THE TWILIGHT ZONE - Under Small Minds

In the heavens of space lies a plain, white door. Inside is a hypnotic sphere whose appearance causes a distortion in the various nebulae and planet bodies. First comes the sound of breaking glass, then the eyeball, and the imagery of the theory of relativity. The voice of one Rodman Edward Serling introduces the tale about to unfold.

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity. This is a region made up of sight, sound and mind where science and superstition are merged with shadows and imagination. It is the center of man's fears and knowledge that bears the moniker of…

…"The Twilight Zone".

The full moon shines bright on an area lit with a campfire and a tent covering part of the ground. This is a Congolese rainforest several miles outside the capital of Kinshasa. Sounds of birds chirping in the night and various wildlife senerade the atmosphere. Inside the tent are two peace corp members, Bill and Marie. Bill, a caucasian guy had the hots for his African-American partner and was planning on scoring with her.

"Say Marie, I was thinking if these sounds are giving you the willies then…"

She cut him off to show him her bowie knife, "I'll handle it. But thanks for the offer."

Bill cursed himself mentally feeling defeated. He then thought about striking up a brief conversation in hopes of maybe lucking out with this one.

"You know I'm still trying to understand why you chose to settle on this rainforest for our break from services," he said.

"I like jungle settings. They're very peaceful and away from the nuisance of any gizmos," she replied.

"In other words, environmental nutball food for thought," he giggled.

She facepalmed a bit and got out her notebook on her biological studies, "Study a different species - check."

Bill raised his eyebrow, making Marie laugh. He asked, "Hardy har, you thinking I'm some sort of ape?"

"Nah."

He smiled in a potential relief of the wise tricks. However she quickly said, "More like a monkey."

Bill got annoyed and walked out to the fire so that he can check up on the can of beans he was making. They were cooked to the right degree in order for him to eat'em. As he was munching down on his dinner, suspicious sounds came from far away in the distance. Marie walked out on que.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Yea. What was that?" she asked back.

"It's what I want to know."

Rustling in the bushes caused them to startle and draw their weapons. Marie with her knife adding to Bill aiming his revolver. The only thing that popped out was a harmless lemur. They soon breathed a sigh of relief when the lemur crawled back into the bush.

"Thank god, for a minute there I thought we were done for," he said.

Marie chuckled, "Now if you get the willies you know who to call."

"Ah, shut up," he snapped back.

Within the darkness of the woods as the lemur was running back to where it came from was something unknown. Far off was a miniature village filled with tiny people. These microscopic citizens were practically like cavemen who spoke fluent english. They had stick houses along with primitive-looking lifestyles. One named Ezekiel was watching his peers roast some sort of meat on their fire.

"Ezekial! May we offer you some of this heavenly delight?" one dweller shared the meat with him.

"I'm afraid I must decline. For my belly is quite full," he walked away.

Ezekiel looked up at the sky and the humongous leaves around him. The young male had a feeling that an incoming entity was felt around him. To help clear up these confusions, he sought knowledge from a local wise man who lived in a hut in the center of the region.

"O Wise man of our people. I implore you for your guidance! I seek answers on beings that may or may not have come from the dinosaurs."

"You're not the first to speak of such phenomena," the Wise Man pointed to wall paintings of giants.

"What are these?" Ezekiel asked.

"Giants. Violent super creatures that are more menacing that the dinosaurs. My scriptures predict that these two beasts will collide in barbarism where one will lose. Though the outcomes have always been hasty."

"So should I gather up the livestock and put the women folk inside?"

The wise man nodded and pointed him to his homestead. Ezekiel followed to leave the wise man looking back on his paintings. He held a grip of doubt, yet intrigue. What were these visions telling him about this forthcoming collective? Ezekiel walked out to the rest of the citizens practicing their customs. Such included a witch doctor making beads for pleasing his god and one woman putting herself out for the males. Another woman was watering the gardens allowing food to grow. It's here where the unseen force of Rod Serling looks to the outer spaces of his position.

"What you've witnessed were two races both in a state of curiosity and exploration. First were the humans with Brian Kroger and Marie Jones. Two peace corp workers whose holiday was about to get even more surreal thanks to the advent of our second subjects. Enter the Anukari, a small civilization with an existence that defies that of science and rationale. Surely one would be racing with questions if they'd come across this obscure tribe. Though the real question is what would happen if we as humans did discover a different species sharing the same oxygen we breathe. And the answers will soon be revealed as we delve even deeper into the core of this climax yet to come."

TO BE CONTINUED