Chapter Six
A Different World
Mr. Eisen awoke in a foreign area. He was lying in a pile of what seemed to be hay to him. Leaning up, he held his head, which was throbbing, and looked around. He was in a small circular structure that seemed to be made out of wood and straw. Looking up, he saw how the ceiling formed up like he was on the inside of a cone. Rolling off the hay that we was lying on, he landed on his hands and knees on the hard, dirt floor.
"Wha, where the he...heck am I?" Mr. Eisen said. As he was looking down at the dirt floor, he noticed that his vision had changed. Staring down at his hands, he noticed that they were sort of fuzzy. Reaching up to feel his face, he realized that he didn't have his glasses on. "My glasses! Where are they?" He got up and looked around, thinking that they must've of fallen off when he rolled off the stack of hay. "Where could they have gone?"
"Look-a-ing for some-a-thing," a deep, croaked voice from behind Mr. Eisen said.
Mr. Eisen popped out his head from behind the stack if hay to see someone standing in front of the open doorway to outside. "Richard?" He said. "Is that you?"
"No-a-no my-a-friend," the man said. He took a few more steps towards Mr. Eisen, who still couldn't see. "My-a-name not-a-Richard. I-a-am Kataku. Come-a-with me." He extended out his hand towards Mr. Eisen who then walked over to him. Not grabbing his hand, he followed the man outside.
Mr. Eisen squinted his eyes as the bright sunlight blasted his face. He tried to make out his surroundings. "Where am I?" He demanded to know.
"Please," Kataku said. "Let-a-me take-a-you to your-a-friend." Kataku walked over to another hut, similar to the one the two just left. "Please-a-enter. Your-a-friend is in-a-side."
Mr. Eisen walked in while Kataku stood outside the doorway. His friend was also lying in a pile of hay, still passed out. Running over to his unconscious friend, he shook him until he awoke.
"Huh, Hank, is that you?" Mr. Malmsteen said, slowly opening his eyes. He sat up, rubbing his head as well. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," Mr. Eisen said. "I can barley see you right now. I must've lost my glasses somewhere."
Mr. Malmsteen was rubbing off some of the hay that stuck to his arms when he noticed something strange. "Hank! Look at this," he said. He was pointing to where he had his wound from the hospital only, it was completely healed.
"I can't really see," Mr. Eisen said. "What is it?"
"Remember the hole that was in my arm from the tubes at the hospital," Mr. Malmsteen started.
"Look, if you're going to show me it again, I'm gonna throw up?" His friend wondered. He turned away as he wasn't in the mood to see the wound.
"No, no, it's gone." He responded.
"What do you mean it's gone?" Mr. Eisen said. "Did it just sew itself up?"
"It's as if I never had a wound there," Mr. Malmsteen said. He felt where he normally had the wound. "The bandages are gone, and there's not even a scar. It's the strangest thing."
"Well get up and help me around," Mr. Eisen said. "I can't see on my own."
Mr. Malmsteen got up from the hay he was sitting in. He brushed off some of the hay that stuck to his back. "Follow me."
Mr. Eisen placed one hand on the back of Mr. Malmsteen shoulder. They both walked outside the hut. When they got outside, Kataku stopped them from going any further.
"Who the he...heck are you?" Mr. Malmsteen said, struggling to find the one word he was trying to say. He turned back to Mr. Eisen. "I can't say he...heck. Da...darn."
"I'm confused," Mr. Eisen said.
"Never mind," Mr. Malmsteen whispered. "I'll tell you later."
"My-a-name is Kataku," Kataku said. Mr. Malmsteen observed the strange, dark man. He had numerous chains that were pierced from his eyebrows and connected to the top of his lip. Weird tattoos were stained all around his skin. His dark hair was knotted and positioned standing upwards. Kataku's hands and feet did not look normal. They looked more beast-like. He only wore a brown cloth to cover his genitals.
"Where are we?!" Mr. Eisen demanded. He squinted his eyes to try to get a better look at Kataku.
"Wel-a-come to-a-my village," Kataku said, raising his arms up and twirling around.
"What kind of person are you?" Mr. Malsmteen asked. "I mean. What tribe are you from?"
"My-a-people have-a-no name," Kataku said. "We-a-find that-a-if we-a-name our-a-selves that-a-we will lose-a-our ident-a-ity as-a-an individ-a-ual."
"How did we get here?" Mr. Malmsteen asked.
Kataku ignored the question. "Don't you-a-like it here?" He asked the two men.
