Nighttime fell on the small city of Jesper Nevada. The moon illuminated the town in a gentle glow. People were coming back from work and some were just heading off to work for the night shift. A few pedestrians were off jogging in the park. Some couples were walking around town, enjoying each other's company. Most shop owners had already closed down for the night, save for the open 24 stores and supermarkets.
One store owner, however, had just finished dusting off the shelves and was ready to call it a night. Oh, sure, he could have left shelves that way and dusted them in the morning before his store opened. But he wanted to make his antique store as tidy as possible for when customers would step inside, they would not see shelves full of junk— they would see rows and rows of potential treasures.
The old man wiped his brow and smiled contently. He took pride in his little shop. Sure, it was near the outskirts of town and it wasn't as grand or popular as the mall; but it was his own little pride and joy. A small family business handed down to him from generations way back as far as he could remember.
He put the duster back in the supply closet, made sure that everything was in its place, grabbed his coat, set his security alarm, locked the store door, and headed for his car. He dug in his coat pocket for his car keys and was about to open the door when he caught a bright light illuminating from off the top of his car roof. He glanced upward and saw it— a comet, streaking across the sky.
The old man's eyes widened at the sight. He hadn't seen a comet since he was just a boy!
It was a beautiful sight to behold. A bright blur of blues and yellows mixed together like an artist's painting. The lights danced furiously, glowing as bright and vibrant as the aurora borealis. It was beautiful.
And, just as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared. Its long tail stretched overhead and grew fainter and fainter until it was out of the old man's sight.
He stood there for a moment taking it all in. What a beautiful sight to behold! He was thankful he got to witness it. After a brief moment, he opened his car door, got inside, and started the car. As he began pulling out of the parking lot, he wondered where the comet landed, if it even had landed at all.
The comet had landed somewhere. In the dense forests of Jesper.
Trees were scattered like bowling pins, laid strewn across the forest floor. The forest animals barely had time to run away. Bits of bark and twigs littered the ground. Thick smoke slowly rose from the deep crater. Once the smoke cleared the crater revealed...
Nothing.