The TechnoPsion

The Fall

It was a dark cold night. The snow was drifting, as it almost always did. The day was cold, but was much celebrated for the people inside the army base. As the bell tolls twelve, a newborns wail of freedom rings in the walls. A proud mother strokes her child's face, sweat dried on her face. Exhausted, she shoos away all those present so she and the child can rest. They both have had a long day already. The last celebrator leaves, his cloak falling around him as he gently kisses both the mother and child on their foreheads. His friend calls after him, calling for him to let those poor souls rest. Reluctantly, he quietly closes the door behind him. His gut tells him he should stay and protect the child. He dismisses it almost instantly, and he strides proudly into the room where a few men are breaking out a deck of cards.

"Hey, Murphy, you mind running to Sam's Grocer for some supplies?" the man winks, and his eyes twinkle in the dimmed lights of their base.

"Damn right John I will if you're asking. What can I get the lucky father, hmm?" Murphy laughs jollily and punches John in the shoulder.

"All I need is a root beer and a roast beef sub. Anyone else want anything?"

The men in the room request beer and food. John catches Murphy before he leaves the room.

"Get some ice cream for Molly, if you would. Chocolate. Enough for her and the kid, okay?"

"Yes sir I will. Drinks on me boys!" Murphy shouts as he leaves the room.

Quietly he takes long strides, almost drifting in his long trench coat. He looks over his shoulder to see if John is at the door still. He mumbles to himself under his breath, and pulls a hand out of his coat. Flicks his wrist, and slowly becomes invisible. The door to the slumbering mother and child shimmers as the shape of a man is outlined on the door in a faint blue.

The child, slumbering yet, is lifted into the air by the disturbed silhouette of a man. A sharp click, muffled by the cloak, as well as a small cry of pain from the child. It is placed down, undisturbed, still at peace. The man flicks his wrist again, and a small hand reaches out beyond his cloak. A child cries out, but not the one on the bed. The mother, asleep, curls her body protectively around the child she holds. The cries are silenced quickly, lest anyone be alarmed by the sound. The silhouette walks through the wall straight outside, like a wraith in the night. He strides very calmly, until he is a quarter mile away from his destination, then to the biggest snowdrift. The child falls out of his arms, wailing in fear as he falls and falls and falls.

The man dusts off his hands, as if the child were unclean. The child is silent in the snow, which is as a cold, white blanket, soothing yet sinister. The man continues on his way matter-of-factually, as if nothing has happened. He smiles as if satisfied by the sinuous deed he has surreptitiously committed.

The infant begins to wail again, out of hearing of the man who dropped him. His vision is fading, but a woman passing by hears his desperate cries. She searches, and finally finds the fallen fugitive in the furrow he lay in. She digs him out and soothes him, shushing his piercing wails. She rubs his body to help his circulation, and bundles him up in the jacket she wears tied around her waist, hiding all in the wrapping except his face. She sees his eyes briefly in the starlight, there is no light from the moon this night. They pierce her soul, red ringed by purple blended so seemingly it takes a minute to see the different rings.

After a minute that seemed to last forever, she looks away and thinks on what to do. She cradles him, and the child closes his eyes, feeling safe in her arms. She decides she will go to the local store and call her mother from there. Hefting her heavy school bag, filled with notebooks and textbooks on oceanology. She is a student at the Institute of Natural Sciences, which is nearby to where she now stands. A slight breeze picks up, and she shivers slightly as it blows by. After a time, she reaches the store. It's green and red neon light seems to greet her and the child. "Sam's Grocer and Deli" it says, lettered glowing neon in the dark night. As she reaches the door, a gruff man carrying a paper-wrapped sub, root beer, beer, and ice cream comes out.