MidReal Story
Beyond Earthly Tongues
Scenario: Man from an alternate dimension lands on earth, forgetting his origin, he must remember and save the world by helping them go beyond earthly languages, and revive the art of telepathy and science experimentation
Create my version of this story
I wake up on a bed in a dimly lit room.
My head is throbbing, and I’m feeling incredibly disoriented.
I have no idea how I got here.
Or what happened.
I have no memory of the past few hours—no, wait, days?
How long was I out?
I don’t think I was asleep, but rather unconscious.
I remember my name.
My name is Alex Johnson.
I know I’m 32 years old.
I’m tall for a guy, of an average build, with blue eyes and short brown hair.
I know all of these things, but I don’t know how I got here or why I was unconscious.
Or even where here is.
I look around the room, and it’s small, with only a single door directly in front of me.
There is a window to my right, but it has heavy curtains drawn across it, blocking out any light from outside.
The air feels stale and musty, and I crinkle my nose in distaste at the smell.
Something isn’t right here.
What happened to me?
I try to recall what led me to this moment, but it’s all just a blur.
I think I was out somewhere?
But I have no idea where that might have been or even why I would have been there in the first place.
The more I try to remember, the more agitated I become that nothing is coming back to me.
My head is really hurting now.
That’s right; something hit me on the head!
Did I fall?
Was there an accident?
Did someone attack me?
There are so many possibilities spinning through my mind right now that I can’t seem to grab onto one long enough to make any sense of it.
This is crazy!
How can I not remember what happened to me?
I slowly sit up on the bed and notice that I’m wearing different clothes than what I remember putting on earlier today.
That’s even more unsettling to me than the fact that I’m here with no memory of how I got here in the first place.
Standing up from the bed, I give myself a quick once-over to check for any injuries or other damage that might explain why I’m here now—I see nothing out of place.
Not even a bump on my head from whatever hit me to put me in this state in the first place.
Feeling more frustrated by the moment, I walk over to the window and pull back the thick curtains blocking out the light—but there is nothing there except for a brick wall!
My growing sense of unease continues to grow by leaps and bounds as I try to process what could possibly be happening here.
This can’t be real!
This has got to be some kind of nightmare!
But pinching myself only serves to make me believe that this is really happening right now.
I can’t take this anymore!
Without another moment’s hesitation, I turn and walk over to the door and open it wide enough for me step outside into the hallway beyond the room.
But what I see there completely shocks me!
I’m standing in an empty corridor that stretches endlessly in both directions as far as I can see in the dim light coming from the single bulb that hangs over my head from the ceiling.
The light flickers periodically on and off, casting the hallway into darkness and then light again in an eerie pattern that chills me to the bone.
I can see that the walls are completely bare except for a few spots of peeling paint here and there, and the floor seems to be made of some kind of smooth tile that echoes loudly when I take a couple of steps out into the hallway itself.
I stop and listen carefully after taking those few steps and realize that I can hear nothing except for the sound of my own breathing and the occasional drip coming from somewhere far down the hall in the other direction.
It almost sounds like there is water dripping from a faucet, or maybe even a small puddle on the floor where it’s leaking down through some unseen crack in the ceiling above me?
I shiver at the thought of being in such an isolated place all by myself with no hope of help coming anytime soon, and I try to gather my courage so that I can start to figure out what might be going on here.
Taking another deep breath to calm my nerves, I walk slowly down the hallway in one direction, trying to get my bearings as I go along—hoping to find any kind of sign or clue that might tell me where I am or how I got here in the first place.
But the hallway seems to go on forever without any breaks or turns, and I realize that I have no idea how many feet I’ve traveled so far or how long it might take me to find the end of this place—if there even is an end!
But just when I’m starting to wonder if I’m walking in circles, I eventually come across what looks like a heavy metal door at the end of the hallway.
It looks exactly like all the other doors I passed on my way here, except that it seems to be made out of solid metal instead of wood or some other material—and it has no windows or other openings that I can use to see inside of it.
It’s almost like a prison door, and it fills me with dread to think that I might be locked up inside of this place without any hope of escape at all.
Clenching my fists at my sides, I take another deep breath to calm my nerves before stepping closer to the door so that I can try to see if there’s any way for me to open it up and get out of this place for good this time around.
But before I can get close enough to touch it, I’m suddenly startled by the sound of something clanging against the metal on the other side—like someone is trying to open it from the inside!
I cry out in surprise, jumping back away from the door so fast that I stumble and fall down hard on my butt with a painful thud, and then I scramble to my feet and look around frantically for somewhere to hide before whoever—or whatever—is on the other side sees me here.
Just then, I hear the sound of something being dragged across the floor on the other side of the door, and then a loud voice calls out from inside: “Hello?Is someone out there?Can you hear me?”
The voice sounds young, but also very faint—like it’s coming from very far away—and it’s filled with panic and confusion, with no sign of any authority or control at all.
Ignoring my better judgment, something inside of me compels me to answer the voice, and I take a step closer to the door and call out: “Yes!Is someone there?”
But as soon as I speak, my voice sounds so loud and harsh that it echoes down the hallway for what seems like forever before gradually fading away into silence—and then the voice on the other side suddenly goes silent as well, as if whoever it was that spoke can’t—or won’t—answer me anymore.
Feeling very confused and disoriented, I take another deep breath to calm my nerves and think more clearly, and then I take a few steps closer to the door and try to call out again: “Hello?Whoever you are, can you hear me?”
