They were strangers, drawn together on the shore by a force they didn’t understand. Jason Rogers searched the faces of the dozen or so other people with him but knew none of them, and they didn’t recognize each other. A woman standing next to him asked him where they were. He didn’t have a clue. All he knew was that the early morning sun broke on the horizon as they stood in knee-deep waves on a beach.
A beach that wasn’t acting like any beach he’d ever visited. The sand was rolling under their feet as if it were alive. A man a few feet from him yelped as he stumbled on the moving stand. Panic set in, and the entire group rushed out of the surf only to find the sand, warm even in the weak dawn light, was moving as well.
“Hurry.” A woman waved frantically to them. “There’s a solid ground up here. Looks like a parking lot or something.”
Jason hurried to join them, noticing the seagrass on the dune looked blue, not green as it should. What the hell, where were they?
Once on what looked and felt like asphalt but was squishing, the group began talking. Jason was shocked, they were from various places in the United States, and the last thing any of them remembered was going to bed. No one remembered how they got to the beach.
A man named Arlo from Brooklyn pointed to the sky, “Oh my god, there’s another sun coming up.”
Jason’s heart began to race. He was supposed to be in class this morning, not here. His parents would be frantic. He searched the area around them, but there was nothing but flat land and strange vegetation. There was nowhere to go for help.
The strangers stood huddled together, frightened, for about twenty minutes, watching the twin suns rise in the sky. Jason was about to look for help when the ground beneath them began to vibrate. They ran in unison back onto the beach as a whining sound of a revved engine blasted their ears.
A large silver object, Jason thought the metal tube looked like a train car, winked into sight. No one moved, transfixed on the tube. When a door slid open, revealing a brightly lit chamber, they moved further away.
A man with thick white hair and a huge forehead stepped onto the solid ground. “Greetings, my fellow travelers. I trust you have enjoyed the twin sunrise here on the most beautiful beach in the universe. It’s time to embark on the next segment of your adventure. Our next port of call is the planet Lorea where you will have breakfast under the planet’s glittery diamond rings. You will find a wide variety of delights to keep you amused, and this will be your first chance to shop. Please have your credentials ready as you board the transport.”
Credentials? They looked at each other, stunned. Jason felt something in his jeans pocket and pulled out a crystal disk that flashed ‘admit one.’ Not knowing what else to do, he got on the transport, and the others followed him.
As the beach winked out, stars replaced the view from the transport window. Jason scoffed. This was either one hell of a dream or one hell of an adventure.
A beach that wasn’t acting like any beach he’d ever visited. The sand was rolling under their feet as if it were alive. A man a few feet from him yelped as he stumbled on the moving stand. Panic set in, and the entire group rushed out of the surf only to find the sand, warm even in the weak dawn light, was moving as well.
“Hurry.” A woman waved frantically to them. “There’s a solid ground up here. Looks like a parking lot or something.”
Jason hurried to join them, noticing the seagrass on the dune looked blue, not green as it should. What the hell, where were they?
Once on what looked and felt like asphalt but was squishing, the group began talking. Jason was shocked, they were from various places in the United States, and the last thing any of them remembered was going to bed. No one remembered how they got to the beach.
A man named Arlo from Brooklyn pointed to the sky, “Oh my god, there’s another sun coming up.”
Jason’s heart began to race. He was supposed to be in class this morning, not here. His parents would be frantic. He searched the area around them, but there was nothing but flat land and strange vegetation. There was nowhere to go for help.
The strangers stood huddled together, frightened, for about twenty minutes, watching the twin suns rise in the sky. Jason was about to look for help when the ground beneath them began to vibrate. They ran in unison back onto the beach as a whining sound of a revved engine blasted their ears.
A large silver object, Jason thought the metal tube looked like a train car, winked into sight. No one moved, transfixed on the tube. When a door slid open, revealing a brightly lit chamber, they moved further away.
A man with thick white hair and a huge forehead stepped onto the solid ground. “Greetings, my fellow travelers. I trust you have enjoyed the twin sunrise here on the most beautiful beach in the universe. It’s time to embark on the next segment of your adventure. Our next port of call is the planet Lorea where you will have breakfast under the planet’s glittery diamond rings. You will find a wide variety of delights to keep you amused, and this will be your first chance to shop. Please have your credentials ready as you board the transport.”
Credentials? They looked at each other, stunned. Jason felt something in his jeans pocket and pulled out a crystal disk that flashed ‘admit one.’ Not knowing what else to do, he got on the transport, and the others followed him.
As the beach winked out, stars replaced the view from the transport window. Jason scoffed. This was either one hell of a dream or one hell of an adventure.
