The Story of Shara.
Out of breath, Ned peered into the crater that the meteor had made. He had followed it from his dig site when he realized that it was going to crash near him.
Ned was a simple man. An archaeologist after a rare find. He had recently graduated with honors, and was on his first contract alone in search of ancient texts thought to be buried in the area. Exhausted after a long day, he struck the red clay dirt with his trowel, suddenly, a flash. A green streak blazed across the sky. The white and green flames that trailed it danced in an almost poetic way. He swore he could hear it whistle as it flew past.
He did what any sane man would do in that situation. He ran towards it.
The scorched ground still sizzled when he got there. Ned could swear his heart was going to beat out of his chest. The first one at a meteor site! And the green streak suggested a comet burning Boron. Meteors from Mars often contain Boron!
He was day dreaming about the awards he would receive. Half practicing his gracious smile and acceptance speech as he made his way toward the still steaming meteorite. And then… movement. Ned started to hear the quintessential sound of rocks sliding over one another, as something beneath the surface tried to free itself.
Still walking towards it, half in a daydream, it took Ned a moment to register what was happening. Suddenly, a jolt hit his body. Fear. He froze in place, like he was playing a game of freeze tag and he had just been frozen. Except ‘fear’ was ‘it’, and fear was all he felt.
”Wait… It moved. I’m not imagining things right?” Ned stammered. He had forgotten about all of the awards in a moment and, with his shoulders crept up to his ears, he paced cautiously, silently, toward the meteorite. He began to make out it’s shape.
It looked like… a shoulder? But the skin, was so… different. Gray... Opaque in a way, and the rest of it was buried.
A primal fear overcame Ned. He didn’t know whether to press on or to run and hide. His mind was blank. Breathless. He stood there. Mind racing. The buried figure began to lurch slowly.
The ground moved, rocks making way for their intergalactic companion. The smell of burning sulfur suddenly became clear to Ned. A smell so pungent, that he could almost taste it.
— Ned’s body flew to life. He ran. Like his life depended on it.
”I just need to get past the top of this crater!” He bargained with his body for another gear. Beseeching his legs to propel him faster away from this unknown entity.
Peering back over his shoulder, Ned saw the figure on it’s knees. Dirt falling from the form that was buried moments ago, steam still rising. It looked… human? Long white hair. Gray skin — His stomach tightened. Every fiber of his being propelling him upward and out of the crater.
He tumbled as he reached the top, and *thwack*
everything went black.
(To Be Continued.)
Howdy y’all. I hope you’ve had a good week. I’ve been studying the hero’s journey a bit more. And while it’s always fascinated me, I’ve started to notice it everywhere. Different iterations and permutations of it. And the interplay of multiple character’s journeys intersecting at different times and dancing with each other before each respective party continuing on their way.
The holidays are here. The time where many industries make the most money of the year. Where some people’s gratitude and giving is the highest. People get more time off. The world is a bit colder, and a bit slower. I love the holidays.
I hope that you have so much fun with the holidays this year. Make it a special time for the young ones. Do something new! The world can stagnate, and the online world can overwhelm you. So, always be on the lookout to stretch your bounds in the real world. Give people the gift of an experience they will remember.
Thank you for reading.
As always,
Stay warm.
DC
