Cicada by MillsIdeas

cicada

Now...you know they’re here.

cicada Cicada A Short Short Story by Thomas Mills Flash Fiction© 2017 Thomas Mills Suddenly, it happened. Later, some said that it was bound to occur eventually. Don’t you agree? Now, people offer amiable speculation about the event, as if seeking affirmation to compartmentalize their befuddlement with…“the situation.” The fact is…it happened and that’s the crux of it. Years and years of accused governmental and military alien cover ups…who could be shocked at all? It veritably had to happen. Therein lies the confusion. We all saw something! That’s for sure. But what? What was it? Those things...aliens, right? Let’s talk about the day the earth really did stand still.

2 Unlike the classic 1950’s sci-fi film, there was more than one saucer, there were millions of them. But thank god...there was no sign of huge menacing robots anywhere! Yet, these saucers were different. Smaller and light-absorbing, dull, flat black, absolutely black in appearance. Round, stationary center sections on each craft were encircled by soundless, spinning disks. There was no visible means of propulsion other than the rotating disk, suggesting these vessels could fly. But, boy could they fly! Observers offered similar descriptions…dark saucers, rising silently from deep bodies of water…all across the Earth. Self-levitating disks arose, creating fine, wisps of mist and opalescent spirals of water, radiating out and downward as each craft emerged from unexplored depths. Again, I ask…what are they? No one seems to know, even today... ...you remember the day this all started. Who could forget? News of “the situation” bombarded us from every media source, beamed directly into our spheres of global consciousness. We watched in riveted fascination, mouths agape, as unbelievably alien technology barrel-rolled into our sense of awareness, much to our amazement and delight. Obvious joy and playfulness was implicitly evident in the soaring gyrations and acrobatic intermingling of thousands of saucers. We gasped in awe as near-flight collisions were adroitly avoided, like bats or schooling fish. Black swirling shapes carved elliptical orbits around banks of cumulus clouds and sped effortlessly over an undulating sea of dappled green leaves, fluttering above our global forests. They were a joy to behold. But still, why? how? who? Non-stop, staccato questions. No plausible answers. Our respected scientists collectively expressing stupor and incipient disbelief. Just as quickly as the aliens emerged, they were gone. Now, as I sit listening to summer’s oscillating rise and fall of the newly emergent Cicada…I wonder. Will the aliens be back? Buzzing, rhythmic pulses emanating from countless Cicadas deepen my consternation as I ask myself how these aliens came to be here, pondering their purpose and intent with growing concern about what they might do next.

3 We now realize alien life forms do exist, though no longer in secrecy here on Earth What will you do differently with that knowledge? How does this change things? Every video monitor featured endless loops of the enigmatic, alien saucers...from extreme close-ups to hazy, out-of-focus swarms of dark hovering objects. Our smart phones captured an unbelievable variety of images and videos…proud owners scrambling to share the photographic evidence of the “penultimate moment,”convinced their efforts would make them the next viral superstar. We experienced alien emergence, here on Earth. Now what? Do we cling to some form of unnatural normalcy? How do any of us live, aware that everything has changed. It’s as if the earth has shifted beneath our feet, continuously thrusting us left and right, catapulting everyone toward the now incontrovertible conclusion that we are definitely not alone. As quickly as they emerged, they were gone…observed spinning back beneath the waves, leaving no trace and fewer answers. Unnerving to say the least! We can never again look upon our oceans, inland seas, deepest lakes and fjords without wondering… if, and when, they would return. Science, was left clueless. No technology existed that could definitively prove their continuing existence. It’s as if the aliens were never here. But we know better. Primal fear kept humans on edge, capable of fleeing or fighting any instant, in order to survive. But a lesser known human response was triggered by the mass emergence of alien saucers. We froze, as the simple result of what we saw. Not knowing what comes next, we’re aimlessly adrift in time…from before we knew of them, to the day they emerged, and subsequently...through an uncertain time in which we must move forward without certainties. So what was “the situation” all about? A cosmic slap of comeuppance? A subtle sign disparaging our simple-minded conceit? Is it a random event that will not occur for another 200,000 years? We now possess knowledge of a certainty, of which we had no prior awareness nor advance warning. Nor will we necessarily acquire additional certainties now…or ever. We can only wait, and wonder…and perhaps worry. Is it possible…that we were adopted? And now, our biological parents have come calling. What do you think? You’ve been strangely silent?

cicada

A Short Story º by Thomas Mills

Now...you know they’re here.

There were millions of flying saucers. Yet, these were different.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Images are licensed through Adobe Stock Images. CICADA Copyright © 2017 by Thomas Mills All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

– Thomas Mills Artist/Entrepreneur (269) 203-5400 thom.mills@me.com