I ran.
I ran, my lung sore. It was gaining, I had to run faster. I started to look back. No! No, no, I can't look back, no, no, I can't, I won't. I couldn't handle that. Just run. Oh, God. It's right behind me. No, no... NO!
THHHMMMMMMMPPPPPFT!
I jumped. I looked around in a panic. I saw the soft glow of the alarm clock. I let out my held breath as I realized it had been a dream. I ran my hand through my hair and closed my eyes, and sat on my bed, breathing. Finally, I looked down at my friends to see it I'd waken them up.
Their still forms indicated otherwise. I sighed. It'd seemed so realistic. Especially the thud at the end. As I mulled over that thought, I frowned. Thud? Why would there be a thud next? I was being chased by monsters of my imagination, and those don't usually go thud. I shook my head, and quietly leaned off the bed. I grabbed my shirt and tip-toed to the door.
I slunk though the hallway, seeing by the dim light from the living room downstairs. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I headed down to the kitchen for something to drink. Before I could even get to the bottom of the stair, though, I was rudely interrupted by the floor flying up to greet me. Thud. I cursed, yelling as much as I could without waking up anyone upstairs. My cat, Onyx, ran off, having completed her next step in world domination by tripping me.
I got up, and glared in the direction she had gone. I grumbled, and had a thought. It must have been Onyx that was chasing me in my dream! So that'd what the thud was. I grinned at image, and chuckled lightly. I stepped deftly into the kitchen, avoiding any cat hurdles, and got safely to the refridgerator. I pulled out a soda, and leaned against a chair as I took a sip, gazing lazily out the window.
I froze, and immediately spit it out. I stared at the sight I had of the backyard. Right in the middle of it was a two-foot-wide smoking crater.
Holy shit.
I shook my head, and put down the can. I looked back out the window. No, it was still there. I stood and slowly wandered to the door, eyes glued out the window the whole while. I reached for the knob and turned it. A slight breeze blew as I stepped outside, blowing most of the smoke away from the hole. Was I still dreaming? What is this? Suddenly, out of nowhere, I made a connection. This was what the noise was.
I frowned. Since when did deduction work sanely in a dream? And since when did a dream wake you out of another? But still, this couldn't be real. I mean... big, smoking crater! Right in the middle of my backyard!
I slowly resigned myself to the fact this couldn't be, or at least most likely wasn't, a dream. This realization let me pay attention to other things, such as the fact I'd been holding my breath and hadn't moved in nearly five minutes. I shakily stepped forward towards the crater to get a better look.
I'd always like astronomy. I even owned a rather nice telescope. Could it be a meteorite? I instantly got excited. This wasn't a weird, freaky situation after all! Or, when I thought about it, it was, but not in a bad way! How many people ever get a chance like this?
I sped up my step and broke into a jog before I got over to it. I had a goofy grin on my face as I peered over into the crater, and got down on my hands and knees. I looked in, and not quite a foot down, lying at the bottom, was a scorched, dirty, blue cube. I stopped, blinking. What's this?, I wondered. I tentatively reached out. I brought my hand back, uncertain. Was this strange object safe? Curiosity won out and I grabbed it.
I stood up and gave it a closer look. As I wiped off the dust and dirt encrusted onto the surface, I noticed strange symbols written on it. It didn't look like any alphabet I'd ever seen. The closest it came to was Japanese or Chinese or something like that, but more fluid, curved. I held the object in my hands, and finally noticed the dull glow it let off. Was this box radioactive? What was it? Where did it come from?
All answers ceased when I felt it. A shock, but not quite. It felt like electricity, but not as biting. Like a soft flow of energy released into my hands, up my arms, and into my body.
Electricity or not, this wasn't someting I wanted to hold onto. I threw it down, and looked at it with shock. I didn't need any more motivation to do something about this.
So I ran back into the house. I ran up the stairs, trying to get as much distance as possible between it and me. This had to be a dream. It had to. Even so, having some backup couldn't hurt.
I ran into my bedroom with abandon and looked down at Tom and Nick. I set a plan into action and started kicking them.
Tom mumbled, and tried to turn over. I kicked harder, and he started to wake up. "Whh.. what the? Pat.. oof! What th- what are you doing?!" Nick stirred, too. "Ow! Ow! What's going on? Ow! Was I snoring? Was Tom?"
"Oh, very funny, Nick! Ah! Stop it, Pat! I'm up! I'm up!" I threw Tom and Nick their jackets, and headed to the door, barely utterring a strained, "Follow me," before leaving. I heard a rustling behind me, and some footsteps. Along with them came Tom and Nick, who quietly questioned me.
"Pat, what's wrong?" Nick asked, with a worried expression. Tom didn't show it, using a faint grin mixed with some incredulity, but he was just as worried.
"You just have to see this," I supplied, not explaining anything at all. I stopped, and left them for a moment. I peeked into my mom's room. She was still sound asleep, and Onyx had come in and curled around her ankles. As I returned, so did my grilling. "Pat, are you okay?" Tom asked, now starting to lower his mask a bit. We got to the stairs, and Tom and Nick followed me down.
Tom started to sound annoyed, angry even. "Pat, why did you wake us up? What's wrong with you?" I stepped through the doorway, breathless, and out into the night. "Have you lost your mind?! What are you trying to..." Tom was cut off as he noticed what I had noticed earlier. Nick was a few steps behind. "Tom? What is... it..." he asked, stopping as he stepped into view of it.
"Patrick?" Nick asked, with a quaver in his voice, "Is it just me, or is there a big, smoking hole in your backyard?"
