The Secrets of Sohanno Desert

Chapter 1: The Old Man

“You’re not listening doctor, I’m not crazy!” Jasper exclaimed, slamming his palm on the metallic table, nearly spilling his doctor’s warm cup of coffee.

“I’m sorry Mr. Remo, but the likely reason for your pain-”

“I’m not in pain,” Jasper scowled, swivelling in his chair.

“Pain can manifest in many forms Mr. Remo, it could have been repressed mentally, perhaps even before your incident,” Dr. Browne stated, scribbling splotches of ink in his leatherback notebook.

“But I don’t feel pain, I feel angry,” Jasper interjected, his eyes glaring at Dr. Browne. Jasper disliked psychiatrists who tried to dissect his mind, but this one was worse; he was downright passive.

“So, why do you think you feel angry?” Dr. Browne asked, raising his dull face from his paper.

“Because...” Jasper cleared his throat, “No one believes what happened to me!”

Jasper stormed out of the doctor’s office and marched through the artificially lighted hallway. Many years had passed and still, no one believed his story. Not his friends, his family, his girlfriend, not to mention any psychiatrist he’s been able to reach. He strolled out of the hospital and squinted at the piercing heat from the naked sun. He stared at the stream of speeding cars traveling up and down the I-90 to his left. Many of the vehicles had the classic family-style: mom and dad up front, and two or three children babbling in the back. They seemed happy, excited, Jasper thought. He never enjoyed road trips that much anymore. They reminded him too much of the hazy memories he tried so desperately to cling to and let go of. All to no luck. Like clockwork, his watch blared a disturbing reminder; he needed to take his pills.

While walking across the street from the hospital, Jasper began rummaging through his jean pocket, locating the bottle of prescription meds. He stopped near a park entrance for a moment, staring at the yellow tainted plastic encasing the grey oval-shaped pills. Jasper stood on the empty sidewalk and clenched his fist, rattling the medication. Finally, he unscrewed the lid and threw the tablets across some bushes and into a swampy pond. He gasped, whispering to himself, “oh shit.” Jasper sprinted into the park with frenzy, scavenging everywhere on the dry grass. He managed to find one grey pill and buried it back into his pocket. Jasper gazed at the marshy pool in front of him. The rest of the tablets must have sunk into the muddy water, dissolving like his chances of a normal future.

“Any luck feeding the ducks today?” a random old voice muffled behind Jasper. The frail elderly man was sitting on one of the worn-out park benches, with a half-smile, staring at the whole incident. His hands were plopped on top of a mahogany cane and his body gestured attentiveness, despite his advanced age. The old man slowly swayed his hand to his side, placing it on the space next to him, “Please,” he offered.

“What’s troubling you son?” the old man asked in a curious kind tone.

“Oh god, how much time do you have? ” Jasper replied.

“Not as much time as you’ve got” he chuckled, “I’m approaching 84, how old are you?”

“I’m 22.”

“22! Ah...what an exciting time that was. But my apologies, please continue.”

“Nobody believes me. Nobody believes what happened to my brother and me.”

“No one?” the old man questioned.

“No one: parents, girlfriend, friends, doctors” Jasper listed.

“Well, how about a stranger? Someone that doesn’t know you and will most likely forget what you’ll say after today.”

Jasper examined the old man to his left. They were only two feet apart. “What do you mean forget me? Do you think what I have to say is boring or beneath you? huh?” Jasper ranted, pulsing with redness in his face. His charcoal hair was fuming from the midday sun.

“Oh, no no no, of course not.” the old man answered with a cheerful expression. “I have early signs of dementia son. Doctor says I only got a couple of days before my memory fades into a constant fog.”

Jasper’s eyes widened in disbelief, “I’m, I’m so sorry, I didn’t, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s alright son, believe me,” the old man gracefully interrupted, “I’ve known about it for a while now. Memory...memory plays a different role in life when you... get to my age. But I’m still sharp, maybe not pencil sharp, but enough to hold a conversation and listen.”

