Beware Meteors Of Unknown Origin
Few people saw the thing come down sailing across old Ed Richard’s farm, a red-orange specter in the skies, shrilly whistling through the air like some nightmare siren.
Billy Greer ran to tell his dad, just as the glowing orb topped the crest of the hill; the skies lit up like a night time carnival.
It was still burning when the fire crew arrived and a quick assessment of the situation, showed the necessity for even more trucks; it was a lost cause, the thing burned on into the early morning hours and left a charred crater where some of Ed’s best corn had been. The stench in the air was like rotting carcasses, though none of Ed’s livestock were missing.
Two days later a new crop appeared around that crater, what the plants were mystified even the experts. Peculiar plants just began growing out of the charcoal remains and completely befuddled the agriculturists at the local research facility.
Neighbors wondered if these plants produced anything edible. They looked like giant fuzzy octopi; the roots protruded from the ground and appeared to writhe. It wasn’t because of the wind either; there wasn’t even the tiniest breeze, but those
roots clearly moved!
Samples were taken back to the University’s research center for analysis; a top expert was contacted and was scheduled to fly in from Munich the following day. Professor Selig decided to take a look at the samples that evening and around eleven, his assistant, Anup headed home, leaving Selig to lock up when finished.
The next morning, Anup arrived and found the lab still open, Why hadn’t Selig locked up things? He wondered. There was no sign of anyone in the lab and Anup, figuring that Selig would arrive at his usual time, went about his business. He found it strange that the plant samples were all missing and wondered where Selig had stored them. It was about ten when Annie Chatlin came into the lab and told Anup that Professor Selig’s wife had called. She said Selig hadn’t come home and she wondered if he was still there. Annie also reminded Anup that their agricultural expert was due to arrive at the airport in two hours and someone would need to meet him, she volunteered and Anup agreed.
As Annie left, Anup noticed that there appeared to be some slimy pink goo on the countertop around one of the Microscopes. He noticed the stench of something rotten in that area, as well.
As he walked towards the end of the counter, what met his eyes made him wretch. One human eyeball in a puddle of pink slime gazed up at him from the floor and right beside it, lay Selig’s lab coat and a pink-slimed filled shoe.
When the police arrived at Ed’s farm to warn him about what had happened at the lab, the stench was overwhelming. They found numerous pink slimy puddles throughout, no livestock and no Ed; even Ed’s dog was gone. Reinforcements were requested and when they approached the field where the plants had been, they saw nothing but a black crater.
No one ever found out what had happened to the plants. The soil was tested and showed nothing unusual; no strange microbes or chemistry. The crater was just a crater formed by a huge meteor and nothing else. None of the weird plants were ever seen again.
Copyright, 2020, M.L. Kiser
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