Papa - Like a darker Peter Pan

[Katos]

Hey guys, I submitted parts of it in this thread [URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1266054[/URL].

It is now finished and has been edited for organization. It is a 4000-word story of a man who reflects on a vivid dream he had as a child, and how it comes back to haunt him later in his adult life.

Think Hook meets Hearts & Souls. Personally I imagine Robert Downey Jr. as the adult version of Eric.

Feedback and Constructive Criticism is welcome.

[U][B]Papa:[/B][/U]

My name is Eric Hooper and it happened on September 20[SUP]th[/SUP] 2007. I was with my wife and daughter at the Salvation Army with a box of old junk I’d been dying to get rid of. There were old paper backs, some VHS Cassette tapes, records and most importantly an old toy I held sacred since I was a boy.

Ryan Marshal Poe, as I had named him, was a tattered old stuffed monkey. Bright orange which had faded over the years, small beady black eyes and long stringy arms, reminded me of a muppet when I think about it. It was hard for me to let go of him; although he was the reason I was bulled through early school, I used to lose him all the time and I used to think he talked too much. Still, Ryan was my best friend. My only friend until I met my buddies in high school and things went normally. He always had the best advice; he told the funniest jokes and did the best Richard Nixon impression. I never had more fun with someone in my entire life really.

I never told ANYONE of this. Not a soul. I never knew how to, I thought it might have been a dream. A nightmare that lasted a long time, I can’t recall how long. I never thought it really happened. It was crazy and stupid really. But I am going to reveal this secret I have held within myself for thirty years. This is the experience that introduced me to Ryan.

[B]It went like this:[/B]

[I]I awoke from my bed to hear a tingling, a bell sound. It was coming from outside my bedroom window. I got up and out of my bed, quietly I moved to the window. From the second story window down into the street, I saw a carriage. It was bright white with gold lining the window and doorway. No horse attached, there was just the cart. A pretty woman walked herself out, a long black dress contrasting her porcelain-like skin. She gazed upon me with pink eyes. I heard in a sweet sultry voice “Come downstairs Eric”. Her lips did not move her facial expression remained stiff. She must have communicated to me telepathically. [/I]

[I] I felt mesmerized by her charm and climbed out my window onto the balcony. I slowly climbed down as my sight fixed on preventing a fall. As I looked back, she stood there below. Her sweet red smile and pale skin reflecting in the moonlight, her arms out open. “Let yourself drop, I am here to catch you” she said. Feeling assured, I dropped and felt her arms catch me. They were strong but felt soft and gentle, I felt like an infant again. She held me in her arms and walked to the carriage, the open doorway displayed darkness inside. The darkness did not reveal itself as we got closer, but it loomed more until it consumed me.[/I]

[I]I was inside the carriage, the woman gone. I saw my home for not even three seconds before the door slammed shut. The mahogany table and red-leather interiors of the seats illuminated by warm yellow light from a lantern. In front of me, tall muscular Arabian man who sported a long thick moustache. He was staring at me with his big dark eyes, the gold from his great crown glistened in the light, feeling as if it pierced my retina. [/I]

[I] ”You must be Eric?” he said with a deep but soothing voice. I nodded quietly. “Your rest was disturbed, I apologize for this my child” he said. The carriage began to rock from the vibrations of movement. “You rest now, tomorrow will see good plans” he exclaimed with Authority. The cushioning below softened, a blanket to my right raised onto me as I felt myself sink away into tiredness. The last I heard in this sleep was the echoed repeated whisper, “Go to sleep”.[/I]

[I]I awoke in the carriage; the door was open revealing a bright light. The woman from earlier stood by the door. Her skin matched the marble floors in texture. “Out of the Cart, Eric” she said. I got up and hopped out, I nearly slipped on this shiny marble floor at landing.[/I]

[I]The Palace was expansive, there seemed to be cloud above the ceiling. Once again more gold, where ever I looked. Even the tar sticking the marble tiles had some specks of the stuff. [/I]

[I]“Eric, Welcome!” I heard in a booming voice. It was Prince Kalafa, seated at a shiny gold throne. “This you see here is my Palace, for two thousand years it has belonged to me, Prince Kalafa, and has been in my bloodline” he said. [/I]

[I]I felt amazed and in awe, I could not believe what I was seeing. “It is destined to go to you, the trusted and future Prince of the land” he exclaimed. I was shocked to hear this, such power given to me so early. “Forever?” I asked. He nodded and gave me a satisfied smile. “When I pass that will be, you are my new protégé, my Royal Heir”. [/I]

