Ethereal (Short Story)

Until Next Time

Eliezer stormed down the dimly lit streets after work, oblivious to the strong gusts of wind pushing against him.  

How could he?  How could he?!  I can't wait to get home and give him a piece of my mind, then we'll see who's really inferior!

Matthew, as promised, behaved as a passably normal child when he accompanied Eliezer to work.  It was Eliezer's co workers, however, that completely abandoned their character.  Their reaction to Matthew was so overwhelming that Eliezer sent him home early, claiming his mother had to pick him up.  

They think they can just ignore me for years?  They think they can just conveniently forget to invite me to the office parties?  They think they can act like they give a damn about me just because my nephew is cute?  Eliezer then remembered that Matthew was not actually his nephew, and became even angrier.  I'll make that son of a bitch sorry it ever fell into my life!

As Eliezer approached his home, he noticed that the wind became even stronger.  He held on to his hat and braced himself as he marched up his driveway, and scurried into his backyard.  

I can't wait to get my hands on that bastard, star or not!  

Eliezer collapsed the instant he reached his patio.  

A monstrous, burnt orange glob was rapidly dispersing itself across Eliezer's living room, obliterating everything in its path.  It swelled until it occupied Eliezer's entire house, threatening to burst.  When the creature began to screech and flash blindingly bright lights, Eliezer clutched his heart and rolled over before losing consciousness.

*****

Eliezer woke up abruptly, but kept his eyes closed- he sensed that he was being watched.  When the sensation amplified, he hesitantly opened his eyes, and screamed.  

"Eli," the wild tiger leaning over him growled in an estranged manner before its fur began to slide off in patches, exposing a frail rib cage covered in orange decaying  goo.  The goo then mutated into a poor excuse of a human skeleton that struggled to support itself.  Its jawbone twitched rapidly as if it were trying to communicate, and it dug its fingers into Eliezer's shoulders.  Eliezer's heart was struck with a familiar pang, and he once again lost consciousness.

*****

When Eliezer awoke for the second time, he forced his eyelids to remain shut.

"Eli?" an empty, but familiar voice spoke softly.

Eliezer did not open his eyes.

"Open your eyes, Eli.  I am myself again."

Eliezer pretended as though he couldn't hear Max.

"I will not take on a strange form again.  I do not need you to go into cardiac arrest a third time."

Eliezer's eyes flew open, and he realized that he was lying on the ground.  Above him he saw Max sitting on the couch, looking uncharacteristically defeated as she gazed outside.  Eliezer sat up, but remained on the ground.

"I had a heart attack?" Eliezer asked shakily.

"You had two 'heart attacks'," Max corrected.  "Reviving you was a rather draining process.  The sensitivity of humans did not slip my mind, but I temporarily lost control of my senses.  Occasionally, I slip into a sensation that is very similar to the human emotion that is 'anger,' Eli, and I cannot control what happens to my form then."

"What on earth are you angry about?" Eliezer asked sharply.

"I mentioned once before that I can read the universe, not in a literal sense, but in an all knowing sense.  I read you the moment you sent me away from the Ebullient Company Eli, and what I saw sent me into a frenzy."