One of my first Dustin stories. It really should be edited and rewritten, but I'll get to that later!
Every few years or so the Voracious Vacuum would threaten the Dust Bunny world. The roaring of it's hunger would fill the world with noise. Grabbing what they could, the Dust Bunnies would rush to Sacred Place, the Cradle of Life. There, in the exact center of their world they would wait out the onslaught, renewing old acquaintances, meeting new people, educating their children on the origins of their lives.
In the Cradle of Life could be found the Ancient One. The oldest Dust Bunny known. He had survived untouched by the strange creatures that threatened their world, simply by never leaving the Cradle of Life. Here, among the dirt and grim, he lived to protect his descendants as best he could. Teaching those who came to him willingly, and those who found refuge during a Vacuum attack, the history of their people.
Dustin was playing happily at the playground. He had promised his mother he would stay there, and not wander off to explore. That was easy to do this day, since there was nothing interesting going on. He was busy trying to get his swing as high as possible, so he did not notice when the other kids starting looking around for a strange sound. He had just jumped at the apex of his last swing forward when the Vacuum Siren sounded. Startled, he landed hard on the wood chips bellow.
After he caught his breath, he was up and running home. He had only heard the Vacuum Siren once, when some older boys decided to set it off. All he knew, was that it was loud and scary. He arrived home to find his mother frantically throwing clothes, food, and emergency supplies into open boxes.
She shoved one in his arms. “Here, carry this to the car, and then help with the others.”
Having never seen his mother so upset, Dustin complied without complaint. They had the car packed in short order, squeezed themselves in, and then proceeded to join the traffic jam forming on the road to the Cradle of Life. Eventually the joint efforts of the police and military, the jam was sorted out and everyone was able to arrive safely at the Cradle of Life.
Dustin left his mother arguing over a campsite to explore the ruins. He wandered where ever his whim lead him. With much meandering, he slowly made his way to the center. There he found The Ancient One with other young Dust Bunnies. The Ancient One was speaking, telling the tales of the Voracious Vacuum and courageous Dust Bunnies who tried to stop it.
“It has been more than 15 years since the vacuum has appeared. It's coming this time, was just like the others. A subsonic throbbing felt in the bones, then the growing of a roar as it drew closer. Soon it's one glaring eye stabs out of the darkness. It's voracious mouth devouring all in sight with it's rolling teeth. Nothing can stand in it's way. Your homes will be gone, your schools, you stores, you playgrounds all devoured. Here, in the Cradle of Life, we are safe. The Voracious Vacuum can never reach us here, in the center of our world. It tries. Sometimes it succeeds in catching those who do not respect the boundaries of the Cradle, but those are a foolish few. None have returned to tell us more about the beast. We can see the eye and teeth from atop our mountain here, but no more do we know of it. Many have tried and failed. Always, we look for one brave enough, and smart enough, to seek the beast out. If that happened, someday we might know a way to slay the beast.”
The Ancient One continued onto another story, but Dustin wasn't listening. He was imagining a Victory Parade, his Victory Parade. The whole of Dust World (?) would be there to cheer him and his praise his feat. There he was, a top the largest float, holding aloft the heart of the beast. He would not only follow the beast back to it's lair, but he would watch it, discover it's weakness, and then slay it. Dustin smiled faintly with the thought of the Mayor presenting him with the key to the city and all the important people who would come to hear him speak of his adventures.
He sneaked off, avoiding large groups of Dust Bunnies. He quickly made it to the borders of the Cradle of Life. Away from the loud babble of Bunnies, he could hear the roaring of the Vacuum. It grew louder and louder. Soon Dustin could see the glare of it's baleful eye. He watched in awe as the Vacuum made passes at the Cradle of Life. No one seemed to have left the borders, and the beast seemed anger about that. As he watched, Dustin noticed the beast followed a pattern to it's attack. The Voracious Vacuum would dart forward, then pull back in anger as it's teeth ground against nothing. The next forward pass would be parallel to the first, only covering a small swath of the same ground.
Dustin thought, that he could sneak up to the side of the beast, if he kept to the ground it had already been over. He noted it never went back to where it had been. He hid as the eye swept over him. Once he felt it was far enough passed him, he crept out. Running low to the ground he came upon the back left side of the Vacuum. The roar of the beast was deafening here, it was all Dustin could do to keep from panicking and racing back to safety. He kept the vision of his Victory Parade in his mind's eye as he looked for a place to jump on the beast unseen.
Just as he thought he had spied a place, the beast twisted. The glaring eye pinned him in place, and the whirling teeth sucked him in. Dustin was spun, squished, and finally slammed into the wall of the dust canister. All around him debris was being spun through the air. His eyes rolled with the effort to follow the dirt, and soon his stomach rebelled and he heaved his lunch up. After being sick, he found that he could control his stomach by keeping his eyes tightly shut and trying to hold perfectly still.
Suddenly the roaring and spinning abruptly stopped. Dustin opened his eyes in time to see a blinding white light fill the darkness. Stunned and blinded, he never noticed when the canister was removed and the contents dumped into the trash. As luck would have it, being near the top and being so light, he floated out of the trash and landed on the Phantom Shoe. His luck continued as the shoe wandered back to Dust World (?) to entice more Dust Bunnies to play inside.
He woke to the smell of old gym socks, a familiar one to him. Realizing where he was, and thanking his luck, he climbed out of the phantom Shoe. He was soon picked up by the police who delivered him to his frantic mother, after giving him a lecture on ignoring the Vacuum Siren.
copyright 2008
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