Dragonfly Dreams: Part Ten

Frank’s eyes opened as he sat up with a stifled yelp. Sweat was pouring off of his face, but he felt like he was freezing. For a second, he could still hear the screaming of that woman: Oprah Winfrey. She had been sitting…reading…when he had entered her room. But how had he gotten there? And how had he gotten back? Had the whole thing been a dream? In the darkness of the hut where he had been sleeping, Frank could swear that he heard the soft shushing sound of a dragonfly’s wings. He hopped up and ran to the little window which was letting in the strong jungle moonlight, but he couldn’t see anything. And now…it was silent once again except for the sound of his own ragged breathing.

“You okay Hoss?” It was Chuck…the guy with the magic tattoos. He had stuck his head through the door of the little hut. “I thought that I heard you yell.”

“Fine,” Frank said, “I’m fine. It’s just…”

He hesitated.

“Yeah Hoss?” Chuck’s Australian accent seemed to be thicker than ever, even though he was trying to pull in some old Western dialect.

“I….I…can’t really explain it,” Frank shuffled over to his mat and sat down. The mat was thin and wasn’t very comfortable. But his legs felt wobbly….weak….and he was afraid that he might fall if he didn’t just go on ahead and sit.

He thought that Chuck might take that as a sign and leave…but he didn’t. He just kept staring at Frank: waiting.

“Have there ever been any reports of large insects around here?” Frank finally asked…faltering.

Chuck broke out in a fit of coarse laughter…his face scrunching up in a wild map of lines and contours.

“This is the blooming jungle!” he cracked, “There are large insects everywhere you look. You’ll have to be more specific than that mate.”

“Dragonflies,” Frank cut in quickly before he lost his nerve, “Any reports of large dragonflies.”

And with that, Chuck’s laughter stopped just as quickly as it had started. He was starting at Frank in the dimly lit darkness. Frank could see the large whites of his eyes…they looked huge.

“How in the he..” he started, “Did somebody tell you about that?”

“About what?” Frank said, standing up and walking toward Chuck, “What is it?”

“Dragonflies,” Chuck smirked and looked down at the ground, “They said that you were good…had a gift…but that was bloody FAST mate! How did you do it?”

“Do what?” Frank insisted on knowing what Chuck was talking about, “All that I know is that I just had a freaking weird dream about a large dragonfly taking me for a little journey over the jungle to a waterfall…and to top it off…to visit with one very frightened woman: Oprah Winfrey.”

It all sounded so ridiculous when said out loud. For a second, Frank thought that Chuck would just start laughing again. However, the sharp hiss of breath that he gave let Frank know that he had said something that had upset Chuck rather badly. His heart started to beat a little faster. What had he said? What did Oprah Winfrey have to do with this?

“Come with me mate,” Chuck held the door open, “I want to show you something.”

They didn’t speak as they walked through the dark village. Every now and then they would pass a startled villager: making a fire, cooking an early morning breakfast, or walking out for a morning visit to the bathroom. Nobody spoke to them…just stared with large, silent, dark eyes. Chuck was moving quickly, but Frank found that he was having a pretty easy time keeping up with him. He felt a little bit of pride in that…he must be getting in better shape. Of course, lately, he had been running for his life quite a bit.

Soon, they came to the edge of the village. Dawn was approaching. The moon had sunk below the tops of the trees, but the sun would be up soon. Already, the sky was starting to take on some of the light of the coming day. It wasn’t easy to see yet, but Frank could make out the shape of the large pond in front of them.

“The villagers don’t use this pond anymore,” Chuck whispered, suddenly quiet and reserved, “They say that it is maljita…it has ‘gone bad.’ But there’s more to it than just poisoned water. It’s something that the company has known about for quite some time.”

“What is it?” Frank shuddered. The lake lay before them. Nothing was growing near it…no flowers, no trees, no grass. It was like a great dead pile of ooze…waiting and rotting in the heat of the jungle. The pond was as smooth as glass…dark and deadly.

Just then, a small deer came walking out of the jungle. It walked toward the pond…slowly creeping toward the water.

“Hey,” Frank whispered, “I thought you said the waters were poison. Surely that deer isn’t going to drink!”

“Shhh,” Chuck shushed him, “The water isn’t poison. Lots of animals come to it and drink. Drinking it isn’t the problem. Just watch.”

The deer walked up to the edge of the pond and bent its head down, drinking deeply of the dark, still waters. Frank waited…hardly breathing…waiting for something to happen. Was some large fish or alligator going to pop up and eat the deer? Was the deer going to go into convulsions and die? He felt a sense of dread. Something was wrong…he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

Just then, Chuck let out a loud WHOOP and ran toward the deer, waving his arms. Frank’s breath caught in his throat. What was going on? He noticed that the deer was startled….and trapped. It couldn’t run back into the jungle because Chuck was blocking its way…and he was still running toward it. With a splash, the deer jumped into the pond and swam to the opposite side. It crawled out, gave a little shake, and ran off into the jungle.

Chuck was walking back toward Frank, his face grim.

“Well that didn’t accomplish anything except give me a heart attack,” Frank griped, “What in the world is supposed to happen here anyway?”

Chuck held up one finger, “Just wait a second Hoss. Wait…and watch.”

Frank waited….and waited. The seconds turned into minutes. Still nothing happened. He could feel the humidity starting to rise. It was going to be a sweltering day. He could feel it coming in. One of those days where the sweat just pours off of you like buckets of water. He dreaded it.

He had just decided to tell Chuck that he was fed up with this nonsense when something happened. The water on the pond began to stir. Small bubbles started to rise on the surface. Just a few at first…and then more appeared. The water started to churn and turn frothy. He could hear it sloshing and swirling from where he stood. He was glad that he wasn’t any closer to the water. It didn’t feel safe.
“What’s going on?” he demanded again, but Chuck wouldn’t answer.

Jus then, a head broke the surface of the pond as something came walking out of the water and onto the shore. It was a deer. No…not just a deer. It was THE deer. It was the very same deer that had been in the water just a few minutes earlier. But how? Frank felt his eyes pop.

“It looks….it looks just like…” he stammered.

“Yeah mate,” Chuck said as the deer gave a little shake and bounded off into the jungle, “It looks just like that deer that went for a little dip just a few minutes ago. In fact….it is a perfect copy of that deer….right down to the very last flea.”

“How….how did that just happen?” Frank started walking toward the water. He felt like he was in a trance.

Chuck grabbed his arm and pulled him back, “Don’t get too close mate. You don’t want to have a copy of yourself walking out of there, do you?”

Frank tried to picture that…but it was just too horrible to think about.

“It happens every time though,” Chuck was muttering to himself, “Something goes into the water….and a copy of it comes out with it. It’s actually pretty amazing. Nobody knows how it works. Heck….hardly anybody even knows that this pond exists. Even the company hasn’t figured it out….and that’s saying something.”

“But…but what does this have to do with me? My dream?” Frank stuttered, “Remember….my dream about the dragonfly? Oprah Winfrey?”

Chuck stared at him with cold eyes.

“I think that it’s time for you to meet Irza,” he said, “That will explain a lot.”

Frank shuddered. Irza: the one who had seen the face of God.

Until next week….class dismissed.