I jerk awake, confused and scared. I take a quick glance at my environment. My people, my world, all are ensconced in fiery destruction. The huge shadow, like an octopus, reaches out its gooey, dark, smoky tentacles and snatches all of the world’s food, drink, shelter, clothes/ Anything its nasty lengthy arms could reach, it took. Those who came too close to the monster got grabbed as well. The sky was dark red, smoke rising from the enormous thief. People were passed out all around me, others screaming, running, calling for help. The huge shadow, lurking, searching for more things to devour let out an ear-piercing screech. It felt as though my ears started to bleed. I quickly grabbed the nearest person and trudged my way to the nearest object I saw that could possibly provide shelter, bringing the person I’d grabbed along with me.
My 12 year old body couldn’t handle it, arms aching, legs hurting, but it was worth it. I pushed myself to bring me and the person behind a rock. I didn’t dare peek out behind me. I tried to wake up the person I had dragged along with me, but they were unconscious beyond waking up any time soon.
Quicker than it had started, it stopped. The sky turned blue, and all was quiet. The terror had stopped, but I knew all wasn’t well either. I stood up from my hiding spot. My knees ached from bending down, though I’d only hid for 2 minutes, or so it felt. I looked down, to my right. The person I’d dragged was still unconscious, and as I looked around, I realized others still were too. I caught myself in a daze, looking at the sky, the people, the shelters, all torn apart. It almost seemed as if nothing happened. Only, something did happen.
Suddenly, I heard a voice scream my name. I looked around to see who had called, and saw my mom. I ran towards her, forgetting about the person I had saved. I hugged her tight. “I’m so glad you’re ok.” she said. I tried to say “Me too”, but the words seemed to stick to my tongue. I wasn’t able to make a sound, traumatized from what had just happened, I could only make a quiet mumble of relief, but I knew my mom knew what I was thinking.
When we finally let go, I saw that she took a peek behind me, peering her eyes over my head, and she noticed the person lying unconscious behind my hiding spot. “Who’s that?” she asked.
“Oh, it was just someone I dragged behind with me, on instinct.”
“Well, do you know them?”
“…No, not really.”
“Good chance to get to know them then. Where’s their parents?”
“I don’t know, we should probably search for them.”
It was a quick search, and we found them easily. They had the same patterns on their skin as the person I’d saved.
I should probably explain. You must be wondering who I am, and if I’m an alien or not. The short answer is, to you humans, I guess you could say I’m an alien of some sort. We all were born with different colors, to identify each other’s families, as well as patterns. Anyways, after I reunited the unconscious person with their parents, they thanked us, and my mother and them talked for a while. It was kind of awkward for me, just standing there, doing nothing but giving a derpy smile, but I was just thankful that I didn’t have to be there with the other person conscious. It would’ve been even more awkward. I hadn’t gotten much out of that, but I did overhear one word, which I assume is the unconscious person’s name. Osia.
Abruptly, I jerked my head as my name was called.
“Churl! Are you there?”
“Yeah, sorry. I was…thinking.”
“About what?”
“Nothing, I’m just really happy that we’re friends.”
“Okay… If you need anything you can always tell me, I need to pay you back for saving my life somehow,”
We laughed as Osia left to return to their home.
I wasn’t really thinking about that.
I was thinking about how our little world used to be. Green, neon purple and blue, full of exotic fruits, plants, animals, strong, huge shelters, happy people, colorful everything. One could even say it was paradise. Since the attack, everything has changed. The shadowy being kept coming back for more, it’s huge arms, clawing for more and more food, asking for more every time. Soon, we’d be out. Our world was losing its color, and it was because of this looming monster.
As I kept sitting there, alone, thinking, anger boiled up inside me. This wasn’t right. Those fruits, plants, animals, were rightfully ours. We fed them, kept them clean, and gave them a place in the world. We were giving them life, and all this huge thief was doing was taking the life away. Everyone knew that this wasn’t how it’s supposed to be, yet no one did anything to defend our little, precious world. They all just complied with the lurking being.
Soon enough, I was going to change that.
My 12 year old body couldn’t handle it, arms aching, legs hurting, but it was worth it. I pushed myself to bring me and the person behind a rock. I didn’t dare peek out behind me. I tried to wake up the person I had dragged along with me, but they were unconscious beyond waking up any time soon.
Quicker than it had started, it stopped. The sky turned blue, and all was quiet. The terror had stopped, but I knew all wasn’t well either. I stood up from my hiding spot. My knees ached from bending down, though I’d only hid for 2 minutes, or so it felt. I looked down, to my right. The person I’d dragged was still unconscious, and as I looked around, I realized others still were too. I caught myself in a daze, looking at the sky, the people, the shelters, all torn apart. It almost seemed as if nothing happened. Only, something did happen.
Suddenly, I heard a voice scream my name. I looked around to see who had called, and saw my mom. I ran towards her, forgetting about the person I had saved. I hugged her tight. “I’m so glad you’re ok.” she said. I tried to say “Me too”, but the words seemed to stick to my tongue. I wasn’t able to make a sound, traumatized from what had just happened, I could only make a quiet mumble of relief, but I knew my mom knew what I was thinking.
When we finally let go, I saw that she took a peek behind me, peering her eyes over my head, and she noticed the person lying unconscious behind my hiding spot. “Who’s that?” she asked.
“Oh, it was just someone I dragged behind with me, on instinct.”
“Well, do you know them?”
“…No, not really.”
“Good chance to get to know them then. Where’s their parents?”
“I don’t know, we should probably search for them.”
It was a quick search, and we found them easily. They had the same patterns on their skin as the person I’d saved.
I should probably explain. You must be wondering who I am, and if I’m an alien or not. The short answer is, to you humans, I guess you could say I’m an alien of some sort. We all were born with different colors, to identify each other’s families, as well as patterns. Anyways, after I reunited the unconscious person with their parents, they thanked us, and my mother and them talked for a while. It was kind of awkward for me, just standing there, doing nothing but giving a derpy smile, but I was just thankful that I didn’t have to be there with the other person conscious. It would’ve been even more awkward. I hadn’t gotten much out of that, but I did overhear one word, which I assume is the unconscious person’s name. Osia.
Abruptly, I jerked my head as my name was called.
“Churl! Are you there?”
“Yeah, sorry. I was…thinking.”
“About what?”
“Nothing, I’m just really happy that we’re friends.”
“Okay… If you need anything you can always tell me, I need to pay you back for saving my life somehow,”
We laughed as Osia left to return to their home.
I wasn’t really thinking about that.
I was thinking about how our little world used to be. Green, neon purple and blue, full of exotic fruits, plants, animals, strong, huge shelters, happy people, colorful everything. One could even say it was paradise. Since the attack, everything has changed. The shadowy being kept coming back for more, it’s huge arms, clawing for more and more food, asking for more every time. Soon, we’d be out. Our world was losing its color, and it was because of this looming monster.
As I kept sitting there, alone, thinking, anger boiled up inside me. This wasn’t right. Those fruits, plants, animals, were rightfully ours. We fed them, kept them clean, and gave them a place in the world. We were giving them life, and all this huge thief was doing was taking the life away. Everyone knew that this wasn’t how it’s supposed to be, yet no one did anything to defend our little, precious world. They all just complied with the lurking being.
Soon enough, I was going to change that.
