The Thing From Beyond

         The city lay glorious and magnificent in the sunset. The water glistened off the bay and a cool breeze that steadily snaked its way in between the buildings to greet all it’s inhabitants. The sun was at the perfect angle for lovers to gaze across the horizon from the beach, and all those working in the dozens of sky-scrapers were getting ready to head home. There were but few clouds in the sky so the light hue from above was not shielded from everyone’s eyes. Many people were walking along the sidewalks and several elderly people were sitting in the park, enjoying their lovely day. Several birds chirped on ahead, heading south for the winter. Soon many filled the skies; dancing along the wind, all in the same direction. The moon could barely be seen directly across the sky from the sun and the people of the sunset city were preparing to spend time with their consecutive families and friends.
         The peace and serenity of the humble city would soon be invaded by the chaos of an alien force. It was never seen coming, never foretold by any prophet nor civilization; it was truly unexpected. The unknown entity came from the sky, the extensive wings, being longer than what was supposed to be its body, were most visible. It soared through the skies, batting the clouds, disturbing the soft blanket of the puffs until it was seen overhead. The seldom people who had witnessed it screamed out in horror while the others who hadn’t would soon join in the frenzy. The massive being that was nearing the city noticed the tall buildings that almost stood in it’s way. It parted two appendages that overhung at it’s sides and opened up two immense claws which planted themselves down at the edge of a rooftop. The entire building shuddered and many shrieks were heard inside. The mammoth claws penetrated the walls and the rooftop. It laid atop the sky-scraper, perched as if it was surveying the city, it pawed at it’s footing with its massive claws and in an instant, the building finally gave in to the gigantic amount of weight that was provided by the alien being. The entire building had collapsed; what was once a towering mass effort of a construction crew was now an endless trail and mass of smoke. The enormous thing sunk into the smoke without a sound and it crashed onto the ground, becoming lost and hidden in the great amount of rubble and smoke.
         Chaos and corruption had filled the streets as the smoke had. Mass confusion and panic had transpired leaving all the city’s inhabitants in madness and an unspoken sense of death and disaster. All the smoke lying at the center of the disaster place was dissipated in a matter of seconds by the grandeur of the beating of the thing’s wings. The massive shockwave of a gale had diffused into the streets, leaving many who were blinded by the haze in a great daze of utter perplexity. The tips of the colossal wings scraped at the faces of several buildings, shattering much of the windows that had survived the gale. Many cries and yelps emerged from the streets. People died of fright and suffocation. The thing used one of it’s claws to dig into another sky scraper, as if it was trying to get it’s footing again to leave this horrible place of chaotic misconceptions.
It struggled to climb with it’s two mammoth claws and the several tentacle-like appendages that writhed and snaked about in a disorderly fashion. It climbed slowly until it reached the higher air and it broadened its wings once again. They batted with a pulsating manner until it was able to levitate off the building.
         It began to take flight without a noise to be made save for the flapping of those enormous wings. As it bobbed its way into the sky, it kicked at several other sky-scrapers to propel itself, tipping them over and letting them crash down slowly onto all the other buildings. Fire, death, chaos, confusion, hysteria, and panic filled the city in a matter of minutes. The being soared over the sunlit bay and began to slowly ascend into the starlit sky. The city was filled with the racket of myriad sirens, crackling fire, and screams which never seemed to die down. The thing stretched open a hole at it’s side as it flew away and it contracted with enormous effort until a large spherical rock-looking object spewed out. It fell into the water and plunged down to unimaginable depths. With that, the thing thrust it’s wings one last time and propelled itself once more into the dark blue sky. Waves crashed along the shore as if they were tsunamis caused by the great amount of air set in motion by the wings and the once prosperous and beautifully built city of hopes and dreams was now in ruin.
         The thing was never seen or heard of again. The inhabitants of the city now live trepidation and dread of another visitation from beyond the atmosphere. They fear the skies, and the waters for they knew, they all knew that the spherical object of ominous proportions lay at the ocean floor. They reconstructed their city despite their fright, but never cared to venture outside of the land that they stood upon, for they greatly feared that thing, that thing that came from beyond our comprehension of space and understanding; the thing from beyond.