Fegefeuer’s Blackout
A trembling and shaking began to overcome Fegefeuer’s
Emporium. There was a loud rumbling thunderous sound as
Fegefeuer’s eyes widened and perspiration collected on his
brow, and then shock.
At first Fegefeuer had though it was a rare Las Vegas
earthquake, however the sight he now beheld said different.
The rumbling continued, and the smoke Fegefuere had so
assiduously arranged for had begun to billow away from an
emerging center of activity, not far from the first aisle of the
Emporium. Fegefeuer could not believe what he was seeing,
and he struggled to retain his composure.
In the center of what had been the first aisle, the ground was
opening and light and stone were emerging, and dirt spewed
out, like a darkened volcano. The fog continued to clear and a
hill began to emerge and grow out of the chasm that had
erupted. It was more than a crack in the floor of the first aisle;
the first aisle was gone, the carpeting was gone and a craggy
hill was rapidly emerging and growing into a two story, then
three story, hill.
The fog continued to clear. Fegefeuer was terrified. Still
attempting to compose himself, he outstretched his hand
before him.
The hill continued to emerge from the ground and pierced and
then collapsed the roof of the Emporium. Streams of intense
sunlight crashed the tableau. A grinding sound
continued, and then louder, and louder still, and finally the desert
sky was suddenly visible above Fegefeuer, who looked up in
trembling horror.
Everything then became dark, as the streaming light
disappeared and Fegefeuer caught his breath and clutched his
hand to his chest in the unexpected moonlit desert evening.
What is happening? His mind's eye fluttered.
Below the Emporium was Fegefeuer’s cellar, where seven
rows of desks and computer equipment sat, accommodating
Fegefeuer’s other pursuit. When Fegefeuer wasn’t selling pool
noodles he was composing and debugging lines upon lines of
computer code under Las Vegas Boulevard.
His patient and analytical mind was not comprehending the
vision before him. Where was the cellar? What had happened
to the roof of the Emporium? How had this glittering, nearly
black hill come to extrude from where the first aisle of his
Emporium had been, just a few seconds ago? He clutched his
chest again, wondering if he was having a stroke or a heart
attack and astonished as to why he had no idea how to answer
this question.
It was dark and Fegefeuer heard what sounded like shattering
glass, only much louder, and he took a few steps backwards,
disbelief quickly evolving into unmitigated panic.
All of the smoke gone, he looked up the glittering hill
possibly six or seven stories tall, now towering before him,
the parking lot nowhere to be seen, and Fegefeuere walked
towards the hill, still clutching his chest and still beheld by
terror and panic.
The next moment Fegefeuer was able to clearly recall went
like this: he was flat on his back, in the cellar of the
Emporium. He slowly looked up and saw the stairs that led to
the end of the first aisle of the Emporium, which was again
visible, one level above him. The lights were all out and it was
stiflingly and uncharacteristically warm in the cellar. Seven rows of desks and computer equipment sat silently, with no
humming, and emitting no flashing lights whatsoever.
Haltingly, Fegefeuer forced himself off the linoleum cellar
floor. He strained to reorient himself. Through sheer force of
will, he reached for the water dispenser in the cellar. He
poured a cup of it over his head, then another, and another.
There was no longer a glittering stone hill towering before
him, and the illuminated dessert sky no longer shone above, it was replaced again by the nondescript ceiling of the cellar. The
lights and everything else in the cellar were still all shut off.
Fegefeuer, haltingly, made his way up the stairs and
incredulously looked all the way across the Emporium.
The smoke from the fog machine continued to scent the air,
and it was still dark, and this brought a sense of certitude to
Fegefeuer’s perception.
He had made his way up the stairs in the dark easily, from
memory, and also because glow in the dark paint illuminated
the path on the stairs and the exits. Now, behind the register,
Fegefeuer retrieved and extinguished his flashlight, and began
to more carefully survey his surroundings.
Nothing looked amiss, however it was warmer, much warmer
than usual in the Emporium. Everything was turned off; the
overhead lights, the air conditioning. The entertainment
system, which provided atmospheric moody music was
similarly silenced. Slowly, as Fegefeuer continued to regain
his sense of composure, he noted and listened intently to
growingly clear sounds of Strip traffic just outside.
Had the heat caused him to faint and hallucinate? As his mind
continued to rapidly consider the possibilities, a whirring
sound caught his attention; everything suddenly
blinked back on; the lights, the air conditioning, the sound
system.
Still confused, however, also exhaling in sincerely held relief,
Fegefeuer made his way to the front door of the Emporium,
and locked it, almost simultaneously flipping the old
fashioned door sign to indicate the Emporium was closed.
Fegefeuer turned back around and walked back towards the
cash register, quickly considering that he needed a few
moments to collect his thoughts, to decide if he needed an
ambulance, to consider if everything might shut off again, and
what he would do if it did... he was mentally scanning all of
these possible eventualities when Fegefeuer noticed, across
from the register, atop the burled walnut wall unit; the
terrarium sat, EMPTY.
The red, white and black milksnake Fegefeuer had named
after himself had left its enclosure. Fegefeuer the Snake had
exited the Emporium.
Part 2
Vencesla at the SPA
In the dimly lit spa waiting room, Vencesla was informed that her spa appointment had to be rescheduled. The hotel casino was experiencing a blackout, and they had been instructed to evacuate.
