I pedaled through the humid air, snack bag rustling in my bicycle basket. The sun dipped behind heavy clouds like it was hiding from something terrible. Then… I saw it.
"Eh… What the hell is that?!"
Two gigantic figures loomed high in the sky, shaped like—
"Squids…?"
Their long limbs shimmered against the setting sun. They weren't flying. They were just there, suspended like puppets on invisible strings.
BOOOOM!
One lashed out. The other exploded. A flower of fire in the sky. But… no blood? No goo? It looked like… metal?
"Wait—are they… machines?"
My heart pounded as one squid spiraled downward, its immense body igniting mid-fall.
THUDDDDD!!!
The impact made the Earth quake under my tires.
I turned. Home. I needed to get home. Now.
I cycled faster than I ever had—only to see the second squid plummeting—
"No… NO!! THAT'S—THAT'S MY BUILDING!"
CRAAAAASSSHHH!!!
Wind blasted me off the bike. I skidded across the ground, elbows torn, breath gone.
"Mom! Dad!"
The world tilted.
I ran into the rubble. I screamed their names.
I clawed through concrete. My fingers bled. I found—
...a hand.
It was hers.
Just the hand.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
I fell backward in shock. I didn't even realize I was crying until the sobs ripped from my throat.
That's when the helicopter came.