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    Barley stood at the turning point of his life. It would be the crucial moment of truth, if he would die in the jaws of the beast. He felt his muscles ebb to the point of where they were useless to his body. Barley wrestled with the massive creature that lurked till it found the perfect time to strike. The beast out weighed Barley to the hundreds. The animal was superior in every thing humans possessed. The hind legs of the beast could without effort clear 15ft. Its claws could peel the skin off of humans. Barley still couldn’t imagine this thing in the middle of the city in broad day light but as he continued to look at the creature, it looked less and less unearthly. It had needles come from its back like a porcupine and a tail of a crocodile. It had a face and a mane of a lion. The creature’s teeth were crooked and they didn’t stay in the beast’s mouth when it was closed. The terror struck Barley when the creature’s eye gazed upon his and then the things neck extended its reach to Barley’s neck. His neck was like a dam that stopped water from flowing every where. The evil creature had taken a chunk from his neck. Blood didn’t spray though it stayed unmoved, unchanged. It was like the bite never happened. The blood continued to flow from his neck to his head. Barely stayed standing. He acted like he was having a seizure standing up. His mind didn’t completely grasp what had happen. And as he fell the evil beast left like its job was done.

    He awoke. Barley gasped and gasped from his nightmare. His pupils were dilated and exhausted. He looked around the room to find no one. The dream raced in his head. The creature that killed him was like nothing he had ever seen before. It would be great for a drawing he thought. He left his bed and headed for the table that carried his tools and his lamp. His mind pondered the nightmare fully till every detail was out and then he drew the scenery and the creature that haunted his dreams lately. Barley nonchalantly cocked his head to be in the scorching red light’s view. The clock insisted to be at the time that signified Barley to get up and go to his job. Its 6:30 A.M. already thought Barley.

    Barley worked as a phone operator. The job could undignified the most powerful of men, the kind of men who ruled the court system with their almighty lawyers but some how lost at the courts and everything. “Sir, did you check to see if the computer was plugged in.”, Barley said while fidgeting with his fingers. He then pulled the phone that smelled like vomit. He could hear the caller yammer indescribable noise. Mr. Grull came by to make his daily check up of the operators. He walked in before Barley was to begin his slumber. “Mr. Band.” Mr. Grull stated.” Are you planning to sleep during your shift again?” Barley looked around his cramped cubical and muttered, “Yeah.” Mr. Grull was going bald and failed at trying to hide it. He had too much hair above his eyes. How it looked was like the hair from the top of his head scurried above his eyeballs. His shirt was a symbol that Mr. Grull still lived with his mother. Mr. Band’s eyes were unshakable and would not stir no matter what. He then lulled himself to sleep.

    The samurai warrior strode in the quite village that once bordered Kyoto. His face was covered in clad that were to be respected by all. Everyone bowed, threw rice on the shoguns loyal servant. The mask he wore represented the fire clan of the west. It was the mouth of a snake. As he was on continuing his walk he noticed a man not bowing. He marched over to the defiant person. He pulled out the weapon that all samurai had and placed it near the man’s throat. “Bow before me and pay your respects to the shogun.” The armor man said. The samurai’s sword glistened in the mourning sun. Barley looked at the man who could kill him in swing and said, “No.” The warrior did not strike at Barley but he sheathed his sword. But then his mask started to melt to his skin. Then a snake like head shot from the helmet. Barley stepped to the side to dodge it. The snake head had a long neck that kept unraveling. It did not stop when it missed Barley’s face. It did however stop when it smashed into a stone wall. Dust flew up from the crash. The samurai’s body stood motionless as his snake head and neck reeled back. It attempted to strike again. Barley rolled out of the snake’s path and began to run through the condensed crowd. The snake kept coming out of the samurai’s body till the snake was no longer attached to the human’s soul. The snake and the man were separate entities. The long rod of muscle slithered across the ground. Barley looked back while running to see the gaping mouth of the snake and the jet pearls that were its eyes look back at him. He put massive strands of pressure on his lungs as he ran. Large white puffs of smoke came from his mouth as he exhaled. It was cold out. Barley could feel the tendons in his legs begin to stretch to the point of snapping but he kept running. His heart pumped faster and harder as he looked back at the snake that didn’t weary.

