Les Morts
They came in their machines and ate us. They fed on our brains, inserting their squeaky clean protrusions at the base of the head and sucking out the grey matter. They left the white matter alone for some reason. No, no they only wanted the stuff that drove us, made us think, made us love, made us hate, the stuff which made us humans. We called them ‘les morts’, the dead ones.
I think I’m the last one left. I haven’t met anyone else in years. I’ve hidden out for long in the forgotten corners, living on scraps and wild roots. But I knew it was a futile struggle from the start. How can one man stand up against their inhuman single-mindedness? This is the job I had set myself to do. To record the passing of our species. Something that kept me alive until now, running and hiding, running and hiding from their horrible sounds.
Yes, yes that is something that drives me mad. That utter, utter horror of a sound they make. It makes me lose grip over reality. It is a like worm digging into your brain, inch by inch, slowly but steadily. Oh…the sheer mental torture of it. I cannot stand it anymore. I cannot run anymore. There is nowhere to run to. Everything is empty. This whole planet is one vast graveyard of the brain-dead. Not a thing moves except for them. Not a sound anywhere except for their wordless whispers.
I don’t know if anyone will ever read this. The last testament of mankind. A message in a bottle for a whole species. But I wanted to do this. To leave a record of our passing. We were good weren’t we in spite of all the havoc we wreaked? We were after all human, not like them, not like them. There they come. I can hear that sound again. It is like a heartbeat speeded up mechanically and played back in reverse in high pitch. Words cannot describe what that sound can do to a mind. I wanted this to be a comprehensive record of our existence and all I could come up with is this disconnected rambling of a mind on the edge. I failed. We failed. They have won. Game over.
that was a masterful description of an industrial takeover. very nice, anil.
Never been one for science fiction/fantasy – yet this was quite palatable (perhaps its length has something to do with that..) – very Spielbergish I say…
And getting totally philistine – also vaguely reminded me of Buffy and this other crass horror movie I saw where the dead were actually “sucking” life out of the living!
Rings a bit true about the world today and people just focusing on the money and power. They could be the people with the white stuff. I liked that the gray was taken way just like the gray areas in life that is the interesting stuff.
This is all true. And now they are in the Bush administration.
i read this as a metaphor for the “them” that already inhabit this earth and are well en route. You can see them live and in living color at the G8 each year.
transience: ah, thank you..I’m glad you liked it although it is not exactly about an industrial take-over!
Geetanjali: oh you are missing a lot I must say…sci-fi is one of my favorite genres in fiction..there is such good writing…and even though it might seem to diconnected to our world…there are so many elements of our world incorporated into it…I can recommend so many books and authors!
..and you were spot on with your adjective..this piece was tangentially inspired by Spielberg’s new film ‘War of the Worlds’, though the movie itself sucked!
Pecos Blue, Paul & finnegan: a warm welcome to Pecos and Paul here…it was intriguing to read your interpretation…I had not actually intended this as a metaphor for present day society but reading your comments did make me see your point of views..
very stark. yet visually, very graphic.
teleute: thank you…I hope what I saw and felt in my mind came out right…perhaps it did