“You’re not sad?” Jasper asked.

“At first...yes, I suppose,” the old man explained, scratching his nose gently, “but after awhile, the sadness faded when I realized that I didn’t want my last...conscious thought... to be a grim one. I haven’t given up on life you know? Regardless of what people call my condition, I’m still gonna fight it out and keep my wits about me. It could swoop me a month from now, tomorrow, maybe even tonight, and I would be fine. When I found joy in simply breathing...I understood... that death...could never hurt me.”

“Oh” Jasper replied, struggling to comprehend. He had never met a person so composed in the face of oblivion. Even more so, able to share a shed of peace with a complete stranger.

“My name is Reginald Kandal. What is your name son?” the old man asked, his frail hands still nested on top of his sturdy cane.

“I’m Jasper, Jasper Remo” he sniffled softly, managing to spare a quick smile.

“So what’s your story?” Mr. Kandal asked.

“My story? Well, I guess if I’m going to tell you, I oughtta start with that god-forsaken summer with my brother, when this whole mystery began for me. In the desert.”

“Go on Jasper,” Mr. Kandal leaned in, “I’m listening.”

Chapter 2: Welcome to Sohanno Desert

(1975)

“The Sohanno Desert is enveloped with rocky craters across its three-thousand-square mile landscape, forming a polk-a-dot terrain. Its valleys and peaks are baked in endless sunshine. The few plants and animals that live in this inhospitable place seek refuge in underground caves tunneling throughout the earth; wildlife only being observed venturing at night. Reports of campers getting lost and dying of thirst deters most from entering. The authorities have explained that the Sohanno Desert Roadway was built to facilitate travel between towns, all of which have since been abandoned. To this day, the Roadway has remained intact with zero obstructions. Those that have driven the full-length describe the experience as a paved illusion. ‘If you drive on it long enough’ one trucker accounts, ‘You’ll end up at the same intersection from where you started driving. It’s a circle, a giant circle.’ However, all maps of the area specifically outline a narrow-linear road that stretches across the entire desert. Which raises the question: What is truly going on in Sohanno Desert and how can the public decipher truth from fiction?”

“Ooooh, spooky stuff man” Sean snickered, playfully nudging Jasper in the passenger seat. Sean continued, “C’mon man. Let’s leave the reading for a bit, I think we’re getting close.” The brothers had been driving down the I-90 for roughly 200 miles now. They drove in their dad’s 1970 chevy pickup truck. Jasper always wanted to drive, but they agreed that Sean would take the wheel. Sean was always the adventurous one, a free-spirit. Jasper on the other hand, was a bookworm, someone that found comfort in the back of the class. He enjoyed the outdoors, but felt hesitant on a trip this far from home. His opinion changed when he strolled through an old pawn shop - roughly a month ago - and found an old book titled, “The Myths of the Mirrored Seas.” Curiously he paid for it and flipped through a couple chapters. After a few nights studying the history, Jasper discovered that the stories, old and new, arose from a common location, the Sohanno Desert.

After telling Sean, the two were set on a path for adventure. Most teenagers might spend their summer breaks at amusement parks or riding waves, but these brothers craved for novelty and discovery. They wanted to find something no one had ever found before; a pool of life beneath the desert.

The two were twins. They shared many passions and did almost everything together. If it weren’t for an anomaly at birth - giving Sean black hair and Jasper blonde - they would’ve been identical. Not too mention Jasper’s bad childhood habit of watching the TV box a foot away, forcing him to wear square-rimmed glasses. Regardless, once they finished highschool late spring, the two made their summer plans away from everything and everyone. Sean adjusted the knob on their radio and stopped when he heard the song “California Dreamin.” Jasper looked at his brother with a mirroring smile. He threw his book in the backseat and began tapping his car door to the rhythm of the music.

They continued riding for another 20 miles before passing by a lonely gas station. “We best filler up, don’t know how long until we find another” Sean recommended. He veered the pickup truck into an empty stall and cranked the gear to park. The pillars next to them were stained from the desert sun. To their right, was a quiet convenience store with a wall masked with different coats of peeling brown paint.

