Bring Me More

The golden decoration on the pencil holder looked like a turtle, or maybe an elephant, or maybe nothing. It was abstract, nebulous, free-form, and it was speaking to Gibby in a heavily accented voice.

"You are wasting your time here. The world has much to offer, and what do you do? Come to work and stare at a computer. You don't care about any of it, so why are you here?"

Gibby stared open-mouthed at the three-inch-high wooden objet d'art he had bought at a friend's yard sale. The hexagonal shape of it along with the mysterious metal blobs that decorated it had caught his eye, and with a quarter in his pocket, he bought it to hold his many company approved pencils and pens. But now . . .

"Stand up. Take back your life. Make something of yourself. These are things that are inside of you."

Gibby thought for a moment: "Someone is playing a joke on me." He stood up to look over the wall at his cube-mate, Henry.

"Sit down, you fool!" the voice raged. "This is no joke."

Gibby dropped back into his seat. Very quietly he said, "What are you?"

"I am everything. Pick me up. Remove these ridiculous writing instruments from my body."

Gibby took the object in his hand, overturned it, spilling the pens and pencils onto his desk, and then turned it right side up.

"Look inside me," the voice commanded.

Tentatively, he peered over the edge into the container. He expected to see nothing at the bottom except a wood panel, but instead, he saw an oasis. Blue, sparkling water surrounded by palm trees, and diving into the placid pool were the golden blobs.

Gibby's head turned to the side like a curious dog. He blinked hard and then opened his eyes wide. The vision was still there. He heard the water splash as the creatures entered the pool. The breeze that blew the palm trees wafted across his face.

"Look closer," the voice said. "Become your destiny." Gibby snorted. "I'm a forty-year-old office drone. I don't have a destiny."

"You do now."

Gibby's head jerked forward, striking the top of the object. He slapped his palms on his desk top to balance himself but couldn't pull free. Suction coming from inside the cup pulled him forward. His head collapsed, falling deeper inside.

Gibby's screams were drowned out by the vortex that swirled around him. His feet lifted off the ground as his arms were bent back, and his torso was forced into the two-inch-wide opening. The object danced on the desk top, toppling one way then the other. The air in the

cubicle was sucked away as Gibby's whole body disappeared with a muted whoosh. At the same time, something else emerged, landing on the floor in front of Gibby's desk.

The ersatz pen holder was still as the cubicle filled with hot, rancid breath coming from the creature. Water dripped from the tortoise shell hanging on its back. Hooded eyes adjusted to the light while large leaf-shaped ears flapped back and forth. The trunk dangling above the mouth probed the desk and walls. The creature took a deep breath before letting out a bleating roar.

Cubicle walls around the office fell over. The windows shook in their casements. "What the hell was that?" a woman shouted as she ran toward the noise. When she saw the creature standing outside of Gibby's space, she froze. Letting out another ear-bleeding shriek, the creature's trunk snapped out around her neck. Grabbing at the leathery skin, she dropped to her knees. The creature picked her up, twirled her in the air, and slammed her into the object, her body disappearing in a rush of air.

Running on thick legs, the creature stomped up and down the aisles of the office, snatching people with its trunk and flinging them toward Gibby's desk. Attracted to the object, their bodies became trapped in the vortex it created and were sucked into it.

~~~OOO~~~

Gibby was swimming in the water. It was warm and soothing, running over his skin like massaging fingers. Lying on his back, staring up into a vibrant, yellow sun,

his mind was empty. There was nothing except this moment of nirvana. He heard a voice. Rolling over in the water, Gibby saw Sheryl, a lovely blond woman he had known for years. He smiled. Sheryl, her naked body already glistening with sweat, smiled back as she slipped into the pool.

They swam together for a few minutes and then were joined by Vince and Tyler. None of them spoke; they swam and smiled. More appeared from the shadows, joining Gibby in paradise. They lay in the sand, soaking up the sun's presence, and languished in the warm, inviting water.

~~~OOO~~~

The office was quiet save for the exhausted breathing of the creature. It stood at the threshold of the building, staring at the glass doors. It had grown. For each consciousness it fed the object, it had expanded. Now over eleven feet tall standing on its hind legs, it rested, waiting for the master's command.

"Minjaya, my pet," the voice sounded in his head. "Leave this prison, go forth onto the earth."

The creature bellowed, smashing its head into the wall above the doors. Plaster and splintered wood rained down as the beast pushed through the barrier. The glass doors shattered as he burst through into the sunlight.

"Bring me more, my pet," the voice commanded. "Bring me more."