Dark Dream

15. Immortal Earth

The underground river was its world; a constant torrent that fed through the soil, nourishing its body where it lay. Over the weeks its pulse had quickened, pumping its blood until it matched the river's own steady tempo.

To feed its dormant state, long tendrils had gone in search of nourishment, travelling past stones and through sand, all jockeying for the precious minerals that lay dissolved in the earth. Now they were dying and losing their long grip on the world.

Phasing in-and-out of existence, becoming less dense with each cycle, it slowly broke free, leaving the cast of its imprisonment in the hardened sand, beneath. It sensed the soil become warmer and drier, as it passed through ancient burrows and forgotten chambers, sampling the air as it went.

Pushing ever-upwards, a cavernous graveyard awaited its inspection. Blood-coloured sand shifted and flowed around its emerging form. Beneath the surface of the world, a vast and deadly arena revealed itself in the subterranean darkness.

Time passed like a river around its now still form and wisps of pale steam languidly rose from its hardening flesh. Its oily eyes peered unblinking and large, as its dawning mind opened freely to the heavens, reflecting and absorbing the starry night that reached down through the mouth of the cavern above; the same mouth that once fed hungrily for millions of years, through changing seasons of barren ice, humid jungle and scorching desert.

Images passed through its mind, of night-time passage above ground and sudden tumbles through the open mouth below. The terror, confusion, sudden or lingering death followed by calm acceptance and release.

Layer after layer of gathering remains that plotted the evolving growth of life through the ages, from ferocious reptiles to furry mammals; lives now tamed by the passage of time and the death that dutifully aided their passing between worlds. Everything they'd taken up through food, to give form and movement, now lay blended into the sandy soil beneath its feet.

The wobble of the Earth as it spun on its axis  and the pull and tug of the poles, all made for a perfect moment that would have dazzled the minds of many.

After sleeping within the folds of a forgetful slumber, it now stood on the razor's edge of hopeful eternity. Many billions of souls all ripe for the taking, the promised harvest had finally arrived.

Suddenly and without warning it came to life, its primitive clubfeet pounding hard at the ground. Drawing energy from the ambient air, its legs vibrated and shuddered as they built up the kinetic energy needed to rise through the air above.  Beneath the lip of the opening, sixty-feet above, it jumped like a flea on a hot stone, easily clearing the gaping earth and leaving the cavern below. Instantly forgotten by its brief visitor but ever waiting for its next hapless charge.

Free to roam through the world, all living creatures instinctively stilled or burrowed deeper into the protective ground. There they would sleep and dream of their eventual last breath; gobbled up by a scaly snake or feathery owl.

A curious excitement made their hearts beat faster.

*

Sensing the approach of daylight on its back, it followed the advancing band of darkness that cradled the Earth in its fitful slumber.

Its mission was clear and irrevocable. The Earth was sick and they were its cure. Fuelled by the cry to ease its burden, it disappeared, swallowed up by the endless night.

***

Others were hearing the call to rise. Their root-like fingers vibrated and drew nourishment for the journey ahead.

Some of them happened across graves, overflowing with rancid meat, and lingered a-while. Tapering fingers explored the remains with an unwelcome familiarity of human anatomy. Millions of years of human evolution, quickly catalogued, cross-referenced and put aside for future use. Colourful scenes passed from one, to all, of the welcoming night and the bounty of the dead, both fresh and mouldering.

People, camped out in trailers or tents, were the first to fall, their bodies brutally torn by the new life-force that staked its claim on their existence. Their nourishing fear helped sweeten the meat.

The drive for change had begun.....