A Day of an Eternal Soul
Steven Wilkerson
Copyright 2011 by Steven Wilkerson
Chapter 1
Getting off the plane in a hurry Rachel was furious. She had been sleeping in an airport for three days, stuck because of the miserable weather. The trip home for the holidays was supposed to be a nice break from the hectic life of a college student. She was able to greet 1994 with her family and old high school friends. As she tried to wave down a cab and was finding it difficult not to panic for classes began in the morning and she hadn't even bought her books.
By the time Rachel got to her off-campus apartment she only had the time to drop off her bags before racing off to the campus bookstore. Still smelling like she had just spent three days in an airport she arrived at the bookstore and got in line which was out the door. The deep snow on the ground and the ice left on the sidewalks made the wait cold and miserable.
After over 20 min. in line she reached the point where it had been back on itself and noticed Carl. He was her lab partner in chemistry last year and they were at most acquaintances.
"Hey Carl, what's your excuse for being in this line," Rachel shouted at him.
It took a moment for Carl to locate Rachel and answer her question, "I just enjoy the suspense of wondering if I will actually be able to get my books."
Rachel knew why Carl was there. He had always gotten his work done on time but only just in time. "So you procrastinated again," Rachel said harassing him.
"That reminds me," Carl said in response, "speaking of procrastination when are you going to set me up with your roommate Jennifer?"
Making a disgusted face Rachel remembers why they didn't hang out very much, at all. "I never said I would hook you up," Rachel said getting irate.
"That's right, you have a thing for her," Carl said drifting off into fantasy featuring Rachel and Jennifer.
"I'm not a..." Jennifer starts to say before noticing everyone in line starting to stare.
Of course Carl didn't stop there, "then I guess there's no problem with the two of us going out."
Now she remembers it all. The entire time the two of them were forced to work together Carl spent it all hitting on her and any other girl that was around. It was funny when he got shot down but quite annoying the rest of the time. By this time they were no longer in talking distance which was a welcome relief for Rachel but Carl was now hitting on other women, poorly.
It took over an hour and a half for her to get her books. They were all out of the world history book which made her hate her history class even more. Paul the cashier that rang her up was actually quite attractive but had no time to flirt even though Rachel tried.
As she took the short drive back to the apartment building she couldn't help but think about her college experience. The first couple years she lived in the dorm which made most days interesting but not necessarily the best learning environment. The walls were paper thin and the floors might as well have been soundboards. Her parents did everything they could to make her college experience easier which allowed her to only have to work part-time. She had had a couple semi-serious relationships but usually ended up going bad.
After moving out of the dorm and in with Jennifer she was able to get a lot more studying done but a lot less fun. After an incident over a year previous where she got so drunk that she couldn't remember what had happened and found herself waking up in a comprised position on a couch being used as a pillow for both men and women she decided to tone down the partying.
As she started the climb of the exterior icy stairs to her apartment she begins to worry about her classes in the morning. She had done something fairly stupid in avoiding every class that she hated placing them all in this last year before going to get her master’s in business. She nearly killed herself the previous semester and this one was going to be worse.
After taking a hot shower to both remove the airport funk and relieve a little bit of stress she finally got to dealing with her bags. She had washed her clothes before heading home but she had ended up using them as she waited for the storms to clear. Plus there was the laundry she had left behind hoping that Jennifer would take care of it which unsurprisingly she didn't. She gathered up her dirty laundry and headed down the icy stares toward the complexes laundry. She had always hated using the communal laundry. To make matters worse she had to baby tend the machine because she had had problems with some of her clothes going missing. She was pretty sure it was the creep in 12B but she had no evidence.
Rachel was lucky that no one else was using the facility which made it easy for her to study as she waited. She was so far behind because of mother nature that she was not going to be able to have any fun for months to come she feared. She didn't even notice when her laundry finished until she realized the creepy silence. As she started to pull her laundry out of the washer she thought about all the slasher films that had come out. Here she was alone in a brightly lit dank and dirty laundry room a perfect place for a scene to take place.
As she shoved her laundry into the dryer the florescent lights started to flicker which made her heart starts pounding. In all reason nothing was wrong but there was something in the pit of her stomach that said just maybe. She finished putting her clothes in and dropped the change in the dryer but before she could start it another noise caught her attention. It sounded like a whistling whirling humming right out of a bad science fiction film. The lights began not just flicker but go completely out before coming back. Now there was no excuse to not be afraid.
The sound kept getting louder and when the lights went out it did not get dark because there was something illuminating the room. Rachel still staring at the button to start the dryer began to rally the carriage to look behind her. After what seemed like an eternity she finally turns around. What she saw is quite remarkable and would be beautiful if she wasn't terrified. This mass of energy fluctuating between a bright golden color and a calming light blue was congealing on top of a couple washing machines.
Rachel wanted to run but her feet wouldn't move. She couldn't help but stare as this strange plasma energy as it started to take on a human form. Within a couple minutes a male figure could be seen inside the plasma cloud. As the energy dissipated they left behind a man in his early 20s standing upon the washing machines. She couldn't help but notice that he had a nearly perfect figure almost like a Roman statue.
He opened his eyes and stared right back at her. Rachel found herself fluctuating between utter terror and admiring the naked form in front of her. Finally when she caught a glimpse at his Sapphire blue eyes staring back she snapped out of her trance.
