(January '17) Prompt #3- "Holy lonely night"

[Kris]

January's 3rd prompt is "Holy lonely night"



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[ArtisticVicu]

His breath froze in the air, drifting slowly skyward only because it was warmer than the air surrounding him. He didn't even notice. His gaze was turned to one end of the road, hands buried deep inside warm pockets. A vehicle drove passed in the other direction but he didn't react. He merely watched the end of the road, waiting.

The vehicle that had passed him came to a stop before the bend he was staring at. The back up lights flickered on. He turned his attention from the bend to the vehicle as it reversed and came to a stop before him. The driver rolled down their window, asking, "You alright? Need a lift?"

He shook his head, offering politely, "My ride is coming. I'll be fine. Thank you."

The driver looked like they didn't believe him but they took his words at face value. "Do you need anything while you wait, then? I have water in the back, some snack bars, and pocket warmers."

He tipped his head to the side in thought before voicing, "If you're willing to spare a water, I wouldn't mind having one."

"Yeah, hang on," the driver said, shifting the vehicle into park. There was a moment as the driver rummaged through something in the back before returning with a sealed bottle of water. "You sure you don't need that ride?"

He took the water from the stranger, shaking his head. "I will be alright. Thank you."

The driver gave him a flat look but nodded. "Alright. Take care, stranger."

The driver shifted the vehicle back into drive and drove off. He quickly uncapped the water and drained the bottle of its content. Tucking the empty plastic bottle into his coat, he turned his gaze on the bend once more.

The clouds thickened overhead and snow began to drift down. He let it settle upon him without a thought, his gaze for only the bend.

It was close to two hours later when the next vehicle passed. This one didn't stop and kept going. He barely noticed.

The third vehicle was a half hour later. This one pulled up right in front of him, the driver rolling down their window. "You alive little buddy?"

He turned to look at the driver. He nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

"Waitin' for somethin'?" He nodded again. The driver nodded. "Alright. Well, yer only gonna get probably one more vehicle to pass ya before nightfall. If yer ride don't show up before then, I'd suggest you take it."

He nodded once more. "Thank you."

The driver rolled up their window and continued on. He watched them leave beyond the bend before focusing on the bend itself. As night fell, the world around him turned dark. It was hard to see anything and when another vehicle came from behind him, his world was briefly illuminated in a way that hurt his eyes. The vehicle didn't stop and he made no attempts to wave it down.

As it passed beyond the bend in the road, he stepped out onto the dark pavement. He stood in the middle of the street, gaze continuously on the bend in the road. It was about two hours later before something happened.

There was a noise from ahead of him and he tensed, suddenly ready for action after hours of idle waiting.

The thing that stepped out onto the bend was something only ever spoken about in stories. Ethereal yet haunting, the creature moved slowly, as if in water. Long, bony legs stretched out, hoofed feet not making any sound as the rim of each hoof seemed to sink slightly beyond the surface. The head turned towards him, eyes nothing more than blank orbs set on either side of the skull like most prey animals. The creature passed him and he stood perfectly still, waiting. The creature stopped behind him and the only way he knew was because the light the creature gave off played off the mountainside he had been standing in front of while waiting and the trees of the forest on the other side of the road. The creature came back and its head came into view, one eye pointed at him.

He carefully reached into his jacket and pulled out the bottle. The creature's large, unblinking orb of an eye showed no signs of focusing on his actions but he could almost sense that the creature was watching him intently.

He opened the bottle.

The creature moved forward and he stilled again. The thing's head was bigger than his hold form at least three times over and as it sniffed at the rim of the bottle, he closed his eyes. There was sound from the bend in the road but he made no move to open his eyes. The creature beside him made a noise, the sound as light as it was echoy. The creature that had come made a noise as well. but it was harsh and sent a thrill of terror through him. He dared not to breath.

The creature that had appeared second moved passed. He only knew this because the light against his eyelids had dimmed. Chancing it, he opened his eyes enough to see the ground. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes fully but didn't move his body. Instead, he let his gaze drift to the light source behind him and the creature that had come first was standing there, watching the other creature leave. A third came around the bend but he made no move to close his eyes. The first creature reached down and plucked the bottle from his hand. The third creature made no noise but it did look at him as best as the creature could with its orb like eyes.

The first and third creature left together.

Closing his eyes again, he waited. The fourth and final creature came out from around the bend. Its light was sharper than the others but it made no sound. Though he didn't want to move, he slowly raised a hand before him before moving it to be as far out to the side as he could physically make it.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the fourth creature pressed against his open palm. He couldn't open his eyes even when the creature picked him up and deposited him on their back.

He settled in for a long ride.

