Over the past couple days, I’ve had some thoughts bouncing around in my head for a new story idea. They sort of manifested today in the beginnings of a new story, Lunar Penal Colony. That isn’t the final title, I needed to put something down so I could keep track of it. This is a first draft, very rough, story told in the first person. I have no notes for it, just a jumble of ideas that may or may not make their way into the actual story. I have no real plot ideas yet, nor any ending in mind, so this story idea will most likely crash and burn, but it’s going to be fun seeing where my imagination decides to take the story.
story
Lunar Penal Colony – Part 1
This is a first draft idea. I have no real thoughts on where this story could go. Just an idea for a penal science station on the moon. I have a rough beginning, and a couple ideas of what could happen, but no end or plot in mind. This could go well, or, most likely, go completely off the rails. Should be interesting to see it unfold. – Trasee
I looked up at the clock hanging above the door. It’s 10:55am on Friday, April 16, 2117. It’s my twenty-fifth birthday tomorrow, and in five minutes, the rest of my natural life is going to be decided by a jury of twelve of my so-called peers. I know what the verdict is going to be. I’ve known it from the moment I was arrested. I’m going to march in there, the judge is going to tell me to stand and then he’ll ask if the jury has reached a verdict. They’re going to say guilty, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
The door to the room I was locked in opened and a short woman in a blue dress entered the room escorted by two guards. Her name is Mabel, and she is my court appointed legal representative, since I can’t afford one of my own. It’s a mere formality, of course, because the law required it. My guilt was certain before they slapped the cuffs on my wrists barely two hours ago.
“It’s time. Come with me.” I took a quick glance back up at the clock as she spoke. It’s now 10:56. She’s wrong, it wasn’t time. I still have four whole minutes before I’m sent away for the rest of my natural life, however long that might be.
One guard stood to my left, another to my right, as I followed Mabel into the courtroom. I didn’t even have time to sit before the bailiff told everyone to rise as Judge Reggie Talbot entered the courtroom. The dark skinned judge would be the one to hand out the sentence immediately after the jury of my peers delivered the verdict. Again, a mere formality, as for the last 17 years, there has only been one sentence ever handed down.
“Mister Foreman, have you reached a verdict?”
So, it was to fall to the elderly Asian man to put the noose around my neck. I watched him as he pulled out a piece of paper to read in response to the judge’s question. “We have your honor. In the matter of the people vs. Val Edelstein, we find the defendant guilty of chronic unemployment.”
Yup, that’s my crime. Chronic unemployment. As hard as I tried, I could never hold down a job and I have no family to rely on for help. Now this is where I find myself, the day before my birthday.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the court thanks you for your time. Mr. Edelstein, in view of the guilty verdict, you are hereby sentenced to the Lunar Penal Colony. You will be given five years to make yourself a productive member of society at which time you will become eligible to return. The shuttle to the moon will depart on Monday, May 3, which will signal the official start of your sentence.”
With a bang of his gavel, my fate was sealed. He says my sentence is only five years. I know the truth, though. I’m never coming home. No one who is sent to the moon ever comes back to earth. No one knows why, and no one bothers to ask. They’re safe. They’re happy. No one’s living on the streets to make them uncomfortable. So, yep, in a couple weeks, I’m going to join the rest of the discarded souls on the moon. Happy birthday to me!
Down the Rabbit Hole
It’s a warm spring day as you recline near the bank of a brook. The sun is high overhead as you lazily listen to the babbling of the brook and hear the sounds of the birds tweeting in the nearby trees. It felt nice to relax here after a busy week at work. Slowly, your eyes begin to close as you drift off to sleep.
Your eyes had barely closed when you are alerted by a rustling in the leaves next to you. You open your eyes and glance off to the right. What you saw was unusual to say the least. It was a white rabbit wearing a leather jacket, looking at a watch on his wrist. As if that weren’t odd enough, the rabbit actually spoke. “Shit! I’m late! She’s gonna have my head!”
You watch in amazement as the rabbit runs off to a rabbit hole a short distance away. This can’t be real, you think as you watch the rabbit disappear into the darkness. Curious, you decide to go to the rabbit hole and look inside. In front of the rabbit hole, you get down on your hands and knees and peer into the darkness. The sun was at an angle to allow you to see a few feet inside. There was nothing much to see, except more dirt and some roots poking through the soil. The rabbit was nowhere to be seen.
