"The Bubble Cloud" is a science fiction story, written by Sandie May Joyce, a.k.a. Sandie Angel.
It was a bright and sunny day on Kleptonia beach. The water was lukewarm and everyone was happily playing, swimming, or just sunbathing. One could not ask for more perfect weather.
Suddenly, there appeared in the sky a large bubble - a bubble that would not burst. It was as large as a cloud! Everyone couldn't help but look up at it in confused wonderment. The bubble glided across the beach, illuminating a very bright light that shone upon the assembled crowd.
Some of the older folks became frantic. They quickly gathered up their belongings, warning their children to leave immediately.
Some younger crowds were all excited. They took out their cell-phones and began to take pictures of themselves underneath the bubble for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. They seemed oblivious to the effects of the blazing bright light, which was now flashing like lightning.
That large bubble glided slowly across the beach like a UFO, flashing bright lights, it seemed to be making notes of the people and the environment. It moved from one end of the beach to the other. Then it moved on and beyond and disappeared into the sky.
What damage it left in its wake was devastating: People's skins were burned. Some were on fire. They jumped back into the ocean, but when they came back out, they were filled with blisters all over their bodies. They screamed in agony.
Others had developed red hot rashes all over their bodies. Everyone quickly ran towards their cars and tried to make a quick escape from the beach, only to find the road was filled with cars and trucks. People were running amok everywhere!
The traffic was very slow. Cars seemed to move in slow motion. People were driving in a trance-like state, their eyes staring into space. They did not seem to know where they were going. Later the engines died on all of the vehicles, and the people resort to walking on foot, trying to yank car doors open of those that were still running. Some tried to break the cars in a desperate resort to take over the cars. It was a big mess! Car trunks were broken into, and water supplies were taken out. People seemed extremely thirsty.
Those who had acquired sunburn had developed deep red rashes on the skin surface that became raw and began to peel.
Alison, 10, and her brother Jonathan, 8, were safe because they had been enjoying lunch inside a restaurant with their mom Rachel and dad Michael when the bright light occurred: At first sight, they instinctively ducked down underneath the table. They originally thought a bolt of lightning had struck the beach. Later, when they resumed their seated position they learned firsthand what had really happened as they witnessed the people rushing into the restaurant. The crowd climbed over the counters, breaking into the fridge looking for cool water, either to drink or to pour over their own bodies.
What followed was a horrific sight! People scampered to rush back into their cars to get away, and the large crowd pushed each other, stepping on and over each other's body as they fell. Everyone wanted to get out of the beach as fast as possible. Some that fell were trampled and hurt, some left bloodied, and later died, and some appeared to have been blinded by the bright light. Their eyes had become totally white, their pupils and their irises burned away!
Rachel and Jonathan climbed out of the restaurant window with their parents. They rushed to their car and closed all doors to protect themselves. Mike started the engine and began to head for the highway, but the traffic was very slow. There were too many cars all at once. Something was definitely wrong with these people, they better not be infected with what they've got! They needed to get out of this area as fast as they could to get back to a safe environment - away from all this devastation!
They noticed that some people in other cars were driving straight ahead in a trance-like state of mind, their eyes staring into space. The traffic was not moving. It took them a long time to get to an intersection, so Mike just turned into the small lane, he had no idea where the lane might lead to.
“Where are we going, Dad?” asked Jonathan.
“Anywhere is better than that place,” Mike answered. “You see all those people? They must have got some kind of virus or something.”
“They said there was a bubble in the sky that was traveling across the beach,” explained Rachel. “The bright light that came from outside the window was actually from the bubble. Perhaps it is some sort of cloud.”
“What kind of cloud looks like a water bubble? That must have been a U.F.O. that burned all those people.” Mike said.
“Whew! I'm so glad we weren't out there when that happened!” Alison let out a big sigh of relief.
The road in front of them seemed clear. They wondered why those people on the highway did not turn into this small lane, but they were happy they didn't.
