to find a way to escape, but at least I had that small window to work with. “I’m going to wake up now and you can stay asleep for as long as you want to. I’m going to go downstairs and make breakfast and hopefully I’ll have it up here and in your hands before you even contemplate opening your eyes.” His image vanished slowly like a ghost that was haunting my very dreams. He became almost translucent and then his smile faded, until there was just a whiff of air from where he had been standing. It swirled around me and I felt totally powerless, as it made my body tingle from the top of my head all the way down to my toes. Whatever he was doing was causing my body to react in unpredictable ways. “I don’t know what you’re doing, Ash…but don’t stop.” I allowed that whisper of air to caress my skin and to ignite the small flame that he had already caused by his presence. That flame was out of control and it wouldn’t be long before it was a full blown blaze that could only be taken care of by somebody’s big hose. I thought for a moment that I would come out of this dreamscape, but instead I stayed exactly where I was. I saw his family and the way that they doted on him, as the only firstborn son. I watched him progress from a little boy to a man. He had aspirations to be the head scientist and his parents had decided to back him 100%. They died shortly before he became a scientist. Unfortunately, not more than a year later he began to see that his planet was dying. He proposed a simple act of reusing the energy and elements that they had already used. They scoffed at his idea and instead decided to rape another planet of what it needed to survive. I watched him almost beg on bended knee to reconsider. He said that there’d be no way for any planet to survive something like that. At least he had found an alternative by mentioning only 10%. If he were to allow them to go after 100%, then there would be nothing left for my planet. We would die off slowly, suffocating on toxic fumes that were left behind after the extraction of those elements.
Chapter Nine
I awoke to feeling completely rejuvenated like never before. I was thinking clearly and it was like my entire body had been given a vitamin B shot right to where it needed it the most. I heard footsteps and looked up to see the door swing open. Ash came in with a tray of goodies that looked too good to pass up. I had to say that this guy was full of surprises. He lowered the tray and put it in front of me. I began to devour each and every thing that was on my plate. “You’re going to have to slow down or you might choke.” I wasn’t sure if I could, because everything here was, so delicious that it was hard not to try just about everything. The pancakes were fluffy and the French toast was nicely done with maple syrup adorning the top. There were fresh strawberries and a medley of other fruits that were the perfect palate cleanser after a warm meal that consisted of bacon and eggs, not to mention a spicy sauce that danced on my tongue. “I’m glad that you like it, but maybe you should slow down and chew your food.” I was famished and even though I felt alive and alert, didn’t mean that I wasn’t feeling a certain hunger. “I should have warned you about what happens when I go after somebody in their mind. Usually I do that as a last resort in battle, but you were willing to allow me to help you. That shows me that you are able to bend and listen to reason.” “Ash, before you ask, I think that I will need a little bit more time. We still have 1 ½ days left before you are unable to control your animalistic urges. I’m not quite sure if I’m ready to succumb. I will say that you’ve gone above and beyond to show me that you’re not the kind of man that I thought you were. I’ve always seen you as domineering, but underneath it all, you have this softer side that makes me think that there might be something for