Flaming Sky

Out in the desert, the night sky is free and unrestrained. It has no borders and is proud to present itself. A blanket of little dots washed over a deep purple and black. It is the endless gaze that you can only find in places free from the city lights and traffic. Out here, where the desert stays cool at night. The moon feels larger than usual, glaring back down at us. You can see its craters and the rabbit working away at the mortar and pestle. But it's not as quiet and alone as it may seem.

Henry Epswich was a middle-aged man with a passion for ufology. Dressed in khaki cargo shorts with a thin hoodie on top, he looked ready to camp away. Next to his van was a small tent setup that he and his girlfriend would be staying at for the night. Sally Mijanski was about 15 years his younger and they had met at a small UFO convention back in Lincoln, Nebraska. This was about a year prior. He was there advertising his latest book "What To Do If You Make First Contact: A Guide for the Ordinary Person in Extraordinary Situations".

Like Sally, Henry had also grown up in the tedium of the American Midwest. For someone like him and her, it lacked the spirit of adventure they had romanticised existing in the desert and the Rockies. Such mundanity led the two of them down to interests in the esoteric and odd. Both would eventually find conspiracy groups online with the internet. Such communities also happened to be big on social meetups. Henry AKA exalted_hunter, was a common forum contributor with over 3000 replies. Sally lurked for the most part, but she would later find her way as a moderator.

Henry had long struggled to find a publisher for his work and research in alien contact protocol. He felt that his former colleagues at the University of Iowa had ridiculed him for his passion for UFOs and UAPs. Such appreciation for niche topics like these could only be found in the desert, out here down in New Mexico. That's where he finally found an independent publisher willing to take his work seriously. Although he doesn't get any royalties as part of the publishing deal, he felt it was a necessary sacrifice to spread what he felt was an important message. Besides there was a generous enough lumpsum given by the publisher. It's what funded the new van and new tent. Living out the van life, it's how he was able to convince the young Sally to come along with him.

So, they lived out each night outside and spent it staring back at the endless sky. Its many stars and movements and lights captivate them. You never know when the day comes when it all comes down, but you wait nonetheless. Only then do you realize that each second you spend up until this moment is from a time you can't return to. When things end like that, they end forever in ways that feel irreparable. Because something came that changed everything, and nothing could be the same again.

We tell ourselves we'll be prepared, but when such moments come its easy to feel disbelief. After all, Henry still held onto some scepticism. That maybe all his life's work and dedication had been silly and wrong. That maybe the aliens he seeks aren't going to seek him back in his lifetime. It's easy to believe and probable at that, that your life won't be the one and things will go on to another day. But not today. Not for Henry and Sally.

When it came down it did so with great power and fury. The ground shook and gasped as the flaming object hurled itself straight down at full speed. A short shockwave blew dust in every direction. A resounding thud accompanied it, temporarily deafening its surroundings. It had came down from outer space, they were both sure of it. This large black rock the size of a human, had come crashing with rage and heat. It sizzled and steamed. The hot air lifted off every pore. The surface looked like smooth black glass, maybe some sort of obsidian. It had not left much of a crater, but everything around it was prostrated away all flat and submitted.

Of course, our couple approached it with optimistic caution. Not that meteors are rare out here but this was of notable size. Henry had never seen one so large and opaque before. Sally didn't expect anything like this either. The two can smell the hissing steam interacting with the dry air. It creates a foul smell of burnt hair as it lifts away and turns into green fumes. This also felt uncharacteristic for what should be a space rock, but what would they? This wasn't the first contact they were hoping for. But it was something interesting nonetheless.

As they get closer, the natural urge to touch it comes out. Henry finds himself wanting to feel the surface, maybe even sense out the rock's history. How far had it travelled to arrive here? How many people and places have come and gone in that time? It was such boundless things that made Henry feel small - but in a good way. The universe is so vast, who knows what could be out there just waiting for something to happen? Just like another Henry, waiting each night.

Sally, however, seemed less enthused by the black rock. She felt a sense of caution override her original impulses of curiosity. This thing wasn't alive, but it was alien to her. Earth had been like a safe dome up until this moment. The reaches of space are held back by the safe tides of the atmosphere. But now was a reminder that such expectations can't always be consistent. Out of the city and out here in the desert alone is an incredibly coincidental instance. No one knows they're here. No one may know what they've found. No one knows anything.

She tells Henry to slow down and stop. That maybe, they should think about these things. After all, what about space contaminants? She had seen old films before where the astronauts had to quarantine in some metal chamber. Surely this rock would need to do the same? The green fumes don't seem to be dissipating as they initially seemed. The rock kept hissing that same foul odour. Henry was very close now, almost in a trance with it. Sally kept looking around their surroundings for more information. The dry desert dust was still scattered about and settling down.

