Draft 1
The Moon Fall Incident
They called it the Moon Fall Incident. I only learned this many months after that day. This was the last day I saw my wife, the last day I was truly happy. I can still see it, that day I mean. I relive it every night in my fitful sleep.
My wife, Tiombie, and I were coming home from a busy day running errands and planning on cooking Thai food for dinner. The scent of her perfume still lingers in my nose from that day. Her laugh wraps itself around my heart and warms me at night now. Those auburn eyes that could always see through me, damn I miss them.
“What are you starring at Cade?” She asked me breaking my trance. I hung on her words for a moment. Every sound wave ingrained into my memory now.
“Cade?” She repeated
“At the you my sunrise, because you brighten my day.” I say to her. I should have told her more. I should have told her that my love for her was endless and that I’d trade the world for another day with her.
“Well, my sunset I hope you still feel that way after you wash the dishes, it’s your turn.” She said with a giggle. I would have responded to her but this is where it began. The core of my being felt so cold. That cold feeling bore a feeling of absolute evil. A feeling of malice in a pure form entered my body and paralyzed me. I could hear my wife talking but I couldn’t respond to her. My gaze drifted upward into the partly cloudy sky and I spoke without thought.
“Pull the car over right now!” I yelled out now. Tiombie swerved off the road abruptly with a scowl on her face. She started to yell at me but saw the sweat pouring off my brow and wiped my head on concern.
“What’s wrong with you?” She asked me. I didn’t have an answer. This feeling was nauseating now. Before she could ask more she followed my gaze and gasped. We were both staring at a cluster of clouds in the distance. There was a perfect circle seemingly cut out of it.
“A hole in the clouds?” I say finally gaining some composure back.
“What did that?” She asked. We didn’t wait long for an answer. An enormous radiantly white orb plummeted through it and crashed into the cityscape in the distance. At first there was no sound, but all at once the sounds of the other cars on the highway swerving to a stop hit me first. Then the sound of metal being crushed and glass shattering came. Lastly the sound of various explosions deafened me. The orb shot back into the sky and the screams of survivors filled my ears now. But not in he traditional since. I felt the screams from within.
“We have to get out of here!” Tiombie yelled as she cranked the car again.
“Wait! Don’t move the car yet, look up there!” I ordered now. She hesitated but listened to me. We gazed upward and saw more circles opening in the cloud cover around the city now. Fear started to settle in now, but something told me to move now. To this day I can’t explain why I listened. My hand found the handle and pulled the door open.
“Where the hell are you going?” Tiombie yelled at me as I peered upward at the new hole opening up directly above us. I didn’t respond to her as I walked a few feet away from the car. She tried to follow and I thirst my had back at her telling her to stop. When I did her door slammed shut, rocking the car. Tiombie tried opening it from what I heard but couldn’t. I never took my eyes off the sky to confirm it. A few others got out of their cars and joined me in my gaze now. The perfect circle was mesmerizing now, and the Malice I felt in my stomach began to fade. A feeling of tranquility enveloped me, then an adrenaline rush. Something was about to happen I could feel it.
In the moment between breaths time seemed to stop. Everything froze in place and that’s when it spoke to us.
“Finally, you are ready!” A voice rumbled from within. I can’t explain it, but it felt like an ancient presence. Something unknown yet familiar at the same time. I wanted to call out tour but time started to flow again now, and we saw it now. The white orb of death and destruction was plummeting towards the earth now. I’ve never seen something move so fast before.
“The Time is now!” The voice rang out again. My body moved finally, I didn’t know why but I thrust my hands upward with my eyes jammed shit waiting to feel a hot crushing death. Something I could only describe as power welled up in my gut and I felt my body and mind strain beyond belief. I winced and groaned but poured everything I had into maintaining this feeling. It felt like an eternity went by before I felt a small bit of relief.
“Cade, look up!” My wife called to me from the car. I opened my eyes, slowly letting the light enter. The orb was hovering above the road about a 100 yards away. Getting a good look at it now, it looked like a small moon.
“Did we do this?” A blond haired guy in fatigues asked staring in my direction. I looked around and saw a few more people got out of their cars and were holding their hands up now.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad it stopped.” I say finally taking a breath. I turned my focus back on the moon and he did the same. I don’t know what he thought of but something made me think I wanted it gone. I searched inside for that feeling and it came lurching out again. I winced bit kept my eyes in the moon and thought of pushing it back. After a few seconds of feeling foolish it slowly began drifting upward. A few yells of triumph echoes through the street as it was pushed back. The strain got worse as I pushed harder, but I wanted it gone. With a final effort we pushed against it and it rocketed back upwards into orbit. The clouds dispersed rapidly revealing a brilliant blue sky now. A calm set in amongst the crowd as we felt like we overcame death. I can only hope that was the case.
I turned to face my wife and I couldn’t move. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and never let her go. I wanted to taste her luscious lips just once more. Bask in the luminous glow of her supple brown skin, but all I could do was drop to my knees crippled by exhaustion. The last thing I could see was her beating on the glass trying to get to me before I blacked out.
