Note: This is the fifty-first post in Free Fiction Fridays.
These are short stories put up each Friday that you can read for free. By the next Friday the post will be taken down and a new one will go up. Enjoy!
These are short stories put up each Friday that you can read for free. By the next Friday the post will be taken down and a new one will go up. Enjoy!
The door slammed and Carolyn looked over.
“What did they say?” she said, rushing up to Jim and getting up in his face. Usually the on-edge photographer would get miffed about something like that, but tonight he barely registered it.
“What did they say?” Carolyn said again, more firm this time. Jim looked at her and noticed her arms were cross and her grin awry – in other words, she wasn’t in the mood to put up with anything.
“They said…” Jim began, looking at his wife. Her eyes widened in a ‘well’ kind of look, and he shook his head and headed for the couch, his coat and shoes still on. “Oh, God, they said a lot, let me tell you, they said a lot.” He started to laugh a bit to himself.
“But did you show them the picture?” Carolyn said, coming up to sit beside her husband.
“Yeah, yeah…I showed it to ‘em,” Jim said.
“And…did you tell them?”
Jim rubbed at his eyes and forehead like you’d do if you had a really bad headache. “Yeah,” he said at last, “I told them.”
“My God, Jim – what did they say!”
“They told me about the rings around Saturn and rooms – rooms – that are just floating in space. They told me about giants and how they were banished here long ago, to this forgotten corner of the galaxy, like some galactic Australia-like penal colony. They told me about the Atlanteans and how their flood was an attempt to get rid of them. And they told me how they failed.”
Jim trailed off and it was clear he was on the verge of tears, a complete breakdown, like his world had been completely upended. Carolyn stared at her husband, or the wretch that he’d become. It’d only been three days since the comet in the night, and then just two since he’d gotten a call and gone to investigate. Just yesterday he’d written it up on the site, about the hoax of the Chinese satellite. It was but a few hours ago that the call had come, the call to meet. And now here they were.
Carolyn shook her head and scoffed. “Saturn?”
“Ha!” Jim laughed, then reached over to his camera bag, still slung over his shoulder. “Here,” he said, handing over a photo, “they even gave me a copy of the image they showed.”
Carolyn took it and scrunched up her face. “What am I looking at…rocks?”
Jim frowned and looked over, then shook his head. “Oh no, that’s the ice crystals, as they call them, where the rooms are located.” He took out another photograph. “Here.”
Carolyn took it, and this time here eyes went wide. There before here was what looked like a bedroom, that’s all she could describe it as, like a bedroom that’d been cut off from a house and flung out into space to float. Except it wasn’t floating, and it wasn’t out in space – it was there, nestled in the rocky debris of what could only be the rings of Saturn. The yellowish planet below outlined the room well, which seemed to have been sheared off on one side. What was unmistakable were the table and chair, firmly attached to the room, part of it really. Nothing could sit at that table but a human, or at least, human-like being.
Carolyn looked to Jim. “What is–”
“That’s not what we need to be worrying about right now,” he said, cutting her off, “and I don’t think they care about what I saw near the lake – them giving me those picture shows that.” He laughed. “Can’t you see, Carolyn – they don’t care what gets out at this point, it’s too late. The holes in Siberia, the openings in Antarctica, it all points to one thing – something big is going to happen, and it’s going to happen soon.”
“You don’t know that.”
Jim frowned. “No, I don’t know for a fact, but what I was told tonight makes me believe it. Carolyn, they were talking about some of those giants still being here, about how some of them are starting to wake up. It’s not just finding old bones in burial mounds, either – it’s the military sites built up in far-off areas, covers for what lies beneath. Things are moving, and things are waking up. Far up in Canada right now–”
“Who told you all this tonight?” Carolyn shouted out so as to be heard over her husband’s rambling.
Jim smiled. “It was–”
His words were cut-off in his throat, and a moment later he was paralyzed. Looking over at Carolyn, he saw she was also immobilized. That’s when the bright light appeared shining through all the windows.
“What did they say?” she said, rushing up to Jim and getting up in his face. Usually the on-edge photographer would get miffed about something like that, but tonight he barely registered it.
“What did they say?” Carolyn said again, more firm this time. Jim looked at her and noticed her arms were cross and her grin awry – in other words, she wasn’t in the mood to put up with anything.
“They said…” Jim began, looking at his wife. Her eyes widened in a ‘well’ kind of look, and he shook his head and headed for the couch, his coat and shoes still on. “Oh, God, they said a lot, let me tell you, they said a lot.” He started to laugh a bit to himself.
“But did you show them the picture?” Carolyn said, coming up to sit beside her husband.
“Yeah, yeah…I showed it to ‘em,” Jim said.
“And…did you tell them?”
Jim rubbed at his eyes and forehead like you’d do if you had a really bad headache. “Yeah,” he said at last, “I told them.”
“My God, Jim – what did they say!”
“They told me about the rings around Saturn and rooms – rooms – that are just floating in space. They told me about giants and how they were banished here long ago, to this forgotten corner of the galaxy, like some galactic Australia-like penal colony. They told me about the Atlanteans and how their flood was an attempt to get rid of them. And they told me how they failed.”
Jim trailed off and it was clear he was on the verge of tears, a complete breakdown, like his world had been completely upended. Carolyn stared at her husband, or the wretch that he’d become. It’d only been three days since the comet in the night, and then just two since he’d gotten a call and gone to investigate. Just yesterday he’d written it up on the site, about the hoax of the Chinese satellite. It was but a few hours ago that the call had come, the call to meet. And now here they were.
Carolyn shook her head and scoffed. “Saturn?”
“Ha!” Jim laughed, then reached over to his camera bag, still slung over his shoulder. “Here,” he said, handing over a photo, “they even gave me a copy of the image they showed.”
Carolyn took it and scrunched up her face. “What am I looking at…rocks?”
Jim frowned and looked over, then shook his head. “Oh no, that’s the ice crystals, as they call them, where the rooms are located.” He took out another photograph. “Here.”
Carolyn took it, and this time here eyes went wide. There before here was what looked like a bedroom, that’s all she could describe it as, like a bedroom that’d been cut off from a house and flung out into space to float. Except it wasn’t floating, and it wasn’t out in space – it was there, nestled in the rocky debris of what could only be the rings of Saturn. The yellowish planet below outlined the room well, which seemed to have been sheared off on one side. What was unmistakable were the table and chair, firmly attached to the room, part of it really. Nothing could sit at that table but a human, or at least, human-like being.
Carolyn looked to Jim. “What is–”
“That’s not what we need to be worrying about right now,” he said, cutting her off, “and I don’t think they care about what I saw near the lake – them giving me those picture shows that.” He laughed. “Can’t you see, Carolyn – they don’t care what gets out at this point, it’s too late. The holes in Siberia, the openings in Antarctica, it all points to one thing – something big is going to happen, and it’s going to happen soon.”
“You don’t know that.”
Jim frowned. “No, I don’t know for a fact, but what I was told tonight makes me believe it. Carolyn, they were talking about some of those giants still being here, about how some of them are starting to wake up. It’s not just finding old bones in burial mounds, either – it’s the military sites built up in far-off areas, covers for what lies beneath. Things are moving, and things are waking up. Far up in Canada right now–”
“Who told you all this tonight?” Carolyn shouted out so as to be heard over her husband’s rambling.
Jim smiled. “It was–”
His words were cut-off in his throat, and a moment later he was paralyzed. Looking over at Carolyn, he saw she was also immobilized. That’s when the bright light appeared shining through all the windows.
THE END
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