Goota goota

Believe it or Not.

Jake watched as his kids walked across the park bridge to their mother. For the exchange, meeting in a public place was the routine for over a year now. He knew it was the best for them but hated not being with them.

His father would tell him, “You don’t hate it enough, or you would stop using, clean yourself up, and get help.”

No one really understood. They thought he was OK just because his body was intact, and somehow he was faking his troubles stemming from his war experiences.

Every night was a horror show relived if his eyes closed, so he didn’t sleep much. He was always on edge, exhausted. He couldn’t get the doctors to even listen to his story.

It began the night his unit came to an abandoned village, the map named it Ta-i-Sina. They cleared three homes near the town center. The guards for the night would stay outside atop the building; the rest could sleep inside.

Sleeping in buildings was a treat as most villages didn’t want anything to do with the patrols, so they often slept in the cold outdoors. Jake crashed hard and slept well that night.

When he woke, no one was there. The sun was out, the buildings were clear, the town center was empty, no sign of his platoon. He thought he was dreaming.

Hours went by, and he knew he was no longer sleeping as he would periodically fall asleep and wake to check his watch and realize nothing had changed.

So he packed his gear and headed North-East to home base. He was scared. He found no signs that they had passed before him.

At base, they treated Jake with hostility and mistrust. The Army searched the area he led them to several times, finding nothing. Instead, they treated him as if he had done something to the rest of his platoon.

About a week later, Jake reported that he had horrible dreams. They made no sense at first — Lizardmen in vessels that would rise from the depths of the earth in flashes of light. Next, he and his buddies were fighting; then, they were captured. Then the lizardmen had a feast on the meat of his platoon mates.

In the last dream, Joe, Sammy, and Jake remained. Jake screamed and kicked at the cell doors and walls when they took Joe and Sammy.

Then, a lizardman came for Jake. Jake was led to a room full of technology where he was forced onto a platform. Then Jake stood in the town alone with a Lizardman who poked him with a taloned finger and said.

“Took, Tallie, do goota goota Tik Tok,” waved his arm, and a holographic image of Jake dancing on Tik Tok appeared.

He snorted, sounding a bit like a laugh, elbowed Jake and said. “Goota goota,” shaking his tail and bobbing his head. Motioning to Jake, he said, “Goota goota,” again, then waved his arm.

So Jake danced. The monster snorted, “goota,” turned, and disappeared.

Jake knows what happened to the platoon. However, Jake is considered insane, so he never talks about it anymore.

Thank you all for reading my work here on Medium. You are all so awesome. Keep on writing and sharing. If you are so compelled please read some of my fiction tales. Here are a couple of Flash Fiction stories, short and sweet.

© 2021, T. Mark Mangum

I am T. Mark Mangum. From an early age I was hooked, addicted to the imagined, unfathomable worlds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Conan, and the Lord of the Rings and many others. I write fiction tales. I love writing fiction tales. I love writing in multiple genres. However, my favorites are Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction. I am a father of six, we have two cats and two dogs. Tabletop gaming is a passion.