Renegade T.M. Read Online Free

He returned to his vertically challenged stance on the floor, and all the world seemed to shout “ jump ” at him.
     
    “ Fine ,” he said getting to his feet , “if that's what you all want .”
     
    That said, he made his way back to where he had just been, climbed up on to wall, and jumped off.
     
    As Pete fell, he imagined that he was a slice of toast spinning gracefully through the air. Was this the end, o r rather, only just the beginning?

1.
     
    It was dark...
     
    Very, very dark...
     
    It was in fact so dark, that even if there had been an enormous light switch with the sign “ please push for light ” attached to it, one would still abandon the hope of ever seeing light again, in light, (or in this case, not in light), of the quite pervading absence of any...
     
    It was so dark that there may well have been a entire Roman phalanx, who, having become separated from the main body of troops, as well as from their own better remembered historical epoch, now found themselves wandering around quite purposelessly, clashing sword, shield and breastplate, in what must seem like a hellish game of survival, where the winner won when they were no longer being stabbed, bashed or pummelled, and their prize was just that...
     
    It was so dark that it was again equally possible that but one man lay alone in the dark, contemplating the quite all-consuming black, and becoming increasingly distressed by the situation and the swelling numbers of tedious, far-fetched descriptions of just how dark it really was.
     
    “ I must be dead ,” said Pete, the statement instantly consumed by the inky black.
     
    Pete was all rather t er rified by this position, he did not much care for his enforced blindness, and the deathly quiet seemed custom designed to unnerve him further.
     
    “ It really is very dark ,” he addressed who he imagined to be a fatally wounded Roman centurion , “ I thought heaven was meant to be all light and fluffy, you know, with angels flying about offering eternal salvation at reasonable prices .”
    “ Ungh ,” grunted the imaginary, near-death centurion.
    “ What I reckoned was ,” he continued encouraged , “ I'd die right, you know, all old and snug in both skin and bed alike, and then it would be all whoosh, right up to heaven, no messing about with customs and the usual “ I sincerely hope you weren't considering bringing all that sin into heaven sir ” , no, just straight through, blabbing away on a cell phone as I leaf through a wad of credit cards, and selecting my most ethically imbued visa, I then skim it across a cloud into Saint Peter's sweaty palm, who, with a wink, then went “ Welcome to Heaven! ” .”
    “ Ungh .”
    “ Yeah , that's how it should be, not like this, this beastly black and soundless space .”
     
    Pete always found that he became more articulate when he was frightened, and figured that it must be some evolution thing which had resulted in this way of talking oneself out of trouble. However, his schizophrenic soliloquy was not working and his fear seemed to be growing in exact proportion to his increasing awareness of just how dark it really was, (i.e . really dark, see above). He was very scared now and fully cognisant of the fact that the dark he now faced was not the sort where, with but a slight shift of position, it could be quickly dispelled by the blinking of an alarm clock, where little red light-sabres perform their staggered, electrical linedance; no, this was a quite insistent black, the kind of black that arrived at a party already drunk, making sure everyone knew of its portentous presence. His fear was proceeding in leaps and bounds toward a pit marked panic, and he realised that he had to act now.
     
    “ Hello !” h e bellowed, no longer paying his injured, fictitious comrade heed.
     
    The darkness remained.
     
    “ Hello !” h e tried again.
     
    Nothing.
     
    H e decided to try a more physical tack, and leaping to his feat, he then