Roll me a cigarette

The boy had taken acid and was feeling the effects of it as he dragged the mannequin down the beach at 2 AM. He had found the mannequin abandoned at a nearby store and felt a strange connection to it. As he walked with it, he realized that the mannequin was all he ever wanted. It was his best friend, his true love and even equal to his mother and father in the bond he had developed in what seemed like a lifetime on that beach.

As he continued to wander the beach he felt at ease and his hallucinations mirrored that. He held the mannequin, Mandy, up and spun around. He laughed and spun around as he danced with it. As he made his way up past the tree line at the edge of the beach, a single tear of pure bliss rolled down his cheek

“What’s that you want me to roll you a cigarette?” He inquired.

The cigarette was finished moments before the trip took a turn for the worse.

Snakes! Snakes everywhere! He looked around and they were coming out of the lengthy grass and wrapping around him. His breathing became difficult and his heart beat erratic. He held the mannequin up high and shouted. “Save yourself!” All seemed lost.

He raced back out onto the beach. Where huge sandy monstrosities awaited. He grabbed a snake and hurled it into one of the monster's mouths. It chewed the snake with joy. There was a bright light and a voice shouting far off in the distance. “Run boy! Run!” The boy grasped at the mannequin with all the strength he had but it was like everything not encapsulated by the light was made of lead. His grasp slipped and he flew up high above the beach and away.

He didn’t know what was happening until he was on the mothership. There were many species of hideous monsters as well as a few that were more pleasant to look at. But all were terrifying for someone deep down the rabbit hole. He reached into his bag and pulled out a joint he had packed for the comedown.

After rigorous physical and cognitive tests the aliens acknowledged his sentience and agreed to release him back somewhere close to where they acquired him. However, they deemed humanity a threat to all higher life forms.

Before they released him they asked earnestly yet with a hint of fear. “What’s wrong with you?”

With tears in his eyes, he glared at them. “You left my mannequin behind.” the aliens were perplexed. Befuddled even.

“You’re very young aren’t you?” one asked.

“Nah, I’m eighteen. Then again what do you consider young?” he responded as he lit Mandy’s cigarette.

They entered eighteen into their computer and gasped at the data. They threw their hands up in despair realising they had made a terrible mistake. They had taken a child but left its comforting object behind. But the paperwork had been submitted. They felt defeated. Even mournful. As some of the data had led them to deduce this was a species with a phenomenal capacity for love and admirable levels of intelligence. Even if the child had seemed confused for much of the tests, however, they now realised they rushed the results and should have waited for the child to be calm before trying to ask for its age.

It was done now their findings were final. Humanity would not get another chance at ascension for another thousand years. Just like the last two attempts.

The boy touched down on the far side of the city. He looked around with some level of comprehension as to the where, but the how? He wasn’t sure what to think after all when it occurred to him he might never make it back he had munched his whole stash.

“I wonder if my Mandy made it home,” he said as he began to trudge in the general direction of home, His thumb out.

***

Thank you for reading a ThisIsOmniWar.com story