Freeballing

He touched his penis and balls casually as if reminding his mind that those were still there, taking a puff in, inhaling, and slowly letting it out from his mouth. He waved to us. We walked towards him. He said something in the language of a region which was far away from the place where he was. He meant ‘hello’ in a local language which was not spoken in this beach-side village where he was staying. We corrected him, but it looked like he did not understand. Nevermind, I said to my partner and walked ahead. We had come a little far from our beach-side stay. The morning waves were calmer, an expanse of cerulean sea was in front of us, flat, occasionally showing its annoyance at this fucking world. The sand crabs were scruyying in and out their little burrows. We walked on the softer sand soaked with sea water. The feet impressions as impermanent as this life is, would be.

We walked a little further. The 7 am morning sun was bright for a mid-November day, but it was ok. The sun was good. The morning breeze, having a tinge of humidity, bearing the scent of marine world, wafted across our face. We saw this man, an old man, wrinkly face, naked, well almost naked, the only cloth he was wearing was a short loin cloth wrapped under his waist as a towel. It was drenched and you could see a shadowy outline of his penis and balls. He was freeballing. We waved back from where we were. We thought we would sit here, soaking the sun, smelling the breeze. He came to us, and said ‘Hello’. We said Hi. He asked, while sitting, if he can sip some water from the water bottle. We gave him the bottle. Sorry, he said after dropping the cap on the sand, while washing it with the little water in the bottle that was there. He took two sips, careful enough to not touch the bottle to his mouth, I don’t know why.

How are you doing today, my partner asked him. He blabbered something, sort of he was doing fine. How about you two? We both were fine. He asked where we were travelling from. We live and work in a city about 566 kms from this village. We arrived just now, an hour before. Are you staying in some stay near the beach, he asked. Yes, at Bluelight Stay and Cafe. Oh, he said, taking a swig of his smoke. Where are you from, my partner asked. He started, I am not from here. We, in our minds, were like, of course we know you are not from here. No, I mean I am not from this world. I came here two weeks ago.

What do you mean by that that you are not from this world? We have only one earth, one world, with a very bleak possibility of alienfull planets out there in the cosmos. As I asked him this, he seemed to have uncovered his cloth off his crotch a little. We could see the sack of his balls, and a peep to his viney, wrinkled foreskin dick. He was still smoking, taking his time to say more.

I am not from this world, he said again. How did you come here, then, we thought to indulge him. He went on, the sand that you are sitting on is not like any other sand in this world. This sand is full of little blue lights, that you can see clearly in the night, and if have a good eyesight, in the day time too. I was back in my world, I seemed to have forgotten its name, along with so many things that I cannot remember since I came here. I was in my world, surfing on the ocean waves. It was a mid-November day. There was a warning that a storm is coming. I didn’t care much, storm or no storm, I would go to the ocean. I went there with my board, and start riding the wave. And then it hit, right there in the middle of the water, a blue light stuck there, sending the waves back to the shore. The water was turbulent. It took me, and dropped me to the beach. My body was covered with sand completely. All the pores full of sand. I thought I was dead. Then the blug bugs came, creeping over my body. When I woke up I was here, stark naked, and aged. I found this cloth in the water. The people here, saw me, thought I was a madman. But they were kind. They gave me food and a place to stay.

“Didn’t they give you some clothes?” My boyfriend muttered, annoyed and amused at the story.

They did. I have clothes. But in the morning I like to roam around in my cloth, the only token from my world. He went on. Didn’t he say that he found the cloth here, I whispered to my boyfriend. He laughed. The old man didn’t seem to hear us, he was looking across the sea, still smoking, the rythmic crashing of wave syncing with the smoke in and out.

Didnt this beach, and many other sea beaches across the world see the bioluminescence of the phytoplankton?

He was dismissive of this simple scientific fact of this observable world. He said, no, these are what brought me here. Their arrival means the barriers between the worlds would go weak, making it somewhat possible to navigate between two or more worlds. He sounded like a scientist and a quack at the same time. Barriers between worlds, many worlds, what bs he was talking! Now, all of his things were visible, his hanging balls almost touching the sand, his nonerect penis hanging along with it. Then we saw it, the perineum, the small area between the asshole and the balls, where the skin looks like a seam, well, not everyone has a clear line, and it’s kinda difficult to see our own unless one is very flexible. The perineum skin was glowing, faintly though, sparkling like a night sky full of stars but in blue light. Me and my boyfriend were creeped out of this. We took his excuse and walked back to our stay without saying any word to each other. It was early noon by then. We had beers and some brunch. I read my book, he worked on his skteches. We decided to go back to the city tonight itself.

We boarded the bus. Our berths turned out to be at the rear end of the bus, and the journey, rocky. We cursed our luck and tried to sleep.

I had almost fallen asleep when I heard him say my name, and pushing me out of sleep. He was shouting: omg, what is happening to you? What is this blue light on you body? What is happening…

And then, there I was, in this world.