[I]The rings on his fingers glittered as he moved them. “It is all yours my new son, you will be the most powerful man in the Asaka Valley, whatever you want is yours”. I was presented by various waiting staff presenting all kinds of sweets; I was mesmerized with the perceived good taste of heaven that would be evoked. “Thank you Prince Kalafa” I said gleefully. “Call me Papa, my son” he said as he stood up, “Now give me a hug, Eric”. The waiters cleared, making way for Papa to get through. He got onto his knee, down to my level and clutched me with those big arms, but so softly I wrapped around him. It felt comforting, there was a sense of security and a love I didn’t feel from my own father at home.[/I]

[I]For what must have been a few hours I had the most fun I could think of as a kid. He let me play with BB guns and shoot anything i liked no matter how valuable it looked; he would chase me around the Palace and allowed me to watch Cartoons for as long as I wanted. I didn’t care for my own parents at this point, there was no fighting and no one told me off. It seemed like a kid’s heaven. [/I]

[I]I sat on a soft cushion by his throne as two blue-skinned men enacted a comical play, something about a man stealing bread and suffering a harsh punishment. It was medieval in style and dark now that I think about it. He laughed deep from the pit of his diaphragm, his kind of humor but not really mine I will say. My parents came back to mind, I was missing them. I felt curious as one should and asked “Papa, are my Mum and Dad gonna stay with us?” He stopped laughing and looked down upon me, he said “No of course not, they don’t wanna see you again”. A cold shock to my heart, I could feel it sink within my chest. I asked what he meant by it, he began to frown and try to ignore the question. The performers took note of his change in mood and seemed wary, but stilled continued the show. I pressed him on it again, his bad mood frozen this time, his right began to twitch. I asked once more and witnessed something inhuman, his Arabian colors changed to a dim grey and his eyes began to sink back into his skull. “They were getting rid of you, even considering selling you for food” he snarled. His colours returned and his eyes once again appeared but of course I didn’t feel any better. A tear jerked from my eye. Papa gritted his teeth, beginning to growl. “You should feel lucky kid, I am giving you a better life than they ever could” he snarled. “W-why do they hate me?” Tears running down my eyes. He seemed to not care, he wasn’t perturbed. His face only changed again to what it was earlier, the eyes sunk into his skull further as blackness appeared. His hair retreated into a wispy mess. His cheeks thinned out into boney, no nose or facial hair visible. He turned into a horrid twisted creature and gave out a blood curdling screech. It left me frozen in fear instead of sad.[/I]

[I]It changed back into Papa, he was still angry, the tone of his skin remained pale grey. “You are never to question what I tell you, you are to do as I say, they are the rules for living with me in my Palace and you will follow them” he growled. The blue men retreated and headed for the door, the creepy woman appeared staring at me with a big frown, and she started bending her neck in strange and contorted ways. Papa rose from his throne and faced me. I got out of the cushion chair; he grabbed me by the hair and raised me up high as I tried to escape. [/I]

[I]A door in the wall opened a dark claustrophobic room it led into. I struggled to get out of the strong man’s grip but to no avail. I was thrown into a small dirty cage as he yelled harsh insults. He accused me of being spoilt, ruining a good opportunity, why the people I loved hate me and that no one cared for me. I felt scared and abandoned. He stared me down through the bars with those dark eyes, changing into those retreated black pearls of doom. “Are you gonna cry little boy? Are you a man? You are not little boy, you are nothing” he seethed. The big man rose to his feet, with a large gold club in hand he smacked the top of the cage making a loud echoing noise. It shocked and gave me a big enough fright to wet myself. I sat there in my own liquid filth, sobbing my eyes out. I heard him laugh as he exited through the door, slamming it shut and leaving the room dark.[/I]

[I]I whimpered and cried, calling for my parents to come for me, but they never came. Something scurried around the room, it had me at edge. A soft nasal voice filled the silence. “You aren’t alone kid, he does that to all of em” it said. It sounded close to the bars. “Who’s there?” I cried out. Suddenly a fire lit on a torch cleared through the darkness, a brightly orange creature holding the flame smiling back at me. “You can call me Ryan” he said assuredly. I just stared at him, bewildered. “I know I don’t look like anything you’re used to, but I am really here to help you, I am your friend” he said. I just stared back at him unsure of whether to believe his words. He sighed and said “I’m in a lot of trouble for being here so I’m just gonna do this quick, here is what you do…” and from then he began to whisper an unusual command and a good means for escaping the Palace. [/I]