A voice from the darkness echoed back out from the hole, clearly the voice of the rabbit. “Where the hell did it go? Ah! Here it is!” No sooner than the words reached your ears, the ground beneath you seemed to give way. You find yourself rolling down a steep incline into the rabbit hole. Only a moment before, it was a slight slope, and a small hole. Now, it was large enough for you to tumble, quite unceremoniously, down a steep hill.
You reach your arms out to try to stop your fall, but your effort was in vain. You reached the end of the slope and now find yourself falling down a very wide hole. Actually, it would be more appropriate to say you were floating down the hole as if you were a feather falling with the breeze.
Images swirled around you as you slowly sank through the air. Chess pieces, playing cards, laptops with video games, and even television screens displaying pornographic scenes. It was a chaotic mix of items from the mundane to the explicit. None of it made any sense at all.
It seemed like you were falling forever. The images continued to change, and slowly began to disappear. When the last television screen vanished, you found yourself in darkness. You couldn’t even see the sun from the rabbit hole somewhere high above you. You wondered if this was going to be the end. No sooner had that thought crossed your mind that you reached the bottom. Landing quite unceremoniously on your derriere, you were thankful for the added padding you had there. It also helped that you landed on something soft. It was a vinyl-like material that seemed to be filled with air. Must be some sort of airbag that was put out to cushion falls. The airbag, though, seemed to have quite an unusual shape to go along with it.
“Well, don’t just sit on my stomach,” came a high-pitched, almost squeaky, voice beneath you. “Either fuck me or move along.” The airbag actually spoke, and was very crude as well. The darkness faded away as a mysterious light began to give the room a soft glow. You look down at the airbag and are shocked to see an inflatable woman, naked one at that. You landed on a cheap sex doll, and one that could speak. “Don’t just sit there looking stupid. You weigh a ton!”
Quickly, you roll off the inflatable sex doll, apologizing to her and wondering what was going on. You turned away to see where the mysterious light was coming from. It was a Coleman lantern some distance ahead, being held by the white rabbit you were following. Now you had no choice but to follow the rabbit, as it might be the only one that knows the way out of this hole.
The rabbit turns a corner, and you rush down the tunnel after it. It only takes you a couple moments to round the same corner, only to wind up in front of a very large and ornate door. The Coleman lantern that the rabbit had been carrying was now hanging on a hook next to the door. Eye level on the door was a lion head door knock, and the door handle was a simple latch. The rabbit must have gone through here, as there were no other ways out that you could see. You reach forward and try the latch, only to find the door securely latched.
“It’s very rude to enter without knocking first, you know,” the lion head door knocker replied, staring at you with an expression of annoyance. You apologize, telling the knocker that you had fallen down the hole and had been trying to follow the rabbit.
“You’re stalking rabbits too? That’s fucked up.” The knocker responded with irritation. Immediately, you became defensive, trying to explain that you weren’t stalking. You thought he might help you get out of the hole.
“Yeah, you’re right, you’re in a hole, and you keep digging yourself deeper into that hole.” Realizing you’re getting nowhere with the talking knocker, you decide to ask if you could pass through instead.
“You do know what’s on the other side, don’t you?” You shake your head. You had no idea where you were, let alone what was on the other side of the door. “Wow. You’re really clueless. It’s Trasee’s Wonderland, but not the one from the stories. It’s from the depths of her imagination. It’s light, it’s dark, it’s completely chaotic. You never know what you’re gonna find in there. You sure you want me to open the door?”
You think about it for a moment, wondering if there was another way to go. You could probably take the lantern and see if there’s another way out. This entry has already been extremely unusual. Still, the rabbit went through the door, so really, was there any other choice? You finally answer the door in the affirmative.
“Well, ok, don’t say you haven’t been warned. You’ll never know what you’ll find in the depths of Trasee’s imagination.” The door opened, and a bright light shone through. Taking a breath and gathering the courage to face the dangers that may lay ahead, you walk through the door, hearing as the door closes and locks behind you. There’s no turning back now.
Welcome to Trasee’s Wonderland.
