Underneath the floorboards, hidden amongst the books and supplies that I’d stocked the basement with more than five years ago, the winds ravaged the world above. The siren was completely unexpected, there was no prior warning, the government was taken by surprise, as were we.
All I remember was seeing a bright red flash in the sky, and then the feeling of static electricity all around. My girlfriend’s hair stood on end and the TV went crazy. Next the blaring of the sirens. I took a quick look outside, and there it was. The eye. A glowing, orange eye. I could feel its malevolence as its view swept over the suburb. Bursting from its centre, the tornado ripped the roof off the nearby Tesco, and people were dragged screaming into the heavens.
Well, we did have some kind of warning, I suppose. Last week, we’d received first contact from extra-terrestrials. They met with all of the world leaders, and, based on what we all saw on the news, everything went alarmingly well. They came in peace, began sharing their technology, and offered humanitarian aid to the poorest regions of the planet. They offered to solve climate change. Win after win was presented to our politicians and they ate it up.
Maybe this is their solution. Ending it all.
The prompt: tornado
If you'd like to participate too, the contest can be found here: @mariannewest/single-prompt-option-the-weekend-freewrite-942021