Rufunous in the Box
I lay quietly but inwardly I growled. These beings were so unbelievably slow. I could feel them passing as I lay in the box, waiting for someone to open it. I had gotten past sentries, disguised as I was within debris from a meteor as it penetrated Earth’s atmosphere. I am impervious to heat or fire and am not affected by death or time, so I had no fear, but I was getting tired of waiting. The issue had not been my safety, but of possible detection by stars, constellations, angels and other beings who surround the earth. It simply wasn’t done that one eternal being crashed the creation of another. I, however, don’t follow rules. And who the hell were Yahweh or the Council to tell me what to do?
Surly now over the two-day wait, I reflected that I had five inhabited worlds compared to the puny single populated planet this creation boasted. I felt the young woman when she was two blocks away. I looked at the token of Earth’s water that I held in my hands. I only needed one more symbol, one more essence, to begin making plans for an invasion by my own creation, a cosmos called Dumsour. She would do nicely.
I began to hum a drawing song that would pull her closer. If she could feel the box, she would feel the song. I felt every breath she took. She faltered as she moved towards the street corner in New York City where I sat in plain sight in a box that no one seemed to be able to see. I could feel her emotions wavering as the song took hold of her. Her fears are beginning to rise, I thought with satisfaction.
My hum turned to a croon. Open the box, you moron, I thought, as I hummed. Finally, I felt her hands loosening the rough black straps and I prepared to launch out and grab her essence and immediately flee this misbegotten galaxy. Why are humans so timid? I wondered. I would have no problem annihilating this world, thus proving my superiority in the Great War between eternal beings, such as Yahweh and myself. The Council wavered as usual, weighing both sides of the argument. I insisted that group worlds were superior, and I had many backers. A strong hand and control is needed when dealing with created beings. Yahweh insisted that individuals matter, and he had built his world and his cosmos around that premise. Idiot!
I growled again, but quietly. Nervously, she loosened the ties and drew up the lid. I launched out in one great burst, my essence expanding like wind from the tiny space. I knew I could encircle the planet, but, after an angry glance around, I settled into a whirling circle in a one-block radius. Quickly, I picked up the astounded female and carried her to the top of a large skyscraper. I set her down and turned to look at my prize. Well, at least she had heard me.
“Hello,” I growled.
The young woman sat down with a gasp.
“Are you deaf? “I said.
“I’m not deaf. I’m surprised. What are you?”
“A friend,” I answered deceitfully.
I reached out towards her, but she drew back in alarm. “I don’t like to be touched,” she said.
“I’m just…” I started. Then I stopped and stared at her. What was happening? Was this woman resisting me? What utter nonsense! I reached out, and again she drew back.
“I don’t like to be touched,” she repeated.
It was my turn to be surprised. I circled her and looked into her being. This woman was filled with a spirit, just as I expected, but not one I could grasp. I grabbed her throat and lifted her from the ground. That I could do. Clearly, I could affect her physically, but somehow her essence eluded me.
She was afraid. There was no question about that. What was wrong with her? She was not at all what I expected. I knew about humans. I had studied them from afar, but she was different. I looked into her mind. What is autistic? I wondered. She looked back. That in itself was astounding. I appeared as the wind, which should have meant that she could not see me, yet she clearly did. She also had detected the box, I thought. What the hell! I reached out again.
She drew back. “No!”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I lied.
“I don’t care. I think you are mean.”
“No, no. I’m not. What’s your name?” I asked. Stupid woman. Time was getting short.
“Barbara. What’s yours?”
“Rufunous.”
“Roo-few…?”
“Roo-few-ness. Rufunous. I just want to see how you are made. May I look inside you?”
“No.”
“I won’t hurt you. I just want to see how you are made.” And then unmake you, I thought. I saw her uncertainty and I moved closer and looked straight into her spirit. I recoiled in shock. There was a world inside of her! She was! As I am. But she didn’t know it, I saw immediately.
I saw her shutting down. I cried out in frustration and tried once more to grasp her and pull her essence right out of her body. She shuddered and then reached out towards me – towards me! - to lay hands on me!
Now, I was the one drawing back. I groaned. Suddenly, I felt the attention of the guardian beings around the city. With a cry, I launched up to leave this world and this galaxy, determined to put this universe behind me. Besides, the stars wouldn’t let me stay, now that I had been detected. Damn it!