Somewhere along the way, the ride smoothed out till it felt like he wasn't moving. When he opened his eyes, it was to a dark, stormy sky that greeted him. Pain laced through him as he attempted to move something. He could taste metallic on his tongue as he caught a brief glimpse of a vehicle to the side and a creature with bony legs and ethereal yet haunting standing in the beam of a car's headlight.

[m139]

It was night time. Outside, the stars in the sky shone brightly, millions and millions of little pinpricks of light smiling down upon he earth. The moon, too, was a beautiful silver disk, majestically beginning its ascent in the east, and silently casting its beam of light between the buildings and along the roads of the old town.

It would have been a beautiful sight, had anyone been there to see it. But the streets were empty, as were the houses. There was not a soul in site, and the only sign of life was the chirping of a lone cricket standing on a solitary, scraggily plant on one of the corners.

No one was there, and as for when its last inhabitant had been there, who could really say. All that could be told was that a lot of time had passed: on the outside, a couple of the buildings' facades had fallen in, and in the inside, if one bothered to look, a lot of dust had settled over everything.

The cricket stopped chirping. All was silent, and the eerie sort of calm would have been palpable if anyone had been around to taste it. But there was no one around to do such a thing.

Suddenly, a low moan floated through the air. Winds whipped here and there, as what might have been peacefulness was suddenly destroyed. The lights in the sky and the moon itself were bloated out, and a lone dark object descended from the heavens. For a moment, it hovered in the air, above what once was this town, then three long snake-like protrousions squirmed out of its black base, and, each in a different direction extended itself until they were close to the ground. Just before reaching it, they seemed to hesitate, then, each moving just a bit so as to avoid a building or a fountain, they planted themselves in the ground. They soon began to thicken, and a sound like a hiss came forth from this apparatus.

Several minutes later, at the bottom of one of these a door-like impression in the tube had formed. And, within moments, the same sort of feature had appeared on the other two pipes. It was then that the hissing stopped. For a moment, all was silent, and then, another woosh, followed by the sound of a small pop as the three doors flung open, and a beings came out of each portal.

There were now three in this little town. Who exactly they were though, or even what, it was impossible to tell, for they were wrapped up in some sort of clunky radiation suits. However, the inhabitants of these bulky outfits still seemed to move with a kind of fluidity, as if they were used to such inhibitors of movement. They began to move towards an old fountain slowly, gracefully, and, upon reaching the crumbling thing, began to converse.

Mind you, it was not as if they could not talk earlier, for each of the suits had a built in communication device. In fact, this is what they were using even now, as the suit was sealed off completely from the outside, and having the speaker first project and then the audio receptors pick it up was just too long of a process. Yet, they had not talked before, nor had they wanted to. Most people who were chosen to go on this yearly pilgrimage kept this silence, prefering to hear the sounds of this mostly dead planet. There was something comforting and enthralling about hearing your own footfalls, hearing a bug or two if you were lucky enough, hearing the wind blow all around you...

It was not as if they had never heard these things before. In fact, they all had even experienced these very things before outside of these dumb radiation suits, on planets still bright and green. But, at this moment, those things hardly mattered at all. This was a dream they were living- to walk this, this the surface of planet Earth.

It was the dream of every young child- the sole reason-even if not explicitly stated, that practically every child, no matter on what far flung planet they were born on, wanted to join the Space Corps. It was all for this: for the three people chosen, once every year, to go to earth, to walk on that very same soil that once, long ago, their forefathers did. And this year, it was these three people who now stood together whose ship had won the lottery, before they won the second lottery on the ship.

The expressed purpose of this trip was to gather samples to take back for testing, to see whether Earth might someday soon be habitable again. But, of the three, none seemed all that eager to get the job done. At their sides, each had the proper tools, but no hand was reaching for them. And not one was talking about it.

Said one, "Can you imagine? This is almost the same sky that the first of our race saw."

Another, "These buildings look almost the same as in the picture book I had as a little boy. Time does not change much, no, not at all."

The third, "And to think, I have been dreaming this my whole life!"

For a minute or two, they talked, sharing with each other their ecstasy. Then, they again began to wander the world around then, one peeking in a doorframe here, another walking down a crumbling street, and yet another examining the scraggly plant. They wandered, for as long as they were able, until a low groan was heard from the tubes which had placed them down upon this long abandoned surface. Only then did the three get to work, although they each did it with a bit of reluctance. Then, with the samples gathered, they headed back to the tubes, even more slowly then before.

At the entrance to their respective tube, each paused for a long moment, looking back at the planet which had once been a home. Then, with the little pieces of it cradled in their arms, they ascended up the tubes. Soon after, the tubes themselves deflated, and were sucked back into the ship. Then the ship itself left, and the stars filled the entire sky once more.

The cricket resumed chirping, all alone on this holy, lonely night.