Writing Prompt

The lights went out just as an emergency broadcast was repeated on the television. There was an incident nearby. There was weird lights in the sky as we looked out out of the window. We didn’t know whether we should stay in or or stand out. I got my shotgun out saw people outside looking at the sky looking at the lights. Just be cautious we decided to stay indoors then suddenly a huge beam of light envelope. They were hypnotised or transfixed as they started moving towards the light then suddenly massive laser beams vaporise them and started destroying the houses at that point. I filmed it on my mobile and ran into the basement.

I look up from my phone as the power goes out. The screen flashes with bold letters in my hands. I scramble to the cabinet and grab out the candles and flash lights. As I’m lighting the candles with a lighter, the front door slams open.

I don’t normally listen to dumb internet things about serious topics. But this one was different.

A loud ringing came from my phone. I picked up my phone then reading the words, ‘Local stalker/killer around neighborhood. Please stay indoors and lock and close all doors and windows. If seen any suspicious activity please call 911 and do not go to the area’. I rolled my eyes thinking it was some random bullshit but then the power went out. My eyes widened. I quickly walked to my door and locked it and closed any windows that didn’t have blinds on them. I locked all doors and windows. I leaned into a wall in my kitchen and slid down with a quickened breath. “ Is this actually real? Or am I being fulled by dumb shit again on the internet.. “ I mumbled panicking if this was the truth or not. I grabbed a knife for safe keeping and checked my phone. I checked the news for any information on the topic. There was.

It was true. Police and officers are looking for this man to protect this neighborhood.

“ Bullshit.. “ I spat out. Protect us!? They let this man lose in the first place. But I can’t do anything about it because I could be next on that guys body count. I can’t believe this is happening. I guess I have to live in fear for who knows how long-

I heard glass shattering in my living room. I held my breath quickly and my grip on the knife tightened. I quietly went towards the partway to the hallway and living room and slightly peeled into the room. I saw a man who was blooded and clearly in prision clothes. I quickly leaned into the wall and my heart raced. What do I do?! I kept on panicking until I felt a tight grasp on my neck.

It was a typical night with my parents and little brother when all our phones blared with an emergency alert about an incident in our neighborhood; we all shared perplexed looks just as the power went out. My little brother, Max, peered out the living room window, noting that all the lights in the neighborhood had gone out. Dad returned with candles and flashlights, setting them on the coffee table and handing each of us a flashlight. "The emergency alert doesn't give any information on what's going on," my mother muttered on the couch beside me. Max and I moaned at the news; we were stuck in the dark for however long it would take for it to come back on. "Don't know why you bothered. Like the government would tell people what's happening." Dad rebuttal, Max gave an excited yell accompanied by a fist pump; Mom tried to calm the boys down while I huddled on the couch wrapped in a blanket. I do well in the dark. "It seems the whole city's power is out," Mother muttered again under her breath, and yes, she is always on her phone. She never puts it down. Dad kept going on about conspiracy theories that involved how shady the government was, including alien cover-ups, but no one was listening. Max was still looking out the window. It's not like he is going to see anything. I played with the flashlight, flickering it off and on. Trying to keep my mind occupied with something other than the looming darkness. It was probably nothing major. An hour passed, and the power was still out; after Dad finished his rant and Mom pulled Max away from the window, Dad suggested we play a nice soothing game of Monopoly, which turned out to be the opposite; the four of us surrounds our small coffee table, the board game in the center, and a few lit candles on each side. Max was currently winning like always; Mom didn't want to play as usual, so she's the banker and making sure no one cheats; I'm referring to Dad. He likes to cheat a lot. I was still a bundle of nerves; it was too quiet. I couldn't help but feel like there was a sense of foreboding in the air. Dad landed in jail once again as a deep rumbling could be heard from a distance; everyone paused as we continued to listen; it didn't sound like any plane we had ever heard. In fact, it didn't sound like a plane at all. The house began to shake as the thing passed over; lights flashed in through the windows. Max ran out the front door to get a better look, ignoring our parents' calling for him back. I hesitantly followed behind, finding everyone staring up into the sky, mouths agape, along with everyone else in the neighborhood. I looked up, and what I saw made my blood run cold; who knew one of my Dad's crazy conspiracies would be true? But here I am looking at something that could only be true in science fiction movies; we really aren't alone in the universe after all. We were transfixed long after the thing had passed; breaking the silent night was the emergency alert going off throughout the area, pulling us out of our reverie to check what it could be. Tapping on the notification, a video popped up. I hesitated to play the video, but I didn't need to. Max had already played it. The speaker's voice echoed throughout the dark as other videos started playing. As the video went on, I clutched the blanket tighter around my body, trying to keep the cold out of my veins, but it wasn't working; the visitors, as the spokesperson puts it, are here to stay. We, the people of Earth, have to learn to live together with strange beings from another planet. My mind raced with possibilities, the thought of not knowing what they had planned, what they were doing here, and whether we could trust them. Max is ecstatic about the news of an alien species living among us. Mom keeps her poker face, not giving away how she feels about this situation, and Dad, well, he is just happy that he was right. I gazed at where the thing flew off, wondering if this was the right choice. When the speaker finished their announcement, the lights in the neighborhood flickered back on, and everyone went back into their own houses; not seeming too concerned about what we had witnessed, I stayed behind on the lawn, looking to the skies, hoping that this feeling I had was wrong. But what could this mean for humanity?

