I crawled into my tent,
blacked out,
and came to in a big blue world I did not know.
…
…
First impressions: Where am I and wherefore must the morning greet me with such aggression. Why do my arms hurt this bad. How is my heart beating that fast. It's much too bright here and I don't like it. Will someone please turn down the sun and put some coffee on. I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I feel dead and cold and unclean inside. I need to pee and I need to brush my teeth.
I struggle into my pants, sit up, slip into my sandals. I crawl out of my tent and stand up. I do not recognize this land. I see the mountains but I know not their names. I see the lakes but their shapes are unfamiliar. Something is wrong. This is not the Colorado backcountry I blacked out in last night. The blues are overwhelming here. The air around me sizzles with flies abuzz.
Confused and a bit afraid I feel the darkness prying my brain again. I already know I won't be able to stave it off this time. When you know, you know. Where am I. What lonely unearthly land is this. Standing there with a head full of questions my bladder's about half empty when suddenly I realize that the weird half-buried sunbleached thing I'm pissing on is a human skull.
Stagnant mind. Madness. Time, unmoving. The fear has fully matured. Ten seconds an eon and finally I remember to breathe. I look around, more carefully now. What hellish unholy land is this. Everywhere the evidence of death. Bones innumerable scattered, tales of countless others like me untold but for these sad and shattered epilogues. Why are my forearms so afire with pain.
I am now a man undone for lack of understanding where I am now. The suffering in this tenuous existence is intense. Why am I where I am and how am I going to get myself out. Shivering with uncertainty I look down at my arms hoping to find answers in the pain, and in that moment right before my eyes materializes a mess of ugly slashing cuts, and crusty blackened blood.
Final thoughts: I know neither this land nor where I am but I do now have a theory about how I arrived here. I see the signs and I saw the others enskeletoned so we'll see if I'm right about how wrong things are in this world. I can handle death but as a writer I really can't handle having my arms all bloody fucked up like this. I will figure this place out if it's the last thing I ever do.
…
…
Now by fading to black
blue makes a strange land more familiar,
and so I sit here bold and breathless staring into the cold eternal flames.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
🤗 ⛰ 🤗
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
9-7-21. This is all @otherbrandt's fault.
Can the sequel to this be coming round from a blackout in Yellowstone? Badass.
(edit) Calling @dandays, think you might enjoy this
Thank you. We didn't have WiFi for 8 days. I'm blaming all mishaps and misunderstandings on that.
No need for the laying of blame, I was just wanting to make sure you saw it. Y'all make it through that without mishap?
Negative. The complex had WiFi included in the tab but that hurricane damaged some special doohickey thing that I guess Best Buy doesn't stock.
Booooo!
I might consider making a trip to Yellowstone for such a sequel :)
Thanks for your mention and reblog, I am grateful!
You're more than welcome, thanks for the great post, made my morning that much better yesterday.
Where in a world did Madman take you this time?
He knows some cool spots though. Gotta give him that :)
Still working on that. I'll figure it out eventually though! At least there are mountains here!
I wouldn't mind blacking out at this place :)
'Tis a good blackout place, I'll tell ya that :)
Man that was fun. Are you you or did otherbrandy use you's account. I haven't been this confused since they put charcoal in toothpaste. Who are you?
Brandy and otherbrandy co-wrote this one. I have no idea who I am or where I am but I think one of us is dead and the other is some kind of omniscient narrator. I'll just be over here brushing my teeth with charcoal.
Spit, don't swallow.
Too late. Am I dead?
No, just consuming more carcinogens is all. You'll have to make a more concerted effort next time. 😂
Hmm well as far as I know beer is a natural cure for whatever carcinogens do to humans so I should be fine because I drink enough beer to kill both me and otherbrandy.
LOL, beeeeeer...my fav. Can't argue with that. I've not had any in months. Drink some extra for me. Cheers!
please tell me you kept the skull.
It's still sitting over there right where I found it. Haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet.
Take it home and name it Anderson. Use the cranial cavity to store drug paraphernalia or stash shiny trinkets.
I don't know. That seems kind of macabre. And what if the skull is cursed?
I think it's ok now. I mean, you've already cast out all the evil by cleansing it with your urine.
That's a good point. I'll get Anderson all good and cleaned up and introduce him to my home sweet tent.
probably get lots of upvotes if you post about the process.
🤣
Very good point.
Magic ritualistic usage. 😉
🤣
This is a very imaginative story, it has a literary charge bordering on poetry, it is also, however, a critique : a mutilated man who wants to describe the world.
Thanks for posting it, @brandt
Thank you for the kind review!
It took me more time than I generally spend on fiction. But your post is so attractive and reads like poetry. So I was a little more attentive while going through the images and words. Well done bro...
Thank you, I'm happy you enjoyed it! 🙏
Damn nice post. AL I can say is that sometimes mushrooms do that 😉 teleportation is a common side effect, strap in Brace up and enjoy the ride
Buy the ticket, take the trip!
Believe it or not no psychedelics were involved despite them being decriminalized where I live. It would appear that I did my teleporting with nothing but good old-fashioned alcohol and razor blades.
Hi @brandt. Thanks for posting in The Ink Well. As a piece of fiction this has some interesting qualities. You've taken life experience and pictures from your travels and crafted a story with a disoriented narrator, skeletal remains and a sense of doom. It's unusual, but a fun read. Hopefully with your next story you will bring us characters and a bit more plot. :-)
We ask everyone posting in The Ink Well to read and comment on at least two other writers' stories in our community. Thank you!
Hey, thanks for the support! And I very much appreciate your feedback :) Yeah, perhaps my plot was a bit skeletal… but I'm sure you saw that there were multiple characters involved ;)
I have to ask, did you figure it out? Loved the photos, but the bones.......(I'd probably want to carve them).
I died when I read this. I just died. The whole post is so poetic and well written, then I hit this nugget. 😂
How on earth do you post living the lifestyle you do? Serious question here, I'm information gathering for my own reasons.
Still haven't figured it out. I'll get there eventually I guess. In the meantime, I'm honored to make people laugh… glad you had yourself a chuckle.
Coffee shops. I know all the best places. I'd post here more often, but I can't because these goddamn freelance writing gigs keep sucking up all my time. I would kill to be able to flip off all my clients and only write here. Someday maybe…
Oh yes, you provide many good chuckles, that one just hit the spot especially.
You do what you can and well, you do have to keep that bag of flesh and bones alive, feed it, tend to it. Otherwise, you a skull collector may get you.
Well, my skull is not the sort of skull that can get uncursed by simply pissing upon it, so let the future collector of my skull be forewarned.
🤣🤣🤣 I'm agreeing with that, from the short time I know you, it's evident that's the case.
☘️