The Night I Ran Into Tennessee Jed and His Brother Cosmic Charlie from the Reptilian World.

I was sitting at the local bar waiting for the local band to play. I dont get out much these days but my friends insisted. They hadn't shown up yet. I was just sitting there sipping on my Hornitos with my salt and lime wedge, when this really odd looking fella sits on the stool next to me.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked.

I shook my head, No. I did not make eye contact.

"Is there music tonight?" he asked. His voice was slow, raspy and deep.

"There's supposed to be," I said, and looked around to see if the band was setting up. They weren't.

"What are you drinking,?" the fella asked me. I turned to look at him before answering. I was just about to say "tequila" when I noticed he looked like he was in a halloween costume. He had scaly lumpy skin like a reptile and his skin color was orange yellow, not tan or brown or any other normal pigment. His fingers were long and thin and scaley and he grasped his glass like an iguana.

I did not want to be rude. "Tequila" I said with a smirk and then looked at my glass with the tequila in it, salted my hand and licked it, had a sip of the tequila, followed by a bite of lime. I had to look at him again.

"So... are you a local?" I asked, wanting to know more about this lizard guy creature.

"Do I look like I'm from around here?" he replied and smiled. Some of his teeth had spaces between them. And he had fangs on both sides of his mouth. Besides looking like a lizard, he looked like a dude too. He was kind of a mix. Kind of good looking actually. Gentle looking. He had straight blonde hair that was really thin and reminded me of strands of silk. Shoulder length. He wore small gold hoops in his ears, and he wore a choker necklace made from porcupine quills. He was also wearing bangles on his wrists that bangled at his every move.

"I do not know", I said. There are definately some interesting characters around here. I only thought that. I was careful what I said out loud cause I wanted to know more about him with out seeming nosey or judgy.

"I live a little ways from here,"I said."I am waiting on some friends." He was wearing a tux like suit with tails. Matching pants and jacket. It appeared very old and worn, and falling apart. It was made of a velvet like material. Purple and shimmery. His shirt was a light lavender. Cotton or silk. There was a fake daisy in his lapel. He was definately intriguing.

So we’e just sitting there at the bar, and Im just sitting there on my bar stool and I’m just waiting for my friends when suddenly I got tapped on the back with something. It was his tail! Wait. What? His tail? Yes. Dude had a orange yellow dragon tail that popped out from between his coat tails and it was now out of control and going wild. It kept tapping me on the back and resting on my shoulder. I jumped off my bar stool and took a step back. It was long and thin. The end was a triagular shape like an upside down heart, about the size of a grapefruit but flatter. People were holding their mugs of beer and watching this weird lizard guy with his tail a swinging as well. Some were laughing. Some pointing. But no one really seemed concerned, like you would if you saw a monster. I think they were as thrown off as I was. As soon as he caught his tail in his iguana hands and got it tucked back magically into his trousers, everyone seemed to forget about him and went back to their other conversations and their drinking. Or maybe they were just talking about the lizard man and his tail in their private conversations. I wasn't sure what to think. Well, I thought, is this guy for real? So I asked him.

"Are you for real?" He looked at me and smiled.

"Two shots of Patron Silver please!" he ushered the bar tender. She nodded and prepared the two shots. She put them both in front of the lizard guy and he slid one to me.

"Cheers," he said and raised his shotglass in toasting fashion. I picked up the other shot and clanked my glass against his and was just about to say cheers when a little spark shot out where our glasses touched.

"Whoa!",I said.

"Did you see that?"

"The spark of life." he said. "I'll drink to that!" and he kicked his shot back. I did too. "Cheers!"I said. I drank my shot in one swallow. Ok. Is this guy a magician, I thought? He bought us another shot.

"Thank you kindly, kind sir." I said as the alcohol was kicking in.

"You've very welcome sweet lady."

I was wondering where my friends were. Of course I had left my cell phone at home on the table.

The band set up and started to play. The music sounded distorted to my alcohol induced brain. They were playing rock and rockabilly but it sounded like swing played too slow. I got up to look out side for my friends. They were not there, so I went back inside. I was perfectly fine sitting at the bar but walking around was quite a different story. I thought I better sober up if Im going to drive home. When I went back in, there was another shot of Patron Silver sitting on the bar where I was sitting.

"Drink up las." Lizard man said to me.

"Did you drug my drink?" I asked.

He said "yes, and when it knocks you out, I'm going to eat you!" He grinned and I turned to look him in the eye. His eyes were slit like cat or lizard eyes. I've seen people with contacts like that before.