But when there’s still no answer after a moment, I press my ear up against the door and listen carefully—and that’s when I hear a faint beeping sound, followed by a loud click!
I’m so startled by the sudden noise that it makes me jump back away from the door and fall down onto my butt again—but this time, my legs feel like jelly beneath me, and they won’t hold my weight at all, leaving me unable to get myself back up again, no matter how hard I try.
Gasping for breath despite my best efforts to stay calm, I reach up to rub my aching head with both hands and try to push away the throbbing pain that keeps getting worse and worse with every move that I make, until it feels like my head is going to explode!
But when I finally open my eyes and look up again, I suddenly realize that there’s a dark shadow looming over me—and it’s coming closer!
I jump up with a startled cry and take a few steps back away from the shadow to get a better look at it, and that’s when I see a tall figure standing in front of me, his arms held out in front of him as if he’s trying to protect me from something.
But as soon as I see the figure more clearly, I also see that he doesn’t have a face at all—just a dark shadow where it should be, making it impossible for me to tell what he might be thinking, or what he might do to me next.
Someone’s coming—a voice in my head warns me, but before I can figure out whose voice it is, I suddenly realize something very strange and very terrifying: I don’t recognize anything around me.
The walls, the floor, the ceiling … they’re all very strange and foreign to me, and it’s impossible for me to tell where—or even when—I am right now, or how I got here.
I try to take a closer look at the dark figure standing in front of me, but the throbbing pain in my head is getting worse—and the harder I try to think about what might be happening to me right now, the more confused and disoriented I feel, until my vision starts to blur and darken, and I can’t see anything at all anymore.
When I open my eyes again, I find myself lying on my back on the floor with a bright light shining down on me from above—and as soon as I see the light, I jump up from the floor and squint against it and try to shield my eyes from its glare.
I don’t know who—or what—is trying to keep me here right now, but I do know one thing: I have to get out of this place right away!
Just then, I hear someone calling out from behind me—“Hey!Wait!”—and when I turn around to see who it is, I see a woman standing there in front of a bright window with one hand held up against the light to shield her eyes from it, staring back at me.
She looks young and very pretty—she has short brown hair and big brown eyes and a very determined look on her face—and she’s wearing a long white coat over a dark blue dress that sparkles in the bright light around her as she holds her hand up to her mouth to call out to me again: “Wait!Where are you going?”
I don’t recognize the woman at all, but for some reason, I feel like I can trust her, so I take a few steps closer to her and call out: “Who are you?”
The woman smiles and nods at me, as if she’s very relieved to see that I’m okay, and then she speaks in a very clear and steady voice: “My name is Sarah Thompson.I’m a researcher at the Linguistics Research Facility.”
I blink in surprise at the woman’s words, feeling very confused and disoriented, and then I shake my head and take a step closer to Sarah and ask her: “What’s a … what did you say?”
Sarah frowns at me in confusion, as if she doesn’t understand why I can’t understand what she just said, and then she takes a step closer to me and speaks again in a very clear and steady voice: “The Linguistics Research Facility.Do you know what that is?”
The linguist working with me gently brushes a lock of brown hair away from her face and stares back at me in surprise as I slowly nod my head in response to her question—and then she smiles and takes a step closer to me and asks: “What is it, Alex?What do you remember?”
“I remember …” I say slowly, feeling as if the words are coming from someone else’s mouth, “ … being very tired.And having some kind of bad dream.”As soon as the words leave my mouth, I suddenly feel an overwhelming wave of dizziness and nausea wash over me—something I often get on Earth when I haven’t had enough sleep—and I close my eyes and press one hand against my stomach and try not to throw up all over myself.
When I open my eyes again, I find that Sarah is staring at me in concern, with one hand held out toward me as if she wants to help me get up off the floor—so I take a deep breath and nod my head and reach out toward her as well and let her pull me up off the floor as I lean on her for support.
When Sarah sees how dizzy I am, she takes one step back from me and studies my face for a moment—and then she takes another step back from me and speaks in a very clear and steady voice: “You don’t look so good.Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nod my head and try to speak, but I’m still feeling very dizzy and nauseous, so I just close my mouth and nod my head instead—and then I take a deep breath and open my mouth and say slowly: “Thank you for your concern … Sarah.”For some reason, the woman’s name sounds very familiar to me—almost as if I’ve heard it before somewhere—so I smile at her and take another deep breath and add: “You’ve been taking good care of me since I’ve been here.”
Sarah smiles back at me in response to my words and takes a step closer to me and nods at me and says: “Of course!And if you’re still feeling dizzy, I think you should follow me outside for a few minutes.You probably just need some fresh air.”I nod at Sarah’s words once again and let her lead me to the door—and then I follow her outside into the bright light, squinting against it as we step outside.
When I open my eyes again and look up at the sky, I see a very beautiful sky above—a sky that is so different from the one I remember back home.
For some strange reason, I feel a sense of peace and calm wash over me as I look up at the sky above, even though it’s so different from the one I remember—and then I hear someone calling out my name from beside me, so I turn my head and see Sarah looking back at me and smiling at me as she says: “Not bad, huh?I told you it would help you feel better.”
I frown in confusion and study the sky above for a moment longer, then I finally realize what’s been bothering me about it all along: instead of being the pale pink color that I remember, the sky here is a deep blue with a hint of green.
When I look back down at Sarah and ask her about it, she smiles back at me and explains: “We’re in northern Canada, Alex.That’s why the sky is so blue.If we were any farther south, it would be green—and if we were any farther north, it would be pink.”
