LIGHTS OUT!
Step into another dimension with a flip of a switch.
“The great electrical wizard of our time, Thomas Edison, died peacefully in his home in New Jersey yesterday. [October 18, 1931] As such, I have decided, that we should honor his memory and contribution to the world, by extinguishing the city of lights for one hour of darkness. In that hour, let us all remember the great work and possibilities one human can crown upon this world.”
The elevator mechanic of the Eiffel Tower listened to Paul Doumer announce his proclamation from the radio in the small broom closet at the top of the tower. It was dusk and the sun was setting on Paris. Before the president finished his speech, the mechanic pulled himself off his stool by pressing his callused hands on his knees and pushing them straight.
The mechanic made his way past the crowd of tourists. He entered the hidden elevator, that took him to the old apartment, where Gustave` Eiffel used to reside before his death. Behind the forest green wallpaper, was a hidden electrical panel.
Staring into the collection of switches, the mechanic rested his hand on the master breaker, that would shut off the string of lights adorning the tower. Before flipping the switch, the mechanic turned around to check, if the sun had disappeared below the horizon. In turning, the man’s hand slipped off the master switch and was stopped by the toggle just below it. Unfortunately for the mechanic, his worn hands were too rough to notice the change in its position. After turning back around, the man flipped the toggle downward.
A flash of light filled the room and the hue changed from the dusk pink and blue of the Paris sky to a reflection of orange and red light. The man initially thought, that he had caused a short circuit, which started a fire. What he would find, when he turned back around would be a world of difference. Quite literally I might add.
As the mechanic turned around ready to put out any fire, he was met with a foreign horizon. The city of Paris and its roof tops were replaced by a barren red desert, like the seas of Mars. The man opened the door of the apartment to a small metal balcony.
Am I dead? The man thought to himself.
He surveyed this red world with his eyes in disbelief. Then his boot was stopped with a THUMP as he walked towards the railing. The man looked down to a skeleton corpse lying on the balcony with a spear protruding from between its ribs. In the clutches of its hands was some sort of gun, a ray gun.
Who was this person?
A red journal laid open on the ground face up next to the skeleton. The mechanic bent over to pick it up. On the bottom right corner of the cover was a gold embroidered name, “J. Verne”.
Could this really be the journal of Jules Verne?
The mechanic opened the journal to read its last entry.
“This may be my last great adventure. The world may never get to know, that my stories were merely an entry of my adventures through the mysterious portals of this world. This last portal was only made possible by the feat of engineering taken to build the illustrious tower. Now I stand on top of it in this crimson wasteland awaiting for the return of my enemy. This world is much like our own. A war wages on between the white apes and the green lizard men. I have no part in their quarrel, but I fear that is lost on the them. I count the sunsets until they return in their shiny metal flying machines.”
As he finished the last words, the man looked up from his journal to find a silver flying saucer approaching him from a far.
About the Creator
REDWRITER
Reaching out to a better tomorrow. I am the REDWRITER.
www.redwriter.org
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