Where Strange Things Are Pt. 1

Dr. Strasser called Emma, his favorite student, at midnight on Monday. She hurried over to his house as she was told that it was very important. She was tried and drousy, but she managed to make it to the doctor's little house just at the end of the street. Dr. Strasser invited her in. She could tell by posture alone that the good doctor was very excited. She had never seen him so excited before, so it must be something big. Doctor Strasser taught at her university and was one of her favorite professors. His lectures were made interesting by the energy that he put into them. Her enjoyment of his courses meant that she ultimatley did very well, and this made her a favorite pupil of his. Tonight, Doctor Strasser told her, "would be a night to remember." He led her down into his basement and turned on the lights. She could see that the basement was something of a mess. Papers lay all over the place and strange machines buzzed and hummed silently in the corners. The Doctor took her to the table in the center of the room. On this table lay a very strange looking device, one Emma had never seen before. "This is it." the Doctor said excitedly, "This is my greatest work come to fruition." Emma stared at the stranged device, trying to make out what it did. "What is it?" Emma asked. "It's a discombobulative cerebral enhancer." said the Doctor "It delves into your mind and in a figurative sense makes your dreams come true. The reason I've brought you here Emma my dear, is because I want you to be the first one to try it on." Emma looked at the Doctor perplexedly, she admired the man but she was hesitant when it came to being one of his guinea pigs. The Doctor saw her hesitancy in her eyes and comforted her by telling her that it was all perfectly safe and the chances of something going wrong were "scientifically improbable" Emma took the strange device and put it on her head. The Doctor fiddled with a few gadgets above her and the the machine started to buzz. Lights went on and off and the Doctor now sat in front of Emma. He raised his hand and showed three fingers. One...the first finger went down...Emma felt a strange sensation come over her...Two...the second finger went down...Emma started to see strange colors and lights...Three...the third finger went down and Emma was lost in a warping delusion...The world twisted and turned and then it all went black...When Emma woke up she found herself looking around at stars...literally...She could see galaxies and clouds of stars...She was standing on some kind of small moon...a small red moon so tiny that she could walk around it in two minutes. She felt wonderful. The stars were almost dream-like and she felt as though she could reach out and touch each one of them. She was suddenly startled however by a strange man who came up to her. He looked like an African man and was wearing a tuxedo. He came up to her and asked "Who you? and Where you come from?" Before she could answer his face changed...snakes came out of his eyes and mouth and the moon disappeared into blackness. When Emma woke up she was being rocked back and forth. She was so small that she could move. She looked up to see the face of her grandma. Grandma smiled and then faded into black. She felt sure that soon she would wake up from this dream but instead she woke up on the strange moon again. There were no stars now. Only an empty, black sky. She walked around the small moon looking for some way off it but she kept ending up right back where she had started. She sat down and put her head in her hands, trying to think, when she heard a soft, sibilant voice "Excussee Meee" She looked up and was surprised to see a small teddy bear standing in front of her. It wore a ripped green shirt and its eyes were sewn shut. The bear reached out to her and she took its furry paw. She walked with the little bear until she came to the a black door and when she went through the door, she woke up. She was back in Doctor Strasser's basement. The Doctor was bending over his bench, seemingly working. Emma took the device off her head. "Did you see anything?" Asked the Doctor in a soft voice. "Yes..all kinds of things" said Emma. "Good" said the Doctor and he turned around. To her horror, he was holding the little teddy bear from her dreams, only this time the Doctor's eyes were sewn shut and the little teddy bear stared at her with the Doctor's eyes in place of its own. "I can see too now" said the teddy bear. The doctor brought the little creature towards her. Emma backed away. Wondering to herself if she was still in a dream. Surely it would end soon. But nothing happened. The bear just got closer and closer. until it was looking right into her eyes with its own eyes which were so out of place on its little face and looked grotesque as they moved back and forth. "This is indeed a disturbing universe" said the little teddy bear. The bear grabbed her face and started to play with it. Stretching it and pulling at her hair. Emma yelped with pain as it pulled some of her hair out by the roots. "Do you like stuffing with your turkey dinner?" Asked the little bear, reaching into itself and pulling out some of the cotton from its chest. Suddenly the stuffing turned into a handful of snakes. "Here is your guilt...These snakes are your guilt..." said the little bear. It was then that Emma lost consciousness. When she woke up she was looking at a concerned Doctor Strasser. "Thank goodness child...I thought I'd lost you..." Emma looked around, she was sweating and cold. The Doctor looked at her, ver concerned "You were struggling there for quite some time child..I thought maybe I'd brougth back your traumatic memories... Sometimes when you push something away it comes back to haunt you...that must have been what happened when you used the machine...I didnt mean to bring this on you child..I'm sorry." There was a genuine sadness in his eyes. He guided her up the stairs and drove her home. Sitting in the car, Emma didnt see the little teddy bear sitting in the back seat. She didnt see him, but he saw her. The Doctor had been right. Some things dont go away. Some things come back to haunt you. But Emma's demons had been ignored for long enough and it was only a matter of time before she had to face them again.