Deep Space Fishing

The bright flashing lights blinded him as he awoke. His breathing was deep, each breath sounding like his last. Strapped onto a metal table, his heart began to race. Giant pillars with circuits and wires hung overhead and for some reason, there was classical music in the background.

“Welcome aboard my lovely catch of the day!” It was a feminine voice in the distance, each click of the heel making her sound closer. With a sudden clap, the whole room illuminated. It was a polished metal dome. The pillars were suspended in air, restraining any movement from his arms. Standing over him he could see the giant insect woman that welcomed him. Each of her six dilated eyes blinked simultaneously. She touched his bare chest with her pincered claws. Her skin felt like thick rust. “How are we doing today, Mr. Parker?” She was very peppy in her mannerisms, with a voice of a quirky nurse. “Ready to go into my belly?”

Mr. Parker tried moving his head around in a panic, but the straps around his forehead restricted him. “What is happening? Please don’t kill me, I have a family!”

The alien woman rolled her eyes. “Oh please, they’ll be dead before you know it.”

His heart started racing with the alien’s consistent apathy. “Please, what do you want?.”

“Mr. P, I know this must be confusing for you.” She tapped her claws down his leg. “Think of it like, how a farmer raises an egg to eventually be a thanksgiving dinner.”

His eyes widened as her words made sense. “Get me out of here!” He began to struggle and shake vigorously. “I want out now!”

The alien woman nodded her head and clapped her pincer. A light went off like a camera flash and a small glass bowl hovered over Mr. Parker’s head. As he panicked and screamed, the dome slowly descended onto his head muffling out any noise. Spit and fog from his mouth covered the glass as the man continued to scream and shout.

The alien woman stood awkwardly, waiting for the man to finish his temper tantrum. His face and wrists turned red with frustration and his eyes bulged in a horrible attempt to escape. After several minutes, Mr. Parker’s screams inevitably turned into deep exhausted exhales, all while the alien waited patiently reading a holographic newspaper.

With another snap, the glass dome was raised. “Ya done?” Her voice was tired and annoyed.

He gritted his teeth at the alien woman. “Why me? Out of all of those idiots, why me!?”

She snapped back to focus. “Oh I love saying this part.” She leaned in. Her eyes held a sinister smile. “You are not as important as you think you are.” She winked at him, letting out an accomplished sigh. “Also, I’ve been growing you since you were a baby. Mind you, for my species, I’ve been waiting the equivalent of six months for you to grow. Human beings are such a delicacy. Especially the limbs.”

Mr. Parker’s skin began to relax as he realized his fate. His voice was a soft whimper. “I’m really going to die?”

She pretended to scratch some chin hair and then nodded. “Most likely, I mean I’m just taking your arms and legs. The rest of you will just have to,” she looked at him awkwardly and shrugged, “Figure it out?”

“You’re a monster.”

She put her pincers on her hips. “Wow there, hypocrite. You guys cut fins off sharks and put them back in the ocean all the time. Inter-dimensional guidelines say you can only prepare a conscious species the same way they prepare their own food. Thus, your juicy limbs are mine!” She started poking at his thigh in amusement of the slight jiggle.

“Will it be painful?” There was no emotion in his face.

She sighed, “Unfortunately not. I do follow all the rules. You’re only a level two species, which means any damage to your nervous system is a no-go.” She turned dials on the pillars above him. Her grasshopper legs made it easy for her to leap onto each one. “Luckily for me, this machine splits atoms and doesn’t damage them.” She looked up with slight regret. “I really should’ve been a lawyer.” The machine started to click and she gave him one last smile. “Or a human.”

A ringing nose intensified in the background. “Is this really my last moment?”

With her hands on a switch, the alien woman replied, “Funny, if you understood sharks, you’d know they ask the exact same thing.” She flipped the switch.

With a single blink, he could see the blue sky of home. The sun was hot and blazing, while sand blew in his face. He looked around and saw nothing but desert for miles on end. The bright Manila blankets endlessly covering the ground. As he looked at his limbs, he was nothing more than a torso, hips, and head. Each arm and leg was cut off, yet there were no physical scars. He looked to the sky with pain in his eyes and sobbed, waiting for the mercy of the sands to consume him.