Mike looked around and noticed there were no other cars following theirs. Now, all Mike needed to do was to look at their location on the GPS. HE tried turning it on, but it seemed as though the GPS was out of power. It would not even turn on. Mike feared they may be lost. He drove straight down the lane and came upon a small house not too far away from the highway.
We might be able to find out where we are now. I hope there are folks inside the house. Mike thought, but he needed to pay caution. He didn't want to come out of his car yet. The house seemed very quiet as he circled the car around it, leading him to believe there was nobody inside.
“No one seems to be inside. All windows and the front door are closed,” Mike told his family.
“Perhaps they had gone to the beach as well,” Rachel said.
“You guys wait here. I'll go take a look.”
“Be careful,” warned Rachel. “You don't know who lives there, or whether they have guns with them.”
“Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we? Otherwise, we will be here forever,” said Mike.
He walked up to the front door and knocked. No one answered. He then looked in through the windows. It seemed like no one was home. He assumed that whoever had lived here might have gone to the beach and became victims, unable to find their way home.
Mike used a rock to break the window and let himself in. He scoped out the place. It was a two-storey house with a basement. There was food, water, and milk inside the fridge and meat in the freezer down in the basement and a pantry with cookies and flour. The place must have belonged to a family. There were two bedrooms which were very clean and beds were made tidily. He called out “hello!” as he walked through the house, and he heard no reply, he opened the door and let his family in.
They locked the door behind them and helped themselves to the water.
“At least this place is safe for now. I hope no one will wander to this place.” Mike assured his family. “We need to find out where we are first before going any further. I cannot afford to waste any more gas.”
“I wish we were home, dad!” said a homesick Jonathan.
“I know, me too! We all do, Jonathan,” Mike replied. He was secretly beginning to worry. Without the GPS they were lost. It's time like this he wished he would have kept a paper road map with him in his glove compartment. He knew he shouldn't be fully dependent on technology. Now he was paying the price!
“We may have to stay here for a while. At least there is food in this house. In the meantime, I need to block off all the windows so no one can come in.”
He found some planks of wood in the basement and proceeded to hammer them to the windows.
He turned on the TV and relieved to find it in working order. They learned what they had witnessed was an unknown object that was shaped like a bubble. The news anchor named it “The Bubble Cloud”. No one knew where the bubble cloud had come from, and there were two other places on the beach that were affected by the bubble cloud as well. They advised everyone to stay indoors as much as possible, even the folks in the city, just in case the cloud might revisit, or in the event, there was more than one bubble cloud in the area. They saw on the news the people that were infected had developed bubbles all over their bodies, and from what they could see on the screen, they noticed that inside each of those bubbles was a piece of the meat severed right out of the person's body. It looked just like ground beef! It hanged inside each of those bubbles, and each piece of meat steadily growing larger, and so was each of the bubbles. It was a horrible sight!
Alison and Jonathan were scared and they began to cry.
“What are we going to do, dad?”
“We'll just have to leave all windows closed,” said his dad, as we do not know whether or not those bubble things are contagious.”
Several days had gone by and they learned that the area has been listed as “quarantined” by the government. No one was to be allowed to get out of the beach area. They had barricaded the beach from one end to the other!
Now I hope they will at least bring people some food. You can't quarantine people and starve them to death, can you? Will they? Will the government do that? Mike wondered.
What will happen when the food in the house is gone? He knew that eventually, this would happen. What would he do then? What would happen when the owner of the house comes back to claim this house?
So many questions were running through his mind now, questions that no one could answer. He just hoped no one would come around.
Rachel was quite worried, but so far she remained calm on the surface, not wanting to scare the children. They could not stay here forever. When the beach is quarantined, it means they could not flee either.
Almost a week had gone by and the family was still there. There were no words from the government as to when the quarantine will be lifted. Saturday morning, they were awakened by loud noises coming from outside of the house.
People! No! Mike jumped out of his bed.
Someone was pounding on the front door, demanding to be let in.