I was just drunk enough so I was like,"fuck it." Everyone see's me sitting here with this cat....lizard. I told the bartender.

"If anything happens to me, this guy right here."

She was drying a glass with a towel . She leaned in to try to hear what I had to say. I dont think she heard me. She looked at me with her eyes saying, not my problem. She thought I was gonna order something. But I didn't. I was pretty shitfaced after 4 shots of tequila.

"What is your name?" I asked the lizard guy.

"Jed," he said. " Tennesee Jed" and he leaned backed and smiled. He definately had fangs.

I started laughing. Because of joy. Not to be rude. "Are you a Dead Head?" I asked him, hoping he was.

He said, "I"ve never been dead." He leaned forward and stared at his glass. "They are an all American Rock and Roll band." I said. That's where your name is from, a Grateful Dead song!" I was really excited cause I love the Dead.

My name is, ...”Susan” he said before I did.!

“How’d you know that?” I asked in surprise.

He said, "I got some weed, come on." And he got on off his stool and I noticed his feet were actually lizard feet.

"So you never heard of the Dead and your name is Tennessee Jed? Are you a lizard?" I asked him.

He smirked. “Do I look like a lizard?" he asked me.

"YYEEESS!" I said stretched out for effect.

"Well, alright then!" he said and started laughing. "Come on!" he said and kind of stood behind me so I would walk outside.

"I cant go far," I said feeling a little lopped sided. "I'm waiting for my friends."

"Understood." Jed said.

“I still dont know how you know my name?” I inquired.

He looked at me with a squint of his eyes and a smirk on his very thin lips and said nothing.

"You must be a musician," I said, " I mean a magician."

We stood outside near the back of the bar in the shadows so we could smoke his weed. His weed was the shit. Dank. Tasty. Gets you high as fuck. Delicious. A couple more people who followed the smell showed up for a puff.

"Are you a lizard?" one guy asked Jed after looking us over.

"I'm a piano player" said Tennesee Jed and handed him the joint.

"A piano playing lizard!" the dude spouted before taking his hit. "No shit! Really." he said, you really a lizard?"

"It's some pretty good shit this weed huh?" said Tennesse Jed leaning back and forth, looking like people do when they are super uncomfortable or high as fuck.

"Are you high?" the other dude asked him.

"Flying" Jed said.

"Does he look like a lizard to you?" one of the guys asked me.

"Yes he does." I said confidently. "But I'm OK with it", I said.

My friends suddenly showed up. "We followed the smell and figured you'd be out here."

"This is my friend Tenessee Jed and I dont know these guys names. This is Jesse and James, my friends".

"Jesse James! Said one of the other guys pointing at Jesse and James as if no one has ever heard that one before. Hey now! I'm Troy and this is Kevin.” Said the guys.

"I'm Susan." I said.

"We're gonna go in and get a table," said Jesse. And he did. James followed.

"Are you playing piano at Elmo's tonight?” Troy asked Tenessee Jed the lizard man. Jed smiled and bent his body back and forth, took a long hit off the joint and smiled some more. He looked like a lizard pirate or pirate lizard. He took another hit. The mysterious Tennessee Jed.

"Ok! Were taking off my lizard brother. Thanks for the high! That was some good shit!" Said Troy or Kevin or both. They wanted to knuckle bump everyone but I was the only one who put my fist out. Im sure my mom would be proud. Manners.

"Rider easy!" Lizard man Jed said.

"That tail must be a pain in the ass!" I said smiling, realizing it was a pun as well. I dont know why I said that. Terminally uncool I am.

"Come on. I want to show you something." he said.

"I will have to go tell my friends. We will be back here within a half hour?" I asked. He gave one nod as if his head fell onto his chin. "I"ll be right back." I said. I went into the bar to tell my friends I was going with Lizard Man Jed and I would be back in a half hour. "Do you want to come?" I asked both Jesse and James.

"Lance is gonna meet us here so we're gonna wait for him. Just come right back cause we are gonna go to my house. You sure this guy is cool? He did have some dank weed!" James asked me.

"Dam that was the shit!" I said about the weed. "He seems alright to me,” I said about Jed, “but he does look like a lizard .... His name is Tennessee Jed! Haha, He said he doesn't know who the Dead is. I dont know, but Im curious.... so if I dont come back..." I smiled. We meet a lot of characters down here in the gulch. "Ok wait for me." I said and went out to meet lizard man Tennesee Jed.

