to say something to him. “I am just like you, I have travelled from afar searching for you.” This was sounding crazy, but I liked it, I didn’t care if it was just a dream or my hangover still taking over me but in this very moment my heartache had just vanished.

  “You are just beautiful.” Was all I could say back to him. He placed his lips so tenderly onto mine and I didn’t want this moment to end. My head then got the better of me as it felt so heavy, I felt his hands catch my fall but still everything went black.

  I woke up on Christmas day, another late morning, only this time I was feeling so alive and so fresh. It was like I had become a whole new person after my visit from a spaceman the night before. I had decided to get up and open up presents from my parents that I had put under my little Christmas tree. There was one that I had not seen before, wrapped in sparkly silver paper and tied with a silver bow. The label read:

  I will return again

  Merry Christmas

  Love from your Spaceman.

  Feel the Thunder.

  1.

  It was just like any normal typical English weather day during the month of April; the rain was pouring fast and drumming loudly onto the rooftops. Gloomy clouds formed through the sky over the town as though it was appearing to cover the area, so no light could break through. The sound of the flood sirens can be heard for miles upon miles, warning if a light possibility that a tidal wave may erupt through the town causing the area to flood. A busy old looking Victorian warehouse located five miles away from the town in the middle of nowhere stood alone; inside the warehouse it had been converted into a polythene factory. This is one of many businesses the town’s welfare depended on. The only other building next to the warehouse was a newly built office block.

  Kimberly sat at her desk looking out of the office window, her blonde hair pinned up tightly to form a bun. Her chipped red nails tapping viciously onto the varnished, stained wooden desk, her eyes gazing into nothing. “Kimberly, wake up.” A woman’s voice was heard, Kimberly’s gaze is interrupted, and she looks round the office to the direction where the voice appeared from. The other woman is a little older than Kimberly, her name is Jane.

  “Sorry Jane.” Kimberly replies half asleep from a wonderful daydream that consisted of her meeting the love of her life. Kimberly never seems to have much luck with men; she has got the looks, the figure, the personality and the fashion sense. The poor girl just can never date a man that she can click with and hopefully one day settle down with. “perhaps I should go out and get some air.”

  Slowly, like a snail lifting herself up off the desk chair, Kimberly smiles at Jane and leaves the office gracefully. She strolls towards the door that leads her to the stairs upon the back entrance of the factory. Clink clonk is the sound her heeled shoes creates heading down the stairs and the loud machinery is heard upon the entrance of the factory. The raindrops hitting the roof mixes along with the sound of the machines, this is about as loud as a heavy metal band at a gig and the smell of burning plastic filled the air.

  Suddenly a tremendous flash of light hit the factory followed by a loud bang, the roof caved in and the ground shook as though the building had been struck by a thunder storm. Panicked workmen sprinted out of the factory to escape from the colliding roof. Kimberly looked around in anixously; her feet felt as though she was stuck to the floor like glue and she began to hyperventilate in fear that she was going to not live past this event. Colossal pieces of roof tiles and glass fell to the fall, surrounding her ability to escape.

  “Help!!!” Kimberly screams out at the top of her lungs, but there is no one around to save her. Kimberly’s head felt heavy, her eyes closed, and she fell to the ground. Just before Kimberly hits the ground, someone out of nowhere approaches her and grasps hold of her to prevent her from falling on the factory floor. Through semi-consciousness eyes, Kimberly faces the mysterious person and she can just about make out his eyes. They are the colour blue, south sea blue and very magical; it is as though Kimberly felt like she was being drawn into his embrace. “Stay with me.” Were the words she just about could make out, his voice sounded deep but soft and then suddenly everything went black, Kimberly lost her vision and she could no longer see the mystery man’s fascinating blue eyes.

  Kimberly woke up early the next morning in hospital with her vision returned but there was no memory of the event from the previous day, there was an uncomfortable feeling from her right arm where a tube appeared to have been injected into it which was connected to a liquid bag. The bed she was laying on felt stiff and very firm, as if it was cardboard the mattress was produced from. The pillows were not puffy feathered ones like she had at home, it was like her head was resting on a bag of straw that were wrapped in white nylon cloth.

  Kimberly looked around the compact room; she had been placed in a private sector. The light in the room was dazzling, it was too bright that Kimberly had to squint her recently returned vision. The smell in the air was clean but slightly chemical, more like the smell of disinfectant along with the slight linger of burnt toast. This was most likely came from the kitchen. Kimberly had a thought to herself, the light being so bright and the smell of something burning. Holy crap, what had happened at the factory?

