I started dating Janie during school and we stayed on campus when the semester ended. She was a real cutie; dark hair usually up in a sprig, glasses, flannel shirts and jeans with a pair of combat boots. I knew she was into some weird stuff, but so was I, and anyway that's society today. One can't afford to be judgmental. At least, I tried not to be.
"Have you heard about the Golden Flower?" she asked me. We were on the couch, at her place.
"Hm?" I asked. Someone was running an obstacle course on TV. Her foot nudged me. "What?"
"This book, did you ever read it?" I could tell at a glance it was one of her pop-occult buys. I frowned.
"I don't know why you waste time with those things."
"Listen to this. 'Pegging is the quintessential human act. Coitus is relegated to the various mundane natural functions necessary for continuation of the species, such as eating and breathing. The introduction of a manufactured object to sexual relations honors the art which separates humanity from all other creatures. Only through symbolic invention has society been imbued with its myriad gifts and accomplishments, and many thinkers have postulated that language itself is a living organism.' Are you listening?"
"Yeah. I don't know. Words are invented by people. So, what are they, some kind of digital pets?" A man fell into a vat of jelly and the audience cheered.
"Here, it says... 'The evolution of speech has defined that of human beings, with old terms discarded and new words crafted apace with developing technological realities. The recent mass-awakening to this truth has resulted in an increase of sex involving strap-ons, which move the focus of activity from the physical aspect, and closer to its social, linguistic character. Binary logic dealing with what is and is not, or with one gender differentiated from another, is supplanted in the adoption by both parties of the cerebral perspective that interprets all natures.'"
I sighed, and she looked at me. I knew she was seeking some explanation for the masses of people having similar dreams, and the sudden rise in reports of paranormal phenomena lately.
"Hon, what's going on; it's just widespread anxiety about society's problems. It's a trend. There's no reason to worry."
"That's not what it's saying, Brendan," she whined, waving the book. I shook my head.
"We're not in a virtual world run by mechanical squids. There are no abominable snowmen. Aliens didn't come in saucers to anally probe monkeys."
"But..."
"I don't want to see you getting worked up about stuff." I grimaced. "Especially if the conclusion drawn from it is kinky sex." I took the book and looked it over. The chapter titles included 'The Meaning Of The Eye Of Hoor', 'Contacting Higher Intelligences With Socio-Geometric Network Ports', and 'The Double Serpent Helix'. "Sheesh," I said, and put it down. She was watching the show. I felt as if I'd let her down, and I vegged-out, too.
I didn't stay over that night, but walked home in a light flurry that mirrored my doubts. Connecting the dots of street lamps with lines of footsteps, I felt something was stalking me. The wind picked up and I hurried the rest of the way.
Sitting on my bed I thought that maybe I should go back to Janie's. To sleep alone after our conversation seemed pretty final, and the prospect of spending the rest of the break on my own wasn't an appealing one. As the window rattled I felt my loneliness echoing. When that turned to tapping, I felt fear. My apartment was on the second floor, and there was no tree outside that anyone could climb. It became insistent scratching, like a cat asking to be let in, but I'd never heard an animal knock before. Then I heard the lock slide out of place behind the curtain, and the pane rose. I stood up.
"I don't know who you are, but I'm armed to the teeth." The wind sent the drapes flying up and for a moment I saw menacingly glowing eyes in the darkness outside. "What the..."
My heels, shoulders, and pelvis were irresistibly pulled toward the visitor. I couldn't bend my legs or my back, and my arms flapped as I was slid forward like a chess piece. The soles of my bare feet suffered friction on the rug. I screamed and yelled, "What's going on?" but it stopped when I reached the center of the room, and my t-shirt and boxers were ripped off of me by more invisible power, leaving me naked. "What is this?" I should have been freezing but I don't remember the cold.
In like a ghost floated a nude feminine form; skin glistening orange, rainbow hair splayed about her head like spilling anti-freeze, eyes completely white. Her proportions were unearthly, limbs too long and impossibly willowy. She drew close and her spindly fingers caressed the side of my head from top to bottom, her endless gaze filling my mind. A succubus: stories about them paying calls to single men had exploded in number over the last few months, but I'd dismissed it all as nonsense. If what I'd read had been true...
There it was, pointing forward and down between her elongated thighs; a twelve inch, golden rod, literally pulsing like a strobe light with her eagerness to take me. I started crying.
"Hush," she cooed, planting a pointed fingertip on my lip and letting her feet land. Her hand moved in front of my heart, and the air grew wavy as though heat were passing between them. A soothing calm sent me swaying where I stood, and I became erect. Like a bridegroom she reached for my knees and picked me up, to carry me to bed. I slumped against her warm, thin body as if drugged.