Dark Tidings

Chapter 25 - New Age Travellers

Tung and Madrick appeared as instantaneously as they had disappeared. They'd hurtled into the twenty-first century naked and confused. Both men crashed heavily to the ground. Tung hit it head first as usual but amazingly there was no pain because this time he'd hit sand. The pair had landed on a beach somewhere.

A couple of minutes of head-holding and eye-rubbing restored their senses enough for them to take in their surroundings. To their left, waves sloshed onto the yellow beach while to their right a row of tiny wooden huts stared out to sea. The little houses were tightly packed, extremely colourful and looked well-constructed.

"I'm freezing," said Tung, folding his arms and drawing up his knees to protect his naked extremities from the icy wind.

"And it's starting to get dark so it'll be even colder soon."

"At least there's no one else around, so maybe luck is looking out for us."

"You call this lucky? Have you looked at us?"

Their nudity was mortifyingly uncomfortable, even worse than the last time they'd been naked together, at least then they'd been invisible.

"We need to get indoors and dressed as quickly as possible. Come on, let's move."

They crept up to the nearest of the houses on all fours. Actually it was on 'all threes' because each was using one hand in a futile attempt to maintain some dignity. They moved awkwardly, like a couple of three-legged dogs who'd yet to get used to their missing limbs.

"Shhh," said Tung as he pressed his ear against the door.

"Well?" whispered Madrick.

"I think it's empty."

"Are you sure?"

"Look. The doors are bolted and padlocked on the outside. That means it must be empty."

"Unless there's a back door."

Tung pressed his ear harder against the wood. "It's empty."

After a short search, he found what he needed to prise open the lock. In no time at all they were inside.

"You're quite skilled at that."

"Years of practice," said Tung as he pulled the doors closed behind them.

A quick rummage around the single-room dwelling revealed a few clothes and some blankets, enough to keep them warm and restore some semblance of dignity. A bag of sickly sweet biscuits completed their haul. Back in their day, sugar was almost unheard of so the biscuits tasted superbly unusual.

"Wow, my tongue is all wet and tingly and alive. Can I have another one?"

"I can tell you're going to like it here," said Madrick.

"Hey, you have to try sitting in this," said Tung as he settled into a rather ordinary, tatty armchair. "It's softer than a... a... I don't know. I've never felt anything as soft and comfortable."

"And look at this," said Madrick, holding up a Sellotape dispenser."

"What is it?"

"I have no idea but it's beautiful."

When the foraging in the room was exhausted, they moved on to the house next door and then on to the next.

Fascination, awe and wonderment dominated their scavenger hunt. Questions abounded.

"How can wood be so smooth?"

"What's this made of?" They'd never seen plastic, concrete, aluminium, china, rubber, cardboard or toffee.