A Fallen Star

Fallen Star

This night, unlike any other night, was deathly quiet. The only sound permeating the air was the crunch of leaves under Harley's shoes and an almost inaudible hum that he used to keep his mind occupied. He had once again been assigned the night shift. While he didn't mind the obstruction to his favorite daily activities, he wouldn't mind returning to his home, hopping in his bed, and sleeping the night away with his cat, Jules, on the end of the bed.
He decided to take a short walk to put his mind at ease, as this gnawing feeling was in the back of his head. He felt uneasy, but he didn't know why. In fact, the entire environment surrounding him felt off; everything was too still and quiet to make sense to his mind. It was almost as if a large predator had entered the area, something indescribably terrifying that caused even the very earth to stand still; Harley just shook it off, assuming it was just the jitters, and continued walking onward. The forest was something of its own to him; its actions did not need to make direct sense; all that would need to occur was a semblance of naturality, which the forest still had.

Harley traveled deeper and deeper into the forest. The silence, while eerie, had been incredibly peaceful but carried a sort of loneliness to it. Everything that night had seemed to hold a semblance of emotion, some contradictory to each other and others adding to the quiet atmosphere.
As Harley walked, he noticed a slight wind had begun to carry itself behind him, slightly pushing against his back as if trudging him to a predetermined destination. Soon after this, however, the winds started to pick up speeds, getting stronger and stronger; Harley was becoming worried. The skies were clear, and there were no predictions for these kinds of winds that night. It was an anomaly as if even the air was running from something.
The winds carried to a point where they began fling debris into the air, such as sticks and other flora. At this point, Harley started to make his way back to the ranger station, afraid of what could happen if he ventured on, scared of what was happening around him, fearful of the coldness he felt surrounding him, but then he saw it. A beam of light shot across the sky, a mixture of blues, greens, purples, and other colors that were somehow unexplainable; following the beam, there was a massive boom, strong enough to shake the earth. "It crashed", Harley thought to himself. Unexplainably, after the huge boom that shook the area, nature returned to life and the winds had ceased. "What the hell is Happening?" Harley said quietly to himself, perturbed about the current situation that he was in. "...Should I check it out...?". He asked himself in his mind. He wondered what it could be; he went from the most obvious answer of a meteor or particular space debris to fantastical answers such as a rock containing an alien parasite or maybe a fallen alien spacecraft. Eventually, he calmed down and decided to investigate whatever landed a few miles ahead. "I am a park ranger... It is my job to check out anything that could pose a threat to the general landscape and people... Hey! Maybe I'll find a new mineral! Could name it "Harley's pet rock" or something..." He mumbled jokingly to himself.

As he began getting closer to the crashed object, Harley realized the same natural occurrence that occurred before this object crashed was washing over the area. Everything was quiet. The place felt dead. "The fuck", Harley said as he approached a massive opening in the earth. It was radiating steam, preventing him from seeing across the canyon the crash had created. The area was cold, far colder than where he came from, and a metallic smell permeated the air, a scent equivalent to blood.

Harley approached the edge of the hole, leaning down to see if he could discern what was inside the crater; the steam continued to block his sight, which led him to abandon his previous efforts. "It had to have just been a meteor, right?... But the hole... and this feeling doesn't feel right..." Once again mumbling to himself, he started walking away from the massive crater, figuring out how to report this. Then, he heard it. A low growl permeated the air, shaking Harley's body. "What the fuck..." Harley whispered to himself, turning around. Before he could take another step, a massive hand, larger than a car, shot out from the crater and grabbed onto its edge. Harley couldn't move or speak; all he could do was stare at what was occurring right before him, petrified with fear.