"Who are you," Rachel asks as her voice trembles in fear.
The man takes a moment to think about it before answering, "I don't remember."
Rachel can't believe what has just happened to her, it was just like in a movie but this was all too real for her.
"You really don't remember who you are and how you got here," she asked trying to figure out what to do.
"I don't remember anything before seeing your beautiful face," the man said with a perfectly straight face.
The complement made Rachel much more comfortable with the circumstances but still there is the issue that she is staring at a naked man. "What don’t we get you down from there and I will get you something to wear."
"I think that you are correct," he said jumping down.
Rachel then thinks about the second part of the problem. She can't walk around with a naked man and no one asked any questions. What would she tell them for if she told the truth she might end up in an asylum but what lie could she tell? She walked over toward the lost and found which she had dug through on more than one occasion. She picked out a pair of br
iefs and sweatpants that she thought would fit him and a shirt maybe a little too small.
"Thank you," the man said taking the clothes from her. She did her best to avert her eyes as he got dressed.
"Now that's taking care of let's see if we can figure this out," she told him. She set down on one of the few chairs provided by the complex and starts trying to reason that this out. "A man has appeared in a science fiction kind of way that apparently has no memories of who he is. Could be an alien or maybe a time traveler or what else could you be." Rachel glances back over at him as he is stretching out his perfectly toned muscular body like someone who just woke up from a long nap. "That really doesn't help," she whispers to herself. "Should I call the cops, and what do I tell them. What if he is some sort of alien sent here to save our planet and they end up dissecting him." Rachel jumps out of the chair and starts to pace. "I really do not have the time to do with this but he needs my help. What type of person would I be if I didn't help?" She walked over toward him and puts her hand on his muscular shoulder which causes her to pause for a moment. "I'm going to help you out but you're going to have to do what I say."
The man looks at her with kind eyes in response to her offer, "until I get my memory back I'm going to have to take you up on your kind offer." He gives her a big hug to say thank you which makes Rachel feel both good and uncomfortable.
This is when Rachel realizes there's a little bit of a problem, Jennifer. "When you meet my roommate just tell her that we met at the airport and you will be staying with me for a few days," she instructs him.
"I can see the wisdom in that," he responds.
She turns toward the door before remembering why she was there. "My laundry," she said with disgust. She races toward the dryer and finally starts the dryer. "Let's get you situated and I will be back for it."
They walked up the stairs and she starts going over how she's going to explain this to Jennifer. She realizes there is one massive hole in her story. "You're going to need a name," she told him, "what you think of Kenneth?"
"I guess that's going to have to do until I remember my past," he said.
Rachel's heart races as she opens the apartment door knowing that Jennifer was probably home by now.
"Jennifer I got something to tell you," Rachel yells.
"Is it important," Jennifer shouts back at her from her room.
"Yes," Rachel shouts, "it's something that needs a little actual conversation."
Jennifer opens her door and comes out in her bra and underwear still drying her hair. "I hope it's nothing bad," she said just before she looks up and notices Kenneth. "It's deftly not looking bad at all."
Rachel rolls her eyes at Jennifer. "This is Kenneth and he is going to be staying with us for a couple days," Rachel informs Jennifer. "The airport lost his luggage and there has been several other issues that have come up."
It is easy to tell that Jennifer was quite smitten with Kenneth's looks. "I don't see any problems here," Jennifer said with a smile.
"I guess you're going to have to sleep on the couch," Rachel told Kenneth.
Jennifer cracks a smile as she interrupted, "the couch isn't that soft so I'm willing to let you share my…"
Rachel can tell exactly where Jennifer is going in interrupted her, "the couch will be good enough."
Rachel decides that she needs to have a little talk with Jennifer and bring her hormones in check. "Why don't you turn on the TV while we have a little talk," she told Kenneth.
As Rachel drag Jennifer back into her bedroom she notices Kenneth walk-up to the TV and turn it on. After a long discussion of what it means to be proper host of a guest they return to the living room where Kenneth is sitting in front of the TV changing the channels.
"You don't need to do that," Jennifer told Kenneth, "we have a remote. It's just on the coffee table over there."
Kenneth looks over at where she's pointing before walking over and picking up the remote. He stares at it for a couple minutes as both Rachel and Jennifer went get him some bedding. They watch a little TV but which Kenneth seems to be accustomed to. Kenneth reminds Rachel of her laundry. Rachel races to finish up her household chore leaving Jennifer and Kenneth alone together.
"So what your story," Jennifer asked him.
"What you mean by that," Kenneth responds.
"What brings you here," she asks but before he can give any sort of answer she continues with the questioning. "Why are you here? Rachel's has not been very spontaneous or adventurous recently so why did she invite you? There's got to be something special about you?"
"We met at the airport and some stuff went down that I don't think would be appropriate for me to talk about with you," Kenneth responds.
Jennifer moves in closer, "this just sounds all nice and juicy and it makes me want to know even more."
"I really don't care but if you want to know more you really need to ask Rachel about it," he told her.
Jennifer continues to pry until Rachel got back and abruptly ends the night. "It's getting late and we all have an early day tomorrow," Rachel said as she turns off the TV.