We started walking up th gulch. "Where are we going," I asked. "You're not going to eat me?" I asked grinning, and wondered if I really should be going with him. I did just consume four shots of tequila. He rubbed his belly, growled, showed his fangs and laughed.

"I'm going back" I said and turned around. "I'm not in the mood to be supper."

"Dont go!" he said.

"For real?" I asked.

He said, " maybe you can help us."

Us? I thought,OK, maybe I really am going to get eaten. Or mugged, or drugged.

"OK, stop" I said. You got to tell me where we are going or I can't go with you." He stopped walking. His tail popped out and was swaying gently behind him.

"As you may have guessed by my appearance, I am not from here." he said. "I am not a local. But I recognized you, sitting at the bar. Do you recognize me?" he asked. I squinted one eye and looked at him. Where would I know this lizard man from? I could not place him at any parties or events. But he suddenly did seem vaguely familiar...

"I will tell you,"he said. Remember when you did Salvia. It was at one of your friends houses in," he paused, ... "Seattle Washington. I think your friends name is Aaron. He tries to visit us frequently and we try to make the experience as unpleasant as possible. He is not ready for the knowledge we hold. Remember you saw three reptilian people in a canoe on the river. You landed in the jungle by the river. We saw you come in. We warned you that you should not have come to our lands and that you should go back to your own world. I was in the canoe."

I was stunned.

"Say what? You're telling me you're one of the lizard people in the canoe when I was tripping on Salvia? In Washington? In the river? With the two other lizard guys?"

"Yes. I remember you clearly."he said. "You were surpised to see us there. My brother told you that you didn't belong there, and that our land was a ceremonial place humans should not visit because their understanding is too primitive.

Shit. I thought. Shit. This cant be real.

"So...you recognize me? From a Salvia trip in Seattle. And your a lizard person from another dimension?" I asked. He nodded."And you speak English?"

"I speak many languages. We have been studying your people for ions." "OK!" was my response. "OK, so where are we going and why did you come here? Were you here looking for me? So, what's going on? Why are you here?" I felt alittle panicked. I have been tricked before by people and this guy was a lizard.

"Come with me." he said and waved his hand in a come along gesture. My intrigue was too great to resist. I followed him up the gulch, we walked past the stores and houses into the natural area at the base of the hill. When we came to the ravine we went up. It was dark out but almost a full moon so I could see pretty well. The ravine was uphill. It was rocky and there were bushes and rocks to watch for. Once we got about half way up the hill I started to feel a shift in the air pressure, like heat, and then a sort of resistence. I suddenly noticed out of the corner of my eye, there was a large heat wave off to the side of me. I couldnt see it if I looked right at it but I could catch a glimpse of it when I looked near it. A visable field of heat about the size of a shed. It looked like a bubble, moving slightly, clear, reflective and elusive. I could only see it at a certain angle. Jed went to the side of the bubble and walked into it and disappeared. He then popped back out and said,"come on!" I very slowly followed him inside.

Inside, it looked like a giant round room. Mostly white. "Where are we?" I asked. "This is the portal" he said. On this side of the portal is your world and on this other side is our world.

"This is some crazy shit!"I said. He nodded. "How long have you been here, I mean why are you here?" I asked.

"Let me tell you about my world. We are Morencari, the keepers of the sacred secret. We live our lives to protect what can never be known. We are generally a benign culture but there are some of us that are vengeful and do not approve of the humans who have been nosing around." Jed suddenly got loud. "Without ritual. Without intention. Without real purpose. Without the understanding to know what they are seeking. What the humans seek is beyond their comprehension. We have seen humans go mad trying to interpret what they think they experienced. The power is too great. That is why it is not safe for humans." He took a breath. "We live in a realm attuned and precise. In our culture we live simply with the land. We did not know of the humans until they started visiting us thousands of years ago. Most came unprepared. We would stay hidden and watch. See what they would do. Most did not know what to do. Most do not know how to be in a sacred place. We tell them "No" but they still come back. They say,"I want to see who that creature was that said no to me." "They have no respect. Every once in a while we get a human that is what you call a Shaman. It doesn't happen too often. Sometimes we engage with these Shaman. Share wisdom. We were on a fishing trip that day you came. I remember you. You looked concerned. Afraid. Like you were not sure. My brother told you that you do not belong here, and you said you were sorry and did not know this because you had never smoked Salvia before. And you also said you were sorry because you realized you were an intruder into our world. After you left we talked about how kind you were about leaving. We have not seen you since, unlike so many that never get the message. But as the fates would have it, we have come into your world! And here you are"

Jed continued, "We are here because we cannot close the portal and we can not leave until we do. We can not leave it open and we must stay and guard it until we can close it. That is why I came to town. I needed a break from trying to figure it out. Maybe you know how to close the portal? He said jokingly. My brother is working on it as well. I didn't think you could really help us but I wanted to talk to you. I find it fascinating that we both were at Elmo's bar in Bisbee Arizona in your dimension at the same time."