“Need anything?” Sean asked.

“Nah, I’m fine” Jasper replied, “I’ll just skim through my book while I wait.”

Jasper grabbed “The Myths of the Mirrored Seas” from the leather seat behind him and began flipping through. He eventually came across a fascinating poem, which read:

When dusk rises, I shall be found.

All will be lost, except a fluttering sound.

The stars will emerge and begin to shine.

Follow their footsteps to unravel my shrine.

Jasper was puzzled. He couldn’t tell if the lines were a riddle, instructions, or just some pretty words arranged together. When Sean arrived, Jasper retold the poem. They both didn’t know what to make of it. The truck revved its engine out of the gas station and returned to the highway. Not long after, they spotted a fastly approaching white sign that read, “Welcome to Sohanno Desert.”

Chapter 3: Craters and Caves

The boys drove past the greeting card, turning onto a separate road. It was nearly noon now and there wasn’t a cloud visible in the sky. To their left were rocks and sands, and to their right, was rocks and sands. Aside from their roaring car, there wasn’t another sound detectable. The linear road ahead of them reflected the basking heat, making Jasper’s throat parch. After another 10 miles, some curved ridges appeared on both sides of the car. Sean and Jasper took a long glance at one row of ridges to their left. They looked at each other dumbfounded and agreed, that’s where they wanted to search first.

Sean pulled the car over on the right lane and they dismounted. They swiftly grabbed their hiking bags; Jasper secured his book in a zipper pouch and Sean strapped his silver cannon camera around his neck. They were ready. The two brothers walked for another five miles before reaching the sight. They quickly realized that the high ridges they initially saw were the perimeter of a massive desert crater. They hiked the rocky cliff and gazed across the steep valley. Jasper felt queasy for a minute at the view, but Sean supported him back to his feet. They continued to descend the belly of the crater, traveling in a zig-zag matter; the area was littered with stone-covered holes. When they reached the bottom, they were relieved to find soft red sand.

“So how are we suppose to find this underground desert pool?” Sean asked.

“Well…” Jasper recalled, “the poem did mention being found at dusk. Maybe we should wait until nightfall.”

“Sounds good to me” Sean replied.

The boys began setting up their campsite. Jasper untangled the coiled metal poles and threaded them through the blue tent fabric. “Gimme a hand with this last line will ya Sean?” Jasper grabbed a nearby rock and hammered the peg into the buried pinhole. “There,” Jasper panted, removing a smear of sweat from his dripping forehead, “Now what should we do?”

“Now...” Sean said while lying down on the rusted sand, “Now we wait.” He took a quick snapshot of one of the crater walls before closing his eyes.

While the sky darkened, in its blue-reddish hue, Jasper tilted his head up to look at the monstrous crater they were in. Its high edges appeared like jagged mountains, sheltering the endless cave faces surrounding him. The cave openings varied in size, but all of them were circular. The navy sky above them transitioned to blackness and the immense shadow from the west slowly crawled to meet them. The crater’s shadow covered Sean and Jasper in gradual coolness, which quickly turned into a teeth-clenching frozen wasteland.

“Grab your coat and flashlight man” Jasper uttered, “Be on the lookout for anything weird.”

Eerie stillness filled their ears, which was broken by a brisk gust of wind up above. In the distance outside of the crater, a concert of echoing howls emerged. Some howls competed for space, while others communicated with odd yet beautiful tunes. “Jasper look there” Sean whispered, pointing at some purple freckles in the sky. They looked like insects, possibly fireflies, but none they had ever seen. The bioluminescence was only visible once the swarm flew beneath ground level. In the open desert air, the flies were merely specks in the wind, camouflaged from hungry predators. The purple specks grew in speed and brightness as they descended to the crater floor in a spiralling dance.

“Wait a minute... stars, the stars, that’s it!” Sean yelled with excitement. “This it Jasper! We gotta follow them wherever they go!”

