Short Stories

Inter-dimensional Mates

I never knew my friend would come from another dimension.

I was walking back home through the park one day in the merry, merry month of may when I decided to take a detour past the Old Yeller's Bridge. Just as I reached the bridge the water in the stream (it wasn't big enough to be considered a river) started to glimmer.

It slowly grew brighter and brighter until suddenly a blast of white light shot out of the creek, momentarily blinding me.

When the light finally dispersed, a person emerged from the glistening water struggling as if he didn't realise that if he would only calm down and put his feet down the water would likely reach only his waist.

Soon his struggling ceased and he sank below the surface of the water. Impulsively, I waded into the brook and dragged him out. As soon as he was on dry land I recoiled in shock. Implanted in his head there seemed to be, for lack of better descriptive words, a ... chip thingy that flashed sparks of electricity. He started coughing up a substantial, groaned and clutched his head. Slowly, he morphed from a boy to a ... pig!

I felt so, nay, I was confused! The continued to flash and crackle and he morphed back sweating profusely.

"No! No no no no NO!" he repeated, clutching his head again in despair, trying to stand up instead falling to his knees.

I slowly backed away. It might seem mean to try and leave the poor boy-creature-person but for all I know he could be a potential killer. Just when I thought I was home free, I stepped on a twig which cracked way too loudly, probably alerting him.

He didn't move. I suppressed a relieved sigh and continued my backwards advance, sure this time that I was home free. Without warning, he snapped his back a full 180° to stare at me, widening his eyes. I shrieked in terror, uselessly paralysed.

He twisted his body around to suit his head's position and rubbed his neck wincing.

"Well! That was a mistake I'll probably make again," he said. He looked up at me and said:

"Hello, my name is Wendagon... And you are?"

I stared at him blankly and he nodded his head prompting me to speak.

"Or don't you speak English?" He asked. I shook my head and raised a confused hand.

"Layla," I replied, "My name is Layla".

Over the course of the next few days, I got to know Wendagon. He was a sort of arrogant, humorous child, boasting as he told intriguing stories of a dimension that wasn't unlike our 'primitive' world. He explained that his chip was an honour, a gift given to him because he was an important member of their militia. When I asked him what would happen now it was faulty he changed the subject.

I explained to him that at the moment technology was significantly dangerous. We had reached an age where it had surpassed us and now ruled over us. However due to their primary function to preserve the environment, the androids that now controlled us kept everything intact.

They protected wildlife and in an attempt to ensure overpopulation didn't become an issue they limited families to four. Unfortunately, this meant that if twins were born when a family already had one child, the second child would be eliminated. The government kept a keen eye on us and were wary of any human inventors, worried that one day they would create something that would restore humanity to their former glory. Therefore, harbouring a person like Wendagon would be an issue for my family especially since he wasn't registered in the town's census.

So we reached an agreement. He would live under the bridge, despite his begrudging complaints, and I would bring him food daily to sustain him. By doing this, he would avoid civilians and his involuntary transformations wouldn't cause panic. The residents of this town didn't like newcomers and newcomers didn't like the town. Our town had the longest record of being good and we planned to keep it that way.