josh

I must be quick for I hear them coming.

I must be brave for I sense a presence troubling. I must be wise for I do not know their cunning. I must be gentle for I fear they are not loving. I must be cautious for I see my end becoming. I must be quick, I must start running.

tom

I must be quick for I hear them coming.

Don't look for me, that is what they want. Don't waste time mourning. Our work must continue. I have uploaded my research to the usual place. The artefacts we uncovered at the dig are real. Everything they've taught us is a lie. Tell Molly I User Disconnected.

tom

Our legs dangled off the side of the dock.

"Do you promise?" He asked, gazing out to sea, his fingers worrying a splinter of wood free. "I promise." There was a heavy throbbing joy in his chest, the exquisite leaden pain of love. A car pulled up nearby. "That's me." Lips brushed his cheek and she was gone.

josh

Our legs dangled off the side of the dock.

Southport Newquay Every Saturday morning, Gus and I dreamt of faraway places the boats were venturing. Lowestoft Newhaven Today you were nowhere to be seen. John O’Groats I scanned the fluctuating waters. “HEY! JOHNNY!” Disbelief. “GUS! WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?” Waves muffled your voice. Stavanger “WHERE!?” Waves again. “Please stay.”

josh

The sound of a piano drifted downstairs.

They answered on the second dial. “Mr Baptiste…” “It’s happening again.” “Mr Baptiste there is nothing we can do about nocturnal ivory tickling.” “You make it sound appealing.” “Sounds beautiful from where we’re sat.” I hung up and headed straight for the broom cupboard. I’d had it with that piano.

tom

The sound of a piano drifted downstairs.

The detective frowned, "You said there was no-one else home." "I... must have left the radio on." She uttered, flatly. A wrong key. A pause. Thee Blind Mice started again. "Paperwork?" Her head shook. He lent to his radio, "We have a suspected 374, unauthorised possession of a child."

tom

They called it the city of the sun.

An unmistakable metropolis, rising from a hunk of rock, silhouetted against our great ball of fire. Over the years we sent messages via every medium we knew how; there was no response. Silently it propelled itself towards us. Today we heard from them at last and the world went mad.

josh

They called it the city of the sun.

The final battleground, so it was told. The fight that could save us. The Seven Gods descended, presenting their battle scars, brandishing their monolithic weaponry. I stared them down, the weight of my world hanging heavy in my empty fists. I gathered all my might as the first blow landed.

josh

The stars were unfamiliar.

They echoed back to me a heavenly overture that sounded terrifyingly foreign. In that moment I felt the visceral, turbulent weight of fear. Try to see something beyond stars, beyond atoms, beyond anything of disbelief. “Mum?” I whisper to the phosphorescent multitude of bulbs above, knowing full well you were not there and you could not hear me. One day, my son. Keep whispering my name and one day I shall respond in the way you truly need me to. Gleaming abstractions transform and catch my eye until suddenly a constellation I recognise. Something resembling home. Beautiful. Devastating. Empty. Home.

tom

The stars were unfamiliar.

Water lapped at the side of her boat as she searched the strange firmament. Nothing. Her charts failed to render these points of light into waypoints; these stars did not exist. The air was cool after the storm and her sodden clothes chilled her skin. It had come out of nowhere; a gust caused the boom to swing and she was knocked to the floor. When she came to the storm had passed, leaving a clear but unknown sky. A rope creaked nearby and she turned; another boat. Her brother smiled gently across the water and she cried.

josh

A low rumble was making its way over the easterly hills.

From their peaks emerged a train delicately dancing along the rough topography, losing the race against the first rays of morning. As it gathered speed Seth tightened the scarf around his neck, preparing his body for flight. Then, that familiar step behind him. “Mads, you came.” The briefest of silences. “It’s not Madeline, it’s her Mother.” Seth tensed. “I found your letter.” The ending he had feared most. As the train pulled into the station, Seth turned and caught Mother’s eye. As stern as he’d expected. “The baby?” “No longer your concern.” Announcements, beeps, a wounded departure. Mother’s devilish grin.

tom

A low rumble was making its way over the easterly hills.

"What is it daddy?" They stared at the crest of the hill through an upstairs window. "I'm not sure poppet," he frowned. Disquiet oscillated; resonating. The lights went out. She clutched his shirt, anchoring herself to his beacon of stability; he smiled reassuringly. "It's ok, it must be a big digger doing some digging - if it get's too loud we might have to leave!" He joked, emptily, "Better pack our bags!" Vibrations could be felt through the floor now and panic stirred within, stretching it's noxious wings. He grabbed a rucksack and began to stuff in clothes.

josh

They lowered the bucket into the well.

The aim was to catch The Thing. “Go on, Tigs, a little further.” Tigs did as instructed, feeding the rope until a thud rang up the well in slow circles. The darkness hit her before the realisation of deception. *** Regaining consciousness, Tigs watched yellow eyes prise themselves apart. “Welcome,” it said. “You are The Thing now.” Its talons scaled the wall, transforming back into a man with each spindly grasp. Tigs looked down at her own hands, now covered in fur, claws protruding. It ate a rat from the bucket as the delicious patter of mischievous children above drew close.

tom

They lowered the bucket into the well.

Peering over they could see their reflection far below; a foetid smell rose. The reflection broke as the bottom of the bucket skimmed the surface - but rope was at it's limit. She cut it from the spindle. He grabbed her waist as she stretched over, rope in hand, dipping the bucket beneath the water. She turned; a furrowed brow. Her lips parted to explain; her body wrenched suddenly over the side. He tried to grasp her but she was gone; a guttural scream and the slap of dead weight hitting water. His head a silhouette in reflection.

tom

That night, the summer sun still lingered.

The cicadas nightly vigil started with their ululating drone, paying tribute to the passing of another day as the horizon burnt orange. In the grass two lovers lay, their bodies entwined; faces luminescent in the afterglow. No words were spoken for between them existed an eternal silent understanding. A beam of light swept the grass. The cicadas stopped abruptly; jarring silence. The couple remained still, hiding in the grass from a world which did not want them. The detective nudged the arm of the man with his boot, dislodging a cloud of flies who resumed the chorus.