The Longest Commercial in the World

by EvelynHail

After a busy and as-per-usual ordinary day at the office, I decide to release my stress by swimming a little.

I get into my car, the same car I have had for years, listen to some chillaxing blues, and head to a Coral Gables Venetian Pool.

When I arrive, the place is a little lonely. And no wonder, when a polar vortex strikes people avoid going out because of the surrounding cold.

There have never been two vortices on the same day, but people become a little paranoid because since 2020 they have not been occurring so often and prefer to stay at home.

At the edge of the pool, I check the water temperature, adjust my cap, and my goggles that tell me speed, heart rate, calorie consumption and proximity to the edge. I jump in, breaking the water, feeling its warmth that gives me tranquility. I choose the freestyle. Swimming makes me feel like I have magical powers. I feel like flying. It is a magnificent experience.

After getting to the other end, I turn around and switch to butterfly style. When I arrive to the middle of the pool, the goggles show me the distance of my competitor. I assume that someone else has jumped into the pool, but I do not see them, as I am focused on beating my own record.

I make reminiscences of my old and nonexistent competitions. When I get to the edge and with accelerated breathing, I take off my cap.

Suddenly something yanks me by the legs, dragging me to the depths. I try to wriggle myself out of the pull, and see what has caught me. It frees me and starts swimming around me and I can't believe my eyes.

It's a sexy semi-naked girl in blue trikini. Her hair is long and blonde, her ears are pointed, her hands and feet are webbed. She swims at high speed and approaches me with a mocking smile. I try to swim to the surface but she stops me. She holds me tightly by my legs taking me to the deep at high speed.

After a few kicks, I smack her in the face. She promptly lets me go and I manage to reach the surface sucking in some air. I start to swim to the edge and just when I try to get out of the pool, I feel the flesh of my right thigh tearing.

It is an impressive pain. The water starts to turn red. The creature emerges almost flying from the water and holds my head, dragging me to the bottom.

I can't take it anymore.

This creature treats me as its prey, it has tired me and now it is trying to suffocate me. It grips my shoulders tightly, it looks at me ecstatically with its big eyes, black like onyx. I make a last attempt to free myself but it is useless.

The only thing that protects me from the attack of this creature is my white speedo and my ability to swim, that is to say — nothing.

No matter how hard I hit the creature, it doesn't let go of me. It is stronger and more skilled underwater than me. I start to feel a strong burning in my chest and I can no longer breathe. My humanity is being extinguished, when suddenly the creature's grasp relents.

Something shiny and metallic sprouts from its chest, leaving it immobile and bleeding.

I can't take it anymore and I lose consciousness.

***

I feel something cold on my back. It is the floor of the pool.

I feel another mouth on my mouth, and I see drops of water dripping from crimson strands of hair. Everything is blurry. When I come to my senses, I realize a stunning woman in her thirties, robust, with shamrock-green eyes, has rescued me.

I start coughing and throwing up the water that has been invading my lungs, as she places me on my side to be lying on the floor.

"Oh, my leg, it hurts!" I say, crying out in pain.

"Come lie back on your back, I'll help you out," the comely stranger offers.

"Who are you? What's going on here? What's this all about?"

"Calm down. I'm just giving you a hand. Let's stop the bleeding, you've lost a lot of blood."

Between the pain and the desperation, I have no other option but to listen to her. I lay down again on the cold floor on top of the already cold and bloody water.

The stranger kneels next to me and places her hands on my chest. From there, she withdraws what seems to be a syringe.

"It will burn and hurt a little, because you will heal very fast. But we have to stop the bleeding and heal the tissue. Hold on."

There is no choice. Again. I am about to faint. Again.

She applies the "medicine" on my leg near the wound. She was not lying, it burns me a lot, making me scream and shudder, making me cling to her to relieve my pain while whatever she rubbed on my wound was taking effect.

After mere moments, a strange sensation of calmness washes over me. The pain has ceased, and magically, my leg begins to heal completely without leaving a trace of a scar.

The only remainder of the wound I just had is a puddle of blood lingering by my side. I inhale and exhale several times, still feeling weak.

"Calm down, Luca," the ravishing stranger says.

How does she know my name?