A full half hour later Vencesla sat in a pool lounger behind her hotel, awaiting permission to return to her room. The spa level was near the ground floor, so it had only been several small flights of stairs and hallway before Vencesla had been escorted to the rear courtyard of her lush accommodations. She absently watched some adults as they yelled “Marco!" “Polo!” in the dusking afternoon sun. There had been some splashing commotion afterward and she shifted her attention to her well laid plans; her spa appointment cancelled, and it seemed there was still some unrest at the resort. A man approached Vencesla, taking a seat in the lounger next to hers.
“Didn’t I see you at the “Will Call” earlier?
“Yes, I’m Vencesla.”
"Hello, I’m Keegan. I think our show tonight will probably be rescheduled due to this blackout.”
“Are you a Bunny Dolores fan?” Vencesla inquired, absolutely enchanted with this soft spoken gentleman who had struck up a conversation.
“Say, Vencesla, would you like to join me and my sister and her fiancé for dinner this evening? The show’s definitely cancelled. My sister is here on vacation with her fiancé. I was just in the pool with them, they have been engaged for a while, with no date set, and just before, he just started having chest pains while we were playing “Marco Polo.” We were passing the time until they give the all clear to return to their room. They decided to get married tonight. I sure could use an additional witness. We are getting a car to a place down the strip and then dinner in a little while. Would you like that? Two Bunny Dolores fans witnessing an impromptu wedding?”
“I would like that, thank you. Right now, or...?"
Overhead, the public address system was informing the resort guests they could return to their rooms.
“Can you meet the party at the Concierge at 6PM? We will all leave from there.” Keegan gave Vencesla a confident smile.
After Fegefeuer’s Blackout
Fegefeuer, in the aftermath of his blackout had decided against a hospital. He concluded instead to steady his nerves with a semi long drive north.
He felt almost as if he was being pulled there. He drove away from the Emporium, the sign on the door reading “Closed Due to Blackout.” He thought about Fegefeuer the Milksnake and wondered how the terrarium had shattered in the dark of what he had experienced earlier. He drove, past Charleston Peak, and continued north.
The Alien in the Desert
North of the glittering city, Hortense arrived at the alien cemetery. Hortense was more at peace now, the unease from earlier was subsiding as an earth automobile stopped, and a human emerged, a few hundred feet from where Hortense watched.
Precious & Alfonse in the Hotel Lobby III
“You have a date for our impromptu wedding.” Precious repeated back to her brother, skeptically, but not unhappily.
“Wait til you see her, sis! It’s fate she should join us, our show was cancelled tonight because of the blackout.”
“Well, the car is going to be here any minute. What time did you tell her to meet us?”
“There she is!” Precious followed her younger sibling’s enthusiastic gaze to an approaching petite woman, who was smiling calmly as she approached them.
“Thanks to my little brother, I have a Bridesmaid! So happy to meet you, Vencesla!”
“Congratulations!”
Alfonse smiled quietly as the festively attired party walked away from the Concierge, a happy group. Moments later they arrived at the valet, and briefly thereafter, in the waning sun of the American desert, the party arrived at a walk in wedding chapel.
Later, in a secluded booth at a steak house of grand repute the jovial, impromptu group toasted to Precious and Alfonse. They had been served champagne by the staff, who had been extremely accommodating about the recent nuptials. Their car awaited in the parking lot, and Precious was feeling a sense of relaxation as she took her husband’s hand and they made their way from the booth and back to the parking lot.
Alfonse, who had been subdued all night, suddenly slumped, his head rotating from one side to the other before he fell to the ground.
Precious cried out for her brother. Keegan had been walking behind his older sister, happily chatting with the lovely Vencesla and he and Vencesla had locked eyes, in panic, when Alfonse had crumpled to the ground.
The Alien in the Desert II
Hortense outstretched its upper appendage, sensing Fegefeuer as he approached in the darkness. Fegefuer gasped as his senses fully appreciated that this was no usual encounter in the desert. As Hortense' appendage continued to unfurl towards Fegefuer, their bodies touched and a sudden white bright flash of glittering light encapsulated them both, and, just as quickly disappeared. Hortense was gone, dematerialized. Fegefuer was gone, dematerialized.
Fegefuer's car sat, abandoned in the desert, and in the distance, a milksnake crawled into the night.
Precious, Her Brother, Vencesla in the ER
He wagered at a slot machine across the parking lot from the ER, where his sister, Precious, waited. Vencesla sat by him quietly, praying silently.
"I want you to visit me next month, Keegan. Stay at my home, I will show you the city and everything in it."
He smiled at Vencesla, appreciative for this gesture at a moment when so much was in flux.
"I accept, Vencesla, I will stay at your home, we will go out and see the sights!" He touched her hand, and quietly shifted his gaze to the Emergency Room entrance across the parking lot. Precious was emerging from the double glass doors. She had awoken this morning on vacation, single. She had been informed that she was now a widow, and the only next of kin to her recently deceased husband's children.
Keegan and Vencesla walked across the parking lot and embraced Precious. Keegan held his sister close and no one said anything.
(Editor's note: The Blackout at Fegefeuer's Emporium is fiction.)
The Blackout at Fegefeuer's Emporium I
The Blackout at Fegefeuer's Emporium II (Available December 20, 2023)
The Blackout at Fegefeuer's Emporium III (Available January 20, 2024)