    Barley then felt some thing tighten and writhe. His calf was in a painful and involuntary muscular contraction. He had a cramp that caused him to stumble over. But he continued to run through the strife. His run had a serious limp in it. The snake’s slither was at blinding speed. It lunged up and bit down on Barley’s calf. Barley felt needles drive in his leg and then borrow through it out the other side. Barley yelled as he fell down. A mixture of blood and poison dripped off the snakes fangs. Barley was still moving on the ground. He squired like an injured animal. He was hypnotized by the 500 pound snake that was latched to him. Then the snake began to wiggle like a leech. It then ripped its self from Barley’s leg. He yelled again as muscle tissue, tendons, bones were ripped from their natural place. He just stared at the gore and blood that was his leg. He still scurried. Then the snake gyrated back. It flicked its black and red tongue; it made hiss noises like a propane tank with a hole in it. It then leaped at Barley’s face.

    Barley woke up to loud beeps and voices of random people. But then the cubicle and building that he was in shot up like lighting and then Barley was in a desolate wasteland. The sun went down like it wanted to instead of it having to. The red moon took the place of the sun. The moon looked like you could grab it. “Where am I?” Barley said. He was lying down with his hands on his stomach.

    Massive thin mountains surrounded a large piece of terrain. Every thing was dark red except barley. He looked around and remembered he had been bitten by a snake. The memory was so faint it seemed like some one had told it to him then experiencing it. He stared around the mars like planet earth. He stood up and twirled his head around to grasp the layout. He felt eerie. He began to trudge the thick dirt that was the ground. His face was placid. His eyes were strait and lay back at the same time. He felt like he had been shot several times in the stomach several times. Barley lost his nerve to fight any more with himself and the outside world. If it could help he would kill himself. His spirit would flow out from him and be a liquid in the sky. He scratched the top half of his head and thought his ideas were betraying him. He continued to walk even when he reached a pool of water. He walked on the surface of water like it was earth. Ripples skirted from him as he walk. Then he sunk slowly in the water. His feet went first then the rest of his body. As he went under his feet had footing and he stopped sinking. He looked down and saw his reflection in the water. He looked up and saw mountains above his head. He took one step forward and tiny serene bubbles formed from his foot step. The bubbles were black like spider eyes. They followed Barley by swimming on the water.

    The surface of the planet were of shifting water that seemed more like sand then water as he traveled on. But before it changed to sand the water got thick and creamy. It was like mud. His feet got stuck as he trudged through it. The little bubbles slid across the surface and made little squeaks for noise. Barley heard the annoying sound and said,”Whose there?” There was no answer but the little squeaks. But the squeaks turned into a high pitch voices. “Hello.”
    Barley said, “Who said that?” Then the voices spoke in unison “Down here.” Barley slowly moved his head down to see bubbles talking to him. “Are you talking to me?” Barley said. “You’re the only person here.” The bubbles said as they circled Barley. Barley continued to walk while talking to the bubbles that followed him.

    “So where am I?” Barley said. The bubbles collided and smashed into one another to form a humanoid. The small figure was a bunch of bubbles stacked on each other. The bubble man said,” We were hoping you could tell us.” Barley began to scratch his forehead as he spoke. “Gee… I don’t know.” Barley pondered on the idea till he uttered, “So why are you here.” The bubble man shook his head no and began to walk ahead of Barley. The creamy substance that Barley was walking in turned drastically into sand. There was a steep incline in the first minutes of walking; it then was flat like pancakes. The red sun was beating down on Barley’s head. As they were walking they saw a rectangular figure in the horizon. Barley doubted that it was something and just thought of it as a mirage. But as they walked closer and closer the optical illusion became a reality. They stopped at a door with a bright blue doorknob. His hand naturally moved to the knob. His heart pump quickly as his hand twisted the knob. He moistened his lips with his tongue. The door opened. Rays of bright white light entered in the desert and split the red moon in half.

    Barley entered the door to awake in the real WORLD. His eyes tardily opened to view a computer screen. His head sat on the keyboard. He lifted himself up and stretched his arms. “I must’ve dozed off.” He looked around the cubical and thought it was a very large room. He stood up from his chair and peered over the small wall to see a pretty woman on the phone. He overlapped his hands and then sat his head on them. He had a huge smile on his face. “Hi.” His voice was brisk. The women put the phone on her shoulder. “Hi.” She said. “I don’t ever think we were properly introduced.” He unfolded one his hands and shot it next to her. “Hi, I’m Barley.” She shook his hand gently. “I’m Megan.”

