Laufota. Where does this word come from? Bits of memories mixed together into a single impenetrable lump; only this name floated on the surface of consciousness. This... name? Yes. A name that was given by somebody to this roller-coaster of nightmares where I was spinning and couldn't stop spinning...
I was sitting on a whitish seashore, as if waiting for myself, while time roared away into eternity. I felt as if I was in Palanga*; blue sky spread over my head, and the sea was foaming just like the Baltic sea. Pine trees grew on the landward of the dunes. Only the people and the Sun were missing (The Sun could not be seen, although the sky was bright with daylight).
Were those visions just figments of my imagination? If so, well done. The cool, salty scent of the sea, the pleasant warmth of earth against my body. I could see the clear sky and the sand of dull white. I heard the steady beat of the tide and kept an eye on my old-fashioned watch. I had to admit it behaved as in a dream: the hour hand spun like a top and the minutes hand wasn't even visible! Finally I saw some moving thing, climbing down the nearest dune. It resembled a greyish worm, wrapped in a strange cloud of fog. Soon the fog that surrounded it tore apart and everything seemed real. The sound of the creature's panting was even more life-like. I felt uneasy: the worm examined me with its huge eyes, apparently trying to figure out if I was edible or not.
I heaved a sigh of relief when the creature plunged into the sea with a loud splash. Suddenly, there was an excruciating pain in my tired head, as if somebody was drilling a hole in my brain. The pain was so sharp, I instinctively clutched my hair... What my hand found there was a nail driven into my skull. Sticky blood was running down my hair and cheeks. I summoned all my courage in an attempt to pull out the unwanted 'sprout'. That very moment I lost consciousness.
***
When I opened my eyes I still felt cool sea air around me. Oh Lord! Am I still alive? I expected to find the nail still stuck in the top of my head when I touched it. To my surprise, it wasn't there. I felt around in my hair, but didn't feel even a tingle of pain, nor any dried blood. Am I dreaming? Or perhaps the earlier visions were dreams?
I no longer paid attention to my watch. This world didn't recognise time. Standing up, I didn't even look at the sky that was not lit by any source of light. I knew that from before. I thought I'd move away from the beach, hoping to avoid something new and unpleasant happening.
As soon as I walked over the dunes I saw a town of tiny cottages, looking like some sort of Disneyland. Tiny people walked around here and there, reminding me of trolls in fairytales. Only, these creatures were even smaller and, I thought, more intelligent than trolls. A steam omnibus crawled down a narrow little street. Its heavily panting boiler spewed out clouds of thick smoke. Out of a cottage that was bigger than the rest, a company emerged, armed with swords and muskets. Apparently everybody has noticed this sensational, grotesque creature, that is, me.
I rushed back to hide myself in the thick of the trees, before I realised that the trees were not tall enough to hide me. Then I started towards the sea but, unfortunately, the sea wasn't there anymore. Across the slippery wet seabed, an iron dragon came crawling. The noise it made was that of a busy factory; screeching, clanking, and rumbling.
I didn't have a weapon. I could only brandish my belt, with its buckle. All the while, the dragon-like thing moved steadily towards me. I dashed to the left, and heard the sound of gunshots. Tiny bullets stuck into my clothes and bare arms. I almost screamed with pain. Blood was seeping out of the wounds. I saw miniature cannons hidden in between the short trees. A salvo rang out. A hissing sound of a cannonball, and my right kneecap was shattered. I stumbled down. In my despair I wanted to yell, "Hold your fire!" but my weakening voice faded in the hellish noise.
I fell to the ground. Soon there were armed trolls running towards me. Again the shower of bullets... but the fire ended abruptly. The fire-breathing head of the dragon appeared between the trees and the attackers ran away. Desperate, I waited for my life to end.
The dragon wasn't as big as it seemed before. The iron creature was about the size of an average dog. Finally I realised that this was nothing else than an iron dog. It came close to me and started licking the wounds left by bullets and cannonballs. The sharp pain came back and made me push the dog away. I shouldn't have done that, though. After the dog ran away, the heads of the damned trolls appeared in sight once again. Those scums had seemingly regained their courage and soon they were all around me. The little wood was echoing with their weird voices:
"Heru an lu!"
"Lut an stragors!"
"Ea nool nat!"
Strange though it may seem, I understood what they were shouting:
"He saved us!"
"He drove away the stragor!"
"The danger is over!"