"Henry, wait!"

It was too late. He touched it. First the finger tips then the palm. He hugs it close. The smooth surface ran past his skin. There's little to no friction. He could feel himself gliding across it, there existed not a single jagged surface to run into. The whole of the meteor stood as this unshapen spheroid. Its black mirror-like surface reflects Henry's child-like glee. This was a dream come true. This was the sort of stuff that puts you in Wikipedia articles. Perhaps he'll get sub-linked to other things like Roswell. This was the big one. The kind that changes your life forever.

But such things arent enticing to everyone. For Sally, there was this sudden pang of possible regret. That maybe the situation they found themselves was too unprecedented for two random humans to approach directly. She had seen the sci-fi films. What good comes from unsolicited first contact? There was no language here. No discernable form of sentient life. It's just a big silent rock. This shouldn't be enough to be creepy, after all Earth is used to meteors by now, Just ask the dinosaurs. But some instincts don't relent. Sometimes your body doesn't want the risk, even if there's nothing to be afraid of. Would you choose to listen to it?

Sally pulled the enchanted Henry, asking him to leave and that they could take photos and return. This would still be their discovery. But Henry seems to be losing himself. The fumes keep coming out, maybe even intensifying. It went from a foul odour to something more sweet and dizzying. Sally felt her head get lighter. Her vision was getting blurry and the words were starting to come out all slurry. Where was Henry?

Henry seemed too engrossed to notice his senses fading. Sally's voice seemed so distant despite her being right there next to him. The rock commanded his full attention. Henry admired the rock and felt he could do so endlessly. He was falling in love with its smooth bumps and curves. This was his childhood dream coming true.

Only, it wasn't. Not exactly at least. Henry noticed a voice speaking to him, almost like a whisper in his head. He wasn't sure what it was even saying. It sounded mostly like gibberish but it for sure felt like a human voice. Was this Sally? No. It was somebody else. Something else. This concerned Henry enough to have him catch himself briefly. What was he doing right now? Where was his body? What was he looking at? The black rock had grown hazy as the fumes covered the area in a thick fog. Where was Sally? Henry realized something wasn't right anymore. The rock, the voice, it was all too much.

"Sally?"

He called out to her, worried he had been too late to realize he was falling into some hole. He couldn't see her anymore and his head was starting to hurt. The rock was indifferent. Finally, he lets go of the rock. The smooth surface leaves his fingers and he can immediately feel a call to return to it and touch it again. But he relents. Where had Sally gone?

Unsure of what to do, he decides to run out of the fog before it clogs his lungs and traps him there. He turns around and runs in the opposite direction. The voice he's been hearing grows stronger and angrier. It's gone from a gentle whisper to a yell as he gets further away. He doesn't know what it's saying but some words come out to him.

NO. COME. BACK. WHY. NO. BACK. STAY. NO. PLEASE. NO. BACK. COME. STAY.

The words are pounding in his head and make no sense. But he ignores it, his legs go on autopilot and dedicate to getting him out of the smoke. He needs to find Sally, but he can't linger here. He hopes she was smart enough to leave him in his trance.

When he finally finds a clearing, he gasps for fresh air. The oxygen feels like a cleanse as the fumes leave his body and mind. The voices dissipate and the migraines go away. His body is shaking but feels alive - for now. Sally didn't seem to be around, though. Looking back, the fog had taken up a lot of the area and had obscured the black rock completely.

"Oh, God. Sally, please."

Running around, he yells out her name. He begs for her to still be alive, for her to have escaped the fog. At a frantic pace, he cannot seem to find the van either. Had Sally taken it? or was it around the other side of the "crater." The same "crater" that now became a thin bowl of foggy green soup.

Eventually, its too much and Henry needs to sit down. His lungs are burning no doubt from whatever the fumes may have done to him. He can't seem to catch his breath anymore. Even more concerning, however, was that the fog had not yet stopped diffusing. As Henry lay down, he could smell it again, coming back to him. Reaching out with its fingertips to grasp him yet again. Henry wanted to run but his legs were now drained and he couldn't deliver the oxygen they needed. The fog and fumes were moving fast and was encircling him yet again.

Henry fights to keep his eyes open. Too tired to run, too tired to even stand up and walk. The fumes felt like an anaesthetic. The voices returned as a gentle whisper. Maybe this was it. Maybe this is what dying was. It wasn't so bad to at least die peacefully by falling asleep like this. The voices assured him it would all be ok. Just keep those eyes closed. Everything would be over soon.

Suddenly bright lights pierce through the fog and shine onto him. The beams punch through the opaque as a roar is heard accompanying it. It was approaching Henry quickly, but he was too tired to noticed what it was. Closing his eyes one last time, he lets either the fog or the lights decide his fate.