[I]I stood up reaching the top of the cage, standing hunchbacked, I yelled at the top of my lungs “Kalafa you come back here, you big bully!” No response. Ryan put out the flame and disappeared. I yelled out again “I have something to say to…” before he burst in and interrupted. I fell to the floor again in fear, he was so dominating and his skin was grey now. “I have asked you to call me Papa, you have not learned haven’t you, rat” he seethed. I stood as high as I could, look up to meet his terrible gaze and said “You don’t scare me, let me out of here right now or you’ll be sorry, my dad is going to be here soon and will beat you up”. I didn’t believe any of this, but I was convinced this would get Papa here, suiting for Ryan’s plan. “Let me out and you won’t go to the big boy jail” I said firmly. He turned back to his olive skin color, a smirk behind that bushy moustache. He began to laugh and said “You are the man I want to trust with this land, is that right? A man with such bravery to talk to me like that, I will let you out then little MAN”. And so with a snap of his fingers the cage door squeaked open, I crawled out, but above me he turned white as his eyes ran back and darkened into black. His hands balled up as the muscles wasted away. “You are going to learn a true lesson about speaking to Royalty like that” he said, his voice getting raspier and thinner. His face elongated, the horrid creature returns, the gold crown atop its head. His cold long hand gripped my shoulders and neck, ready to hoist me up until…[/I]

[I]“Ding ding ding!” I heard from Ryan. Papa released me from his clutches as he had Ryan’s stringy arms wrapped around his face, pulling the little hair he had. The monkey was the size of Papas head. The creature screeched in anger and pain, the little monkey climbing up and down his back kicking different areas. Papa tore chunks of his own skin as he tried to shake Ryan off. Up on his shoulder, the orange monkey looked down at me and yelled “This is your chance kid, through the hole in the wall behind you”. I turned around and saw the hole; it was small enough for me to crawl through. As I rushed through I felt an arm pull me back, the dark eyes looking through, Papa was back. I heard “No desert till you finish the main course!” then what sounded like a large rock hitting a watermelon. The hand let go and slithered back into the room as I crawled away; I felt the hole begin to step down until eventually I slided down through like in a tube. [/I]

[I]I fell into a muddy ravine. A lush but misty forest around me, fairies watched me as they landed on flower to flower. I got up and walked from the back of the palace through the forest. I heard the sound of creaking, not just any, but that you hear from bones. It faded away. I heard things scurrying through the bush around me, squawking from birds and distant screeches from Papa. I picked up the pace.[/I]

[I]Behind I heard more scurrying, this time it sounded like something gaining on me. It was getting faster before it stopped; now I could hear it in the trees, something moving through them. “Eric” Ryan called out. I stopped and looked around, then saw Ryan dangling from the tree. He jumped down; he was only as tall as my knee. He whispered “We are not done, Papa won’t chase any more, but you need to follow me, there is a road down…” he pointed to his right and my left, “that way”. We slowly stepped the way he suggested. “I need to get you out of these woods, stay away from the trees and don’t make eye contact with the people” he whispered urgently. I said “What people?” Then as I looked around, I saw pale children behind the trees watching. “Don’t look into their eyes, those are Lost kids, like you they got away, but these woods misguide you” he explained. I tried to look at the ground, but in the corner of my eyes they were getting closer, moving on all fours because of their twisted chicken legs. “They won’t hurt you, they won’t touch you, just ignore them” he said. We got to a dirt road, wide enough for an all-terrain vehicle. We followed it up and down bumpy hills, the tree branches seemed to reach over to the road. I looked around as the lost kids followed us; they walked around on all fours, it reminded me of dogs. [/I]