"That is bizarre.." I said contiplatively. "So you really are a lizard?"

" That's what humans refer to us as, Reptilian, But we are neither human or reptile. We are Manencari, those that are hidden. But we all come from the same creator."

"Am I dreaming?" I said and touched the walls of the portal. The walls felt real though one could not see the portal at all from the outside. Unless you knew to look for it. From the outside it just looked natural, like nature. Trees, bushes, grass and rocks. I was told humans can sense the portal but can not normally see it. It was because I was with Jed that I could see it, and touch it. Some kind of psychokinesis.

"Lets smoke some more weed." Jed said. We like to enjoy the local culture when we come to different realms." My brother will be here shortly.

"So, there are other realms as well?" I asked. "Can I go through the portal into other worlds?"

"There are multiple realms. These realms are at different frequencies. And yes, you could go through, but it is not safe for you, and we can not be sure we can get you back out. This glich and all. Best not to try. Keep you safe." He lit up another spleaf and passed it to me.

"You sure have some good weed!", I said after taking a hit, coughing and handing it back.

"Only the best!" he said and took a big hit and coughed. Smoke came rolling out his mouth and nose. Like a dragon.

"Do you always wear cloths?"

"We are a highly civilized people. Jed said. "We do."

Tennessee Jed's brother walked in through the back portal. "I remember you!" he said pointing as soon as he saw me. "I told you you dont belong with us and you said ok and left. And now here you are!"

"Yes I remember too," I said. I've told the story to many of my friends of how I met the lizard people. How they came down the river in a canoe. There was jungle everywhere. They were wearing cloths and jewelry and looked liked reptilian pirates. I tell my friends that one of you told me Salvia is definately not a party drug and it should only be used in a ritual format. I told them you asked me to leave and that you didn't want to see any of my friends either. Of course nobody takes me seriously. And now here you are, here in my world. Fancy that."

"She was at the bar." Jed said handing his brother the spleaf.

"Well aint that a quinky dink!" Jed's brother said then taking a big hit and blowing the smoke out coughing. "We've been brushing up on surface language for awhile. I know like 20 surface languages. English is pretty easy to use."

"I use it all the time" I said for some reason.

"Did my brother tell you we cant leave until we close the portal?"

"Yes,"I said, "how did it get opened?

"Well, it was because one of our young people came across a human. The human lured him into your world, but when this little brother of ours went through the portal he did something not right, and when he came back he created a permanent portal. We became aware of it right away and have been working on it since. We had to hypnotise a couple of humans so they would forget all about us. We have to do this sometimes. In the mean time, me and my brother, we are techy mechanics. We figure shit out. But we've been working on this for days. Funny that we would run into you again."

"Yes this is truly weird and unbelievable! Please dont hypnotize me!"

"If you are truly humble, we will not have to. And I believe you are. "Are you?" He asked looking at me very seriously and then smiling and winking sort of I think..

I nodded and yelled, "YES! YES! very humble!"

"This is not usual for us either. We do run into humans once in a while but never have we run into a human in the human dimension that we actually talk to. We usually hide, try to blend in. It gets lonely watching the humans, blocking their memories when necessary. We are tired of being here and want to go home. Get some home cooked food. Go fishing. But we cant leave the portal open. Sucks".

"Yea. Sucks. You sure do know English."

"Fuck we do!" Jed's brother exuberantly said to me with a giant smile, and he passed me the joint.

"It's weird that nobody cares you are reptilian. Macarina?" I said. "Or is it the hypnotizing?"

"Morencari." Jed replied. "People believe what they want."

"We are hoping to get this fixed by tomorrow. We've been here for over a week now. When I saw you, well, I felt a sense of happiness. It felt good to see your familiar face on the surface."

"Wild" I said. “Good to see you to! Can you say something in your language?"

Jed grunted and growled, made a fist and tapped his chest. "Let's get this baby fixed so we can go home!" and he smiled and howled and took another hit off the joint.