I ran, my lung sore. It was gaining, I had to run faster. I started to look back. No! No, no, I can't look back, no, no, I can't, I won't. I couldn't handle that. Just run. Oh, God. It's right behind me. No, no... NO!
THHHMMMMMMMPPPPPFT!
I jumped. I looked around in a panic. I saw the soft glow of the alarm clock. I let out my held breath as I realized it had been a dream. I ran my hand through my hair and closed my eyes, and sat on my bed, breathing. Finally, I looked down at my friends to see it I'd waken them up.
Their still forms indicated otherwise. I sighed. It'd seemed so realistic. Especially the thud at the end. As I mulled over that thought, I frowned. Thud? Why would there be a thud next? I was being chased by monsters of my imagination, and those don't usually go thud. I shook my head, and quietly leaned off the bed. I grabbed my shirt and tip-toed to the door.
I slunk though the hallway, seeing by the dim light from the living room downstairs. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I headed down to the kitchen for something to drink. Before I could even get to the bottom of the stair, though, I was rudely interrupted by the floor flying up to greet me. Thud. I cursed, yelling as much as I could without waking up anyone upstairs. My cat, Onyx, ran off, having completed her next step in world domination by tripping me.
I got up, and glared in the direction she had gone. I grumbled, and had a thought. It must have been Onyx that was chasing me in my dream! So that'd what the thud was. I grinned at image, and chuckled lightly. I stepped deftly into the kitchen, avoiding any cat hurdles, and got safely to the refridgerator. I pulled out a soda, and leaned against a chair as I took a sip, gazing lazily out the window.
I froze, and immediately spit it out. I stared at the sight I had of the backyard. Right in the middle of it was a two-foot-wide smoking crater.
Holy shit.
I shook my head, and put down the can. I looked back out the window. No, it was still there. I stood and slowly wandered to the door, eyes glued out the window the whole while. I reached for the knob and turned it. A slight breeze blew as I stepped outside, blowing most of the smoke away from the hole. Was I still dreaming? What is this? Suddenly, out of nowhere, I made a connection. This was what the noise was.
I frowned. Since when did deduction work sanely in a dream? And since when did a dream wake you out of another? But still, this couldn't be real. I mean... big, smoking crater! Right in the middle of my backyard!
I slowly resigned myself to the fact this couldn't be, or at least most likely wasn't, a dream. This realization let me pay attention to other things, such as the fact I'd been holding my breath and hadn't moved in nearly five minutes. I shakily stepped forward towards the crater to get a better look.
I'd always like astronomy. I even owned a rather nice telescope. Could it be a meteorite? I instantly got excited. This wasn't a weird, freaky situation after all! Or, when I thought about it, it was, but not in a bad way! How many people ever get a chance like this?
I sped up my step and broke into a jog before I got over to it. I had a goofy grin on my face as I peered over into the crater, and got down on my hands and knees. I looked in, and not quite a foot down, lying at the bottom, was a scorched, dirty, blue cube. I stopped, blinking. What's this?, I wondered. I tentatively reached out. I brought my hand back, uncertain. Was this strange object safe? Curiosity won out and I grabbed it.
I stood up and gave it a closer look. As I wiped off the dust and dirt encrusted onto the surface, I noticed strange symbols written on it. It didn't look like any alphabet I'd ever seen. The closest it came to was Japanese or Chinese or something like that, but more fluid, curved. I held the object in my hands, and finally noticed the dull glow it let off. Was this box radioactive? What was it? Where did it come from?
All answers ceased when I felt it. A shock, but not quite. It felt like electricity, but not as biting. Like a soft flow of energy released into my hands, up my arms, and into my body.
Electricity or not, this wasn't someting I wanted to hold onto. I threw it down, and looked at it with shock. I didn't need any more motivation to do something about this.
So I ran back into the house. I ran up the stairs, trying to get as much distance as possible between it and me. This had to be a dream. It had to. Even so, having some backup couldn't hurt.
I ran into my bedroom with abandon and looked down at Tom and Nick. I set a plan into action and started kicking them.
Tom mumbled, and tried to turn over. I kicked harder, and he started to wake up. "Whh.. what the? Pat.. oof! What th- what are you doing?!" Nick stirred, too. "Ow! Ow! What's going on? Ow! Was I snoring? Was Tom?"
"Oh, very funny, Nick! Ah! Stop it, Pat! I'm up! I'm up!" I threw Tom and Nick their jackets, and headed to the door, barely utterring a strained, "Follow me," before leaving. I heard a rustling behind me, and some footsteps. Along with them came Tom and Nick, who quietly questioned me.
"Pat, what's wrong?" Nick asked, with a worried expression. Tom didn't show it, using a faint grin mixed with some incredulity, but he was just as worried.
"You just have to see this," I supplied, not explaining anything at all. I stopped, and left them for a moment. I peeked into my mom's room. She was still sound asleep, and Onyx had come in and curled around her ankles. As I returned, so did my grilling. "Pat, are you okay?" Tom asked, now starting to lower his mask a bit. We got to the stairs, and Tom and Nick followed me down.
Tom started to sound annoyed, angry even. "Pat, why did you wake us up? What's wrong with you?" I stepped through the doorway, breathless, and out into the night. "Have you lost your mind?! What are you trying to..." Tom was cut off as he noticed what I had noticed earlier. Nick was a few steps behind. "Tom? What is... it..." he asked, stopping as he stepped into view of it.
"Patrick?" Nick asked, with a quaver in his voice, "Is it just me, or is there a big, smoking hole in your backyard?"