MidReal Story

Moonlit Whispers: A Lunar Warning

Turi

Scenario: It's 3 AM. An official phone alert wakes me up. It says "DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON". I have hundreds of notifications. Hundreds of random numbers are sending "It's a beautiful night tonight. Look outside."

Create my version of this story

It's 3 AM. An official phone alert wakes me up. It says "DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON". I have hundreds of notifications. Hundreds of random numbers are sending "It's a beautiful night tonight. Look outside."

Alessandra Delaney

curious and skeptical, friends with Justin and Christine, short black hair, green eyes, intelligent and cautious

Christine Li

spiritual and empathetic, friends with Alessandra and Justin, long curly hair, blue eyes, intuitive and compassionate

Justin Jensen

techsavvy and logical, friends with Alessandra and Christine, tall with glasses, brown hair, analytical and brave

I wake up to my phone blaring and an official alert plastered across my home screen: DO NOT APPROACH WINDOWS OR OUTER WALLS. AVOID EYE CONTACT WITH THE MOON.

It’s 3:47 a.m.

I show the alert to my pet rat, Captain Whiskers, who is sleeping on the other side of my bed.

He stretches and gives me a skeptical look, as if to say, Really?

You woke me for this?

I scroll through my messages.

Justin and Christine are both awake, exchanging texts with a long string of emojis that make no sense to me.

I add myself to the conversation.

Justin sends a single question mark?

And Christine sends a crescent moon emoji, which I don’t understand any better than the others.

But then Justin explains, New moon is the first phase of the moon.

It’s when the side of the moon facing the earth has not yet caught up with the sun.

I sit cross-legged on my bed and watch as the message bubbles appear and then disappear, indicating that Justin is typing.

Captain Whiskers climbs onto my lap and twitches his whiskers.

The alert on my phone repeats: DO NOT APPROACH WINDOWS OR OUTER WALLS.

AVOID EYE CONTACT WITH THE MOON.

Suddenly I have hundreds of notifications on my phone.

Random numbers are sending me the same message over and over: It’s a beautiful night tonight.

Look outside.

I silence them all except for the chat with Justin and Christine, but then I have dozens of alerts from those two, all saying the same thing.

It’s a beautiful night tonight.

Look outside.

Justin sends a link to a lunar calendar showing that tonight is a new moon.

Christine: "Why would they warn us about a new moon? There's nothing to see, right?"

Justin: "Exactly, but what if it's not about seeing the moon? What if it's about what's hiding in the darkness?"

Christine: "You're saying something's out there, using the new moon as cover?"

I watch Captain Whiskers pace in his cage as more messages flood in.

The notifications won't stop, even from blocked numbers.

My hands shake as I check the lunar calendar link again.

Justin was right about the new moon.

A loud thud hits my window, and I jump.

I peer through a tiny gap between the curtains and see dark shapes moving across my front lawn.

They seem to flow like liquid, but I can't make out their shape or size.

Captain Whiskers scurries into his cage and hides in his bedding.

I'm curious despite myself.

Christine: "Did you hear that thud too? What if they're already here?"

Justin: "Stay away from the window, whatever you do. We need to figure out what they want."

Christine: "But how? We can't just sit here and wait for them to come knocking."