Scott Charters Fiction | Black Ash | Earth-Based Scifi. Horror | The world is affected by something alien. The silence MUST end. Can somebody please do... anything?
Something sinister is falling...
Ever-so-lightly
from up above.
And it looks as though
It's going to get
A whole lot worse...
BLACK ASH
FOUR OF ONE
OUTER SUBURBIA STREET.
AFTERNOON
Eyewitness: 'The only way I can describe it is black rain but soft like dust.'
The camera view turned to the reporter.
Reporter: 'The "dust" is still falling as we speak and as you can see and it's like tiny little...' He cupped his hand then with his finger, rubbed some together which turned to powder. 'As far as we understand, this is happening everywhere and I have with me the Commissioner of Emergency Services Mr Roland Smart. Commissioner, where do you think it's coming from? What is it? Is it harmful? And what should people do?'
Commissioner Smart: Open and trying to be optimistic. 'At this stage we have no idea about the substance but people should stay indoors wherever possible and keep monitoring news bulletins.'
Reporter: Pushing the story. 'We understand some people have been admitted to hospital with sore eyes and throats?'
Commissioner Smart: Nodding. 'I would just like to say for people to use common sense in this sort of situation.'
Reporter: 'Thank you for your time Commissioner.' The reporter now looking the other way, the camera following, showing an overlook of the scene. 'As you can see...' He looked up, mouth open, squinting then started coughing and choking.
THREE OF ONE
SEMI-RURAL HOUSE.
LATE AFTERNOON
In the living room of a home, the TV was on with this report.
The room had a couple of people watching; while the rest of the family where out on the verandah.
Mother: Aloud. 'Oh it's getting heavier. It's getting really dark.'
The young adults standing in the living room watching the news were transfixed as the studio news readers tried to continue on regardless of their colleagues' state.
It was becoming obvious to any viewer that this was more than just a "live" event, it was serious.
The rest of the family came inside.
The TV now showed another reporter from a front passenger seat.
The window was being continually covered.
LATE AFTERNOON
Another Reporter: To studio presenters. 'We are in a semi rural area about a couple of hours out of the city and it's the same. This is unbelievable.' He took a moment. 'I have with me Constable Ben Tollard.' The camera panned to the policeman in the driver's seat. 'Thanks for joining us. Ben, do you have any idea what's happening? What it is?'
Constable: With a reassuring face. 'We have and still are in constant contact with all the relevant sources such as Meteorology, Universities and NASA and they are monitoring and we should know soon.'
They both looked out the windscreen as the dust, like fine powder, quietly settled, falling thickly.
TWO OF ONE
DUSK
A phone rang.
Elderly lady answers.Elderly Lady: 'Hello. Are you getting..? Yes I know, it's a bit frightening. It's so dark.'
She turned looking at her husband. He lifted the remote control and turned down the TV. 'And how's John?' Sounding concerned. 'Oh good, he's phoned saying he's alright and still at work. Is it there? Yes it's everywhere. What is it do you think?
She listened to her daughter and again faced her husband.
'Some sort of pollen that's blown off course by atmospheric conditions.' She listened. 'Well I'm sure they'll let us know what it is. We have the TV on.' She almost laughed. 'You're the same.' She felt better and looked at her husband as he switched channels. All showing live pictures of different locations all with dark rain. 'And the girls?' A warm nod and smile. 'Tell them not to open their windows and Grandma and Grandad will see them on Saturday. Yes. Bye.'
It was getting incredibly dark.
She was staring at the window sill.
The black was piling up on the frame.
He looked.
It was eerie.
It was falling heavy but no sound.
She was still holding the receiver.
INNER SUBURBIA .
circa '95
DUSK
On the streets it was over the gutters and people were suffocating.
Others were under umbrellas trying to help.
People in cars were opening their doors to get people out of the falling dust.
People were crowding into car parks; any type of shelter.
Department stores, supermarkets looked like business as usual though crowds were blocking entrances and military vehicles were patrolling.
CITY.
MAIN STREET.
EVENING
Through public address systems and broadcasts, the Mayors of the cities all joined via satellites to try and reassure everyone that they were doing everything they could and to stay calm.
Dark clouds started rolling in then sheet lightening.
The rumbling of the thunder caused many to look around with concern.
Some started running.
People were yelling out for everyone to please stay calm.
INNER SUBURBIA.
NIGHT
The Grandparents; they too had the TV and radio on and were standing, watching, listening.
Their panoramic view showed the coastline.
The reports were coming from other countries.
Without looking they held hands.
The clouds were truly frightening and the lightening was eerily spectacular.
ONE OF ONE
INNER SUBURBIA.
EARLY MORNING
All open areas were thickly covered in dark grey-brown colour and were now creating waterfalls of millions of tiny particles. People were taking photos and video.
Suddenly it stopped.
It was the strangest of feelings.
Still no sound then as people realised what was happening, they began to yell out; exclaiming that it's over.
Live telecasts were still filming countries and showing it stopping.
Everybody was feeling tense around the world.
Although it seemed over, the official response was still expected then, something else started happening.
The trillions of tiny particles could be heard making a faint hissing sound.
INNER CITY.
MORNING
People were looking down then hesitating, picked up a few specs instinctively listening.
The mass continued to quietly hiss then, an enormous sheet of lightening immediately followed by thunder claps.
Some people reacted by fright while others waited.
The clouds became lighter and the sun appeared to be breaking through.
All sorts of scientific equipment was out monitoring, analysing all over the world.
Floodlights were used on the dark side.
The hissing was increasing as reports flooded in with results.
The feedback; the studies were grim news.
It was officially announced.
They were "seeds".
The severe electrical activity and cloud cover was being "created" to force-ripen them making them split open sending their own batch of seeds to spread, be carried by the slightest of breezes.
The next announcement was horrifying.
Origin "unknown".
Then, researches and top Government authorities working together simultaneously looked up in horror and disbelief.
It started to rain.
circa '95
white book |
the sequel coming soon
the sequel coming soon