The family looked outside. It was one of those infected people. He was begging to be let in, but Mike told him he could not let him come in.
“Please let me in. I need water! Will you give me water please?” The guy was crying.
“No, sorry, we can't let you in. Go to the back of the house. There is a forest back there. Some trees may bear some fruits that you can eat,” Mike said.
“Please! I can hardly walk anymore. I have walked for miles to get here from the highway. Please let me in!”
Mike watched his two children, cowering in fear in the corner. He could not let anyone in. He had to protect his family.
The guy outside kept banging on the door. His knocks became louder and louder. He threw stones and rocks at the door, at the windows, shattering the glass. Good thing Mike had put up the planks of woods to protect themselves. That went on for several hours before it finally stopped and all was quiet once more. They peered outside and found the guy was lying on the ground. Obviously, he had exhausted himself. The family dared not sleep the rest of that day, nor that night.
Rachel felt sick to the stomach as she watched from the window cracks. She felt bad for this stranger too, but there was nothing that they could do for him. She assumed that he would eventually die out there, either from the virus or from starvation and dehydration.
The mysterious man ended up lying on the front porch. They had no idea whether he was dead or alive. They dared not venture out.
Another day had gone by, several more of those people came to the doorstep wanting to be let in. Again, Mike had refused to accommodate them. They threw more stones and rocks at the house, Mike again told them to go into the forest to search for fruits and water. Those people were in really bad shape: Stripped meat hanging from each of those bubbles growing on their bodies. They looked like raw meat inside the bubbles. Sometimes a bubble would break and the meat would fall to the ground. The person would scream in agony.
The family felt bad inside the house, but they knew they could not do anything to help these people. Mike was beginning to believe that the government was leaving these people here for dead.
When all was quiet, the family peeked outside through the cracks and found a few more had been lying on the ground. They assumed that they were all dead.
For the next few days, they lived inside that little house, eating all the food there was, and some from the pantry as well. The little house by now was looking like a solid wooden shack, as Mike once more barricaded the windows that had been shattered with planks of woods chopped off from the furniture. Three more of those infected people lay dead outside at the front porch, and some in the near distance, and they were beginning to rot. The stench was overpowering.
The family continued to watch the news. Nothing much had changed: people were still wandering aimlessly around the area. Some were crawling on the ground by now due to starvation and dehydration. Their lips dried and cracked, their cheeks sunken in, their eyes sockets were becoming wider and looking hollow. The quarantine still had not been lifted. People were dying everywhere, some dropping dead in the middle of the highway.
Suddenly, from a distance, they heard helicopters circling around the area. They heard screams and gunfire! They saw people wearing Hazmat suits, complete with protective face mask and gear, walking around gunning people down, shooting them with automatic rifles. They couldn't believe it! Instead of finding a cure to help these people, the government had barricaded them in, and now they wanted to shoot them all dead! What would they do if they found out he and his family inside this little house? One thing was certain, neither he nor his family were affected by the virus. That's what Mike would tell them.
“What's happening, Dad? Are we safe in here?”
“What are we going to do? We're all going to die, aren't we?” Alison cried.
“Don't worry! We are not infected. Just look at us! Do we look anything like those people who are infected?” Mike tried comforting his family, but in his mind, he feared their days were numbered.
By the time the Hazmat-suit-wearing soldiers reached the little house and knocked on the door, Mike told them that they were all safe, and had not been infected by any virus. He requested help and asked them for four Hazmat suits so they could come out of the house. They agreed to help them.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a riddle of bullets tore through the wooden planks, the door was kicked in, and Mike felt the bullets tear into his body as he watched his family die from bullet wounds in front of his eyes.
“I told you they were not infected! Why did you have to shoot them for?” One of the soldiers asked the other.
“Are you kidding me?” the other soldier said. “Look at these three that are lying dead on the front porch rotting away! It will be just a matter of time when the virus reaches them too. It's better for them to die fast than to die a slow agonizing death. This is a much better way for them to go.”
