The Rising Earth
By: J. Garcia
Tags: Dreams, Short Story

I’m standing in front of a high school classroom. There are students littered about in desks here and there, probably more attentive to their flappy bird score than what Colonel Fields was saying. That is right, Colonel Fields. It’s a JRTOC class. I’m in interpreter mode. In other words, Colonel Field’s smooth voice was flowing from my hands quite naturally.

I looked out a window, ‘That’s unusual,’ I thought to myself, ‘this classroom doesn’t normally have windows.’

I turned my attention once more to Colonel Fields, and immediately noticed something else awry. The voice was most definitely that of Colonel Fields, but the person from which it was emanating from was Morgan Freeman. I’m taken aback and my eyes whipped to the little black bumps on his cheeks. ‘Yup, it’s Morgan Freeman alright.’

There I was trying to add up all these incongruences when the ground swelled up violently and then came down almost passively.

Morgan Freeman pivoted towards to me and asked, “Was that an earthquake?” He still sounded like Colonel Fields.

“Sir, I believe it was,” I replied a little bewildered.

A loud beep announcing the P.A. system rang across the room. The person never had the opportunity to speak, because the ground started spasming ferociously.

“Duck under a desk!” I screamed and signed simultaneously as I hurled myself under the nearest desk. “What are you doing, you fool?” I screamed at Morgan Freeman/Colonel Fields. ‘Wait, did I just insult Morgan Freeman?’

Meanwhile, Morgan/Fields waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and continued with his lecture. I closed my eyes when I saw part of the roof cave in. The world had gone mad. I felt a violent case of vertigo as the earth rose and fell with maddening speed. It felt like a rollercoaster.

Finally, everything stopped and a sweeping calm exploded onto the world. ‘Can it be over?’ I think. I opened my eyes and saw the outlines of a cave made from the fallen debris of the school. At the end of the cave, I saw a light. The desk had saved me. Although for a brief moment relieve, absurd relieve, overwhelmed me the sensation was followed by a claustrophobic feeling of despair. I started crawling towards the light. The walls pressed down upon me, but I squirmed along until I finally exited the debris.

The very world had gone through a spasmodic metamorphosis and where once I stood upon the flat lands of the Everglades, now I was standing on the foot of a mountain range of the greatest height. The sky was a mingled mess of yellow light actively fighting against a menacing smear of dark clouds. The earth looked raw and colorless. In the distance I noticed my fellow interpreters gathered about in a circle.

I approached the circle to see if anyone knew what had happened, but as I drew closer I noticed that they were all gathered around Amy Hart. Amy seemed to be preaching, and I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt her, so I continued to look about me at the strange new world present before my eyes.

All of a sudden a realization dawned upon me. “The water!” I yelled. The group gave me a puzzled looked. Amy Hart did not look pleased. “Don’t you see… the water from the Everglades.” It was self-evident, but they weren’t getting the picture. “We are standing in the valley of the mountain. The water is going to start pouring into the valley. Look,” I pointed at a waterfall that had burst from the mountainside, “It is coming, get out of here! Go to higher ground!”

They didn’t move. I darted off. The growing distance muffled some of Amy’s words, but I could swear that she called me crazy as the water rushed over her.

I ran like a mad man. Sweat poured over my body as the rushing sound of water grew ever closer.

“Lilith!” I screamed tossing the sheets off my sweating body and I finally woke up.