The trolls crawled on their knees in front of me and offered apologies. I couldn't help smiling. Some of the dwarfs blabbered that I was sent by their God Ramrot. I would have laughed out loud if it wasn't for the excruciating pain. I wanted to drive those creatures away but stopped myself before I did.
"You did me wrong..."
That was all I managed to say.
***
They healed me. It must have been quite a while until I was whole again. During that time I found out that there was no day-night cycle in Laufota, but I couldn't get used to it. The trolls, when being told about the world where darkness existed, were astonished, although they could recall ancient legends about Darkness that disappeared, about sizzling-hot stars, and about ice that once held the Earth in its grip.
The little folk didn't forget to bring me generous presents for saving them. The food they gave me was satisfying, too. But the time came when I made up my mind to leave. Upon hearing this, the trolls were sad. Anyway, I had to find a way how to get out of here, only I didn't know how. I was fed up with this world. I felt lonely. Up until then I hadn't met a single human being during all the time (I wonder, how long?) I spent in the dwarves' company. Actually, I once encountered some bearded creatures that were much taller than trolls. They hunted my guardians with some sort of fishnets. The bearded ones were true cannibals: I saw them devouring several trolls alive. I was shocked and I rushed to defend the trolls. The attackers were not so quick to retreat, even though they were only as tall as my waist. Only my stature and determination drove them back.
I often used to come back to the sea. The seabed, once empty, was again filled with salty water. As soon as I was healed, I thought about taking a swim there. When I told trolls of this, they nearly screamed:
"Do not enter the water! Hiulona will snatch you! You'll melt in there!"
I didn't have any idea of what they were taking about, but I didn't go swimming that time.
While in Laufota, I became interested in the history of the world, and even more in its geography. I learned that no inhabitant of this land had ever sailed the sea. According to troll's leader Esinec, oceans and seas are graves of the living. Everybody goes there to die, I realised, so it's not proper to intrude upon the peace of the graveyard by sailing there. That's why trolls had only a scant knowledge of their world. Even the most learned man of the land shouted at me:
"Don't you know that we live in Terius land, whose shape resembles that of Sinhal's sword?"
"Can you tell me then, are there any men in your country that have knowledge about the sky?" I asked.
"On the other side of the woods, Iret's worshippers dwell. In the mountains over there, they have long tubes. With the help of those tubes they watch Gelmora."
Such was the answer that I got before I set out on my journey. I promised the little folk to return soon.
It didn't take long to reach the place. I crossed their ridiculously small wood, crossed a rivulet or two, passed a couple of miniature towns, marched across a smooth field and reached the foot of the mountains. Well, the mountains were not that small, but I found the observatory without any difficulty.
As I approached it, two lizard-like beings emerged from the building through a tiny door. The beings were no taller than my knees. Careful not to scare the little scholars, I said in a voice as low as possible:
"I came from Anuhari land..."
"Are you a friend of chelubs?", one of the creatures enquired in a shaky voice.
"I'm just their guardian", I answered.
"Ramrot's sending?"
"It may be so. I heard you are learned in the ways of the sky."
"We... Yes, we have learned a little bit. Through our polished glasses we can see Ushuba. We have watched the end of Gelmora."
"Do you know then, are there men who can fly across the sky like birds?"
"The Gods do not permit that. The sky is sacred."
"Did anybody fly away to Gelmora?"
"No", both astronomers answered simultaneously.
I began to understand the local peculiarities: some people were afraid of the sea, others were scared of the sky, while the rest perhaps worshipped the earth like Lamaists and wouldn't allow anyone to work it. To hell with all this absurd blabber! I remembered Earth. It seemed to me I had left it thousands of years ago. Crestfallen, I returned to the trolls' company. They greeted me with their bizarre music and an abundance of food. While eating, I dozed off...
***
Waking up, I felt earth pressing heavily on my aching body. I was suffocating. I couldn't breathe in, because clots of earth were falling straight into my throat. Again some surprise? I started tossing around like crazy, until I saw daylight again. It turned out that those scum had stabbed me all over with spears and thrown a thick layer of dirt over me. Right nearby I saw a petrifying monster, a dusky giant serpent. It looked as if it couldn't wait to put an end to me with its forked tongue and teeth of steel.
The damned trolls were nowhere to be seen. I had no strength to stand up. The earth around felt damp: I thought it could be the blood that I lost. But that was not the case. Now I was surrounded by the sea. To the left of me, I noticed the familiar shore. While I looked around, the serpent disappeared. I lightened up, thinking that I had returned to my native world. However, suddenly the bearded creatures that once I had driven away rushed at me. They yelled:
"Tva kam diu! Twa kam too!"
