A Somber Evening

The cold winter air whipped past the buildings as thousands of people trudged through the snow-covered streets. The tall buildings cast long, imposing shadows over the citizens as they went about their last day on Earth. Few wandered with purpose; most were lost in the thick haze of confusion that enveloped humanity. The stars overhead had faded, rendered invisible by the city lights’ glare. Two people sat on a bench, ignored by the hurried crowd. The man’s eyes were hollow husks of what they had been just a week before. The woman shivered, her gloved hands clutching her fur coat, a faint whimper escaping her lips. Each deep breath produced a small cloud of fog. The moon hangs over the sky, far too close to Earth, as the light beams over the city.

The man stares at the sky, holding a cigar in his hand, “The moon’s looking bright this evening, and far too close.”

“Yeah, still confused how those scientists figured it would collide with Earth tonight, still looks too far to me,” responds the woman, “Maybe they’re wrong, and this is just some mistake?” continues the woman, knowing she is just lying to herself.

“No, this is the end,” says the man as he takes a puff from his cigar.

The woman turns her head and sighs to herself out of hesitant acceptance, “Hard to think that all these people are just walking around like their lives won’t end in less than 24 hours.”

The man glanced back at the crowd. A young mother pushed her baby in a stroller, softly cooing to lull the child to sleep, while a group of carolers sang a somber tune instead of the usual cheerful Christmas songs. His eyes wandered to a nearby office building, its windows dark and rooms empty. He returned his gaze to the woman, who was still trying to keep warm.

“I guess people have just given up on fighting the inevitable. No point in fighting when it’s pointless to stop it.”

The woman nods curtly, “You have a point. It’s just a little weird how calm it is despite everything. Hell, not even the government cares anymore.”

“Why should they?” questions the man,” It’s not like the government could stop the coming storm.”

The woman’s face scrunches up due to a mixture of annoyance and the blistering cold air, “Still, you’d at least expect some final or calming words before everything is gone.”

“What’s the point? It would just waste their own time that they’d have left with their families.”

The woman scoffs, “Well, I had to work yesterday.”

“And?” the man slightly glares at her, “That was your choice, the boss offered everyone the chance to quit well over a week ago.”

The woman looked at the man with slight offense before whipping her head away from his.
“Not my fault that bills and food still need to be paid for,” says the woman, a slight pout on her face.

Before the man could respond, the last of the city lights would flicker briefly before shutting off. First, the buildings, then the remaining adverts for ‘miracle apocalypse shelters’, and finally the street lamps. However, nobody paid any mind. No screaming, no chaos, just somber acceptance.

“Well, I guess those bills don’t matter now, do they?” Gruffed the man.

The woman groaned, “Just shut it, why don’t ya?”

The wind continued to howl. Whirling around the dead buildings, feeling strong enough to slash open skin. The lack of light pollution allows the faint glow of stars to peak through the clouds.

The woman looks back at the man, “Can I ask you something?”
The man looks over to the woman. His eyes lock onto hers despite how dark it is.

“What is it?”

“Why are you here with me during our last hours alive?” The woman questions, “Don’t you have a family to go to?”

“Not really, I live alone,” responds the man, his tone monotone.

The woman looks to the man, “You too? Well, I suppose it’s nice knowing I’m not the only one alone.”

“What a nice way of calling the two of us losers.”
The woman glances at the man but is unable to formulate a response to his snarky comment.

“That may be how you see yourself, but don’t lump me in with you,” sarcastically responds the woman.

A silence befell the two, the icy air reddening their ears and noses as they attempted to remain warm. A distant sound of an owl hooting in the evening, followed by the scurry of a small rodent on the cobblestone path. Over the buildings, the moon looms over the night sky, having moved from the horizon to the center of the sky. A feeling of malice burning from the celestial body.

“I wonder when it starts? I’m honestly just waiting for it all to be over,” quietly accepts the man.

The woman quickly turns to him, but then sighs.

“Really? Just like that? That’s pathetic, even for you.”

“Well, it’s true,” responds the man, “Not much I can do besides wait.”
The woman scoffs, “Can’t even pretend to be scared? What are you? A robot?”

The man subtly laughs to himself, “I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

As the two go back and forth, the moon’s surface begins to shift. Barely noticeable to the naked eye, besides the faint movement near the moon’s poles. As the surface shifts, thousands of people turn their gaze to the sky, mesmerized by the moon’s signs of life.

