The small dog yelped as Parker tripped over it in the home's entryway. It scrambled to clear itself of Parker's trampling feet, the nails on its paws clacking loudly on the hardwood floor as it skidded across its surface. The calico Pekingese, now joined by one sleepy, but rather bulky black Pug, both began barking at the intruder invading their territory.
"Whoa, nice puppies! Stay!" Parker whispered with his hands out in front of him. He was afraid the pair of animals were going to alert the homeowners before he even had a chance to get outside or even worse, attack him. Parker really did not want to hurt the canines, so he stepped backwards toward the home's front door and felt for the door handle behind him.
Gripping the knob, Parker began to turn it and then noted the alarm system control mounted on the wall. It was active. "Damn." At least it seemed the people who lived here were not home. He slowly released the handle.
Parker looked to the left into the formal dining room and then down at the dogs. He noted a doorway leading into the home's kitchen. The dogs continued to bark. The more aggressive Pekingese growled and edged forward.
"And here we go," Parker said and then darted for the kitchen's open door.
The two dogs turned and oddly ran the other way. Parker slammed the door behind him and rested up against its white surface with his eyes closed. When he opened them, he found both canines were standing in front of him once again and growling. "Damn, it would have to be an open floor planned kitchen..."
Looking to his immediate left at a stainless steel, double-door refrigerator covered in magnets, Parker considered he might be able to open its door and snag something out of it to distract the animals. "You have a 50/50 shot at the 'fridge or the freezer."
Parker took a deep breath and went for the right-side door, and thankfully, the 'right' door it was. Parker heard the angry dogs scrambling toward him over the gray tile floor. He quickly snatched a package of deli turkey meat from a shelf and threw it to the ground halting both animals in their tracks.
"You guys are definitely fickle creatures," Parker said snatching a pack of bologna and a slice of cheese from another cold shelf. He eased around the now preoccupied animals and tossed the bologna behind him.
Parker walked between a small breakfast nook and bar, opened the slice of wrapped cheese to take a bite. He looked back at the dogs. They were no longer concerned with him, thankfully. He breathed a sigh of relief, took another bite of the yellow processed slice, and then hung a right. Parker passed by a living room of leather furniture encircling a flat screen television. The device was mounted above the mantle of a large fireplace lined with red stockings. Parker noted the colorful Christmas tree placed next to it, shadowing a collection of sparkling presents lying around it on the floor, their glossy bows reflecting the tree's lights. He had to admit it was all very pretty.
"Well, I know about what time of year it is at least." Apparently, this world was rather normal for Parker Raymond's standards and was at least close to the same timeline he was used to. Changing mental gears, Parker wondered if whomever it was that lived here would have a decent Internet connection as well.
Locating the study he spotted when he was at the front door, Parker found the room contained a handful of bookcases and a fancy wood desk. On its surface, sat a set of monitors connected to a laptop. "Yes! Now, hopefully you left your machine unlocked, whoever you are."
He glanced at a framed picture of a family sitting on the desk, apparently an image of the people who lived in the home. Parker grinned at the sight of the Mouse World castle in the background and then returned his attention to the computer. He moved the mouse on the pad next to the docked laptop. Parker did a fist pump as the monitors came alive with no unlock request. "Yes!"
Clicking open a browser window, Parker was greeted with the familiar sight of his favorite search engine. "Maybe this is home?" he wondered as he typed. "Maybe I made it back..."
As the results of his query were coming in, Parker became a bit more curious about the home's occupants. He noticed an open document on the taskbar at the bottom of the laptop's screen and double-clicked the icon to enlarge it.
Parker stumbled away from the desk with a hand over his mouth. He backed into one of the bookshelves. "What the hell is going on here!?!!" he exclaimed, nervously looking around the room.
The young man quaked all over, his blood was ice. He swallowed hard, shook his hands as if they were wet, and returned to the computer. Taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly, Parker leaned in. On the screen were words detailing the activities of someone with his name, Parker Raymond, and those actions mirrored the last Shift location he visited. He scrolled up and at the top of the page were the words Voynich Shift by some guy named C A Malosh. "This is not happening! This is impossible!"
Parker looked out of the window as Horo began to buzz. Thankfully, the moon was rising.
The device vibrated a second time as a pair of headlights approached the front of the house. The two dogs came running to the front door and began barking. Apparently the home owners were back.
The Horo buzzed its final time just as the front door came open.
Merry Christmas everyone,
From the Malosh Family to yours!
YOU ARE READING
Voynich Shift - Season One (COMPLETED)
Science FictionParker Raymond recently inherited his estranged grandfather's large plantation home in Savannah, Georgia. The Spanish Moss hanging from the estate's large oaks, its massive gardens, and a near endless bank account were, in the end, not what captured...