I understood they called me a blockhead, a wretched moron. In my rage I yearned to smash them all into one wet mass, but the creatures began flogging me with their sharpened whips, and an unbearable pain gripped my head...
***
I ran my fingers over my belly, expecting to find spears sticking out of it, or torn intestines, but there was nothing. I didn't even feel pain. Soon a black-haired fellow in a white uniform appeared. A physician? Did this mean, then, that I was not in good health? But this question was buried under another thought: I saw a human being, maybe I was on Earth?!
The physician was busy at his medicine cart, his back turned to me. On the table nearby there was a newspaper. I noticed a photo of myself in it. The story underneath it said: "On the beach of the Baltic sea a man was found, wearing a strange looking overall suit. He was in a delirious state and mumbled words in an unknown language. He was therefore placed in a mental hospital..."
Am I in a mental hospital? The physician stepped towards me holding a syringe in his hand.
"Mos lane hore ir?", I asked and suddenly realised it was the troll language.
I struggled to remember words of my native tongue. Terror engulfed me when I realised my efforts are in vain.
The physician grinned as he attempted to give me a shot. I leaped out of the bed and dashed towards the door - only to bump into two husky fellows. Swiftly they forced me into a white shirt with long sleeves. The next moment I was rolling on the floor, pressed down by their firm hands. I felt the sharp stab of the needle into my back...
***
I was being kicked like a miserable slave. A long freight train was riding across my body. I screamed, I begged for forgiveness, all in vain. The people (or rather the hell's abominations) that tortured me were wearing old style clothing, so I thought I had been transported back in time. I changed my mind as I found myself in an electric chair. I was on a stage, like in a boxing ring, while the audience buzzed with excitement. If it hadn't been for the wire fence around, I most likely would have been torn to pieces. Two guards armed with flame-throwers stood close to me, shifting from foot to foot. Some fellow was fussing around with a console, apparently making the devil's machine ready for action. A shudder swept through me. I yelled in a voice that was not my own:
"Don't turn it on! Don't turn it on, you stinking punks!"
My voice drowned in the cheer of the audience. I struggled to free myself. The belts that kept me tied unexpectedly snapped. I plunged into the dark throat of the abyss.
***
A moment later I was lying in a familiar, cosy room. Finally I was home in my apartment. A pulsating feeling in my head, as if my brain was being churned into butter. The room was dimly lit. My wife came in, and I felt as if hundreds of years had passed since I saw her last. She leaned above me. I admired her gentle features. But what was this? Suddenly Aira's face began to change. In no time she turned into a dried, wrinkled hag, and she sank her monstrous teeth into my throat. I bled and bled, and soon turned into a dried-out mummy, just like her. With great effort I climbed into a sarcophagus. I don't know why it sounded like a church bell.
***
When the lid of my sarcophagus came open, I got a view of the tiny trolls' cottages and a steam-driven coach moving here or there. Trolls aligned in a military formation were marching to battle the enemy. When they saw me (thank God, I wasn't a mummy anymore), the warriors invited me to join them, but I refused.
I set out again to visit the sky worshippers. Close to the observatory, I heard voices:
"Let's try to take off, upwards."
"Yes, we can try."
"Dial the code. Quickly, before all this nightmare starts again."
"Seems like we aren't going to get out of here, ever."
"Damn that Kolvester's paradox! Who could know that the theoretical ramblings of that senile old man would ever come true! I'm going mad with all these horrors! God, the visions I had when we got stuck in the vortices of space-time! Here comes another actor of this absurd theatre. Do you see that scaly guy coming our way?"
"He's not a 'scaly guy', he's wearing the same uniform as we."
The two furry creatures with fish heads became astronauts, and the observatory turned into the cosmobile. I climbed inside, back to the company of my travel-mates. Both of them looked at me with distrust.
"Is that you, Egi?"
"That's me. Me. Don't you see? I'm real, not some apparition."
"So, all of us are here", the Commander of the cosmobile announced.
"Time to go home."
Then I recalled our flight to the Lautarius 273'rd sector. We came upon a mysterious grey hole. We decided to investigate it. That's how we got stuck. Truly, it's time to return home... But the mechanic (heavens, no!) bared his monster's teeth and stabbed me in the chest with a sharp-edged trident, with all his might.
A wave of black ink flooded my consciousness...
* Lithuanian holiday resort