{"sf1_id":242236,"sf2_id":"yndvw9le","title":"Gecko on table staring up at light","author":"MikeRozak","words":1011,"posted_at":"2011-04-19T23:57:00.000Z","tags":["Gecko","Poem","Reptilian"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/242236-gecko-on-table-staring-up-at-light","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/yndvw9le","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=242236\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"_Gecko on table staring up at light_\n\nMike Rozak\n\nCopyleft 2010\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\" **Gecko-scooter**\" with pump-action pedals.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## Bingo gambling\n\nThe dangling lamp above me fascinated\n\nWhite light\n\nMoths and other night insects flying around\n\nWondered what they tasted like\n\nBitter\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nLying on my circular table\n\nStaring up at the light\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSnare-drumming my fingers against the table\n\nLeft hand, then right, then left\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPeeled off some old skin from my chest\n\nStaring up at the light\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMy remaining \"friends\" had left an hour before\n\nWe had gambled using bingo-like cards\n\nAnd plastic chips\n\nNo-one ate the chips this time\n\nThat I saw\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThey had all left\n\nIt wasn't the same\n\nWithout my friend\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## Friend's death\n\nA couple weeks before\n\nMy friend had died\n\nLived in my ex-grandmother's house\n\nWith me\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMy house, her house, my ex-grandmother's house\n\nHalf fly-screen enclosed patio\n\nA large green table in the centre\n\nAbove which hung a light\n\nAgainst the wall was a sink\n\nRun from water collected by the corrugated iron roof\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe other half was into a single room was enclosed\n\nMy bed was on one side\n\nHer bed on the other\n\nShe was closest to the sink and mirror L\n\nHer bed was now empty\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI stared at the light\n\nLying on the green table\n\nIt dimmed slightly\n\nAs my power box faded\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHer body I buried two days after she died\n\nA shallow grave a ways from the house\n\nHer/my friends visited\n\nNoted their respects to the grave\n\nAnd went on with their lives\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nShe was perfectly healthy\n\nI'm not sure why she died\n\nShe was happy in the evening\n\nA headache\n\nDead in the morning\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## The party conversation\n\nWhat happened at the party?\n\nWas there any conversation?\n\nIt may have revolved around alcohol (not quite alcohol, but the same effect)\n\nOr throwing gambling pieces around\n\nOr where to holiday\n\nOr who was losing\n\nOr who was winning\n\nOr \"I saw you eat that chip!\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nGot eyed by one of the \"boys\"\n\nNothing mentioned about stars\n\nNothing about getting off the planet\n\nNothing about our voice-only friends\n\nWho didn't exist to her/my friends, then around the table\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## Hominids\n\nHominids lived nearby\n\nNo-one visited them\n\nI won't mention why\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nOn my bicycle\n\nI walked it a kilometre down a small track\n\nAt a T-intersection with a road\n\nI bicycled to the left\n\nThe Hominids were to the right\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nReaching the hamlet half an hour later\n\nWas a parts store\n\nAnd a part-time restaurant\n\nAnd a few gecko houses\n\nAnd a food store\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhen in need of money\n\nI worked at the food store\n\nIt paid for food I couldn't find in the wild\n\nAnd a few repairs to my house, my friend's house, and my ex-grandmother's house\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## Job\n\nThe light no longer lit\n\nMy power supply had died\n\nThey normally lasted for years\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI returned left to the village\n\nAccepted work at the shop\n\nTaking money from people\n\nCleaning up\n\nStocking food\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIn a few weeks I would have enough money\n\nI could purchase another power supply\n\nAnd then stop work until I needed more\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nNothing mattered much without my friend\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI worked\n\nMaybe a week\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## The offer\n\nA hominid drove up\n\nYou'd call it a 1930's diesel pickup truck\n\nIn the tray were goods for the shop\n\nBrought in by spaceplanes\n\nWhich they controlled\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI unloaded the goods\n\nHe eyed me off, curious\n\nHe liked the look of my eyes\n\nI could tell\n\nThe surrounding skin was exceptionally colourful\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\"I heard you wanted to get off the planet?\", said the Hominid.\n\nYes\n\n\"Are you sure?\"\n\nYes\n\nI was depressed\n\n\"I'll stop by in a few days.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## A tube\n\nTwo days later he stopped by\n\nHe entered the store\n\nAsked me to come out\n\nThis time his truck's tray had no goods\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIn the back of his pickup\n\nA glossy black cylinder lay\n\nElliptical\n\nA bit taller than me\n\nWider\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe pulled it off\n\nStood it vertically\n\nOpened it like a oyster shell\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"All you have to do to get off the planet is step in.\"\n\n\"I'll close it around you.\"\n\n\"You'll be on a spaceplane tonight.\"\n\n\"I don't know where you'll go though.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI stepped in\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nHe closed the oyster shell\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n## The trip\n\nThe tube's inside was dark\n\nThere were some holes for air, and waste\n\nJust above my eyes\n\nA scratched-plastic window\n\nLit the interior\n\nAnd showed the sky\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe man raised me (and the tube)\n\nPushed me onto his ute\n\nI didn't mind\n\nThe space was too small\n\nThe air too stuffy\n\nGecko panic could have arrived\n\nBut I didn't mind\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI was depressed.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI was going to leave\n\nMy/her friends I hadn't told\n\nNor the shopkeeper for whom I was working\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI was depressed\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe car door opened\n\nThe man climbed in\n\nThe car door closed\n\nThe engine started\n\nAnd drove us away\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMy bicycle left behind\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nTwenty minutes of bumps later\n\nThe car stopped\n\nIts engine ceased\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSomeone discussed me with the man\n\n\"A willing gecko\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nTwo pairs of shoed feet picked up my tube\n\nI was carried across some dry ground\n\nUp a clanking metal grate\n\nAnd set down on a metal floor\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Are you alright?\"\n\nYes, I said.\n\n\"We'll get you food in a bit.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nTwo hours later\n\nThe spaceplane hummed\n\nWe took off\n\nI never was fed\n\nNot an issue\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe spaceplane was shot down\n\nA casualty of war\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt may have been for the best\n\nI didn't know it then\n\nAnd wouldn't have cared\n\nI was collectable\n\nLike a pretty pebble\n\nOr a shell from the sea\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n# For more stories\n\nYou can download more of my short stories for free from:\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n[http://www.disclosuree.com/Stories.pdf](http://www.disclosuree.com/Stories.pdf)\n\n  \n  \n\n"}