[I]The road lead us into the windy plains, the last time I Looked the lost kids were gone. There were long grey clouds shaped like various knives slowly cutting across the sky. In the horizon were a massive lake and a small island in the middle, a feudally clad Sasquatch rowed towards us on a long boat. Ryan told me to hop on to meet the Biami the Wise Elder, who would take me home. The water was crystal clear; I could see the reefs and massive fish beneath. Silently the ape-man rowed towards this small island where I saw Biami. He looked like a gigantic mountain of grey hair, taller than my house. As we landed he let out a thunderous grunt as he hoisted himself around to face us. I was instructed to kneel down before the giant Orangutan, who gave me a glance then inhaled. “Marmoo!” he tiredly bellowed. I looked at the ape-man, he looked at his feet. “Keep looking down, its my native name” Ryan said. “What do you present to me? Biami roared. He was not angry, but you could feel his low voice move through the Earth below. “Kalafa has attained the magic to enter other realms, this boy proves it” Ryan yelled. A vibrating groan. “This kind of travel is impossible; did you find this creature in the lost woods?” Biami said. “He was imprisoned in his personal dungeon, tortured into fear and away from home!” he said. “So a human child after all, as was always suspected, Kalafa has sought after their young to nourish the psychic wounds all demon kind possess”. It was always evident that Papa was not human, but the fact was that I was not the only one, it was a well established trait of this thing. “He will be filled with a lasting rage that will fuel his power, he will attack against all perceived at fault, you have brought upon a bounty onto yourself and this boy, Marmoo, he is relentless and cruel, you would be better off dead than in his possession”. A doorway rose from the dust, through the other side I could see my street where I was taken. “Entering and tampering with the Earthly Realm is a punishable offense, he will be taken to the review of I and my brothers” he roared angrily. Ryan pulled me up to walk through the doorway; he turned up and looked at the great Elder. “But if Kalafa has the power to enter the Earthly Realm…” he asked. Biami cut him down when he said “Which is why you will escort him in, watch him like one of your Colonial siblings, I cannot fathom his new power and how it will compare against my kin, so you must be ready for him”. He inhaled once more, sucking in huge gaping masses of air. “Enter now!” he finalized with, and so we did.[/I]

[I]Through the door we went, I turned around and saw nothing behind. Ryan took my hand and led me back to the door of my house. He somehow got it open, and quietly we snuck upstairs. “Eric, listen to me, Papa is never coming back, I will never let it happen, you are my brother and I will always protect you” he explained. He hugged and laid next to me; I shivered as he talked to me for the rest of the night. [/I]

[B]Back to now:[/B]

It was a dream. I was SURE of it. I knew nothing like that is real; no marble women, crazy Royalty or giant grey Orangutans.

Two children, twins Sam and Tom Smith went missing before me. Their mother claimed that one day they just weren’t in their bed, no one saw anything.

My parents tell me to this day that they have no idea where Ryan came from. One day I was different, not their boy anymore. I suddenly had a new orange toy. They thought I stole him at first, or was given him. They didn’t believe the real story of course. They didn’t take him away though because from there my grades improved and I became quite a confident kid, deflecting almost anything it seemed. I claimed it was because of Ryan, they didn’t really care since it seemed I was gaining something out of it.

I remember at age 10, he stopped talking to me; he claimed that he would always watch over me as a guardian. It saddened me, but I simply moved on like a regular boy does; I went to College and got a degree in medicine and have worked as a doctor up to now.

So here I am holding this guy over the children’s toy box, yet I can’t do it. He may be irrelevant to me now, but he played a crucial part to my childhood. Perhaps he could be a good retro gift for my daughter. I dumped all the other crap I had in some of those boxes then went home.

I saw in the news of the missing case of Justine Chang, a 7 year old girl who used to ride her bike past my house every morning for school. She was a big fitness fanatic and loved anything that involved a rush, my own daughter couldn’t keep up with her really. It sounded eerily like the Smith twins thirty years ago. Her father thought she had slept in like she usually did, but was disturbed to find the window open and his daughter not in bed. No one saw anything that night.

I was starting to remember the ‘dream’ again, denial set in. It couldn’t be true, what if she ran away? What if there were family issues she wanted to escape? What if a family member was involved?

I thought less about it over the next following days. My wife and I both work full time so the Maid Conchita takes care of our Laura. I received a call from home, Conchita maybe. Echoed deep breathing filled my ear; I took my ear from the phone as it loudened. “Conchita?” I asked. “Not adequate protection after all” said in a familiar deep-tone. “Who is this? Why are you on my house phone?” I asked. I heard the door open and the sound of a small child being gently hoisted up. “I never forgot you Eric” he finalized with before the phone hung up. I knew straight away that something had happened, and immediately I ran out. I told the nursing staff that something severe had happened at home, and it had to be handled. In my car, I floored it down the highway running several red lights, maybe a cop car too. I didn’t care.

I finally got home, all had seemed normal on the outside except the window to Laura’s room was fully open. However when I opened the door, Conchita was on the ground. Her body was pale, cold; her head twisted almost 180 degrees. Laura was nowhere. I grabbed my phone from my pocket when I saw Ryan at the other side to the room, Alive and breathing! “He’s stronger than expected, I couldn’t stop him this time” he said. Standing there, I dropped the phone on the table, the batteries flying out. I could only stare at him; he wasn’t as bright and fuzzy as in the dream. There was a scratch on the top of his head, a real organic scratch with blue liquid seeping out. “He has your daughter” he said before sitting back and nursing his wound.

Papa never forgot about me, the one that got away and escaped his Kingdom. He had gained power through his own rage. He has returned and taken my daughter; I must go back and face him.