The purple flies traveled down a distant hole, 30 feet from their campsite. The brothers darted to the illuminating dots and slid down the slanted entrance. The sand near the bottom cushioned their uncomfortable ride. Sean placed a hand on Jasper’s shoulder for support and they both noticed the purple glow slowly fade around the corner of the tunnel. The structure was large enough for them to stand, but not high enough for them to jump. “Where’d they go?” Jasper mumbled, shining his pale yellow flashlight around the stony curve. The underground path seemed to go on for a hundred yards, but they couldn’t be sure; their lights were engulfed in encompassing darkness. Sean led. Jasper followed and kept one hand on his brother’s coat. Jasper looked around the ceiling as they walked on the fine sand. They took another step and a sudden creaking noise bellowed beneath them. “Wait I think I see-”

“AAAHH!” Sean and Jasper cried.

The two abruptly fell into a black void beneath them. Their painful groans echoed in the darkness as they crashed on the rocky floor. Jasper’s body was ringing in agony as he lay motionless. He mustered all his strength to scramble and find his flashlight. The light switch revealed his brother next time, who was also in tremendous pain. He turned his flashlight upwards. They had tumbled roughly seven feet from their entrance. Jasper awkwardly stood up in the vastly open cavern. He felt a slight chill before finally speaking, “Goddammit, how did we? Where did we? What was that?” said Jasper, rubbing the back of his head.

“Ugh,” Sean replied.

“Are you okay?” Jasper asked.

“I think so, my bag saved my fall. What, what happened?”

“We must’ve” Jasper coughed, “We must’ve fallen down a hidden hole while we were walking.”

“Holy shit.”

“Did your camera survive?”

“Somehow...ya” Sean replied, cradling the lens in his lap. “But look at this.” Sean was holding a broken piece of plywood. “What is this doing all the way out in the desert?”

“I think we got bigger problems” Jasper blurted, “How are we suppose to get out of here?”

The two stumbled to their feet and orientated themselves with their new surroundings. They shined the yellow rays and sawdust was floating from their entrance. There was no way out. Sean gathered some large rocks around the cave and formed a circle on the wet ground. “There we go,” he said, cleaning the stone muck from his hands, “That way we’ll remember our starting point if we happen to get lost.”

The brothers ventured cautiously around the damp cavern. The sides were cold to the touch and the ground was uneven with various smooth rocks. The walls circling them were home to five separate tunnels, each one like fingers burrowing deeper into the earth. Suddenly in the distance, the glowing light returned. Except for this time, the color shimmered in wavey hues of blue. The boys turned off their lights for a brief second to determine which path the insects went. “That way seems promising” Jasper suggested. They proceeded towards the glowing passage and the blue shades radiated as the tunnel spiraled downwards. As they trekked deeper and deeper, they began hearing a distinct dripping sound ahead of them. Water. Jasper and Sean hustled with excitement until they saw a large underground pool. Unbelievable, Jasper thought. The blue light wasn’t from the flies but emanated beneath the rippling surface. They starred at what seemed to be a natural body of water under the desert. Above they saw the same insects, bursting like purple swirling stars. The flies were nested on dark flora, hanging loosely from the ceiling, with their vines dripping sap into the water.

“Are you, are you getting this on camera?” Jasper cheered, tapping his brother’s bag. “Definitely man” Sean replied, taking photos from numerous angles in the cavern.

“Not sure how they’ll develop though” Sean admitted.

“We’ll worry about that later.”

“Fair enough, you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“What are those flies doing up there?”

“Nope, I’m thinking of going for a dip” Sean laughed, taking off his coat and unbuttoning his shirt.

“Wait, what? Right now? Don’t you wanna-”

“Cannonball!” Sean ran up to the edge and dived five feet into the pool. “C’mon bro, the water is surprisingly warm.”

“Alright.” Jasper left his gear, undressed, and followed his brother’s footsteps.

