io9 is proud to present fiction from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE.
Once a month, we feature a story from LIGHTSPEEDs current issue.
The summer days were dwindling and the final year lay before us.
© Lightspeed
Buddy stood a good foot taller than me, and thicker in every way.
With long brown hair and a simple face, we sometimes called him Conan, or Tarzan.
We, being the jerks in his statistics class, or the jocks on the scatterball team.
He suspected nothing, and saw no danger in this moment.
Derek, look at that, Buddy said.
I see it, I see it.
When were we here last?
He scratched his head, Weeks?
I turned back to the door, and saw that it was surprisingly ajarseven latches, unlocked and bent.
Im going in, I said, glancing over my shoulder with a sly grin.
Derek, no, he yelled, taking one step toward me.
I wouldnt see him again for several years.
The pungent smell of ozone pushed a metallic taste deep into my throat.
The guard woke up and jumped to his feet.
I can explain, officer I started.
Get over here, he yelled.
I did the only thing I could think of in that moment.
I ran back inside.
But before the door closed, I heard his voice, panicked and familiar.
he screamed, lunging for the door, his eyes wide open.
And then I was gone.
This time, for much longer.
How long I was unconscious, I do not know.
When I opened my eyes, it was quiet, a dim light throbbing in the dark.
The heat was the first thing I noticed.
That and the fog.
Panic danced across my goose-pebbled flesh in a wave of discomfort, my lungs resisting every breath.
Sweat ran down my face in angry rivulets, my gut clenched in knots.
As far as the food chain, I felt smack in the middle.
I picked up the tarnished badge and turned it over in my hands.
A chittering from behind me snapped my head in that direction.
I fell to ground, unable to move, my flesh spasming with pain.
It disappeared into the looming sky with hardly a sound, a great bellowing caw making my skull ache.
When I woke up, a cold certainty encased me.
How long had I been out this time?
I tried to see again.
And then a different kind of darkness wrapped around me, pulling me under.
When I regained consciousness, the door hung open a crack, a sliver of ethereal light leaking inward.
Do what you will!
I yelled into the darkness.
And then I collapsed on the floor, and violently wept.
Standing before me was the OmniPark, in all its glory and prime.
At the farthest point was a space station, with its chrome-topped rocket ships gleaming in the sunlight.
The maelstrom of stimulation made my head swim.
All I wanted to do was go home.
Their gaze held, both of them frozen for a moment, and then they walked my way.
Son, are you okay?
You look disheveled and lost.
Im Dalton, and this is my wife, Evelyn.
This is our park.
I could only nod, his face kind and beaming, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
How did you get back here?
Can we take you home?
You from around here?
They continued to stare at me, and then his wife elbowed him, and whispered in his ear.
On second thought, Dalton said, I dont know ifwhereyou are from is the right question.
More likewhenare you from, my dear?
Evelyn asked before smiling, clutching her clipboard to her chest, red lipstick framing her white teeth.
They nodded at every improbable detail without a hint of skepticism.
I knew that scent, as my grandmother used to wear it.
And I smiled for the first time in hours, days, eons.
When you get back, Derek, you must destroy it.
I dont know if I can.
Do your best, Evelyn chimed in.
I couldnt take my eyes off of them, and yet, I wasnt sure why.
He offered her an ice cream cone and she leaned in to lick the top scoop.
He smirked beneath his aviator glasses, and they both laughed.
They were almost unrecognizable and then it all slammed into focus.
Time beats us all down, son.
Your parents were once young and vital.
But you should get going, Im afraid.
Ripples can be made.
He was rightI had to leave.
Before things came undone.
They now had confirmation of something beyond their park, something bigger than us all.
Their lifes work had led to something extraordinary, and that seemed to fill them with hope.
Dude, what the hell, he said, dropping the butt, and stamping it out.
You were in there an hour!
I tried tugging and banging on the door, but it wouldnt open.
I almost called the .
he started with a mix of confusion and anger in his features.
I gripped him by the shoulders, holding him at arms length, tears welling in my eyes.
I yelled, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
We need to lock this up, right away, I said.
Whoever had opened this door before us, wherever they were now, this portal had to be closed.
Hand me the locks, I said.
Two keys were in his pockets, and two in mine.
I told him to lose the other one, and to never tell me what he did with it.
Its okay, man.
I dontreallywant to know.
Some things, once theyve been seen?
They cant be unseen.
Once theyre known, I continued, they cant be unknown.
We stood with our hands stuffed in the pockets of our jeans.
Like my grandfathers funeral, Buddy said without taking his eyes off the horizon.
He looked so gray in the casket, like a cheap wax dummy of the man I loved.
On the ride home, my father pulled over and vomited on the side of the highway.
Just left the car door open, bent over in the weeds like some kid at a frat party.
I could have done without that day entirely.
I took the cigarette from him, inhaled deeply, and handed it back.
As I exhaled it up into the night sky, my ordeal seemed so far away now.
Tomorrow we find a new hobby, I said, and we managed to share a half-hearted laugh.
They hadnt even noticed Id been gone.
He didnt even acknowledge my presence standing out beyond the light of the television.
I left it at that, not sure if he was capable of hearing me.
He didnt reply, before returning to his show, but his expression had said more than enough.
What are you working on, Mom?
She raised her head, mouth open slightly, pausing in mid-stitch.
Fixing a hem on your favorite jeans.
Youre so rough on them.
I love those jeans, I said.
Thank you for taking such great care of me.
I closed my heavy eyelids and slipped into a waiting dream.
Because I still could.
He has also edited five anthologies.
just visitLIGHTSPEED MAGAZINEto read more great science fiction and fantasy.
This story first appeared in the August 2024 issue, which also features work by K.A.
Want more io9 news?
News from the future, delivered to your present.
Read part one of sci-fi story Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep?
