OkaIsNotOkay

CRASH

Norm hesitantly opens his eyes. One moment he was intersecting a wormhole on a dangerous mission, the next he was flying back to the Earth at speeds that were enough to make him woozy. He tried to sit up but his head was spinning.

How long had he been out? 

He takes a deep breath before trying again. This wasn't his first rodeo, nor his first concussion. Making it up, he takes a glance out the window to double check that he was truly on Earth and NOT hallucinating. Everything seemed normal enough…

He pulls his helmet off and pushes open the door to the ship shakily. Damn, the crash had taken a number on me,  he thought. 

Looking around, he's sure he's in the woods, far from civilization. Norm takes a few steps before hearing a crunch from the woods in front of him. 

He looks in front of him warily, trying to strain his eyes to adjust to the dark. Suddenly, a blinding light shines into his eyes. He flinches, raising his arm to cover his eyes with it. 

"Uh, hello? I'm sorry, I mean no harm-" Norm's eyes adjust to the light, and he jumps back in surprise. "WHAT IN THE LORD’S NAME?!"

What stands in front of the astronaut is a grotesque mix of a deer (being the main body), and headlights (being the head). The deer (?) scampers off in fright of Norm's outburst, and he resigns himself to looking around his surroundings for anyone that might help him understand where he is, what the hell is going on, and where he might find a phone to call literally anyone he used to know.

Norm stumbles backwards against the ship he just exited, debating whether he should try to fix it up to somehow get out of here. However, Norm knew he was in no state to rebuild his crashed ship with a concussion and no tools. He decides his best option is to go out and search for someone or something to help him.

Norm slowly reenters his ship to grab his bag and his gun in case he runs into danger. He opens his bag to make sure all of his survivor's materials were in there. 

Flashlight? Check. Canned food? Check. Matches? Check. Norm sticks his hand in the bag to find one more thing–

"Dammit!" He yelps, pulling his newly bloodied hand out. Upon looking into the bag he sees glass. "No, no, no!" he cries out, dumping the remaining contents of the bag out. The glass, a broken wooden frame and a torn picture flutter to the ground.

Norm snatches up the paper and observes it for damages. Luckily, his wife and his face were still intact, but his children's faces were

torn out. 

His lips quiver, his grip on the paper softening. Tears well and start to hesitantly slide down his face, and his shoulders start to shake. His one keepsake of his family, and it’s torn. His children. He doesn't even know where they are right now, or how they're doing without him.

Tears and blood mix and seep into the photograph, further obscuring the defining features about his children. This only upsets the lone cowboy more. In his misery, he doesn't notice the wet spot spreading to his wife's face as well, losing her face to only memories.

After he's cried all the tears he can, he forces himself to take a deep breath and push himself to his feet. He wipes the remaining wetness from his cheeks, taking a moment to try to calm the rapid beat of his heart. He shoves his few belongings into his bag and sets off on looking around.

He needs to know what the fuck is going on, NOW.

Norm stands up and peers outside the door of his spaceship. Seeing the coast is clear, he steps out and walks into the woods, eyes wide and one hand on his gun. He walks briskly through the dark forest, only stopping to listen for noises around him.

The trees and shrubs around him seemed quite full, so he guessed that if wherever he is resembles Earth, it must be some form of spring. He thanks the lord that it's not winter. The last thing he needs right now is to have to deal with frostbite on top of his potential concussion. 

Suddenly, he hears some shuffling from behind him and he freezes. Norm whirls around, gun already out of it's holster and pointed at whatever was behind him. 

The first thing Norm sees is a phone and typewriter at eye height a few feet ahead of him. The man pauses, taking a split second to observe their forms, recognizing their bodies as human bodies.

"What... What the fuck 're you...?" He stutters out when the two forms put their hands up.

"What the hell!?" A masculine voice leaves the phone. The phone headed man turns to look at the other thing, whom Norm assumes is a woman, who was with him "Run!" he cries to her, in which the creature sprints away, the man following in pursuit.

Turns out that "whatever" was actually a "whoever". Norm doesn't even try going after them, as he doesn't know what they may be capable of. 

They seemed.. human. That scared Norm more than anything. They moved and talked like humans. Was the wormhole a portal to another universe or somethin'? He lowers his gun. 

Considering they were out here, chances were there could be a town nearby.

Norm sighs, rubbing his temples. This is too much, even for him. He treks forward, trying to ignore the sounds around him now. He doesn't really want to know what else lies in these woods. 

He walks until he hears the gurgle of water nearby. Pushing through bushes, he finds a small river. Norm walks to the edge of the flowing water and crouches down. He stares into his reflection, face tear stained and depressing. Wincing, he moves away from the water. He moves back to the forest behind himself, leaning against a tree close to the shore, closing his eyes for the first time since he'd left through that goddamned ship. 

The quiet allows guilt to fester in his mind. He has no idea where he is, how to get home- if he even can get home. God, what if he can't get back home? What will his family do without him?

His kids...he can't leave them. Not like how his father did him. He refuses to be like that. He promised himself he'd never do that. Would they forget him, as he tried to do with his own father? 

Tears begin to well again before he forces them back. No, not in the open like this when anything can get to him.