The water was neither warm nor cool. Jasper couldn’t pinpoint how his skin reacted, but he felt strangely calm for the first time since they’d fallen. He sent a splash to Sean as payback for nearly soaking him. Eventually, the two stopped talking and spaced their limbs out like starfishes. Their buoyant bodies allowed them to gaze at the marshy mosaic ceiling above. Jasper rolled over to look below. He noticed that the cavern floor contained underwater vegetation. The bottom of the pool wasn’t dark like the cave; the vibrant pool colors were seeped into the seagrass below, creating an alluring pattern of greens and blues. Jasper spotted some sprouting branches on the edges of the watery floor. The brown-emerald branches coiled in every direction, giving contrast to the bright grass. He glimpsed at one branch that flickered with a subtle shade of pink. Jasper was drawn. He inhaled deeply before diving six feet to pluck a portion of the branch. It wasn’t seaweed nor a root, he didn’t know what it was.

Jasper paddled to the nearest shore and sat on a slippery boulder. He held the soggy branch in his hand, studying all its features. The branch had thinly wrapped fibers that coiled around it. The pink tone was a viscous fluid that spilled from within it. Jasper debated for a moment if he should eat, but his stomach grumbled at the succulent smell. He cracked open the thickly coiled branch and drank the sweet juices it possessed. Meanwhile, Sean remained in the pool, floating in almost a meditative trance.

The cool cavern felt alive to Jasper, not just the plant life above and below, but everything. The water itself exhibited age, beauty, even power. As his torso slowly dried, he gathered his warm cotton shirt. Suddenly, in a distant tunnel, Jasper sensed a vibration. He gulped. “Sean...Sean, do you hear that?” he whispered. No answer.

“Sean!?” Jasper cried.

“Huh? What is it?” Sean replied, he still hadn’t left the water.

“I heard something coming from that crevice.”

“Really? Like what?”

“I, I don’t know” Jasper shuddered.

Sean began swimming out of the water and hurried to get his things together. Across the other side of the cavern, a low pattering arose. Within the foggy darkness, a pair of yellow sinister eyes emerged. Jasper’s face went white from the lurking creature.

“RUN!” Sean yelled.

“Shoot!” Jasper squealed, “Which tunnel did we come from?”

“Doesn’t matter, just run!”

The two climbed to the nearest tunnel, scraping themselves from boulders in their way. They sprinted as fast as they could as if the yellow eyes were hunting them from behind. They reached a cavern end and panicked. Now where? Jasper thought. The brothers scanned the entire peripheral but found no escape route. “Wait I have an idea,” he told Sean. They flicked off their flashlights and spotted a ray of sun a dozen yards away. Jasper and Sean blitzed to the exit and crawled up the thin hole to the surface. They were safe.

Chapter 4: Rubber on the Road

Jasper and Sean laid on the warm crater sand, quivering in silence. The terror from the cavern below was painted on both their faces. When they rolled to look at each other, the fear faded and was replaced with relieving jolts of laughter.

“I think, I think that’s enough adventuring for one summer... wouldn’t you say?” Jasper asked.

“Couldn’t agree more bro” said Sean, “let’s, let’s get out of this desert.”

The brothers helped each other up to their feet. Two thoughts soon filled them with dismay. One, it was just past noon, meaning they’d been underground for almost a day. And two, even more distressing, their tent was missing. Sean suggested they should look around any burrowed holes, in case the desert wind blew it away, but Jasper ignored the idea. He wanted to leave this place and return to the comfort of their home.

The two hiked out of the crater until they saw the shimmer of the chevy parked on the horizon. As they approached the vehicle, they were puzzled to see that the car’s coat was covered in more patches of rust. Their dad would be pissed, but they couldn’t worry about that now. Sean slammed the driver’s door open and cranked the key into the ignition. The choking sound of a dying engine greeted them back.

“Dammit!” said Sean, throwing his bag on the desert floor. “She’s dead, I remember there being a gas station a couple of miles from this roadway. I’ll get some gas and hopefully, some food and water. You stay here Jasper.”

“Why man?” Jasper asked.

“Because in case another vehicle happens to drive this way, you can signal them for help.”

