Here's another quick little story. Kinda still in draft mode...kinda. Enjoy.
Unusual
It all started on that cloudy and unusually warm winter’s day. The high reached into the upper 60’s and a calm settled over you as the wind brushed through your hair and warmed your cheeks. You were rather excited to have a day of yard work in mid December. Life had got a little crazy during the fall and the yard was in need of some major attention. That rebellious bush by the mailbox had been bothering you for sometime and something needed to be done. Today would be the day.
Mary was leaving for work; you hated that she worked on Sundays. You kissed her goodbye but your mind was elsewhere. The meeting with the boss tomorrow, he was going to want to know why you fired your secretary. You were going to have to tell him the truth. As Mary pulled out of the driveway you immediately wished you could have that kiss all over again. Have all of it back again.
From within the house the living room TV, the big one you just bought, flashed and raced with static for a moment and then began an emergency broadcast alert. You couldn’t hear it because you left the TV on mute to answer your cell. It was Pat from the office. Tee time at The Oaks at 3pm if you’re interested. You wouldn’t have time, you told him. Gotta take advantage of the unusual weather and get some yard work done you said. He called you domesticated. You laughed.
You pushed hard and the spade sliced through the soil, breaking off tiny roots and gutting worms. You did this over and over, slowly weakening the bush’s hold. You were returning to the garage for a rope when you heard the screeching tires. You looked up in time to see the four door sedan over correcting, missing the turn and ripping the bumper off of Chuck Well’s ‘88 Saab. It then veered off and crashed into the bay window of Thomas O’Brien’s house. You waited and watched, hoping to see some movement from within the car or from within the house. There was none. You started running towards Tom’s house yelling and screaming for help. For a brief moment the sun looked as though it might break through the clouds and shed more light on this unusual day.
The ground pulsed and then shook violently. You tried to catch yourself, but you lost your balance, fell and hit your head on the curb. The rest was a blur. Car alarms began to sound in neighborhood after neighborhood. Your neighbors were calmly exiting their houses dazed and unaware of anything terrifying. Tom needs help, there’s been an accident, please someone help you cried. No one seemed to notice, no one seemed to mind.
You jumped to your feet and started to run as fast as you could. Your phone started vibrating but you couldn't feel it. It had fallen out of your pocket when you fell and now it laid useless in the street. Mary was calling. She was worried. Every radio station was broadcasting the same message, stay inside and away from windows. She wanted you to know she was attempting to turn around at Grindstone Bridge but traffic was blocked as far she could see into town. She said something large was on the horizon and the skyline wasn’t the right shade or color. She wanted to know if you were okay. She was scared. She began to cry as the ground pulsed again and the shaking grew more violently. She told you she loved you. She told you this as the first mass of metal emerged from the clouds, you saw it too.
The long cylindrical tendrils grabbed and picked you up so fast there was little time to react. You sailed through the sky, the warm wind kissing your face, you thought this couldn’t be happening. Your little town below didn’t look so peaceful anymore, not with these things snatching people up everywhere. You couldn’t have possibly thought this would the day, but when you rolled over in bed, you felt as if it was going to be a bit unusually. You couldn’t quite put a finger on why. As you floated towards the center of the enormous metallic Kraken you saw more and more crafts at higher altitudes. You couldn’t understand how this could be happening. As the center of the craft opened up its belly, you thought about Mary, then everything went dark. This is when you changed. This is when the world changed...forever.
