The Journal - A Short Story Collection

Humanity's Role

"See you guys later," I called to my friends as I walked out of the school gymnasium, headed home. The cool night blew a gentle breeze across my skin, causing me to shiver. It didn't help that sweat covered my body from basketball practice. The droplets felt icy, reminding me of their presence with every step I took.

Basketball practice went about as adequate as any other time, which meant it went lousy. Though I had several friends on the team that made it more enjoyable, everyone including them didn't take the sport seriously. It's no wonder our school won no games. This didn't sit well for me considering I sought to improve my skills. I desired to play in college one day, but if this team would rather goof off, I'd get nowhere.

I didn't know what to do. Normally, I'd talk to my parents about the situation, but my mother cared little for my extra-curricular activities. My father did, in fact, he was the one who got me absorbed into the sport. Then, three years ago he left my mom and I. No note, and no responses to any of our calls. Just left us never to return.

Of course I was resentful. I despised him for it. After a while, I felt like maybe he left because of my mother and I, like something was wrong with us or that we weren't good enough anymore. Nowadays I'm indifferent, though in times like this, I could really use his advice.

Glancing up into the clear night sky, a flicker caught my eye. Darting my eyes in that direction, I stared at a little white dot traveling through the sky. It took a moment to determine it wasn't a plane. Rather, it appeared to be a shooting star, or something like it. Not being one to wish for my aspirations, given my current state, I decided there wasn't harm in trying.

"I wish I could see my father again," I whispered to the star as it flew past and out of view.

Continuing my night walk, I branched off the main road to take neighborhood streets to my house. It was faster this way home, especially if I cut through backyards as well. Stepping into one street, I noticed a streetlight flickering. Something about it mesmerized me. As if there was a pattern to it.

Every light turned off down the street. Not just the streetlights, but the houses too. Pitch black.

A chill traveled down my spine as the wind picked up. I kept walking, hugging myself for warmth. It was the coldest night yet this fall. Had I known it would get this cold out, I would have worn a jacket.

The nearest streetlight flipped back on and burned bright, but the intensity of the light seemed much more than normal. It kept getting brighter until I looked up at it to realize it wasn't a streetlight at all.

The light engulfed me.

"You?" I heard a voice reverberate around me. I turned around as the light dimmed, trying to grasp that I no longer stood under a streetlight, but found myself in a metallic room.

I looked at the dark figure in the corner of the room, concealing himself from the light. As my eyes adjusted, I could faintly see features of the man whom sat there. The overgrown unkept hair made it difficult to recognize him at all. He looked like an ordinary homeless person, but something told me that wasn't true.

"Who are you?" I asked nervously, trying to get my bearings. I couldn't tell if this was a dream or reality, but pinching myself still hurt. My muscled tightened in that realization, and my breath quickened. I looked at the man, unsure if I should approach him. "What is this place?"

"It isn't what you think," he said, staring at the floor, "It isn't what you think."

"What are you talking about?" I questioned, taking a deep breath, then crouching down beside the man, keeping a careful eye on him. He didn't look at me, but stared off to the other side of the room, completely focused on his thoughts he expressed aloud.

"We are..." his voice trailed off.

"We are what?" I urged.

"We're test subjects," he muttered, "We're test subjects."

"Test subjects for what?"

The man laughed manically as he continued to stare at nothing. I waved my hand in front of him, but he didn't react. As I stood up, the man pulled me back down, grabbing my collar as he looked into my eyes, his wide and terrified.

"Not just us," he said, "We are all test subjects!"

"Who?" I questioned, confused but elevated, while grabbing his dirty hand to pry them off me.

"Earth," he said as he let go of me and sat back down continuing to laugh as he spoke, "We're dead. It's only a matter of time."

I stood back up, walking away from the deranged man. I didn't know if I should believe him or not. Then again, the two of us sat in a metallic room with one door, when I knew just a couple minutes ago I stood on the streets. I still didn't know what to make of this and continued to pinch myself to see if I would wake up.

I walked over to try the door when I asked him, "Who's trying to study us?"

I investigated the door, finding no means to open it. Not a push nor pull would do. But I didn't have to wait long. The door buzzed and slid upward on its own.

On the other side stood someone I thought I'd never see again. In a slick black-and-white uniform that had a shooting star emblem on the upper left breast, stood my father. He looked up from his all-glass tablet and stared at me in shock.

"Dad?" I asked, stupefied.

"Them..." said the man in the corner.

"You..." said my father, sounding defeated, "You're not supposed to be here."

"Not supposed to be here?" I questioned, anger rising in me that mixed with the fear and confusion. "I'm not supposed to be here? What even is here? What are you doing here?"

My father shook his head. He stepped back and flicked his wrist towards me.

"You've done it now," said the man in the corner, laughing.

I glimpsed at him then back at my father, though he was replaced by two other people in full black and white military-like gear you'd see in a science fiction movie, equipped with helmets that covered their faces. They stormed in and snatched my arms, forcing them behind my back as they locked cuffs around my wrists. These cuffs weren't like anything I've ever seen before; they vibrated slightly against my wrists, making my arms feel numb.

"We were supposed to pick up someone else," my father explained, eyes glued to his tablet, "But I guess you'll have to do. I'll be checking in with the extraction team on this error." He looked up at the two guards still holding me as they walked me out of the cell. "Take Subject R2.56-U54921 to Testing Room I-34."

I stared at my father in disbelief.

The soldiers nodded and forced me along. I twisted back towards my father as best I could and shouted, "Where are they taking me?!"

"You need some injections before we can test you properly," he said, not taking his eyes off the tablet, "It's vital for our survive as a species amongst the other alien inhabitants of our galaxy. But doing it to our own is immoral. Well... so long as we're not caught." My father turned towards me and smiled. "With your help, we'll continue to further humanity.

Before I could say anymore, I was batted against a door to swing it up and taken into the depth of whatever hell I found myself in.

No matter what I tried to do to get free, it was no use. Earth had one purpose, we were the test subjects to our species. And my new role... was to test them.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this short story, consider checking out some of my other work. Also, feel free to connect with me on Twitter! I enjoy engaging with other writers.