Grendel Rising

Chapter 2: Excavation-1

Chapter 2: ExcavationOh my!

I staggered. It really felt, for just a moment, as if the whole earth had moved under me. But I planted my feet further apart to reestablish my sense of being on solid ground. I looked around. Nothing had changed. There had, of course, been no earthquake. It had just been me. So, I took a deep breath, and turned back, to look at those enormous eyes.

This took some effort, and a momentary shudder went through me when I faced them, for they really did seem to be looking straight at me.

Effective! I thought, and all at once I was viewing this experience merely as a Halloween scare. An effective one, certainly—but still, only a scare. Immediately, I felt reassured. And curious. I wanted to discover how the scare was done. Then, part of me thought: If I do that, then the magic of the effect will disappear. I realized that would be a real loss; the effect was so delightfully—scary!

Again, I felt the urge to leave without pursuing further inquiry. But Jake, I noticed, was still interested in the objects. He was at the end of his leash, sitting, facing the thing at a distance of several feet. Just, I thought, like he’s waiting for something.

That did it. I took several steps back toward the ornament and stood there, staring at the eyes—that were still fixed on me. Which meant, of course, a change in gaze direction. Odd! I thought. The gaze of those eyes seemed to be having an effect on me, on my sense of being. It was a definite sense of being—watched. And the odd thing about it was how definite it felt, strong enough, in fact, that it made me feel slightly giddy.

What?

I remained there, looking at those eyes, while I examined my own feelings. It was, I decided, the first time I had ever felt so completely the object of attention. It was disconcerting, yes, but in a pleasant way. In fact, the word attention wasn’t quite the right. Interest, I decided was better. I was of interest to those eyes.

I felt flushed and, breathing in sharply I touched the tip of my tongue to my upper lip with sensual self-awareness and a slightly intoxicated sense of coquettishness—which was certainly not normal for me! But now it seemed that interest too wasn’t quite right. In fact—and my heart fluttered at the thought—it felt as if those eyes were appreciating me! Drinking me in. And now a wash of physical arousal passed through me—settling, warm and disturbingly pleasant, between my legs.

I felt hot and cold at the same time, disoriented, and as if the entire world had changed. And my pulse was racing. And, interestingly, I no longer felt any fear at all!

Words for my state started to go through my mind. Appreciated. Intoxicated. Perhaps even fascinated? But that could be a disturbing idea. Fascinated like a bird before a snake? Was I, in fact, unable to move? But no, I had no desire to flee. What I wanted was to know, to engage—somehow. Physically.

I squatted down and felt the cool grass with my fingers. This was reassuring. I was feeling around for some kind of trigger device, a wire perhaps, that might make the eyes alter their direction as one approached them.

There was nothing, however, and finally I knelt forward and, reaching out, touched the rounded tip of the nose with a fingertip, pushed against it. It gave just like flesh. And it felt delightful: smooth, warm, and slightly spongy. I tweaked the nose, squeezing it between thumb and forefinger, which felt even more like flesh.

I shook my head and looked at Jake. He was sitting right beside me, watching my actions with curiosity. I looked back at those eyes and got a new shock.

They were still looking directly at me! That is, their direction of gaze had shifted toward my lowered position. And—which made me whimper with renewed fear—were even slightly cross-eyed, due to my close proximity.

Slowly, I rose to standing position, and moved backward, all the time keeping my gaze on those eyes. I saw—sickeningly—they followed me exactly.

I closed my eyes to get away from that gaze and thought furiously.

Optical illusion? Like those portrait paintings whose gaze seem to follow you? I couldn’t quite buy that. Then: Mechanism!

Oh! My rational mind leaped in to save me. Simple! I only had to look for a mechanism—something that—directed the eyes according to some—position sensor. Admittedly, this seemed a little incredible—even for an expensive, top-shelf holiday decoration. And yet, it had to be the case!

Didn’t it?

I looked away and then back, toward the face—and saw it even more clearly as a face. The elements seemed so obviously part of one unity. And then, there was that gaze. As I stared at it, that feeling of being appreciated began to return, like the weaving of a magic spell. And, not just appreciative. Interested. Very.

Memories came to me of the times when, in a bar some guy was seriously cruising me. Yet, incredibly, this was stronger, and more exciting. I began to get a hard-on.

I looked at Jake and he, perhaps sensing my change in mood, walked forward, right up to the nose, sniffing it while his tail wagged tentatively. Then he turned his head and looked at me, giving a gentle whine.

“It’s okay,” I told him, taking a step forward. The gaze of those eyes followed me, their sense of interest more pronounced than ever. My arousal was greater as well. A tingle crept along my skin, and I became acutely aware of how my clothes touched my skin—especially my undershorts, which I now conceived of as a garment that contained my lower abdomen and upper thighs, its crotch cupping my hardening c**k and testicles. It was intimate; hell, it was almost pornographic!

And now I decided to try something.

I took several steps backward and stood, focusing on the face in its entirety. After hesitating, I cleared my throat and said, in a tentative voice, “Hello?”

There was no answer, and after a moment or two I laughed quietly with embarrassment.

