Slime Busted - A Short Story Of Science Fiction

Image from pixabay.com

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I had this on while writing, perhaps you'd like to listen to it ;)

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Bob and Bill were burglars. They broke into people's houses and ripped off whatever they could find, money and jewelry was mostly their target, light and easy to pick up. Phones and stuff they never touched, credit cards and IDs too. They were honest kind of thieves. They didn't wish to cause further inconvenience - ironic? Maybe.

Their new target was a holiday house up in the hill, far away from the town. Surrounded by tall bushes and leavy trees, it was almost hidden from everyone's eyes. The house belonged to a best-selling author and his actress wife. They needed the peace and privacy, that's why they chose that. They visited it only in the weekends, on Fridays a cleaning lady would come to take care of everything and for the rest of the week the house would remain empty and locked. It was perfect!

On Tuesday they took a good look around the house to check on the perimeter, calculate possible exits and cast at least two escaping plans in case anything went wrong. They were coming back the next night. 

- Bob, it is the meteor shower on Wednesday, I want to watch it with Lucy, I promised her.

- You idiot, with the money we're going to make you can buy her a whole VR set and watch not just showers, but supernovas!

- I guess you're right. But I turned her down last week with the full moon, you remember? When we got into that old lady's house and that silly dog bit you?

- How can I forget? I still can't sit without feeling that stupid pain in my butt!

- So, come on man! Perhaps we can do it on Thursday, after all no one's gonna come here before Friday.

- No, we must do it tomorrow. That way if anything goes wrong and we need to come back, we'll have another day.

- Ok, mate. 

Everything was ready, their backpacks had all the tools they needed to violate the locks of the back door. There was no alarm system set, because the owners had reported a system failure last week and the company wouldn't fix it until next Tuesday, they knew 'cause they had been watching the house and heard the woman telling their cleaning lady when they met on Monday morning at the porch.

- Be careful, Henrietta.Please double-check that you have locked all the doors before you leave. Those stupid lazy bastards won't fix the system for a couple more days. 

- Don't worry, Miss. 

The timing fit perfectly! They had to do it tonight. They got on Bill's motorcycle and parked a few yards before the hill. Hid the bike behind some bushes facing the road, left the keys on and left. They started walking up towards the house. 

- Hey, Bob, look up, I think it's starting.

They both raised their heads to the sky and saw a pretty bright tail slitting the night sky, making its way through the atmosphere.

- Yeah, man! Now come on! We need to hurry if you want to make it to Lucy tonight before the show is over.

And they rushed to the back door. Bob was an expert in opening locks, he had been doing it since junior high school, when his father locked him in the basement for not doing his homework or smoking his mum's cigarettes. Bob was no fool, the basement had all sorts of tools, he learnt quickly how to open the door, sneak out of the house to find his friends and then come back to the basement before "detention time" was over. The little boy had a natural talent.

- I'm in, Bill! Now get the flashlights on. I'm moving upstairs to the bedroom, you go check in the library, the writer must have some goodies in there for us. 

- Done!

Bob ran up the stairs and headed to the bedroom, he went through the drawers, some jewelry was there. Then checked in the wardrobe, a pack of cash was hiding in a pair of boots.

- That's nice to get us for the rest of the month, I suppose.

And then he got downstairs. He wasn't going to make any damages. He went to help Bill.

- Bill, did you find anything good?

- Just some cash, a fancy cigar box, a pocket watch and a few coins that might be worth something.

- Ok, put 'em in your bag and let's go. And... leave the cigar box, remember it's money and jewels.

- Oh man, this is a work of art, look how delicately carved it is. They won't miss it. I'm putting it in my bag, it's not that heavy after all.

- Ok, now let's go!

They quickly ran out of the house and Bill closed the door behind them, they didn't want any squirrels or foxes to get in, they would turn the place upside down. As they were going down the stairs Bob set his foot on a slippery step and fell. 

- Ouch! Motherf#cker! Daaamn! It's the same buttcheek the dog bit me on! Jesus!

- Are you all right? Bill asked worriedly.

- Fine, it just hurts! Eugh! That's slimy and gross, he said after touching the step he fell on. Help me up.

And before Bob finished his phrase a bright white light seemed to shine at the distance.

- Cops?! It can't be, the place has no alarm system.

- But it could have surveillance cameras, Bob.

- We are not amateurs! Had there been cameras we would have seen them!

- No time for chit chatting, man! Now we run!

And they went down the stairs. Now it was Bill who slipped on the grass and fell flat on his face.

- Yuks! I got grass in my teeth. He got up. What the... he said as he looked at his shoe, it was all covered in a gooey gray stuff. 

- Hurry, the lights are getting brighter, we need to get to the bike now!

They kept running, they fell several times before they made it to the bushes where their motorcycle was, and every time it was the same gellatinous blob that had filled the place with "death traps". They reached the bike. Bill got the engine started. The lights were way too bright now.

- Which way do I go, Bob? I can't tell where the lights are coming from, man! He had panicked.

- Aaaargh! I don't know! Just... Just ride as planned!

Bill was now on the road that led to the industrial area. The lights seemed to follow them. He took a turn. Still, they were approaching. He rode through the fields now. He was confused. In front of him he could see something shiny, it looked like a plastic bag. He didn't make it on time to turn the steering wheel and rode right over it. 

Big mistake. It was the same gooe they had fallen on several times before that night. And the bike tilted and fell and they were now on the ground. The lights suddenly had gone off.

- We made it! They lost us! Bill said in relief.

Their heavy breaths were mixing with the noise of the motorcycle that was now on the ground with its front wheel still spinning. They both burst into laughter.

- Yahooo! Bob shouted.

And right then the bright lights came back. Even brighter than before accompanied by a buzzing sound. And they were coming from right above them. They looked up, the sight was jawdropping.

A huge circular device was getting closer to them and a cold white light with thin beams of blue was coming from all around it.

- Man, did you give me any drugs before leaving the house? Bill said.

- If I did, then they were pretty fucking awesome! Bob could not take his eyes off of that "ship"

A few meters above their heads the descent stopped. A round door in the middle of the ship opened abruptly with a hissing sound. A thick purple light pillar appeared and sucked Bob and Bill up. 

Soon after, the lights were gone and you could only hear the motorcycle, whose engine hadn't stopped working.

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*Original story by @ruth-girl - Steemit, 2018

Those slimmy things Bob and Bill stepped on are real. Check below!

Star jelly or astral jelly is a weird, still unexplained mystery that has been reported ever since the 14th century. Various attempts for an explanation include: animal or bird vomit, a type of fresh water algae (cyanobacteria) that get this gellatinous form when mixed with rainwater on the ground, frog spawn vomitted by frog predators, slime mold (eukariotic organisms that live individually, but can gather up to form multicellular colonies for reproductive reasons) or even some paranormal interpretations.

A theory of the paranormal, supports that these molds can have been carried by meteorites, as reports mention their appearance after a meteor strike. The gelly evaporates soon after it reaches the ground, but it could possibly be an alien life form. Let's just hope, that if they are aliens they come in peace :P 

According to seoeditors.com-star-jelly:

 Studies into slime moulds reveal they have complex organisational characteristics and appear to exhibit communication and hunting ability. 

Will we ever know for sure? The truth is out there!

References

wikipedia.org-Star_jelly
wikipedia.org-Slime_mold
seoeditors.com-star-jelly

Thank you so much for your time!

Until my next post,
Steem on and keep smiling, people!