“Well, I think we have seen the last of them now. Burn these ones too, and the car and the house as well.”
XXX XXX XXX
Another several weeks had gone by and the beach had become a charred burial ground. It was a sad sight to see. The government had continued to quarantine the beach. The area was now abandoned.
It was a short time later that yet another large bubble once again appeared in the sky. It scanned the sad state of the area encompassing the beach and found no sign of any form of life, just charred bodies. The large bubble moved slowly along the highway. Suddenly it seemed to be aware that there, down and beyond a small lane which led into the forest, existed some kind of life forms!
As the Bubble Cloud moved slowly towards the forest, it found two people lying on the ground cradled by some bushes. The two people were still alive! These two people had found some fruits to survive and they had managed to hide away from the Hazmat soldiers. Most of the bubbles had fallen off their skin now, revealing a pinkish kind of fair complexion. On each of their wrists there lay a large bubble, and inside the bubble was a beautiful tiny baby!
The Bubble Clouds came to a stop in mid-air while searching through the forest. Amazingly, like a Chameleon that takes on the colour of its environment in camouflage, the Bubble was now conveniently camouflaging itself as those trees in the forest. Two creatures came out of the bubble that seemingly was transparent, yet it was not.
The creatures walked towards these two surviving people (one male and one female) and seemed overjoyed to see that they were still alive. The creatures began to hug the two people, cleaned them, running their six thin fingered hands over their faces.
When the two people were stirred, they looked up at these two strange creatures, unafraid. There was a great sense of “Belonging” as the two creatures were almost like humans. They had two arms and two legs. Their heads were much wider and their eyes were larger and looked much darker and deeper than men.
The creatures held up their arms and gently released the bubble with the babies in it off their wrists. There was a baby boy in the male's bubble and a baby girl in the female's bubble. They spoke to the two humans in their own language and yet, the two humans could understand them.
They told them they came from another planet called “Earth” and were trying to collect the DNA of humans from this planet. They apologized that the cameras in the vessel were too powerful and thus causing everyone extreme bodily harm. They liked what they had seen on the beach and took photographs of the people. They had also been able to impregnate some of the people so that when the babies are born inside the bubbles, they could take the babies home and developed a whole new human race just like the one they have seen on the beach.
The two people told the creatures what had happened to them and to all of the others. They told the creatures that they had nowhere else to go. If they remained on this planet, they would eventually be executed by the government. The couple asked if they could go along with the human-like creatures to planet earth. They were so happy that the creatures extended their welcome.
The mysterious creatures brought the couple back to their "earth", along with their two bubbled babies, and received the utmost honour for a scientific breakthrough from their government.
The scientists predicted that in another few thousand years from now, along with the cloning of the DNA through advanced technology, the people on earth would become even more beautiful than how they appeared now.
Everyone for himself! Isn't it most often the truth when disaster strikes? This story is not too far off from what is happening around this world today, especially how the government would deal with people who are infected with the virus. Although it is not too obvious we know some victims have been murdered rather than finding ways to cure them. This story was classified as science fiction, but there is some realism to it.
It was only the vision of the bubbles and the meat and the baby that I had envisioned in my dream. Everything else had been invented and written by me according to the vision. When I awoke from my short nap, this story came to mind.
Thank you so much for your beautiful comment!
Sandie
Reviewed by Danny Underwood
11/2/2018
Sandie, you have the most fascinating dreams of any persons I've ever met. I don't know you do it, but when it becomes a story it becomes a GREAT story! You are so creative!
I especially love that surprise ending despite all that horrors that went before it. I applaud this!
I think an alternate earth may be the answer to just what we all need now. This earth we are living in has turned ugly inside out.
Utterly Fantastic Occurrences is a collection of 20 science fiction short story novellas existing in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle and Nook e-book formats.
5-star Review on Amazon: "A terrific read about a very disturbing subject!! The book is exciting and interesting and chilling and alarming! A literary ride that is well worth the time and money."
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