She picks up a sword from the ground, the weapon with which she stabbed that she-creature, and retracts it by pressing a button on its hilt, stowing it in the back of her belt.

"What was that all about? That girl or that.. thing tried to kill me!" I meow in a weak voice.

"They call her undine. She is an amphibious creature, a being from another planet that lived here on Earth before humans, hired by those who want you dead," says the stranger as she helps me up and leads us to the lockers.

"What! Why? What have I done? Beings from another planet?" My head is spinning, unable to comprehend all that sudden informational input.

"Luca, after today, your concept of what exists and what is real will change completely. It's not because of something you have done, it's because of what you are going to do. My name is Adriana, and my mission is to protect you and contact our allies. We must find ingredients and artifacts that your father hid to create a portal, and take you to the bleeding mountain of the planet Vhir. Our planet is dying and you are our last hope."

I start to analyze the situation, and think about all those weird things that were happening to me after my grandmother's death.

Now they finally had an explanation, those dreams that transported me to that quartz palace on that earth-like planet with two moons. Understanding all the languages, understanding the alignment of the stars, the moon — now it all makes sense.

"I see it in your face — you have an idea of what I am talking about," Adriana says.

"I think so. I thought they were just dreams, but when the language thing happened to me, I started to worry and now after all this, I'm a little confused. Why after twenty five years of existence I had not felt any of this before? Why now?"

"Because this is the age in which we develop our abilities and we get in total synchrony with our planet. Because all of us who were born on it are more linked than humans to it. You didn't feel it before, because you had a genetic blocker which was broken, after you put on the necklace that belonged to your father. The one you found in your grandmother's chest."

"By all this you mean I'm not human?"

"Exactly. They are our replicas, but we are more advanced, technologically, mentally, morphologically and spiritually. In a way our planets are linked. We were created from the same stardust as they call it, we have the same DNA as the rest of the creatures that inhabit our planets."

I have been stunned with everything I have heard. I just keep silent while I get dressed and start to think I'm going crazy.

"Now what do we do? Who are the ones we have to find?"

"Ileya is her name. She is a hybrid, she will guide us. She will give us the coordinates and what we need for our travels."

"I should have guessed, they are scattered all over the globe, it was my father's style. Hybrid?"

"Yes, a daughter of humans and aliens. And exactly, he did it for security. The empire that runs this planet is dangerous. They are bloody beings that seek total domination of everything and if they could access the technology of the portals it would be terrible."

"You mean the humans?"

"No, the Grindians. They pretend to be humans, they are in the upper echelons of command, infiltrated everywhere, creating wars, diseases, you name it. They are a dominant and ambitious race that feeds on the pain and despair of other beings."

"Are they the ones who want me dead?"

"No, it's another race, the Throdins, our bitter enemies who don't want you to come to the planet."

"And why am I here? And not in Vhir?"

"Because your parents hid you here, but unfortunately they died in the attempt to protect our planet. It's a long story, Luca. After our search is complete, I will teach you how to invoke the memories of your parents and catch up with our culture and our history. You are the Chosen One. The one that is prophesied to bring about intergalactic peace."

I just nod, speechless.

"We have to go to your grandmother's house, to your father's laboratory. We will dry your clothes there, otherwise you will suffer from hypothermia. We can control our body temperature to a certain degree of freezing."

Impressive.

"Wow! You have to tell me more about our gifts."

Adriana nods her head in agreement, gently brushing my arm with her tender touch, and we are quickly headed to the car, all set to go to our first stop — my father's laboratory.

I don't know what will happen next.

Today has been a day full of strong emotions.

I have been assigned a mission of which I don't have a very detailed account, or any account, for that matter. Without knowing what new and exciting dangers I might now face.

I might have met the woman of my life, too.

I have gone from being a simple public servant to a planetary servant.

To you, who are now reading my annals, I say this.

Are you sick and tired of going in the same routine every day?

Feeling like a little chubby-cheeked hamster trapped in its wheel, are we?

You want to be assigned a space mission for intergalactic peace, and meet the woman of your life?

There is still hope.

You may not be a simple human being.

When you are having a busy and as-per-usual ordinary day at the office, do decide to release your stress by swimming a little.

Get into your car, the same car you have had for years, listen to some chillaxing blues, and head to a Coral Gables Venetian Pool.