Housed and Fed

This is a sneak peek at my first chapter of my new book Time Hoppers. This is first edit and first take. Many things are subject to change. Please enjoy!

Time 1

The clock clicked. Ben looked up from his desk, 4:10, almost time to leave for the day. Work had been slow, life even slower. Ben stretched his arms and yawned. It’s been two years. Ben thought to himself. Two years since he started his job. Helping people budget their income for a local non-profit. Most of the time he just sat at a desk. Ben had just turned 25 the birthday card on his desk reminded him of such. He was a good employee and he enjoyed his job. Hopefully there is more to life. “Ben,” the sharp voice caught him off guard. He slipped out of the normal daze. “Are you going golfing after work?” His co-worker Angie stood in the door. She was a pretty gal 5 ‘2 and blonde hair, married. “Yeah,” Ben cleared his throat. “Yeah, I have a tee time for 5 pm I’m hoping to make.” Angie smiled, “Good, you deserve it. Happy birthday!” Ben watched her walk away. “Thanks!” He yelled after her. Ben had a surprising amount of hobbies: golf, running, hiking and jiujitsu. Though he’d missed a month of jiujitsu, his coach would be disappointed. Right now however golf was on the mind.

 I better get going. He grabbed his coat, his water bottle and closed the office door. The automatic lock closed behind him. I wish I had more time in the day, he muttered to himself. 

Ben was tall 6 ‘4 to be exact. Brown eye’s, light brown/red beard and brown/black hair. Everything seemed to be a little brown. He pulled the head cover off of his driver. The golf course was quiet today. Not a lot of people out with the chilly weather. Ben rubbed his temples. His head hurt. I hope I play well today. He hadn’t been sleeping well. The last few nights had been a struggle. Strange dreams. God what was that dream last night? He was with a girl he didn’t recognize, her dark hair leading him through a train. A derailed train. There were bodies on either side, people killed? Blood was smeared over the seats and floor. Why was I there? Ben thought to himself. It was an odd dream. 

The wind was blowing slightly. He put the tee in the ground. Let’s not worry about a dream, now we worry about golf. The driver came down with a swish and ping. Good contact but the ball went slightly right. At least I’m playing alone so no one saw that. Then something caught Ben’s eye. A man standing near the club house. The club house was a ways away from the first hole tee off location. It sat across a field and road. Ben leaned in to look closer to get a better look. The man was staring at him. Not totally strange since he may just be watching my drive. Yet something sent chills down Ben’s spine. The man, it was a man. Had a smile, a large toothie grin and his eyes didn’t blink. He just stared right at Ben. “Hi,” Ben raised his hand to wave as he yelled. No response.

 Just then a car crossed in between Ben and the man on the road. As it passed the man was gone. Jesus, that was like a horror movie. Ben shook his head at the thought. He walked over to the golf cart and put his driver back into its slot. What was that? He looked back to where the man was standing, nothing. Just an open field and the club house. Out walked Mark the golf pro, he waved to Ben. Ben waved back. Man, I need to get some better sleep. The golf cart revved into action as Ben drove towards his ball. 

His house was a little thing. The main door led to the living room which had the kitchen behind it and his bedroom to the right. Through the kitchen on the far wall was the bathroom. Ben set his keys on the table, turned on the tv and started up the burner on the stove. Tonight he would have some spinach cooked with eggs and ground turkey. Not always a health freak but he liked to keep track of calories. Ben had always been a little paranoid as well. He didn’t leave things to chance. So tonight he locked the door. I hope that man isn’t outside my house. He moved the current slightly to check. Just an empty road and his toyota camry. 

The tv was blaring a random youtube video as Ben dumped the ground turkey into the little sauce pan. It wasn’t fancy but it was food. Just a little salt, pepper, smoked paprika and wala. Dinner. Ben always ate fast and tonight was no exception. After food he would call it a night. He liked to lay in bed and watch videos on his phone. He liked living alone; it was quiet. Ben was a small town boy born and raised in Montana. Now he lived and worked in a town of thirty thousand. Still very small but large for Ben. He was making good money, had good hobbies and had good friends. Life’s rough, there’s no need to add to it. He set the bowl in the sink and opened his bedroom door. His bed sat in the left corner of the room. He still didn’t have a bed frame. It just sat on the floor. His gaming desk with Ben’s PC sat to his right. He moved the blankets and slipped into bed. He wasn’t in the mood for too many videos tonight and sleep was calling his name. 