The woman notices the reactions of the people surrounding them. Looking up, her eyes widen in a combination of surprise and mesmerization.

Confused, the man looks over to her, “Uh, what are you looking at?”
Without a word, the woman points to the sky as the moon’s surface slowly cracks. Slowly, a massive, pulsating eye opens beneath the moon’s surface, a black ooze substance surrounding it as the iris dilates, looking like a camera adjusting itself.

“What is that?” whispers the woman, her voice cut off by sheer astonishment.
“I… I don’t know,” responds the man, his eyes widening in terror.

The woman’s knees begin to buckle as the man’s labored breaths grow increasingly heavier. The iris moves from one side of the cosmic entity to the next before setting directly onto the city.

“Is… Is it staring at us?” the woman stammers out. Struggling to comprehend the idea that the moon is alive.

The man’s silent terror causes him to struggle to respond. He had to force the words from his mouth.

“I… I don’t know.”
The woman looks to him, his change in demeanor causing her anxiety and horror to skyrocket.

As the iris’s pupil shrinks, radios begin to play a hauntingly beautiful and heavily distorted version of “We’ll Meet Again”. The tune drowns out the silence and fear that grips the city’s populace as a long, tentacle-like appendage bursts from the moon’s crust. So dark that it blends into the night sky. It appears to have glowing spots all over its incorporeal body, almost like the entity is space itself.

As the music plays through the streets, citizens begin to lose their minds, letting out loud screams of terror, fear, and hysteria. As madness begins to grip the people, a loud crash can be heard as a car crashes into a building. Pieces of glass flying into the street and unfortunate people standing too close.

The woman’s breathing increases in pace, her heart beating out of her chest due to the primal fear taking over her entire being. She turns her head to the man, and his reaction isn’t too different from hers as she notices how his eyes bulge out from his skull.

“This is… This is unreal,” murmurs the woman, her gaze locked onto the iris.

The man, not letting his eyes leave the moon’s horrid glare, lets out a low, terrified response, “I can’t believe this is real. Whatever it is, it has locked onto Earth.”

The woman’s knees buckle under the pressure as she slowly stammers, “I-I-I don’t want to d-die…”

The man turns to her and watches as tears fall from her eyes, his own expression filled with incomprehensible fear as another person sprints past them, screaming, “Run for your lives!”

Lost in thought, the man mutters, “What’s the point?”

The man’s horror slowly becomes a panicked acceptance of his and the planet’s fate as the woman positions herself into a fetal position. Completely ignoring the bitter cold that had affected her merely a few minutes prior.

As the two fall deeper into despair, the distorted music reaches its climax as the moon’s crust is completely destroyed, revealing an amorphous blob of fleshy material that looms patiently over the planet, its tentacles slithering below the horizon. A large maw opening below the entity’s eye. Flesh-tearing as large, teeth-like structures become visible.

The man looks up, taking notice of one of the tentacles as it is about to land near him and the woman. Thinking quickly, he grabs her hand and sprints towards the street as hundreds of people flee the area. In a flash, the tentacle lands a few hundred feet away, crushing everything in its path and sending debris flying thousands of feet in every direction.

The gravity of the planet is slowly affected, causing the man and the woman to float slowly off the ground as the iris gazes down over its meal, not even realizing the billions of creatures being destroyed in the process.

The man breaths deeply, only just managing to retreat out of the destruction. He looks down at the woman, her expression equally as stunned.

“Is-Is it gonna eat the planet?” softly asks the woman, her eyes wide with horror.
The man looks to her, his breath coming out in ragged, deep breaths, “I-It appears so.”

As the two watch, the planet is drawn closer to the entity’s mouth. Slowly, the two turn back to each other, a faint smile on the man’s face as he lets out a low sigh.

“You know, out of everyone I could spend my last day with, I’m glad it was you,” his voice low and appreciative.

The woman smiles, “There are worse people, I guess.”

“If there is another word beyond this, I hope we’ll meet again,” softly whispers the woman, already accepting the end.

The two would stare at each other, hugging each other, in a last attempt to find comfort as the Earth was consumed by the entity. Gone without a trace.

Credit: Brother KoKo