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The thought echoed. Jim’s mind was hollow from the desert heat. Critical and dry from dehydration. Surely he hallucinated, though the recollection rebounded once again. The imagery set crisply upon his mind’s eye. Moments ago Jim was disturbed by an unnatural occurrence. He was resting in a plastic lawnchair when a shadow cast upon him and his trailer. The shadow lingered for a few moments and then the sunlight returned. He felt unusually light. Gravity ignored him while the shadow persisted. A feeling reminiscent to the descent of a rollercoaster. He opened his eyes to identify the shade. Sunlight reflected from a silver hull like a turtle shell. The underside contained a writhing amorphous cloud, as dark as the night sky. Jim peered into the churning maelstrom in bewilderment. The cloud shifted. Colors poured in. Shapes took form in the contrasts. Jim was stunned. Dazed. Astonished. He gazed into a forming scene. He could see deeply into the cloud. He saw mountains. The eruption of a volcano. Gray ash falling like snow. He peered ever more intently. The cloud projected the path of the falling ash until the ground drew into sight. Lush vegetation. Ferns, trees, grasses of all species. Slowly choking. Dying. Smothered in a toxic blanket. The scene fell to a gray pause. Jim felt loss. The color drained from the cloud leaving it dark once again. It released him from its grasp, Jim felt the aches return to his lower back, his stomach sloshed as he resettled. The shell vanished. Leaving him desperate to rationalize. He blinked rapidly and stood up. He felt light headed. Jim walked over to his cooler, pulled a beer from the lukewarm icewater, cracked the tab with his index finger, brought the can to his lips; “slurrp”. He tossed the can onto the pile near the firepit. Jim wobbled to his tin can of a trailer, crawled into bed, and closed his eyes; shocked and ready to repress.