  The thought of remembering the factory collapsing round her brought a shiver down her spine, “I could have died in there.” She spoke out loud to herself
in a panic. Kimberly glances round the room again, she notices the curtains are faded blue and hung one side on a curtain tail that goes round the position of where the hospital bed is placed. The thought of blue eyes and the mystery man triggers back into her mind, she sighs to calm herself down, just remembering him again makes her feel at ease. Who was he? She thought again to herself. From what she recalls there was no one around, then suddenly as things went dark and feeling faint, this person appeared from nowhere.

  Her thought process is interrupted by the door to her room opening; a nurse quietly walks into the room to check on Kimberly, expecting her to still be asleep. The nurse smiles at her. “Good to see your now awake Miss Lowe. The doctor will come and see you shortly; he just wants to carry out a couple of tests before a decision is made to discharge you.”

  “How did I get here?” Asked Kimberly trying to sound confused and puzzled. “Everyone had left me inside the factory, I was trapped.” The nurse just kindly smiled at her, “Oh no they found you unconscious outside the factory.”

  “I must have hit my head when I fainted as I can’t really remember how I got out of there.” Even though Kimberly knew full well how she managed to have escaped from the factory, her mission now was to find this mystery man and discover his identity.

  2.

  At the site where the factory previously was, detectives and forensics were hard at work investigating what had happened and what caused the lightning and thunder to target the factory. Tremendous masses of rubble, dust and metal surrounded the site; as if nothing could have survived the collapsed factory. The smell of burnt wood lingered the area still even though there was no fire active at this moment in time, unaware to the detectives was someone in the shadows watching their every move.

  “I have found a stiletto shoe.” Shouts one of the detectives. He was standing in the position where Kimberly had her episode with the mysterious man. “I think it is the shoe from the survivor Miss Lowe, who is currently in hospital. But how did she escape before the building collapsed over her? The position where this shoe is to where she was found outside shows she would not have made it in time. I think we need to send an officer to obtain a statement from her.”

  “I think she has been discharged already, I shall radio the station now to find her whereabouts and for all patrolling officers to keep a look out.”

  The figure in the shadows overhears the conversation between the detectives to search for Kimberly; he moves away rapidly from the factory site and sprints to the hills heading towards the local town. The person in the shadow’s is Kimberly’s mystery man.

  Kimberly waited patiently outside the hospital for her taxi to arrive; she needed the fresh air to try help focus her mind on the recent events. But the memory of the mystery man and his south sea-blue eyes would not leave her alone. Just thinking of him gave a warm fuzzy feeling inside making her feel safe. The sound of an ambulance siren interrupted her thought process, the ambulance raced past Kimberly and headed onto the main road. The taxi appears to be taking too long. She looks at her pandora watch with a purple strap on it, the strap is covered in dust and the face of the watch has a crack on it. ‘Damn, I love this watch and now it is ruined.’ Kimberly thought to herself, she felt quite disheartened that her favourite watch had been wrecked. In her irritated mood, Kimberly is bored of waiting for the taxi, so she decides a gracious walk home will calm her down.

  The weather was warm, the sun glowed through the sky and there appeared to not be a black cloud in site compared to how the weather was the day before and the monstrous thunderstorm that erupted the town and caused the factory to collapse. The smell of fresh cut grass filled the air. The local residents were taking advantage of the lovely weather to mow their lawns and small groups of families set up picnics in the local park.

  The park was a beautiful and very scenic area, there were trees planted throughout the park and a stream flowed through the centre. The sound of trickling water was heard throughout the park, there was a water feature right in the centre of the stream that appeared to have a statue of an ancient God holding a hammer, there was a plaque by the stream that read ‘Feel The Thunder.’ On another plaque located further along the park read the words ‘Thor: God Of Thunder and Lightening.’

  As the park is round the corner from the hospital and leads to a pathway towards Kimberly’s apartment, she decided to take a pleasant stroll through the beautiful and scenic area. Kimberly always loved walking through the park come rain or shine; it was as though this was her safe haven to be whenever she had an awful day at work to mending a broken heart from past disappointing relationships. This time round Kimberly stopped and admired the statue of the ancient god. She had all the time in the world at this moment. She gazed upon the stone feature of Thor and smiled with a slight blush in her cheeks. “If only.” She spoke out loud to herself.