The family gets woken up exteremely early by the parents cell phones chiming on the nightstand. The kids are sleep acros the hallway. The husband does not have to get up just yet. The chim is not the normal alram clock. This is the emergency warning that the police send out. It goes off twice before both parents are woken up. The emgerceny alert reads “SWAT staand off in your area. Shelter in plce and away from windows. “

The wife is scared. She goes to get both kids thaat are under the age of six. She brings them into the parents bed with them. The only problem is the parents room has a sliding glass door to the backyard. She is worried for the kids, but also trying not to show that she is scared. The husband tries to see if she can get any information, but just as he is trying to turn the tv on the power goes out. The family only has the low blue glow from the two cell phones. It is eerie quiet until a heavy knock knock knock is at the front door. The husband gets up to go see who it can be.

There at the door are two uniformed cops. “Sir, If you need to go to work any time today you will hve to leave in the next fifteen minutes. We have a SWAT issue at the end of the street.” Informeds one officer.

“Oh, Okay I will get ready and leave as quick as possible” says the father. He returns to the bedroom to inform the wife that the SWAT issue is at thee end of their street. He needs to leave for work in the next fifteen mnutes or he will not be able to go. The wife will have to be alone to protect the kids. She understands, but is not happy. The husband gets ready and leaves for work. She pulls the kids in closer.

The sun ihas not even come up yet. You hear the cops outside. They are running behind the houses aand along the street. You hear them over the bullhorn trying to get the person to come out. No one ever thought in the small suburb where they live this would eer happen. The cops are runnign around with flashliught shine all around. Every so often you hear some one yell. It goes almost quiet for a while other then the distance voices from the officers. The kids fall back to sleep.

When they wake baack up it is now quiet and the sun is rising slowly. The silence it cut by three single gun shots. One shot after another. You don’t hear the sirens any more. The cops are not running around at all. The wife and kids hope everyone is okay. Later that day the family finds out the father had shot his family instead of coming out to the Swat team. He did get arrested for murder. Now for ever more the house at the ends of thier little street will be known as the house someone got murdred inside. Now many years later new nieghbors has all come and gone on the street. The family with the grow kids now wonder if it is know has the house that the family was nurdered inside. I guess no one will ever really know.

I am an American soldier I am a warrior and a member of a team I serve the people of the United States and live the army values

I will put the mission first I will never accept defeat I will never Quit I will never leave a fallen comrade

I am disciplined and mentally tough trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills

I will always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself I am an expert and I am a professional I stand ready to deploy and engage the enemies of the United States in close combat I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life I am an American soldier!

AH! I hear a scream from outside. Bing! An amber alert comes from my phone, someone got killed across the street. FUCK. The lights go out, i race to the back door, locked I run to the front door, locked. Im in the basement the lights are off im holding a flashlight A creak comes from the side door shit.

My phone begins to blare out that hideous alarm to alert us to danger, and I reach for it hesitantly, but then I can’t see it, the lights have gone out.

I creep from the room to the landing. Skrtch skrtch skrtch. It’s coming from the door.

Maybe it’s just the cat.

The cat runs up the stairs.

Maybe it’s not the cat…

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. There’s someone behind me, I can feel it.

I whip around with a fist in the air, but all there is a shut window, and beyond it, the black night sky.

I turn around, I’m tired and these childish fears are stupid.

Skrtch skrtch skrtch.

This time it’s from the window.

I’m too scared too look, what if it’s some horrible monster? - but that’s childish and stupid, there’s nothing there.

I look, no yellow eyes or gaping jaws, just the night sky.

I still feel like I’m being watched.

Skrtch skrtch skrtch.

It’s from downstairs. I grab the handrail as if it will help and I descend.

Thud thud thud.

In rhythm with my heartbeat come these noises from above, is it God?- but these noises descend the stairs.

Quiet darkness Unable to see Inky stillness Emergency

Stay silent Do not move Creeping violence Nithing to prove

Not a hero Hide in your home Equating to zero Do not roam

I hear the soft sound of a whistle, it is distant, almost as if its like the wind passing by the woods. Yet, my gut tells me not to listen to that thought as I bring the lukewarm tea cup from my now wettened lips to the countertop as my eyes narrow and eyebrows furrow. I am alert and aware of it all surrounding me. I can feel myself flinch and dart my eyes as any little mild creak whines through the shallow halls of my dark home, the whistling feels nearer than before. My tired eyes dart in every possible direction all at once as I feel myself slide down into a corner that is hidden behind furniture, somewhere I barely remember sliding into. My mind is rushing, my brain is chattering non stop like a noisy television playing static and my body trembles with exhaustion as I grip my messy and tangled hair in between my cold, bony fingers that seem to grow more red as the whistling eerily slides smoothly past my walls and halls. It has grown all too near, and it feels as if it had the potential of ripping me out of my corner. Yet it doesn’t, but even that doesnt stop me from my heart clattering against my emaciated chest as my lips and eyes grow dry. My teeth dig into the very bone of my knee yet i cannot feel the wretched agony amongst this enormous fear of everything that seems to be speaking about me, cruelly making joking comments on my curled up and bony body that wont stop shaking no matter. It feels as if they find fondness in making a stray, starving hound be beaten to the pulp. Its torture, pure human cruelty at its finest. Yet we cannot do much about it in this sinful place, can we? No, we really can’t, we can convince ourselves but the reality is terrifying to imagine, so we choose to avoid it. To continue being delusional and idiotic is our only choice, well, the only choice we put out there for ourselves.