Spacecraft



  Spacecraft

  By Benjamin Broke

  Copyright 2012 Benjamin Broke

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  Table of Contents

  Spacecraft

  About Benjamin Broke

  Also By Benjamin Broke

  Contact Benjamin Broke

  Insurgents Chapters 1 & 2

  1

  Donald Duck is the best. That’s what everyone said, and I was starting to believe them. A half hour after we dropped the acid I was already feeling the effects. We were tearing down the freeway in Steve’s Jeep and the ocean was still nowhere in sight. I wondered if Steve knew where he was going. He had the unnerving habit of rushing up on someone’s bumper and slamming over into the next lane suddenly to pass them. Every time he did it the Jeep rocked and I had to brace myself. He must’ve been doing 85 miles per hour. We had the windows down and the Jeep seemed very light all of a sudden -I felt like we were in some kind of child’s toy.

  “HEY!” Colin shouted from the back seat, “SLOW DOWN, WE’RE GONNA ROLL THIS THING.”

  “DON’T TELL ME HOW TO DRIVE,” Steve yelled over the freeway noise, “I’LL GET YOU THERE!”

  He started going faster to scare Colin and I considered putting my seatbelt on. For some reason the act of reaching around to get it was too scary at that moment. I thought the instant I looked away from the road Steve would wreck. I gripped the door with one hand and the seat cushion with the other and stared straight ahead. When Steve changed lanes I’d lean into it like I was on a motorcycle. At that point I thought every bit might help.

  I was relieved when he finally took an off-ramp. As the noise of the freeway faded I could hear the radio again, but it sounded wrong. It sounded like clowns being raped, but after awhile I realized it was just an ad for carpets. There were signs that the beach was close, I saw some seagulls, and we were passing surf shops and bike rental places and I could smell the ocean. “Are you guys as high as I am?” Steve asked.

  “I’m definitely feeling it.” I said.

  “Me too.” Colin said. “Are we close?”

  “Yeah, just a few more blocks.” Steve said.

  I lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out the window. Steve asked me for one, and as I handed it to him I noticed a group of teenagers in the car next to us. Some girls in the back seat were looking our direction. I wondered if we looked strange or out of place.

  It was a beautiful cloudless day, and everyone in the cars around us and on the sidewalk seemed to be smiling. The ocean was glistening with reflected sunlight and kicking up white froth. As we pulled into the parking lot I watched some kids playing in the shallow surf while their parents lounged under umbrellas. There were young girls sunbathing, and an elderly couple with wide-brimmed hats. The scene looked like a postcard, not because it was beautiful, but because it seemed fake or staged in some way. The whole beach scene- sun, water, sky, sand, birds, and all the people seemed to be participating in an elaborate hoax.

  As I got out of the Jeep my joints felt stiff and I was aware of my internal organs for some reason, especially my lungs and stomach. I rocked back and forth on my feet, transferring my weight from my toes to my heels and taking a deep breath. Colin was staring at the ocean in awe.

  Steve walked around the back of the Jeep with his towel around his neck. “I told you this was the best beach.” The cigarette was still hanging from his lips. “Come on, let’s find a spot.”

  He started across the sand toward the ocean and Colin and I grabbed our towels and followed. I took the last hit off my cigarette and dropped it in the sand, stepping on it as I walked. I wondered if I’d actually put it out or just buried the ember for someone else to discover with a bare foot. I was sinking a little with every step, which made walking feel unnatural. We passed a white-bread family going the other direction, and I was suddenly very self conscious. I hoped I didn’t look as deranged as I felt.

  We set our towels out as far away from everyone as possible. I sat, pulled my shoes and socks off, and dug my toes into the warm sand. I realized I’d been grinning for a while, so I tried to relax my face muscles but it took too much effort, so I kept grinning and looked down at the sand that covered my toes so no one would notice. Steve was taking off his shirt and watch, getting ready to swim. I heard Colin laughing. “Look at those kids playing with that dog man, that’s fucked up.” He said.

