photo via WallDevil

The snowflakes fell fat and delicate sublime against my hot tongue. The frigid wind tickled me as it traveled from top of my head down to the pads of my feet. My chronometer and geolocator on my wrist read, “1988 11MAY 05:14, Latitude : 62.383, Longitude : -140.367.” In the distance, a sign along the road read “Welcome to Snag Junction, YT.” I followed the trail of footprints near the sign marked with ochre colored blood as it proceeded into the forest line.

Conspiracy theorists believe that the military had orchestrated a rendezvous with aliens at this location. When the town folks got wise of it, they were eliminated. The military’s official statement referenced a punctured gas main within the town requiring evacuation with no mention of its missing inhabitants. It was far from the truth.

I paused at the forest line to peer into the dense thicket that lay ahead. I remembered this place, years ago running through the thistles gathering myself as I looked for others. It seemed warmer, more verdant then. I rested my hands onto a blood-soaked tree sniffing its caustic fumes in hopes to pick up the trail.

This trip back to Snag Junction wasn’t to prove those conspiracy theorists. It was to provide a better future for all of us. In the future, a nuclear winter makes this little strip of Canadian wilderness seem like Bermuda.

I slowed as I saw a large clearing in the grass. As I approached, I parted the tall weeds to see myself lying in the snow. Ochre colored blood stained my carapace and my once vibrant blue tail looked worn and faded. I wasn’t sure how long this paradox would exist so I immediately connected with my younger mind.

We talked about the thousands of years of interstellar travel escaping generations of dictators and sycophants fighting for limited resources upon the mothership. We escaped returning to the galaxy we knew in hopes to find a home. We reminisced about the times in the tiny space ship with the crew. It was our refuge. On that ship, we were dutiful and industrious but altogether rudderless in the vast sea of space until we traveled to this tiny stretch of land. It resembled our long lost home cold and unforgiving. Hungry and desperate we searched the town for resources abducting its inhabitants along the way. I was injured in the fight and left for dead lying here under the gentle snowfall while the others escaped.

I felt the vibrations of the military helicopter overhead as my reality began to fade. I peered into his eyes, my eyes, to reach out one last time as he gathered himself for one last fight. I showed him the torture, the experiments, and pain of my future. He saw the scientists and military officials relentlessly probing and prodding to expand their knowledge of my physiology. I showed him how to read and control their minds. He watched as I sent men to the corners of the globe to execute the nuclear launch codes abandoning the fail-safe’s and their better judgment. He felt the chill of an eternal winter. He knew the loneliness of a being an anchor without a ship.

My grip on reality began to slip as my mind disconnected. Now he knew his fight was futile. He would need to rest up for the mission ahead. I watched as he lay back down in the grass as the men’s footsteps echoed through the forest growing closer and closer. As I drifted into the ether trapped between the past and present he closed his eyes awaiting his captors and said, “I’ll bring them home.”