"She's dreaming the same dream again," one of the men in the white coat said to the other one. She could hear them. They were speaking about her.
"I must be asleep then," she thought to herself. "But how could they know what I dreamt? Were they magicians? Black magic and witchcraft and all of that. What dream was I dreaming again? I didn't usually remember my dreams, so I wondered which dream they saw me dream. Was it a happy one or not? I hoped it was happy. I was tired of living a sad life. At least my dreams should be happy."
"Can she hear us, do you think?" The first man asked. He had a deep gravelly voice, which made it seem like he would be a good looking man. But she knew that that was never really the case. You imagined that he would look like a demigod, and he always turned out to be less than ordinary.
How boring, you thought to yourself. Life was not imitating art, but inferior to it.
"Probably not. These savages. They don't know much about anything, do they? Even though she is probably the most advanced of all of them. Being a shamaness and all. I can't imagine she would even recognize our speech patterns." The other man said. He sighed. He had the kind of voice that you would imagine a little toy soldier would have. Squeaky and soft. "Anyway, let's get this over with. I want to go home and have a nice glass of kombucha with my wife. We are working on our gut bacteria at the moment, and I don't want anything ruining the delicate balance that we have achieved till now." He seemed like the grumpy sort. The kind of person who would never be happy no matter what he had, or what he was doing. The kind of person who would rush after work because he wanted to go home. And then be listless at home because he wanted to be at work instead.
She giggled a bit on the inside. She knew someone just like him back at home. Her father would appreciate this place. She wished they had bought her father here as well.
She couldn't see her surroundings. Her eyes were taped shut or something. But she could tell that she was in a sterile environment. The smell of chemicals and astringents. She didn't know what they called this place, but she imagined it was filled with staid, serious souls who were interested in the results more than the journey. She never got along with people like that. Even in school, she was always more interested in how she got to the solution of a problem, rather than the solution itself.
They lifted up her hands, but their hand on her skin felt odd. As if they were wearing something on it. Gloves, perhaps. Made of something soft and silky. There was so much to learn from these people. She wondered how she could convince them to let her be conscious while they performed their experiments on her. She wouldn't tell a soul, she could promise. She just wanted to know. To quell her burgeoning curiosity.
Like a cat you are, her father used to say to her. A cat who wasn't satisfied until every detail of a particular mousetrap was clear to her.
One of those mousetraps will kill you one day, my dear, he said to her wisely. And I won't be able to do anything for you, he had added.
Her dearest father. Well, his prediction had come true. And there was nothing she could do to see his triumphant face.
She tried to move her hands, but they were tied down. As were her legs. And her neck. The only part of her body that was movable was her fingers. But even those, she could barely move.
Were they afraid of her? Why would they trap her so diligently? What did they think would happen? She might not be as advanced as them, but she still had a semblance of common sense. She wouldn't jump, claw, and bite strangers from the promised land. What if they could teach her something that could save her tribe in the future?
Her chieftains and leaders might be short-sighted, but she was not. She knew that there were many things that she did not know, and she wished to know them all, slowly, but surely. Not just in this lifetime, but over the many other lifetimes to come.
They pierced her skin with something sharp and she could feel her life force seeping away from her. Were they taking her essence away? To test it? Or to kill her? No, it couldn't be to kill her. If they wished to kill her, they would have done it when they first laid eyes on each other.
Oh, that promising moment. If she only had had the presence of mind to say something more lucid. Instead of 'Hello there, nice day we are having.' Ugh, just the thought of that crass greeting pained her heart. They probably decided there and then to cage her up and take her away. To study her. To poke and prod at her.
She had been picking elderberries for a soup recipe that she had been concocting. Her father was getting old and sickly, but he refused any cures. 'When it's time for me to go, it's time for me to go. I shouldn't try to change the course of time.' He always said to her.
Gosh, how foolish that man could be. And how stubborn. No wonder she was as stubborn as a gooseberry herself. But she decided if he wouldn't take medicine from her, then she would add it to his food. But she had to be careful about that. He was a smart man, and she didn't want to alert him to her dastardly plan.
She had decided to go to the edge of town to pick these berries, where no one besides her usually roamed. Supposedly, the mountains and caves there were haunted. She looked up to see a flash of something blind her. Then she saw those beings. Similar to her, but most unlike her as well. Their clothing was quite peculiar. As were their mannerisms. They were holding interesting instruments as well. It all fascinated her so. She decided to take a closer look. They were being quite sneaky about it all. She supposed they did not want to be caught by anyone.
Either way, she got as close to them as possible and watched them. They were taking samples of the rock, and the soil. Why would they be doing that? She heard them converse with each other. The language was not something she understood. But she could sense that they were worried about what they found in the soil. Something wasn't right. Was that what was causing her tribe to fall sick so easily? She had been searching for a cure herself, but she didn't realize that it could be the fault of the mother that gave them food. The soil itself? Could it be? She tried to think about it, but in her deep reverie, she forgot where she was.
