Rolling In Reverse

Chapter 1: Put it in Reverse

Kindly, I sit. Awaiting… for something of importance… I feel my heart slowly inclining in speed. Along with a stew of acid rumbling through my intestine. I was told to sit here and wait… for something important. I have no knowledge of why. My legs fall asleep and have a tingle to them as they lose the blood flow. Hair by hair on my arm, they rise with subtle goosebumps. Lights are broken, darkness shrouds my body. Rain drops slowly drip and drop onto my nose and lap. I hear a creak in the floor as if someone is coming close. I hear a loud stomp. I hear a stampede, all in one second. Than utter silence other than the occasional cricket. I can only see a 12 inches around me. I couldn’t see or feel my legs. I stand up slowly, but surely as a wounding migraine attacks. My vision goes darker, the distance I could see slowly dissipates. I start to lose balance and wobble. I hear knock on wood. A second later, I gain a searing pain on my head.

Crimson dots pierce through the darkness when my limited amount of vision reenables. I mighty up my courage and forcefully drag my body closer to the dots. After a couple feet, the dots turned into eyes. Not to alarm the creature I’ve gotten close to, I slowly push myself backwards away. Upon moving back, the floor creaks. The eyes blink and disappear. I start to feel my legs again. Only my left I feel completely. My right was half cold, half gone. I reached and felt where my knee would be. Just slimey goo and when I looked at the substance. It was my blood with saliva. My heart started to race as my adrenaline rose. I started to feel agony in my other leg. One second my foot was in pain, than I couldn’t feel my foot. And continued to my knee also. At that point I knew I was Lieutenant Dan although my name was Frank. I see an alluring orange glow in the distance.

Once I drag my body with all the upper strength I have to that glow, I see that the glow is molten metal of extreme heat. The whole metal bar was radiating. I grab the bar and while it blisters my hand, I cauterize my new found stumps. Blaring light comes on and I see wart and cyst infested creatures run into the dark. My daughter with her daughters are at the entrance to the attic where I sat for the important thing.

“Welcome to Htrae (Het-Tray)” said my daughter. At this point I’m reluctant on what to say to this new discovery. My daughter explained to me about this paranormal world they call Htrae and everything including demons, dwarfs, pixies, grootslangs, and et cetera. She explained that most people live normal lives and never learn about the reverse. After three and a half hours worth of explaining, she finally tells me how she was roped into this. She dated this short man which actually was a paranormal dwarf. She commented that he was a real gold digger and a tool. Once you learn, you can never unlearn is the motto they have. Learning about this costed me a leg. And another leg!!! I was certainly pissed off, but I still insisted on asking questions. It was the first time I ever been to my daughter’s house. It has been 16 solid years since I kicked her out. I was a traditional gentleman and so when she had a child at 16, I forced her to live with Uncle Gerald. Gerald was rich and lived far far away. I may have been a cranky man in the past, but I changed when I met my new best friend Jerry. Jerry convinced me to see my daughter again.

My daughter Uniss was open to let me come visit which was a great surprise. I was the man that kicked her out for having a kid. Now I have a 16 year old granddaughter!!! Oh… I feel so old. Who knew 51 would be such an accursed age to be. “Sorry about the legs dad” My daughter apologized so sincerely, “Nexa just forgot to feed her pets, so they got hungry.” In my head I was thinking, “Why would anyone have those disgusting vile creatures as pets?”, yet I didn’t want to hurt my granddaughter’s feelings. I was given a wheelchair temporarily which my daughter just happen to have laying around. Once I got outside, I started to roll around in my new found wheelchair so I could get use to it. I crashed into a couple trashcans that I’m pretty sure my granddaughters put out. I scrolled my wheels around the house and found a bodacious garden of bodegas. There were orchids, roses, tulips, fruits, veggies, and the veggie rolling around the garden. I would have wrecked this garden if I wasn’t a quick study. I spent my time trying to lean and sniff the flowers fragrance, which resulted in me tipping over my chair. Around 3pm I rolled over to the pond in the back of the garden. It included a waterfall that connected to a river that went up the valley. I see my reflection glimmering in the aquatic ellipsoid and I start making faces because I sometimes act like a child. Tongue out, pulling my ears and when I blinked… my reflection is flipping me off and talking. Nexa instantly grabs my chair and rolls me back away from the pond.

“Why was the water scolding me Nexa?” I asked in confusion. It honestly hurt my feelings.

“That’s regret grotto, Mom says it will show you your regrets in the crudest way possible” Nexa stated, “Don’t talk to it too long or else it pulls you into a world of regret.” I started to roll myself away slowly and turned around and turned my wheels at a fast pace. My other granddaughter was at the stairs building ramps so it was easier for me to get up. For a 14 year old little girl, Ryphta (Rift-uh) was good at handy work. I started to wonder where the douche that knocked up my daughter was.

“Ryphta, where is your dad?” I asked in curiousity.

“Dad is in hell, or at least that is what Mom says” Ryphta replies. I was starting to wonder if my Son-in-law was Satan at that point. This is a touchy subject to talk about with Uniss, yet I think I have a right to know. I’m pretty sure she married this guy and so he must be my son-in-law. By five thirty, my daughter Uniss called everyone to come in for dinner. Ryphta installed all the ramps for me. I’m kinda proud of my granddaughter because of how handy she is. We had a lovely dinner consisting of turkey, mash potatoes, spinach, asparagus, turnips, pie, and so much more. It was like a feast, and I didn’t know that my arrival was so important to my family.

I was honored to be their house guest, yet I asked the question that I shouldn’t have. I asked my daughter what happened to Nexa and Ryphta’s father. Uniss didn’t respond to me and it became a very dreary evening. After dinner, Uniss sent her kids upstairs to play in their rooms. My daughter rolls me to the garden and starts to explain what happened.

“The boy that knocked me up died by a pickaxe because I fell in love with a dwarf. The dwarf only cared for my money so I shoved him into regret grotto to teach him a lesson. He didn’t come out so he didn’t learn his lesson.” Uniss said to me.

“I didn’t know” I replied, “What about Ryphta’s father?”

“Ryphta’s father is… is… for another time” she said ominously. Uniss then proceeded inside and went to bed.  I was too curious to sleep, and started to roll around the property. The land is very beautiful though. Every single tree has a deep dark brown for bark and winter white leaves. These trees surround the property for a couple acres. There is one long road that leads to this calming blue house that is about 100 miles away from civilization. We had the bodacious garden, the serene valleys, and the mighty mountains. It was all so beautiful.

Across the road I saw a sidewalk made of wood that led into the white wispy forest. Being as curious as I am, I followed and I figured I would make it back before sunset. So I started to roll myself down the path. Every once and awhile a white leaf would fall and spin down to the ground. Although we were in October, there was no snow, and these leaves didn’t turn different colours. There was no sound in the woods except the sound of water. The more I followed the path, the more I heard the water. It sounded so serene and gently as I came closer. I made it to a meadow of tranquility. The path got close enough so I could touch the water. The water made me feel like a child again. The resonance of the water faded and I heard a voice.

“Good Luck Dad” and at that moment, I was shoved out of my wheelchair into the water to die.