The first ever three-day exhibit of its kind arrived. A month-long promotion campaign in the small town was hopeful attendance would surpass expectations. First two days, the exhibition drew huge crowds. Determined not to miss the display, Owen begged his parents to attend. On the last afternoon, he got his wish.
The creatures he knew only from books would come alive.
Owen Carlson's face pressed hard against the glass. His lips spread wide as exposed teeth piqued the curiosity of the small, exotic dwellers roaming the other side. To a six year old, this seemed like fun. They swam closer to investigate.
Suddenly, the water turned dark as particles sullied the sea bed. The inhabitants lost interest in Owen's twisted expression. His ears popped at the thunderous splash. They scattered in all directions. Seconds later, the area teaming with specimen was void.
Owen's eyes widened. His pupils dilated. With his hands, he pushed away from the glass and retreated a few steps. Small bubbles formed, then expanded. The large fish tank shrunk, resembling a souvenir encased in a water globe. From floor to ceiling, gallons of water that seemed like millions pounded its front glass.
Nearby, Owen's parents stood with their backs turned. The exotic snakes they'd never seen before. Despite the admission price, they were pleasantly surprised with the display of never-before seen exotic aquatic and land animals.
"Dad, Mom, look!" Panting between words, he finally blurted, "alien monsters in the tank!"
Suppressing a laugh, they turned toward their son. Julia Carlson cupped his small face in her hands. Nathan Carlson tossed his hair, then pulled his arm.
"Owen, let's move on. We're late for the remainder. The exhibition closes in an hour."
The remaining displays were a blur.
Riding home in silence wasn't a situation Owen's parents were familiar with. In the rear view mirror, his dad was startled at the intense frown on his son's face. Owen was visibly shaking. He started crying. He banged his hands against his head. He clasp his hands together, then blurted out words they couldn't decipher.
Nathan nudged his wife. Julia turned to see her son in obvious anguish. She attempted to engage in casual conversation about their day's experience.
Owen wouldn't respond.
"If I'd known the exhibition would upset him like this." With a worried look now, Nathan shook his head at Julia, then lowered his voice.
Owned couldn't respond. Staring out the window, his thought, I've seen that alien sea monster before, repeated in his mind like the rewind button on his video game. Nothing.
Moving to his books, he bounced from one to the other until settling on his favorite. A small marine mammal collection. Nothing again.
The family exited to the rest stop. Julia refreshed Owen. They returned to the road. Exhausted, he fell asleep the rest of the ride home.
Arriving home, Owen hurried from the car. He ran to his room. He rummaged through all papers he could find.
Upset at not being able to recall the name of the monster, he plopped down on his bed. His shoulders hunched back. His eyes finally settled on the shelf below his TV.
Staring him in the face was one of those video games their parents reserved for their teen. He'd only seen once. But there it was and a stroke of luck his older brother, now away at college, hadn't missed it.
A slow and uneasy grin spread across his face.
There sitting at the end of the stack was the alien sea monster. Smaller than the one he'd seen at the exhibition. But it was him!
He leaped from the bed. He closed his bedroom door. He grabbed the video game and fumbled to insert it into the slot.
Locating his controllers, he pressed PLAY. The game continued from it's last position.
"WARNING:
You have unleashed "The JawKrull" into the sea
AND Claimed 100 POINTS
CONGRATULATIONS: CONTINUE TO LEVEL 2?"
Fixated on the screen, Owen couldn't stop the whirlwind of emotions.
How did I let The JawKrull out of its cage? What have I done? he thought. How can I go back? I don't want the monster to kill the animals in the sea. I don't want the points! I don't want to advance!
Sobbing. At that moment, he thought about his parent's warnings and realized they may have been on to something when they scolded him before for sneaking into his brother's room and attempting to play the games in his particular collection.
Owen pressed the REWIND button. As the game cycled in reverse, he witnessed the events that led to The JawKrull's escape.
Dead sea animals in its mouth. bloodied sea creatures torn apart, dangling from his massive jaws. Blood spewing, turning the blue water crimson. Rising from the sea about to cause a tsunami that will destroy the world. Weird-shaped weapons harpooned, then bounced off its shell with no effect. Its alien masters, with crimson wings, spurring it on to destroy all the inhabitants in the sea, then proceed above the surface. It was now up to Owen's to defeat The JawKrull.
He removed the game, then returned it to the case. He tiptoed into his brother's room.
He eased back to his room. Lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, he promised himself to play games that were only part of his collection.
My current fractal art project featured several elements I blended to form my alien monster.
First, my two pure fractals I created in Apophysis 7X, an advanced fractal rendering program, was crucial to creating background flair for the aliens cloaked in red riding the monster fish. Also, the fractal bubbles were key for the underwater effect.
In creating my Wombo Art project, I utilized the following text input to create the Dream and retrieve my vision of an huge underwater creature such as a shark that would be convincing and menacing.
Below are my steps:
"Shark eating a person trying to swim away"
Finally, my background image was an amazing free image I discovered that helped to set the scene for the sea bed.
Thanks,
Happy rest of the week everyone with whatever your endeavors.
SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/
