The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Special Broadcast
by Kim Richards 

When the great walls of stone landed in the center of Oreander Park, Lizzie’s mother warned her against approaching them. The odd tremor in the woman’s voice lent a seriousness her daughter never heard before.

Lizzie listened to her mom at first–when many officials, scientists, and reporters buzzed around the park like flies. None of them could figure out where the slabs came from or who sent them. They examined, tested, theorized; a few implored the heavens; a small group gathered in prayer. Eventually, the novelty wore off and people stopped coming. The stones became as drab as they looked. Silent and still.

As others drifted away, Lizzie inched her way forward. A few steps each day in different directions, eventually circling the gray rectangles standing on end in rows. She saw enough space between them to walk. In fact, when she reached the edge of the square area they were erected upon, she noticed small paving stones set into the ground between them…a path calling her forward.

She gingerly pressed the toe of her pink sneakers atop the first paver. A slight tingle ran up her leg, enhancing her excitement. She stepped her whole foot and received another light tingle response. With a huge grin, she sprinted forward. Each jogging step gave the same delightful sensation as she wove in and around the monoliths. Why didn’t those other folks notice this? Did they not feel it?

Lizzie giggled. I’m special, she decided. She ran faster. With every step she sang, “S…P…E…C…I…A…L!” She ran her small hands along the cold, smooth surfaces of the stones, letting her fingertips drum upon them as she passed.

Suddenly the ground shifted, sending her tumbling forward. She skinned both her knees as she landed hard, also wrenching her left wrist. The tingling sensation intensified, joined by an electrical buzzing. Lizzie cried out as excitement turned to pain and grew from there.

The paving stones quaked beneath her body, too violent to allow her to stand. The air filled with acrid burning electricity like a lightning strike. With it came the heat and brilliant light as thick rays of energy spewed from the stones. The energy gathered into a single bolt, encompassing the little prone girl. Lizzy never felt her body incinerate. She died instantly when the bolt shot up into the sky and disappeared into the heavens. The first sacrifice of many as the broadcast turned alien eyes upon the Earth.

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Fiction © Copyright Kim Richards
Image courtesy of Pexels.com