“Alright, alright, just don’t take too long.”

“Don’t worry bro, I’ll be back before you can say California Dreamin.”

Sean hustled along back the roadway, using his spare shirt as shade from the scorching sun. Jasper in the meantime, nestled into the passenger seat. He looked through his bag to see if they had any food remaining. Nothing. He searched Sean’s bag, also nothing. The only thing that replenished him was a couple of gulps of water, Jasper would save the last few sips for when his brother came back. A dry hour had passed and everything around him was the same. Jasper starred to his left and saw rocks and sands. He starred to his right and saw more rocks and sands. To keep himself entertained, Jasper grabbed his wrinkled book and began reading. He managed to make it through almost all the pages. He stopped halfway down the last page, where another poem was present. Jasper’s eyes were drooping from the basking heat around him. He took a heroic yawn and tried to read the closing poem out loud.

“The veins of the desert,

Treasure tales of dusk to dawn.

Awakening the rivers below,

Will open the rains that flow.

Tread softly in this shrine,

Do not separate in this blue.

The vines will entangle,

And move the tides -

Jasper nodded off before finishing the last few lines of the poem. He passed out on the passenger seat for a considerable length of time. He was awakened by a cold tremor and echoes around him. It was nightfall. Jasper bustled out of the pickup truck and saw the moon illuminate the sky. He took a couple of steps, before realizing he mistakenly threw his book on the rocky ground when he swung the car door. Jasper picked up the open crinkled pages and shined his flashlight on the last two words of the book: in you.

Within a second, Jasper felt a rush of panic. Where was Sean? His brother had been gone for nearly twelve hours and still hadn’t shown up. Jasper grabbed any stuff he felt was vital to carry down the desert road: water, flashlight, his bag, and Sean’s camera. He ran for what felt like another journey on its own. After seven or eight miles, he spotted blue lights across the dark desert. Bewildered, Jasper beamed towards it. He ran for another three miles, passing by a yellow street sign. To his astonishment, the illumination arose not from any flies or pools, but the gas station. The entire roof sheltering the stalls was glowing with lines of blue and white. Jasper approached the convenience store door, only to find more godly colors. Oranges, yellows, whites, reds, and blues, were all present inside the store.

“Can I help you young man?” asked an elderly person behind the cash register.

“Ya!” Jasper cried, “Have you seen anyone that looks like this?” Jasper took off his glasses.

“What?”

“My brother, his name is Sean, have you seen him? He came by here sometime in the past twelve hours. Do you know where he went?!”

“Uhh kid, your the first customer I’ve seen in roughly two days. No other cars or people have stopped by my gas station.”

An awful twist grew in Jasper’s stomach, he couldn’t untangle this knot. “Wh-What do you mean?!” Jasper blurted. He rested one of his hands next to the till as he became aware of his situation.

“I mean, that I, unfortunately, haven’t seen your brother. Your welcome to borrow this?”

“What is this?” Jasper questioned.

“C’mon, your kidding right? You must have one of these.”

Jasper’s eyes became glued to the exit door, he rushed passed the gas station and made his way onto the busy highway. Dozens of noisy cars zoomed passed him. Jasper circled all around him and cried out, “SEAN! SEAN! SEAN! Where are you?!” The only answer was more honking. His head suddenly felt incredibly lopsided as he hit the pavement below. The entire highway came to a grinding stop. The last conscious thought, before Jasper drifted to sleep was the repeated flickering of red and blue, which was met by the smell of rubber on the road.

Chapter 5: Present Day

“In all my years... I have never heard such a remarkably horrifying story like yours Jasper” said the old man.

“So?” Jasper asked.

“So, what?”

“So what do you make of my story Mr. Kandal? Do you believe me?”

“I, I believe you son, every last word.”

“Thank you” Jasper replied, with tears emerging.

Jasper and Mr. Kandal remained sitting on the worn-out park bench all day. The sun kissed the treeline in front of them and some clouds were gathering in the sky above.