She stumbled. And came to stand right in front of the two beings. They looked so startled. If she had said something coherent like, I come in peace, maybe they would have been assured. But she had mumbled something about the weather, and they had sprayed something in her face, so she fell unconscious right away.
What had they used, she wondered still? It must be something quite powerful. A consciousness device. How fascinating. She didn't have any writing implements with her, but she would have to take notes on this whole experience when she got home. It would take her years to study it all.
And now she lay here. Not on the ground either. On some raised platform. A sort of soft cushiony platform. Quite soft. Uncomfortably soft. If she wasn't restrained by those devices, she would have loved to shift around to make her comfortable on this softness. Why was this sleeping surface so soft? How was a human back supposed to gain proper rest if these individuals end up sleeping on something so soft?
"I was not saying they should have laid me down on a bed of nails, but seriously, this was just too much. If I ever get a chance to chat with them, I shall speak to them about the bed first." She thought ferociously to herself.
"Her dreams are changing. Something to do with her lying on a bed of nails. Hmm." This was the second man. Squeaky, she had decided to call him. The first man would be called Thor. Hmm, that seemed unfair somehow. Maybe she should give Squeaky a more dangerous name as well. She was sure his male ego would be hurt by this name.
She remembered when grandfather had given her stepbrother a name like Eeyore, her stepbrother had flailed about and whined about it for months on end. Then, he was renamed Igor, and he strutted around like a self-satisfied peacock. Ah, peacock feathers. She remembered she was running low on them. She would need them for the ceremony next week, if these affable gentlemen let her go by then. She hoped they did. This ceremony was quite important – she had to attend. It was a must.
"I think she's not comfortable on this bed. Perhaps these natives don't realize that sleeping on the ground is actually bad for their back. Maybe we should move her to a harder surface. She seems rather uncomfortable in her dream."
That's when it hit her. She could communicate with these beings using her dreams. How silly of her not to realize that!
"Of course, if they wish to study my dreams, why not use my dreams to tell them what I want them to know about me? How perfect." She thought.
She was a shamaness. She could use her dreams, surely. The only problem being that she was still a very young shamaness, and the dream world can be a dangerous place that shouldn't be tampered with willy-nilly.
She wasn't really worried about her life. She knew these people or beings or whatever they were, wouldn't harm her. Yes, they were much taller than her. And seemed to have considerable weight. But they seemed kind and gentle at heart. They seemed to like to poke and prod her with needles and such, but that seemed to be the gist of their attack on her.
Perhaps they were shy creatures. Perhaps they wanted to form a friendship with her, but they were afraid to have a full-on face-to-face conversation. She liked to imagine that was the case.
She decided enough was enough. This bed was going to crack her back, if she didn't do something about it.
Squeaky was already convinced that she was uncomfortable on this bed, but Igor being a lazy fool, didn't want to go through the hassle of moving her about. She concentrated on her forehead, on the spot between her eyebrows. And focused her efforts on creating a suitable space in her mind.
But she was way too excited and distracted by everything that was going on around her. Her senses were heightened. Her sense of touch, and smell were going haywire. There was just too much sensory input. She had to bring herself back to herself. She had to calm down.
She took a few deep breaths. She felt a bit calmer. They noticed the difference. "Her brain waves... they seem to be calming down." Squeaky said.
"I told you! You were just getting agitated about nothing. She's fine on this bed. For god's sake, they sleep on the ground all the time. I bet you, her body is thankful to us, for letting her sleep on such a soft surface."
Squeaky looked unconvinced. But he watched her dreams and brain patterns with renewed vigor. Something was going on here. Maybe she was trying to communicate with us without the need for words. She was a shamaness after all. That was why they had been so ecstatic when she was the one who stumbled across them. It showed a natural sense of curiosity that seemed to be missing from a lot of younger species.
Even though she was only 14 years old, judging by her bones, and her body structure, she seemed to be quite an intelligent being.
I have high hopes for her, Squeaky thought to himself, as her dreams started assimilating into something new. A bed. A bed like the one she was on right now. She stood up and went into a different room. Laying down on the ground, she breathed a sigh of relief. She got up from the bed and said as if to them, "I don't like this soft bed. Move me, before my back breaks." And then she fell asleep again.
Squeaky and Igor looked at each other. They were both speechless for a second or two.
"Umm, did you see that??? She's using her dreams to communicate with us. I told you, I told you that she could hear us. She knows we are watching her dreams, and she had the presence of mind, and the skill to manipulate her dreams. Oh my god, this is epic, this is a big deal. I cannot wait to present these findings to the association... They are going to love it."
