by Vivian Venus
He wondered when the enforcer would arrive. Sometime soon, probably. He felt a little guilty for breaching protocol, but at the same time he felt this incredible welling of energy inside him. Up until now, Ryn had just been a figure on his scopes, someone he would see every day but could never speak to or meet. And her work – her “paintings” as she called them. He walked over to some of the canvases that were sitting propped up against the wall and crouched down to look. They took his breath away. As he looked at them up close, he marveled at how the image broke down into a series of unrecognizable strokes of color and form. He had never seen anything like it.
A certain painting sitting in a black frame called out to him. Unlike the others, which were all of the desert landscape, this one was a whirl of color and shape, not of anything defined. Daggen could tell there was something special about it, but he needed to dig deeper. He focused on the work, reaching out with his mind, using the special ability his people carried to understand the energy and process used to create something, whether it be artificial, biological. When Daggen surveyed the Earth’s surface, he could feel how the tectonic plates moved and how the red hot magma was shifting beneath the crust and all the minute intricacies of how the earth was formed. As he extended out to the painting and examined it with his abilities, Daggen felt a blast of overwhelming energy. He gasped and stumbled back and fell, like a hand had reached out from the surface of the canvas and hit him. His heart was thudding in his chest, and he felt tears building in his eyes. What was that? He wiped his eyes and tried to slow his breath. The feeling that was contained in this object, the emotion.
The door to the camper opened. “What are you doing?” Ryn stepped inside, her expression suspicious.
“This…painting,” he said. “It’s special isn’t it? It’s different than the others. The energy behind it. Loss, betrayal. Sadness… But also something else. You’re waiting for something.”
Ryn found herself somewhat shocked at his analysis. Could he really have seen that all in this? She turned the painting around so that it was facing the wall. “I painted it at a very difficult time in my life. I’m surprised that you noticed.”
“How could I not,” he said.
“Do you know a lot about art, Daggen?” She stepped back outside, and he followed her.
“Not a thing. There is no such thing where I come from.”
“No such thing? Just where are you from?”
He hesitated, not wanting to reveal too much. “It’s quite far from here.”
Ryn brushed a strand of her dark hair back behind her ear and crossed her arms as she looked at him, trying to figure him out. She hated how secretive this guy was, but she had to admit that she was intrigued by him. “There’s not some secret government base around here, is there? You’re not some escaped spy from another country?” She smiled.
Daggen chuckled and shook his head. She wasn’t too far from the truth, in some ways. “That painting…” he started.
“Is none of your business,” Ryn said pleasantly as she motioned to follow her to her truck. “Come on, I’ll take you back into town.”
Daggen held up his hand. “No, it’s alright. I’ll go on my own.”
“Into town. You know it's more than ten miles out, right?”
“Not to town.”
“We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
Daggen smiled guiltily. He felt bad to have intruded on her in his delusional state after the crash, but eventually the enforcer would be here and she wouldn’t remember a thing. He would be punished, but it was fine. Meeting her face to face had given his life an energy that it had been lacking for so long. He now only wished he could stay longer and talk with her more, see her painting up close, but he had already done too much. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for saving my life, Ryn.” He turned and began to walk off into the desert towards the site of his crash landed ship.
Ryn stared after him, completely mind boggled. What the hell was wrong with this guy? He had to be mentally ill or on drugs. She thought about forcing him to get in the truck with her so she could take him to town, but she decided against it. It was his life. She had already done what she could for him.
Ugh.
She ran back into her camper and grabbed a wide brimmed hat, headlamp and her water bladder and rushed back outside. “Hey, idiot!” she yelled as she ran to catch up with him. He turned around, and Ryn thrust the items into his hands. “At least take these, so I won’t worry about you.” She turned heel and grabbed the sunset study off the easel and then deftly collapsed the wooden frame, then lifted it up and set it back against the side of the trailer before going inside. Daggen smiled to himself watching her, and then turned to walk back out to the desert. The sky was a deep purple as the sun gave a last look at the earth before it dipped below the horizon. He marveled at the sight. He had never seen a real earth sunset before.
Crash Landed: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Link)
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