Of course, there was no answer! I thought, my mind shifting back to rationality. Now, looking at the elements of that huge face, I saw it as completely inanimate, despite those eyes watching me. I shook my head.

It was a mechanism! I told myself. Of course! Of course! Of course! Images of wires, sensors, heating coils filled my relieved mind when, all at once, the deep stillness of the night was broken by a low sound.

“Hmm-mmmm!”

It was a low rumbling noise, accompanied by a slight vibration from beneath my feet!

I leaped aside without thinking, my heart pounding. My hair was standing on end again as I stared down at the spot where I had been standing. My heart was pounding, my brain in a whirl. Jake, who was now next to me, looked anxious.

“Hmm-mmmmm!” came the sound again.

It was exactly like the previous sound, and automatically (and somewhat frantically) my rational mind spoke the words: audiotape sound-effects. But I had not felt the vibration in the ground this time, which reassured me somehow.

I looked again at those eyes. I saw their gaze had shifted again. They were still looking directly at me!

I gave a slight groan, feeling like a rat in a very complicated maze.

As I looked at those eyes, it struck me the quality of that gaze had changed. It was more—what? Appealing?

What?

Then the sound came again, louder this time.

“Hmm-mmmmmm!”

I frowned, thinking. The sound was definitely suggestive of muffled speech. But now it now had an insistence to it, as if that muffled voice was crying out—to me.

Hmm-mmmmmm! I replayed the sound in my mind—and had it!

The sound’s cadence was exactly that of the cry: Help me!

Suddenly convinced of this, my reticence and incipient fear disappeared completely. I felt only concern for—whoever, whatever this was. My heart racing with urgency, I thought furiously of what I should do, trying to get some kind of perspective on the situation. Jake picked that moment to go up to the enormous nose and lick it—several times!

“Jake!” I hissed. “Don’t do that!”

Jake turned to look at me, and I made move away motions. He didn’t seem to understand. I was just about run forward and grab my dog, when I saw the nose quiver visibly and, a moment later, there was a muffled explosion and a rush of warm air from the nose. The ground quivered slightly, too. It was just as if a very large someone, almost buried in this lawn, had sneezed.

I took several steps to the side, thinking that, during the first noise, I must have been standing right on the chest of the whatever-it-was.

The eyes again followed me as usual. They were still filled with that look of helpless appeal.

Jake, who had retreated during the explosion, moved forward again. Now, he stood right in front of the nose, wagging his tail. Then he gave several sharp barks, of the type he sometimes used to get me out of bed in the morning.

Somehow, that did it.

Against all reasonability I was suddenly convinced, stung into action.

“You wait here,” I told the eyes. I got Jake’s leash and, pulling him back to the sidewalk, began to trot back home. After several backward glances, he came willingly, though clearly, he was puzzled.

“It’s okay, boy. We’re just going home to get a shovel.”

* * * *

I was back, with a spade and a bucket containing a trowel and paintbrush, in less than fifteen minutes. I had been quite driven by excitement and the sense of urgency, but as we again approached those lawn ornaments, I was aware of a sense of doubt, and fear.

Jake, on the other hand, was all eagerness to return; he was at the end of his leash. This helped when I was again standing in the gaze of those eyes. I grinned and brandished my shovel in a heroic gesture. It seemed the eyes now registered something like gratitude, and I felt something of my earlier sense of intoxication return. Holding my rescue implements, I felt ready for anything—and, under the gaze of those eyes, I meant anything!

I put down the bucket and got to work. It was, I thought a bit giddily, like digging for treasure!

The task, now that I faced it, was not so very straightforward. For one thing, the lawn ran right up to each of the four protrusions, impossible as that seemed. I didn’t worry about the last; the current situation was beyond the pale of “possible” things; I focused only on the job at hand.

I began just below the nose, driving my spade in just deep enough to cut through the sod. I cut the outline a long rectangle and rolled up the sod, placing it carefully to one side. So far so good!

I repeated the process until I had removed all the grass around the nose. This done, I got the trowel and began loosening the exposed earth, lifting it with my hands into the bucket. When the bucket was full, I dumped the earth next to the stack of rolled sod.

Jake, who had been watching me with great curiosity, now got into the act. He lowered his head and began to dig furiously with his forepaws, sending earth flying out between his back legs. I had to laugh.

“Good for you, Jake! Good dog!”

I—or, rather we, though Jake did take frequent breaks from his own efforts to go up and sniff the nose, the eyes and the forehead—continued to clear earth from around the nose. I quickly discovered the cheeks, for there was only a thin layer of dirt over them. I was momentarily reassured at this discovery. Part of me wondered what I would have experienced had there been no cheek, nothing—just a free-standing, partially buried, enormous nose; one that sneezed! The idea was so bizarre, so horrible, that I imagined, having unearthed it, I would just start screaming; screaming and screaming, and never able to stop.

Dismissing these disturbing thoughts, I worked at exposing more of the cheek, working away from the nose with hands and paintbrush to remove the final bits of earth. I encountered an upper lip and soon had fully exposed the entire mouth. Touching the large and rather full lips sent tingles of excitement through me. I wanted to lie down and kiss them.