She lay there, asleep, but she couldn't help herself. She started smiling. It was so damn easy to manipulate others. Could it be as easy as changing up her dreams??? These beings seemed to be smarter than her, but they were not as smart as all that. Which was unfortunate. She had wanted a bit more of a challenge.
She concentrated a bit more and tried to bring something smutty into her dreams.
She wanted to see what these beings here thought of sex. Maybe they were the prudish kind. Or maybe not. Either way, it would be interesting to see their slant on the sexual deviants she presented in her dreams.
As soon as she started thinking so, her dreams started convoluting. She was known in her community for being obsessed with sex. It wasn't the act itself that enthralled her. But it was the myriad ways in which pleasure could be achieved by a puny body that fascinated her.
It was easy for her to get excited, because there were always so many fantasies rolling about in her mind. A breeze could blow by and in that instant, her nipples would start peaking, and her vagina would be wet with desire. It was anything. It was nothing. Everything turned her on.
Thus, in her dream, she decided to bring it all out. The fantasies about rape and sexual violence. The fantasies about doing it with three men, and five women. Six goats and five parrots. The fantasies about doing it underwater with a gill and flippers. The fantasy about doing it in a hundred different acrobatic positions. The fantasy about becoming a man and doing it with a woman. About having a penis and therefore, the patriarchal control. About having a vagina and thus, the matriarchal dominance. She let it all out. She let go and it all came surging out in her dreams.
Ah, this was actually quite stirring. She could feel herself coming and coming, just from the thought of it all. Were they as excited as she was?
She tried to open up her mind to pay attention to what they were saying, but she was in the middle of her fifth orgasm, and the lines between reality and dream were blurring in a way that she was having a hard time maintaining concentration. Once the orgasm passed, she took a deep breath and tried to listen in to their conversation.
If she had never had anyone listen in on her fantasies before, these two had never had any fantasies to listen to.
They stood there in silence for a long time. But she could sense their desire creeping up. The scents in the air told her the full story. Their penises were erect, and precum was already on their tips. She could smell it. She could smell their intentions. Before they themselves could. But why were they so silent? Why weren't they saying anything?
Finally, she heard a word whispered by Squeaky. "Wow." He said, and that was all. They didn't move. And they didn't speak.
They might be a fine society with tools and implements, and the ability to turn off consciousness with a spray, but they weren't very advanced in any other manner. If they were really so, they would have ripped off their clothes, turned off the devices, woken her up and played with her, until the dawn came creeping in. Or whatever time it was outside right now. But they didn't. They stood there, perplexed, and aroused, confused, and unsure what to do with their desire.
"This isn't in the manual." Thor said. "What is the procedure for all of this? I have never... had to deal with something like this. She seems to be quite a powerful... ummm, sexual being. We must do something with all of that data, but I don't know how we would even use it."
"Yeah, ever since we abolished sex in our culture, because it is just a distraction and leads to crimes and misdeeds, our society is much better off for it. I can't even remember the last time my nether regions behaved like this. I have been taking the right dosage and everything. She must be using some kind of special magic for all of this. What do we do about this?"
"We could report it to the..."
"No, we can't. If we do, she will be destroyed. And we promised ourselves we would get her back to her tribe safe and sound."
They both stood there, debating over their conundrum. They wanted to study her more. There was so much they wanted to know about this so-called primitive culture. The more they learned about her, the more they realized that this religion or practice of shamanism was something more profound than they realized.
"We are going to keep this to ourselves, unless there's some terrible emergency and we really need to reveal her nature to the others. For now, this remains our secret. Agreed??" Squeaky said, in a not-so-squeaky, and a quiet confident voice. She was impressed. Even Squeaky could bring his principles into play, she realized.
Her dreams changed again. She had to convince them to let her be conscious. It was the only way they could have a face-to-face discussion about things. Why they had her tied up like some sort of animal was beyond her. She was a sentient being just like them, she deserved some respect from them. In any case, they couldn't know more about the universe than her tribe did.
She decided to show off a bit of her knowledge. It was time to show off a bit.
The main theory that pervades her culture was that everything in the world, everything in this realm and the other realms, they believed in multiple realms, has energy. Everything was made up of energy, and it resonated using that energy with other things in the universe.
If something had the same energy as you, then you could be friendly with that thing. If it didn't, then you were enemies. Or worse, if the energy was quite different from yours, you might even end up clashing or running away from this other thing.
It didn't matter what it might be. It might be a rock. Or a ball like the Sun. Or it might be a creature in the sea. Whatever it was, it had energy.
Her ancestors learned from their dreams and realized from their movements across the realms that the world was started by just one such energy burst. It was the reason all of us were here now. It was the reason she was now tied up here with these random beings from god-knows-where. She decided to show them her tribe's theory of inception.
The universe was black as black could be in the beginning. That's how she began. Complete darkness.