Both Mr. Malmsteen and Mr. Eisen looked at each other weirdly. "Where's my jet?!" Mr. Malmsteen wanted to know. "And what happened to the man in my jet?"
"What-a-is jet?" Kataku said. "Only-a-find you-a-two. Come-a-follow me." Kataku walked off, leaving Mr. Malmsteen and Mr. Eisen no other choice but to follow him and try to get answers. The three headed off to another hut. This particular hut was the largest in the whole circle of huts that they were in the middle of.
"What is this place?" Mr. Malmsteen whispered to Mr. Eisen as they followed Kataku inside. Mr. Eisen shrugged his shoulders.
"Ataku?!" Kataku yelled as the three entered the larger hut. Nothing special was inside this hut. It looked similar to the other two. Again, a large stack of hay sat in the back of the hut. A middle-aged woman was facing away from the doorway, standing in the middle of the room.
Kataku went up to her and tugged her back towards the doorway. He was whispering something to her.
"Ahh!" She yelled as he turned her around so she was staring at the two white men.
To the eyes of the two CEOs, she was a beautiful woman. She had similar piercings that Kataku wore. A large ring was I planted in her left nostrils. Weird jewels hung from her neck. Strange tattoos were also covering her body. Her large breasts were barley covered with a similar cloth that Kataku had on. An even smaller cloth covered was wrapped around her waist.
"Who-a-are these-a-people?" She asked her husband. Kataku stood next to his wife.
"These-a-are our new-a-arrivals," he said. "That-a-one is-a-called Richard. And-a-that one is-a-called Hank."
The two CEOs looked at each other. "How does he know our names?" Mr. Eisen whispered to his friend. He felt this as a little disturbing.
"I'm not sure," Mr. Malmsteen whispered back. "I'm gonna find out." He took a step forward, Mr. Eisen letting go of his shoulder.
"Is there-a-something on your-a-mind?" Kataku asked. He had a questionably looked on his face.
"As a matter of fact, there is," Mr. Malmsteen said firmly. He was tired of keeping all his questions in. "I want some da...darn answers. First off, what he...heck is wrong with the way I'm talking? Secondly, where are we? And lastly, how do you know who we are? Did you take out wallets and look at our licenses?" Mr. Malmsteen felt around in his pockets. They were empty. "What the he...heck? Where's my sh...stuff?"
Mr. Eisen then began to feel around his pockets as well. "Yeah, where's my stuff also?" He wondered. "What did you people do with my phone?!"
"Ok, you've got about five seconds to tell us where we are and where our stuff is at!" Mr. Malmsteen firmly said to Kataku.
Kataku again completely ignored what Mr. Malmsteen had said. "Please-a-follow me," Kataku said. He proceeded to exit the hut with his wife when Mr. Malmsteen stood in front of the two.
"You both are going to give me some da...darn answers!" Mr. Malmsteen yelled. He was getting furious.
"Please-a-Richard," Kataku started. "Come-a-with me. You-a-will learn soon-a-enough." Kataku and his wife walked past the Mr. Malmsteen.
Mr. Malmsteen wasn't going to follow the two, but a strange force overcame him and Mr. Eisen that made them do so. The four walked into the center of the small village they were in. At least six huts circled around them. A small fire was burning in the center, even t
hough it was sunny.
For some odd reason, four more people emerged from the huts the two CEOs didn't enter. All six inhabitants of the village stood in front of the two foreigners.
Kataku began introducing the four to Mr. Malmsteen and Mr. Eisen. "This-a-is Rataku," Kataku said. He looked to be a much younger version of Kataku. Wearing similar piercings and having almost the same tattoos, it was as if it were actually a young version of him.
He moved on to the next person. "This-a-is Mataku." Mataku looked to be a much younger version of Ataku. Looking to be in her teenage years, she quickly glanced up at the two men before looking aback down.
"This-a-is Amataku." He looked to be a much older version of Kataku. He had several wrinkles on his face. So much of his skin was sagging, it was hard to tell if his eyes were open or closed. He was leaning on a cane he was holding, which looked to be just a long branch.
"And-a-finally, this-a-is Sataku." Sataku looked to be a much younger version of Rataku. The cloth that he was wearing was wrapped around him like a diaper. Even for the young age he was at, he also had the same kind of piercings and tattoos like everyone else. "This-a-is everyone."
Mr. Malmsteen and Mr. Eisen studied the group. They all somewhat looked alike.
"I don't like this," Mr. Malmsteen whispered to his friend.
