Hiroshima Crystal Crier

Hiroshima Book Four

  E. Mendell

  Copyright 2014 E. Mendell

  Table Of Contents

  The Beginning - 1

  Chapter One

  The Beginning - 2

  Chapter Two

  The Beginning - 3

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  The Beginning - 4

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  The Beginning - 5

  Chapter Seven

  The Beginning - 6

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  The Beginning - 7

  Chapter Ten

  The Beginning - 8

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  About the Author

  Connect with E. Mendell

  - Crystal Crier -

  The Beginning - 1

  I once thought I was empty. In my world there was no understanding of speech, writing, or general knowledge. I was a useless existence in a dark village. Even now I can remember the brick houses scattered across the grassy hills and the weaving paths where such cheerful people would walk. All of them smiled, each one had some reason to. I stood alone all my life, watching from a distance. I could only perceive a few words. Those words were “water,” “food,” and “help.” That was all I knew. Those three words got me through life for twenty years. I had a learning disability. Nothing anyone tried to teach me ever stuck. I myself knew my life was nothing more than a waste. After I failed school no one would take me in or teach me. They allowed my life to dissipate. I was sent away and shut out from the village. I still remember the days when I had no food and I would stand outside houses waiting for them to throw out their garbage. What a pitiful existence…

  However I never thought of killing myself. That’s what I look back on and still find confusing. Not once did the thought of suicide cross my mind. I didn’t even hurt myself. I was already in enough pain. I was a scrawny man with dark hair and pale gold eyes. I lived off trash and had no friends. Why did I never think of dying? I suspect it’s because I felt like I was meant for something. I wasn’t just deadweight upon my village. So I strove to survive.

  Then one day the helicopter landed in the village. I sat far on the distant hills and watched as people in fancy clothes left the helicopter and began speaking to the villagers. It was suspicious and I wondered who they were. My curiosity was quenched when they came directly to me and told me they were Scientists. Obviously I had no clue what that was, but they brought clean water and food so I was willing to go with them. They took me away on a helicopter and brought me to a giant white building. It was the size of my village and I was in raptures over how beautiful it was. The top floor was made of windows and it was divided into many different sections. I had never seen anything so wonderful in all my life.

  I still think back on the moment they led me through those sliding steel doors. Had I know what would happen and why I was there, would I have gone? Were I to be granted the chance to go back in time and stop myself from entering the lab, could I do it? Well, that no longer matters. I went inside. There I was brought to my habitat. It was a scale model of my village, but with no people. The difference was that I had my own house. The scientists showed me to my own brick home where there was a table, bed, supplies, clothing, a fridge, and many other pleasures I had never known. It was thrilling, but I was granted one night in my hut before the experiments started.

  All night I slept deep and dreamed of a wonderful life awaiting me. That was the first and last good dream I ever had.

  In the morning my nightmare began. I was taken from my house and brought into a white room filled with weird objects. There were written words on the walls and notes all around, but to me it was just scribbled nonsense. I also didn’t understand what the scientists were saying to me as they helped me onto a strange metal bed and placed a mask over my mouth and nose. It had a weird smell and as I breathed everything started getting hazy. I saw the scientist’s strapping down my arms and ankles. After that everything went black.

  In my subconscious I heard noises and felt prickling pains through my body. My mind was a shallow blank. Somewhere I heard a voice and I began to awake. My body felt heavy and my head was spinning. I opened my eyes and found I was still in the white room. The scientists had left. I rolled my wrist. I gave a start when I heard a winding sound come from me. I turned my head to look, and the same sound came from my neck.

  “What’s happening?” I shouted, then froze. I had spoken words I never knew. I felt fear where I should have felt joy. I could speak. And read. I understood everything written around me, but that added to my fear. The words were notes about an experiment and I was the test subject. I tried to get up, but the straps held me down. I heard the door slide open and I lifted my head to see the scientists returning.

  “How are you feeling?” One asked. He was a tall man with dark tan skin and black hair. He wore small glasses and had a kind smile on his wrinkled face. He, like the others, wore a white lab coat.

  “I feel heavy,” I told the scientist. “What did you do to me? Why can I understand you?”

  “You have been remade,” replied the scientist. I’m sure he knew how confusing his answer was. I judged that the man must have enjoyed suspense.

  “Remade,” I repeated. “Remade into what?”

  “You shouldn’t be so curious,” said the scientist. He looked over his shoulder at the three men that had followed him. “Take note,” he muttered. I found this weird. The men were murmuring to each other while writing and the first scientist turned back to me. “Can you understand everything written on the walls?” He asked, motioning around the room.

  “Yes, in a sense,” I replied emotionlessly. “Why are you disturbed that I’m curious about what has happened to me? Are your plans messing up?”

  The scientist cleared his throat and turned away. “Return the subject to his home,” he said to the three men. He then left the room. I watched him go, feeling the gnawing apprehension in my chest. The other scientists loosened the straps holding me down and helped me to my feet. I was unbalanced and my whole body clicked and whined like a machine. I looked down at myself, seeing my torso was from below my ribs down covered in bloody bandages. I set my hand over it and felt no skin. It was solid like metal and I began to tremble. What had they done?