"Oh, she might have fallen into non-dream sleep. It's completely..." And then she switched over to the flash of light, as described by her ancestors. It was so bright, and it flashed so suddenly that it almost blinded them. They yelped and covered their eyes. Then, as if she were connected to the baby universe, they saw the universe expanding. From nothingness, came the stars, and the dark matter. Her planet and theirs. Her body and theirs. Until they stood here, waiting for all of this to disappear again, and for the process to begin again.
"Is that...the Big Bang theory that she's describing to us?? The theory that describes the beginning of time?" Thor said. Got it in one, my friend, she thought.
"Now untie me, and let's share a meal together, so we can form an exchange of ideas, rather than a one-way piddling stream." She wanted to say.
Then, she decided to show the three of them sitting there, having a meal. That was her ultimate goal. It might not be much, but she had few passions in life, and food was definitely one of them. She wanted to know what kind of delicious foods these individuals ate. They seem to be much taller than her, judging by the height of their voice, so they must eat something completely decadent. She really wanted to experience that.
She didn't know what they looked like, but she decided to make them up as she imagined them to be. She was sure they wouldn't be too offended. Squeaky was tall, skinny, and had some skin problems. Thor was broad, and had bright blonde hair, which he tied up in a ponytail, like some kind of ruffian. It was quite interesting to her, to set these random images up in her head.
"Is that... supposed to be us?" Squeaky said, his voice sounding quite amused.
"Why am I blonde and why the hell do I have a ponytail?" Thor complained.
"I think she wants to have a meal with us." They saw her smacking her lips as they sat and ate an avocado together, so it seemed like an appropriate assumption on his part.
Avocados were sacred in her country and the fact that she could even imagine an avocado in her dreams without tearing herself away from her bonds was quite a feat. Her mouth dripped with saliva. She wanted food. Real food. Something she could really chomp down on. Her teeth missed crunching on things. She wanted fruits. All different colours and sizes and shapes. She wanted to eat something real.
She couldn't help herself. Hundreds of images of her devouring foods came pouring out of her subconscious. She was obsessed. This was usually the way her brain worked when she was home, so why would things change as she got to this new place.
Now do you get it? She asked in her head.
Get me out of here, and let's eat, she pleaded.
"What do you think? Untying her might be a big mistake. Remember that time they untied that mammoth and it tore the whole lab apart."
"She's tiny though. Half our size. What could she possibly do? And all she wants is some food. Maybe she's just hungry. It would be terrible of us to not give her what she wants. And it's just a meal together. To be honest, I have been dying to have a real conversation. She must be lonely." Squeaky said. To be honest, it was his kind heart that was truly his downfall. If he wasn't so kind, maybe he would have more friends, and be more social. Or that's what she assumed. She had seen people like him in her village. They were too kind for their own good.
For example, there was this one woman in her village who was destined to die alone and single. And all because she was just too nice. If someone was even a little bit kind to her, for whatever reason, she jumped on them like a gnat jumps on rotten food. She despaired for her. Don't be so nice, to be a little aloof, kindness doesn't get you anywhere - these were the things she got told daily. She was sure Squeaky here was made from the same strain.
She wondered what God was really thinking when he made these kinds of gullible human beings. Did he think that he was doing them a favour? Well, he was really not.
Thor nodded his head a bit. He was slowly becoming more and more convinced. "And also, I know you were thinking about researching the sexual habits of the villagers a bit. You are more than welcome to try your charms on her. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. A strapping handsome bloke like you. Especially from a foreign land. Women like that fawn over men like you." Squeaky said.
That was the final straw that broke Thor's poor back. He couldn't help himself. He lived a boring life. A bored life. He wasn't actually that excited about the kombucha. But he had to pretend to be, for his wife's sake. They had nothing else to be excited about.
But this one here, she might be interested in him. Just for the fact that he's a man, and has a penis. Maybe she would want him just because he is virile and interested in her. Not having to do anything, to play any games or drink any kombucha to get his daily dose of sex, would be so satisfying. It was so exhausting to play those games. His wife knew it, but she still made him do it. It was a kind of sick pleasure to her. To control him. To temper his pleasure with her demands. Thankfully, it didn't make him angry. Otherwise, he was worried one day he would just throw something in her face. Probably one of those damn kombucha bottles. The ones made of glass so that they would be recyclable. Because to be made of plastic - well that would be the ultimate sin.
Thor nodded. Squeaky pumped his fists in the air. Yes, he thought to himself. This is exactly what he had been hoping for. He just wanted to chat face-to-face with one of these natives. They were so different from him. He just wanted to experience the differences. He just wanted to know what they thought about.
Yes, he could observe their dreams. And perhaps know a little bit of their subconscious dealings. But what did they want from life? Why were they alive? What were their aspirations? What were their fantasies? Why did they wake up every morning? He wanted to ask them these questions. He had always wanted to ask them these questions.
Well, that time was finally here.