"Well, we-a-must be heading-a-off to slumber," Kataku said. "The-a-sky is dark-a-ening. You-a-two will-a-stay in one of-a-the huts. Please-a-come with-a-me." The rest of the silent inhabitants wandered off into their own respective huts.
The two followed Kataku over to a single hut that was tucked away in the corner of the village. Mr. Malmsteen and Mr. Eisen both got a better idea of their surroundings. They both noticed that the entire village was surrounded by tall, dry grass. The grass stood several feet higher than the two CEOs.
"Someone needs to hire a landscaper," Mr. Malmsteen joked.
As they were about to enter the hut, the two looked up at the sky. The bright blue sky suddenly turned a blood red. No stars or clouds were present. The two thought that it was odd. After staring at the eerie sky for a few more seconds, they headed inside the hut.
Kataku was standing in the center of the room. "You-a-two will stay-a-here 'til day-a-time comes-a-back." He walked past the two, leaving them alone in the hut.
The two walked over to the stack of hay, splitting it into two separate parts. They both lied down on them.
"I don't like this," Mr. Eisen said. "How in the he...heck are we going to get out of this place? These people don't listen to us. I'm so fu...fricken done! And why the he...heck am I having trouble talking! Da...darn it!"
"That's what I was trying to tell you before," Mr. Malmsteen said. "Earlier she. I was talking, i tried to cuss out. But somehow I couldn't. It's as if someone is censoring me."
"And you know what's even weirder," Mr. Eisen said. "We didn't eat anything all day, and I'm not even hungry. He...heck, I'm not even tired."
Mr. Malmsteen got up from his stack of hay and walked over to the doorway of the hut. He peered outside to see if anyone was out there. "Come over he," Mr. Malmsteen whispered to his friend. Mr. Eisen got up and stood on the other side of the doorway. "We're getting the he...heck out of here. We'll head into the grass. There's got to be some outside contact near here."
"Let's first get away from these people," Mr. Eisen said.
Taking one more look out the doorway, Mr. Malmsteen said, "let's go." The two quickly headed out of the hut.
The blood red sky made everything outside look red. They ran behind the hut they were in and headed into the dry grass.
"Stay close," Mr. Malmsteen said. "We can't get lost in here."
The two stayed near each other. They had no idea where they were heading, as long as they weren't in that village. Pushing down the tall grass in front of of them, they stomped on top of it, letting Mr, Eisen, who was in the back, see ahead.
The yelling of someone nearby made the two men jump. They stopped in their tracks. Again, the crying out of a man could be heard.
"What the he...heck was that?" Mr. Eisen whispered. He got a little to close to Mr. Malmsteen. "Could it be your pilot?" Remaining motionless, he only rolled his eyes from side to side, seeing if something was going to jump out from the grass near them.
"Ahhhhh!" the voice yelled out. "Someone please help me!"
"I'm not sure," Mr. Malmsteen whispered. "But I don't want to stick around to find out." He then made a run for it. Mr. Eisen followed right behind him.
"Hey, I see something up ahead," Mr. Malmsteen said. He could barely see a structure through the grass. "Hurry!"
As the two started running at their full speed, they burst through the grass jungle they were in. Looking around them, they were shocked at what they saw.
"How can it be?" Mr. Malmsteen said to himself.
Even though Mr. Esien's vision was fuzzy, he could still make out the familiar area. They both were standing behind the exact hut that they left behind.
"How are we back at this place?" Mr. Malmsteen said. "We ran away from here. We didn't run in circles, we ran straight ahead."
"Our minds must be playing tricks on us," Mr. Eisen said. "There has to be a logical reason on why we ended back here."
Mr. Malmsteen didn't stick around for Mr. Eisen to come up with a reason. He headed back through the grass, leaving Mr. Eisen behind.
"Richard? Where'd you go?" His friend said. "Don't leave without me!"
As quickly as he left running back through the grass, he ended up where he left.
"How can this be?!" Mr. Malmsteen yelled. "It shouldn't work like this!" He was getting very frustrated. This whole vacation that he planned was starting to turn sour. He was now second-guessing his decision on heading to Madagascar.
Mr. Malmsteen fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands.
Mr. Eisen walked over to his friend. He placed his hand on Mr. Malmsteen's back. "It'll be alright," he said. "We'll get home. We're both very important people back in the states. People will start to wonder where we are. They'll be looking for us in no time."
"I don't have tears," Mr. Malmsteen said, removing his hands from his face. "I feel the need to cry, but no tears will form. What the he...heck is going on!" He raised his arms in the air, demanding that answers will be given to him.