“But I must ask Jasper, what happened next after you fell unconscious?”

“It turned out, that I was rescued by a policeman that was driving down the highway that night. When the officer saw me laying there, he turned his vehicle sideways to block incoming cars.”

“And your brother? What happened to Sean?”

“Well, you see Mr. Kandal,” said Jasper, “This is the part where no one believes me. When I arrived at the nearest police station to fill out a missing person’s report, I was asked a series of questions about the incident. Some of the questions were simple you know; What’s my name? What’s my brother’s name? What does he look like? How long has he been gone? But then the officers glared at me when I started mentioning the Sohanno Desert. They told me that I should no better than to travel to that place. One officer even said that we were careless to not read the giant yellow sign at the intersection, which states, ‘No Trespassing Beyond This Point.’ They wouldn’t tell me why it was closed, they seemed just as puzzled as I was. I then told them that my brother and I saw a white sign outside of the desert, not yellow, that read ‘Welcome to Sohanno Desert.’ That’s when the officers left the questioning room we were in. I was alone, sitting in this uncomfortable metal chair for over an hour. Can you believe that? They kept me alone in there, after everything I’d been through, after everything I told them about Sean.”

“That sounds very, very frightening son.” Mr. Kandal said, placing a gentle hand on Jasper’s shoulder.

“It was, it really was. After another hour or so. The officers came back with their boss and a doctor. They all sat across the table from me and asked me more questions about the white sign. The chief officer showed me a blurry bright photo and asked, ‘Do you remember if this is the same sign you saw with your brother Sean.’ I told him yes. The chief looked around the room for shared confusion. The doctor lady there - standing near the doorway - she asked me, ‘Jasper, do you know today’s date?’ I replied. Ofcourse, we arrived at Sohanno Desert two days ago more or less, so today’s date is May 5, 1975.’

“Wait, I’m sorry?” Mr. Kandal asked, his eyes were curious about what Jasper meant.

Jasper continued, “The doctor took the chief officer’s seat at the table and told me, ‘Jasper, I don’t, I don’t know how to say this, but that date is wrong by 45 years. As troubling as this might be to hear, today’s date is May 5, 2020.’

“How, how is that possible Jasper?” Mr. Kandal questioned.

“I told you” Jasper murmured, “No one believes me.”

“No I believe you, Jasper, I’m just trying to make sense of it, that’s all. It’s unheard of, supernatural. You mean to tell me that you were in that desert for 45 years?”

“I suppose so. Truthfully, I have no idea how any of this is possible. But in that police station, the new date was secondary compared to my concern about Sean. I continued asking, pleading with the officers and the doctor to search for my brother. They said they’ll try their best, but that I needed to prepare for all possible outcomes. I tried to outline on paper all the details and locations I could remember above and below Sohanno Desert. I told them about the underground pool, and everyone in the room raised an eyebrow. Unfortunately, the photos my brother took, as evidence of our discovery, developed into dark inky blurs, so no help there. I tried to convince them, but they told me I needed to rest and that they’ll inform me if they have any leads on Sean.”

“So where did you go? Surely your family and friends must have been in awe to see you.”

“When the officers drove me to my parent’s new address in a different city, I found them to be living in an old-aged home. The people there told me that for the past decade, my mom and dad had slipped into severe memory loss. My parents smiled when I walked into their room, but not a family smile, more like a smile you give a kind stranger on the street. They barely remembered who I was and when I told them about Sean, they said they never heard of any boy with that name.”

Jasper curled his spine on the bench and shuffled his feet in the wet grass. The old man next to him hadn’t said a word, but he kept staring at him. A stare that radiated both worry and love.