An unknown amount of time later
Have you ever had a hangover and got woken up by a continuous obnoxious banging? That was my life currently. My eyes still hadn’t open yet but my other senses were compensating. I could smell wood burning, possibly a campfire. The obnoxious banging was coupled with cursing at a door that wouldn’t open. There was someone sobbing around me as well. My mouth felt gritty, was there sand in my mouth? I tried to spit it out but my mouth was too dry to do so. My limbs felt like they were injected with led, it was impossible hard to try and prop myself up. I rubbed the floor slowly realizing that i was laying on a stone or cement flooring. The sobs intensify and I realize someone is talking now.
“…up…. Get up man! How long are you going to be a zombie?” The voice asked. It was familiar. The soldier from the highway. My eyes creeped open and the light from the fire stung them shut again.
“What hit me?” I groan holding my head attempting to open my eyes again.
“A fucking moon. Now get up and help me open this door.” He ordered. I scan the room and now and everything is stone, a brown stone room with paintings on the walls. Three sides were completely solid minus the huge door in the center of the wall opposite of the opening leading to a balcony. The sun looked like it was rising in the distance, over a mountain. A mountain? I live in a region of Georgia that isn’t mountainous. Panic sets in and I force myself up and rush for the balcony. I rushed headlong for the edge now without a thought before my hand was grabbed and I was yanked back. The soldier pulled me back and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Hold steady man! We’ve already lost one guy who thought this was a trick.” He said to me leading me slowly to the edge. He pointed down into the ravine we were apparently sitting on top of. Across the rocks below ere the bloody remains of another man wearing robes. I take a second to process seeing a dead body and look at the soldier and myself. We were dressed in brown robes.
“Thanks… umm..”
“Carter. Jonathan Carter.” He answered.
“Cade Harris.” I say shaking his hand. The sound of sobs enters my ears again and visions of my wife come flooding back. I turn towards it hopefully only to be met with crushing disappointment.
“Where is my wife? Where are we?” I say starting to panic. Carter grabbed my shoulders and shook me as hard as he could now.
“Hey I’m not having both of you break down on me. Shit one of you already committed suicide. We have to man up and get back to our families! I can’t answer any of your questions, but I do plan on going home.” He said confidently. He let me go and heads back to the door and returns to kicking it. I stare at the sunrise and wonder how long I’ve been here and if my wife was okay. The sobs break my train of thought and I head over to the small Indian woman huddled in the corner.
“Hey, miss? What’s your name?” I say trying to calm her. She wipes her eyes and tries to speak now.
“Fatima kumari.” She said with a shaking voice. I hold my hand out to her and offer to help her up. She reluctantly takes it.
“Carter is right. We have to get our heads together and get out of here.” I say to her. She wipes her eyes again and nods in affirmation. The three of us pull prod and kick the hell out of this stone door for hours now. The three of us fall to the ground with our backs on the stone door now exhausted, frustrated and starting to get hungry.
The sun was high in the sky now, the only things we’ve learned this far was we were devoid of all technology. Carter was on his third deployment and has seen actual combat. Fatima was a pediatrician, and didn’t want to die a virgin. Lastly, I was sadly resulting to coming up with jokes that started with “A white guy, Black guy, and Indian girl walk into a bar…” in an effort to not break down in tears.
“Okay Carter we’ve done everything how the hell do we get out of here?” I asked now growing angry.
“I thinking man. What I wouldn’t give for some explosives right now.” He said before cursing under his breath. Fatima sat quietly wiping her eyes and fighting more tears. I thought about my wife and stood up. My body was moving on its own, because I didn’t have the energy to do this.
“I’m coming to you my Sunrise.” I growl as I place both my palms on the stone door. Carter stood up behind me with Fatima following suit.
“Just take a break man. You’re gonna pass out if you continue.” He said to me.
“He’s right, we haven’t had any food or water, continuing can be dangerous.” Fatima says now.
“Listen to the doctor. Even though she isn’t the least bit winded. How?” Carter asks now. She looks at him just as baffled. She realized at that moment she wasn’t tired in the least. Not hungry or thirsty.
“I’m getting out of this prison!” I yell at the door now. I heard them say word of caution but I was tuning them out as I muster all I could into pushing he door. That feeling from before creepy out of my core. That power welled up and I started wishing this door could be open. It was standing in between me and my wife filling me with rage. The powers radiated to my extremities now and the ground around me trembled.
“Hey what are you doing?” Carter yelled startled now. The ground cracked between his legs and he jumped towards Fatima.
“Let. Us. Out!” I yelled and a surge of power erupted from my body blowing the door to pieces. A smile crept across my face as the weakness set in and I started to fall. Both Carter and Fatima catch me and keep me on my feet.
“Stay with us!” Fatima says worried.
“Holy shit bro!” Carter exclaims in a mixture of awe and pride.
“Let’s get out of here.” I say weakly to them. Without another word we start walking through the path of rubble I created into the unknown.
poeticice 