  Suddenly two patrolling police officers approached Kimberly; she was still in a daze with the statue that she hadn’t noticed the officers standing side by side of her. “Excuse me Miss?” said the female officer in a stern voice, “we need you to come with us.” Still Kimberly was in a world of her own, she hadn’t noticed the police were talking to her. Whilst in her day dream world she heard the mystery man’s voice ‘Kimberly, you are in danger. Wake up, please.’ It was as though he spoke to her standing by her side, his voice still sounded so deep but soft however this time there was a tone of anxiety with his words. As though she actually was in danger, instead of a warm fuzzy feeling inside, she felt an icy chill shiver down her spine. She woke up back at the park facing the statue. Both of the police officers were still standing side by side.

  “Sorry officers, I was in a world of my own.” She spoke with a tone sounding ditzy, but inside it worried her. ‘Perhaps he can see me now?’ Kimberly questioned to herself. This time the police officers did not respond, looking straight at the police woman there was something strange about her eyes. They were not human, just black, Cosmic black, no pupils, iris or sclera could be seen like on a human eye. “What or who are you?” asked a shaken and terrified Kimberly.

  “You need to come with us.” Hissed the other officer, his voiced sounded not human but as though he was a snake trapped in a human’s body. The creatures both reached out to grab Kimberly; their grasp felt so tight as though they were trying to cut off the blood circulation to her arms and their palms felt ice cold. She tried to struggle but their grasp got even tighter, Kimberly surrendered and just flopped herself in their clutches.

  3.

  From out of nowhere the ground shook and a sonic boom sound erupted through the air. The sky suddenly changed from glorious sunshine with a clear sky to dull and thick tenorite grey clouds and no rays of the sun breaking through. “Let her go.” A voice appeared from nowhere, Kimberly looks around but no one else can be seen. The two officers get agitated but still remain holding the poor girl. A figure approaches towards them holding a hammer; he has a bright glow surrounding him. Kimberly notices him; from a distance, she could make out the south sea-blue eyes. A warm fuzzy feeling fills her inside again. It was her heroic mystery man that only saved her life yesterday and is now coming to her aid again. The closer he got the more she could make him out, he was everything she imagined him to be. Short blonde clean cut hair, broad muscular frame, and his face was clean shaven. He wore Viking style armour. Kimberly noticed the statue out of the corner of her eye and saw how familiar it looked to her mystery man. ‘It can’t be?’ She thought to herself, but the more she looked the more true it appeared to her.

  “It’s Thor.” Shouted the female officer, “Get him.” The other officer charged towards the almighty god, Thor stopped in his tracks and stood firm, hammer at the grip of his hand. The hammer lit up; it shone a diamond white glow, as the hammer lit up it retracted a lightning bolt and struck it straight into the charging creature. The officer flew back and landed right through a nearby tree, the body remained lifeless however a black but see through cloud spirit flew out a
nd charged towards Thor again. However Thor remained still in his stance and was not afraid to challenge this thing again, he held his posture until the right moment came to attack it. The lightning bolt zapped back towards Thor, catching the spirit on its path, the spirit vaporised into thousands of dust particles.

  The other police officer closely observed what happened to her companion; she released Kimberly from her clutches and sprinted away in the opposite direction. Thor saw her trying to get make a run for it. He sprinted and flew past Kimberly and caught up with the evil creature in a blink of an eye. He grasped hold of the police officer and looked at her straight in the face; she squeals out an ear deafening sound. Thor grabs hold of her throat to silence the squealing sound.

  “No use calling for help, I will only destroy each and every one of you who thinks of taking Kimberly away. Now go back to where you came from and never bother her again.” The body becomes lifeless in Thor’s hand; another cloud, spirit flew out of the body and approached Kimberly. However Thor caught hold of it and spun it round, he then threw it up to the cloud ridden sky where it flew off out of sight to escape.

  The clouds then suddenly released the sun’s rays and gold strands appeared in the sky. It was as though Thor had controlled the weather. Even the butterflies and other wildfire came to grace us with their presence. Kimberly starred for a moment at him feeling shocked but also inside feeling happy. He had saved her life again. The thunder god strolled quickly towards her and for a moment the pair of them look into each other’s eyes.

  “It's you from yesterday, you saved my life.” She spoke to him; Thor smiled and held her in his powerful embrace. “What’s been happening?”