“When I ended up visiting my grown-up friends” Jasper continued, “All of them had families of their own, children, some even grand-children. A couple of them gave me sorrowful hugs when they saw me open their front doors. They told me that those few years after the incident were awful for them. They told me that despite my parents’ current condition, they didn’t give up on my brother and me. They spent years and years creating missing teenager reports across the country. Many news reporters - in the late 70s - reached out to my parents and asked about their lost boys. My dad told them that as a gift for their high school graduation, he allowed Sean and Jasper to take his chevy pickup truck for a road trip across the country. Everyone was shocked when they heard that my brother and I drove into that desert, the Sohanno Desert. News quickly spread across the country. When I returned in 2020, at the same age, screens everywhere said my arrival would become one of the greatest missing-person films in history. Can you believe that?”

“What do you mean Jasper?” Mr. Kandal asked.

“They said person, not persons. I guess, even though I survived 45 years in that desert, my brother never returned. Also, the people had the audacity to turn my whole incident into a movie for people to watch. Once the film came and went, everyone in the media soon forgot about my brother. What’s up with that!? I mean, doesn’t, doesn’t anyone just wanna hear what I have to say? Don’t people know that the film’s plot is a loose depiction of what happened? Doesn’t anybody wanna hear my story!? Well, they did at first, but when I started explaining my accounts of the pool, I got a bunch of blank faces.”

“How so?” Mr. Kandal said.

“Well no one around me - officers, friends, reporters - believed that what I witnessed in that cavern happened. They said it was some playful contraption of my imagination and that my brother was most likely gone somewhere above ground. When I kept insisting that everything was real, they called me crazy, telling me I needed to seek counsel from physicians, so I did. I’ve talked to numerous of doctors from multiple fields these past five years. None of which can give me a reasonable explanation for the cavern. One psychologist I talked to had a theory that the plant I ingested was some sort of hallucinogen that made me perceive all the horrible things, like the creeping sounds and the yellow eyes. But no one, and I mean no one, was able to explain how I’m here and where my brother is.”

“I have to ask Jasper, earlier today when I first saw you, you were standing near that a....that a...that pond over there, and you were holding some pills. What were they for?”

“Oh, well Mr. Kandal, some psychiatrists started doing research on me and designed a drug treatment specialized for me. These grey oval pills are a mixture of medications apparently. It’s a mix of anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, antipsychotic, but most significantly, the doctors reckon that after enough times of taking it, I can forget my entire past.”

“Wh-Why would they make such a cocktail drug like that for someone of your age?” Mr. Kandal asked, in a stern disappointed voice.

“After countless so-called therapy sessions across the country, the doctors made a consensus that my memories of my time in the Sohanno Desert, my memories with my brother, were preventing me from carrying on with my life. None of that talking therapy managed to do any good for me. So, they made these pills for me. I threw them in the pool, only to salvage them back because I haven’t decided on what I want to do. If I go on with this, I might have the chance to restart, maybe even properly adjust to society and life today. But, but I don’t think I can muster it, knowing that I would choose to erase Sean and everything we did together. It’s all so much. What do you think I should do Mr. Kandal?”

The park bench went silent for a brief moment. Jasper turned his head and shook the old man’s shoulder, “Mr. Kandal, Mr. Kandal are you okay? Did you hear what I said?”

“Oh hello, have we met son?” Mr. Kandal asked.

“Huh?” said Jasper.

“Any luck feeding the ducks today?” said Mr. Kandal with a cheerful smile.

“Uh…” Jasper remembered, “No...I’m afraid I’ve had no luck with the ducks today sir.”

“Ah such a shame, anyways I better get a move on, getting pretty grim out now. Take care.” Mr. Kandal stood up with his mahogany cane and strolled down the park, away from Jasper’s peripheral. Jasper was now alone, all over again.

He rose from the bench, massaging his sleepy legs. Jasper began walking to the murky pond in front of him. The water was covered in brown marshy algae. He then glanced above and the sky was filled in a palette of grey. Jasper rummaged through his pocket and found the last pill. He held it at eye level for a minute or so, before staring at the pond again. He let out a tearful smile and tossed the pill in the pool. From his other jean pocket, he took out his music cassette player. Aside from the camera, it was the only reminder he had left. The cassette only had the one song, but that was all Jasper needed to hear. He breathed in the swampy air of the park before playing the rhythm of the music.

The End