Fractured Tales 1 – Eyes of Red
By Fay Herridge
They have arrived… the ones with the eyes of red… just as I knew they would.
For years I’ve tried to spread the word, to sound the alarm… but all to no avail.
Every day… over and over again… I told the story to everyone I saw… the drastic changes that were coming.
I tried to convince The People that leaving… or accepting… was the only safe solution… but… I knew they were coming because I had seen them… in visions.
“Who’s coming?” The People asked
“Not who…” I said. “But what… the ones with the eyes of red.”
And The People would shake their heads and walk away… while others sat at their desks and wrote in their silly notebooks… and every one of them went away mumbling under their breath.
Oh, I knew what The People thought… that I was crazy… gone mad… ready for a rubber room… but little did any of them know. One day The People would see that I was right.
I had seen it coming a long time ago.
It all started with climate change… and many of The People did not believe that was real either… did not believe it was happening… laughed it off as a hoax, a conspiracy theory spread by governments in an attempt to control what The People should – or should not – do… a way to gain control over The People.
So, The People did not see… because they did not want to see… that changes were already happening… refused to believe it was climate change that was allowing them access to places they could never go before.
And it worked both ways… the change was also giving previously unknown beings the same kind of access… the ability to visit new places… including places where The People lived.
Still, they would not listen to me… would not heed my warnings… and I could do no more.
The People decided to stay… to stand and fight against this unknown enemy… no matter what the consequences. It was not in their nature to capitulate without first making some show of force.
“It will be useless,” I said. “The ones with the eyes of red are bigger… much bigger… they have long, sharp claws… and they can fly.”
“Better to die fighting than to give up and die like a coward,” The People replied.
And now they are here… the ones with the eyes of red… eyes that glow like hot coals and can see right through you.
They had arrived quietly during the night… under cover of darkness… landing silently wherever they chose… in trees… on rooftops… on fences and vehicles… anywhere and everywhere.
I knew when they arrived… I was awake and I heard them… heard the soft whisper of their wings like a light breeze in the trees.
Now it is too late to run… puny, human legs could never outrun those with wings… those who can fly.
Likewise, it is useless to fight… they have very tough skins… and if one is wounded… woe to the one who inflicted the harm… and they will know… they always know.
The People will have to accept it… The People will have to learn to get along with them… there is no other choice… for they are here to stay.
The People will have to live with these new creatures among them… these gentle dragon-like creatures with the huge, powerful wings… the ones with the eyes of red.
They will be gentle… as long as The People recognize who is in control… and do not go against them
As for me, I have already ‘adopted’ one of them… a sweet female named Miffle… and tonight we are going for a ride… all the way to the moon and back… but it’s a secret.
One of The People is approaching me now… a female dressed in white… and she has that sharp thing in her hand… and I know what she’s going to do. “No, please… I want to stay with the one with the eyes of red…. please… noooooooo…”