  I watched as a young boy tried to pry a stick from a wet dog’s mouth. There was a younger kid laughing and screaming next to him. The dog growled and twisted his head around in impossible contortions. It looked like the kid was going to twist the dog’s head off. He finally got the stick free and hurled it into the surf. The dog barked and leapt in after it. “Aren’t you gonna swim?” Steve asked us.

  “Yeah, I’m up for it.” Colin said. “You going in Nick?”

  “Sure, we’re at the beach.” I said, trying again to relax the smile on my face.

  “We should swim to that buoy out there.” Steve said. “You think you could make it that far?”

  I looked out at the buoy. It was ridiculously far.

  “I can do it if you can.” Colin said. “You think you can make it Nick-man?”

  “Uh, sure. What’s the worst that can happen?” I stood up. “Oh yeah. Death.” I took my shirt off and put my keys, cigarettes, lighter and wallet into my shoes. If someone wanted to steal my six dollars they could help themselves.

  The water was ice cold, so I ran in and dunked my head to get it over with. Steve and Colin were already out ahead of me, but I didn’t care. I was going along for the ride, they were involved in some kind of macho competition. I ducked under the waves as they broke and kept moving forward. The feeling of all that water rushing and crashing over my head gave me a boost of adrenaline. I got out past the breakers and was going up and down with the swells as I pumped my legs and kept moving in the general direction of the buoy. I wondered how deep the water was. I imagined myself fifteen or twenty feet off the sea floor. I was feeling light and buoyant until I swam through a patch of cold water that shook my confidence.

  I stopped for a moment and looked back at the beach. The people looked small, and they moved around silently. I turned and looked at the buoy. It still looked far away. Steve and Colin hadn’t slowed and were increasing their separation from me. I began to move again, going wide around a clump of seaweed. I tried not to think of all the creatures that might live in there.

  I concentrated on my swimming and kept moving until I felt like I couldn’t go any further. I’d been out there for a long time, but it didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere. My arms and legs were sore, so I changed my stroke to a more relaxed frog style. I was in no hurry. It seemed like I’d been swimming for hours.

  I took another break and treaded water again. I could barely see the people on the beach. I thought about what a serious position I was in. I didn’t belong here, it wasn’t a place for swimmers, it was boat territory. If I got sucked under by some monster current and drowned, no one would realize I was gone for hours. I imagined Steve and Colin getting back to the beach and wondering where I was. They’d probably assume I’d gone for a walk or something. They wouldn’t suspect that I was dead at the bottom of the ocean until the sun went down. By then the sharks would’ve discovered my remains.

  I decided to keep swimming. The buoy didn’t look so far away anymore, and I could see Colin and Steve hanging on to it. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It was painted white with red stripes and
had a bell at the top. There was bird shit all over it. “We thought you drowned, man.” Colin said, grinning as I swam up. His eyes were all pupil.

  “Yeah, what took you so long?” Steve asked.

  “What are you talking about? We’re in the middle of the fucking Pacific Ocean. I can barely see the beach.” I said, grabbing on to the buoy. Even my hands felt sore. My leg brushed it’s slimy underside as it rocked back and forth. The bell was making an eerie clang every once in awhile.

  “We saw a jellyfish down there a minute ago. Freaked us the fuck out.” Colin said.

  “Nah,” Steve said, “that was just a plastic bag or something. There’s no jellyfish here.”

  “It had tentacles man, It was definitely a jellyfish. I wonder what else is down there.” He said looking down. I looked too, and saw a chain attached to the bottom of the buoy stretching into the murk. I realized there was a massive amount of water beneath us. I tried not to think about sharks.

  Steve was looking at me strangely. “You okay Nick? You got a big vein sticking out of your forehead.”

  I reached up and felt my forehead. I could feel the vein.

  “Oh yeah,” Colin said, “that’s freaky.”

  “Thanks guys. That’s exactly the kind of thing I want to hear right now. I appreciate