Ben was in a room he didn’t recognize. It was dark outside, he could tell. The room had bars over the windows. A guard sat outside. Am I in prison? Ben knew it was a dream. He had a weird ability to know when he was dreaming. He walked up to the bars “Hey, where am I?” The guard didn’t budge. “Hey?” Ben looked around for a rock or something to throw to get the guard’s attention. A rock sat in the corner of the room. As Ben touched the rock he couldn’t feel it and it just passed through his fingers. What? Am I a ghost? Ben shook his head in confusion. Can I pass through the door? Ben turned and looked at the large metal door to the cell. He walked up to it and stepped through. The cool night air met him. He wasn’t in what Ben would consider a normal prison more like a park courtyard. The building behind him was a small rectangle compared to the expansive fenced parameter around it. There were torches on all sides of a path, a cobble walkway leading down the field. 

Ben started walking along the path. As he did, someone passed him more like stepped around him. The person had on a black suit on the back sat a massive smiling sun with the words I’m Happy above it.  “Wait? Can you see me?” The person kept walking down the path in front of Ben. He followed close behind. Then another person passed him. Wearing the same suit as the first person. What the hell is this dream? All of a sudden both men in front of Ben stopped and turned to their right. Two large trees sat at this point in the path. It looked like an intersection in the trail. They grabbed torches from the path and started walking down the path. As Ben turned the corner he noticed the path was lined with trees and people appeared from all angles onto the path. Torches in hand and the same black suits. All marked with the smiling sun logo. Thousands of people now walked down the path and yet Ben was somehow behind all of them. They walked out of the trees into a massive courtyard and a stage sat in the middle. 

 In the middle of the stage sat a man. He was in what looked like a large throne. His elbow rested on the seat chair and he was leaning on his hand. Ben felt shivers run up his spine. Though the court yard was filled with thousands of people the man’s eyes seemed to pierce right through Ben. The man stood from the chair and lifted his hands toward the sky. Ben could see the man’s features better now. He was tall with jet black long hair. His skin was pale like someone who has seen no sun. He wore a black suit pinstripped with yellow. As he spun around on the stage his arms still raised the same logo as everyone else showed on his back. 

The man turned back to face the crowd. Ben was far from the stage but as the man spoke his voice boomed. As if he was standing next to you. “My Children! Thank you for your continued service. Thank you for your unwavering devotion. Thank you for being a happy one.” The crowd in unison raised their heads directly up towards the sky and started chanting. “Happy ones, happy ones, Happy ones.” The crowd’s noise grew as more people started to filter in. All around the court yard thousands of people were chanting and looking straight up towards the sky. The man on stage brought down his arms in a silencing motion and in an instant the crowd went dead quiet.

 The man looked around before he slowly spoke. “Times have been dark for a very long time.” He closed his piercing blue eyes. “We all know how hard it has been, politicians steal our money, our homes, our freedoms. They call us a burden and watch our every move. The world would suffice without all of them. All who don’t see the bright beautiful light need to be removed.” The crowd murmured in approval. “Those who don’t have our intellect, our ability or our drive. They must be eradicated, killed and destroyed. We’ve lived too long in a world created by those to stupid to realize. To stupid to grasp. To stupid to know what makes their world move.” The crowd erupted in cheers and whistling. The man raised his arms back up to the sky. “For we are the Happy Ones!!” The crowd started chanting again. “Happy ones, happy ones, happy ones.” The man silenced them again. His eyes shot up and pierced Ben. He was looking right at him. How can he see me in this crowd? “We have a new guest with us today.” The whole crowd turned their heads. Every single eye met Bens, and he woke.