    As she said her name he got a picture of Megan Fox walking to him. He then began to fantasize about Megan Fox. But then he took a deeper look at the women on the phone. She and Megan Fox had a similar appearance. He then examined her fully. He seen many pictures of Megan Fox and they looked like the same person. He then said,” Is your last name Fox by any chance?” Megan then said, “Yes.” He turned around and hid for a moment and thought. Oh my god. I’ve been next to Megan Fox for 4 years and I didn’t even know. He then went back and looked at her pristine eyes. They sparkled perfectly with her tan skin. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Her teeth were pure white like pearls in clouds. “I must be dreaming.” Barley said out loud but intended it to be only in his head. She then pushed out her chest and said,”Take me!” Barley then woke up again. He rushed over to see if Megan was there on the phone. But there was only a fat woman with a full mustache on the phone. He then sat back in his chair full of grief.

    From the deep inner gut of a burly man a bellow was expelled. ”Coffee break!” As Barley stood up and walked down the aisle, every one backed away and tried not to be caught in his gaze. He didn’t notice the fellow workers act strange. The husky man that shouted earlier stood between Barley and his donut. For some apparent reason he stepped aside as Barley neared. He looked around the table for a donut. Every in the office was not near him. But some how without looking at him they all stared at Barley. “You guys look like you’ve just seen a murder.” Barley said, loud enough for every one to hear. He then, after he was done eating his donut, looked at his hand. What’s that he thought? He saw a speck of deep red on his hand. It moved down his arm. Barley took his other hand’s index finger and dabbed it in the red liquid. He then licked it. His face turned into a series of muscle reflex. He made a face of disgust. ”Its blood!” He shouted obnoxiously.
    Everyone stared even more. Then the elevator door opened. Two men with guns rushed over to Barley and shouted, “Police, you’re under arrest.”

    His head hurt and two officers were asking him questions in a room with one wall being mirror. “I didn’t kill any one.” Barley said. His face was calm but with a hint of anger. The cops turned and looked at each other. One of the police stated, “I’m Officer Johnson and we have 31 eyewitnesses saying they saw you, Barley Band, thrust Mr. Grull’s head through the wall.” Barley blinked several times and gazed at Officer Johnson. The man looked like he was in his mid-forties and how he acted made it appear that he like his job. “I did not kill him. I was asleep.” Johnson looked at his feet and nodded at the other officer. The other officer had been carrying a yellow folder. He handed it to Johnson. “You were asleep? Do you do this often?” Johnson said with a curious attitude. Barley placed his handcuffed hands on the table and said, “I sleep all the time. Ask any one who knows me.” Johnson then stuck his paw in the folder and pulled out a picture and tossed it in front of Barley. Barley did not look at the picture. Then from the abruptness of the silence that broke Johnson drove his hand at the back of Barley neck and then shoved his face in the picture. The photograph was blurry at first but as his eyes adjusted he saw a figure in a wall. The picture came clearer. He saw blood drip from the crater that was made by the head being inserted in the wall. It was Mr. Grull. “So…This doesn’t mean anything.” He said. There was no response; there was no change in posture from the officers. Barley blinked but the blink lasted for what it seemed to be an eternity. It was like a blackout in a city that lasts for a minute but seems like forever.

    He found himself on the ground. His handcuffs were gone. The officers were on the ground also but motionless. As he stood up he saw pools of blood circle then like a halo. He looked at the mirror. It was shattered. He looked around more. Blood was sprayed all over the walls. The door that would lead him to the exit was open. He was oblivious to the dead men and women that were scattered all over the building. Wow this place died out he thought. He stepped out side the building. He scratched his chin. He noticed something prickly and itchy on his chin. He had a beard. And as he felt more around his chin he felt a cold sticky substance on the corners of his mouth. He pulled his hand away from his face and looked. His hand was daubed in blood. “I must have a bloody piece of stake.” He said.

    The little city he resided in was far much quieter then it normally was. It looked deserted as he walked to his house. There were no cars on the roads. There was clanking of feet on the sidewalk. But he continued to walk to his house. There were no signs of life in the city. He reached his house and pushed through the door. The door fell down then opening. He stepped through, dust flew over the door. He felt surges of hunger pass through his stomach. He walked to his fridge that held the necessities of life. His finger moved to one of his teeth, a canine to be exact. He scraped his tooth and noticed it to be very sharp. He saw a piece of meat and began to eat it. It was gone in seconds. He left just the white bone. A little bit of orange blood remained. He stared through the window and seemed to be in a trance. His eyes were hollow. No life behind them. They looked like they belonged to a blind dead person. Series of small shivers ran up and down the surface of his skin. It got really intense when the frisson reached his neck and then borrow through the skin to reach the spine. It then billowed its way to his spine to connect to the brain. Was this just another dream of was this for real he thought?

    Through the window were many building that soared high in the sky. Many people worked there he thought. The sun rose above the buildings and the earth. Barley felt complete as he awoke.