I totally spaced out my friends. I am standing in a room between dimensions. I pinched myself like anyone would. It was all so unbelievable. I kept feeling like I was in a Candid Camera skit or the brunt of a joke.

"Oh my Chiron!""I figured it out!" Yelled Jed's brother suddenly, who I found out goes by Cosmic Charlie.

I found out these are the names they use while in our dimension. They were picked based on music that Tennessee Jed and Cosmic Charlie heard once when a guy made contact with them while smoking Salvia at a music concert. A Greateful Dead concert obviously. They could hear the music playing and they couldn't help but get into the grove of it. They asked this guy the names of the songs. Now they use them when they do "surface work." Work in the 7th dimension, the human dimension. The human who shared the names with them told his friends that he talked to lizard people in another realm and he helped them get their names, but his friends just chaulked it up to him tripping at a Dead concert. No matter how many times he brought it up the answer was, dude, you must have been flyin.

"A lot of surface work we do is spells or incantations to keep these human intruder's out of the 1st realm, which is what the Morencari call it. "Humans don't know what they are looking for," Jed said. They just randomly go places thinking they are in control.

“Me and my bro, we are guardians of the portal. We are not the only ones. More and more humans are finding us. They are not ready for the knowledge they seek. We are the protectors of sacred knowledge. “

"Wow! I exclaimed. "You seem so regular." Jed smiled and then thought about it and laughed.

"We are regular." "We are just doing our job." Right Cosy? "

"Right!" Cosmic Charlie said. "And I think my job here is done! It's working! The green light is back on!"

The green light I thought. How regular. That's what they were waiting for to happen? Maybe the portal between dimensions had a loose wire?

"We should close this baby up and head home. I'm ready for a soak!" said Cosmic Charlie. He started jumping up and down like a child about to get an ice cream cone.

"Yea." said Jed. Let me walk this sister out." He was very brotherly. I was really intrigued and amazed. Jed walked to were the invisible door was and made a gesture for me to pass.

"It was truly incredible to see you on the surface, like you say." I told Cosmic Charlie before I left. "I am truly blown away. Can I give you a hug?" He opened his arms wide and we hugged like old friends saying goodbye. I could see electric sparks shimmer all over his body when we hugged. He walked me to the door where Jed was waiting. I walked past Jed and was outside again in the moonlight. I looked back at where the bubble should be and could not see it. I reached out to feel it and I could not locate it at all. Once again, Weird.

"Please dont hypnotise me." I pleaded. “I want to remember. I will keep your secrets safe.”

"You can have the rest of my weed." Jed said to me and handed me a canning jar of weed. "It's a 7th realm pleasure" he said. "We got other stuff we use down under.” Then he suddenly got serious, Hey little sister, he said with much kindness in his voice. I will be watching for you. Praying for you. Live a good life Susan," he said, and he took my chin into his lizard hands and held my face up to look at him directly in his eyes. I noticed his eyes were slit and he looked more like a lizard then ever when he blinked. He sparkled with electricity and I could see sparks of light energy run down his hair .

"I"ll be thinking of you as well," I said and then we gave each other a very electric hug.

"Will I ever see you again?" I asked.

" I think the fates might allow it." Jed said. So we happy skipped walked down to the street from the ravine, back to where the houses and stores where, his tail swaying casually behind him. Me without a tail. A little more sober now. His bare lizard feet on the asphalt. My human feet in sneakers.

"Until next time." he said and I looked over at him to say how great it was to see him again, that I hoped we could visit again, but he was gone. I turned around and he was no where to be seen. The jar of weed was still in my hand, so I stashed it under my shirt. Too crazy! I'm going back. I turned back and went to the site where I thought the portal was and could not find it. Gone. I walked back to the bar in the moonlight. It had been hours and I'm sure my friends left with out me. I could always go to Jesse's house.

"Exactly 1/2 hour," Jesse said as I entered the bar. "We just paid the tab. Do you need a drink before we go?"

"You guys are still here!" I said in surprise.

"Lance just got here but he doesn't want to stay so we are ready to go. "Where is your friend Jed?" James asked. "Did he go back to Tennessee? He sure was weird. Is he an actor? Who wears a costume like that in July! Early start for Halloween! I thought he looked cool though. But that was kind of weird to be dressed like a lizard, dont ya think?"

I felt the jar of weed Jed gave me tucked in under my shirt.

"Yea. For sure. Weird." I said, "Let's go!"