Contact
By Sonnenlicht 16 Comments
(It's Meh, just an introduction)
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 8:10 PM; Grand Prismatic Spring
It is a mostly quiet night at the park, the subtle sounds of various wildlife forms off in the distance. The air is mildly humid, a low wind blowing over. Park Ranger Peter Greely directed a tour group of twelve through the park and was coming up on the beautiful Grand Prismatic spring, the beautiful colors one of visitors' favorite attractions at the park. "Remember, the single safest thing you can do is stay on boardwalks and designated trails. They protect you and delicate formations. Now, here, we're coming up on the Grand Prismatic Spring. It's approximately 250 by 300 feet in size and 160 feet deep, and discharges an estimated 560 US gallons of water, 160 degrees Fahrenheit, per minute. Its tendrils show where water leaves the hot spring; their deep colors come from the heat-tolerant microorganisms that thrive in the hot water. It is very important that you do not swim in or splash water. Try to refrain from touching your face, or inhaling steam. Thermal water can harbor organisms that cause fatal meningitis or Legionnaires' disease. If you feel sick—"
"Woah! Look at that!" A child shouted, pointing behind the ranger at a shining flying object in the sky. "Cool, a shooting star!"
For a moment, everyone stood in amazement of the beauty of it, but that soon turned to worry as the shooting star started getting bigger. "It's headed this way!" a parent shouted. "Run!"
Screaming, the visitors scrambled and ran back to escape the impact, Greely trying to calm them, but it happened to fast. The flying object crashed into the hot spring, making a mini tidal wave of water sent out in all directions, leaving them all soaked. "Ah! I'm wet! My hair!" one small girl cried out, and that's when it hit. The relief of not being killed by a meteorite was replaced by a silent dread for contracting some fatal disease. If not dying, it at least meant treatments and expensive bills for all involved. "Okay, everybody," Greely started up slowly, knowing the feeling that was taking over the visitors. "It's fine. Both Legionnaires' and meningitis can be treated if tended to quickly. I suggest we—"
"Hey, look! There's a guy out there! He's breaking the rules!" The same boy interrupted, pointing in the direction of the spring.
Annoyed, Greely started, mumbling "Gonna throw you out there if you don't stop—WHAT!? How!?" He stared wide-eyed, mouth gaped, at what he saw. The hot spring began to run inward, being swallowed up into...a crater? Rubbing his eyes, he looked on in disbelief at a naked man with tall golden hair emerging from the hot spring. He seemed to be...glowing. Waving his hands wildly, Peter shouted, "Hey, you! How'd you get out there!?"
The man looked back, puzzled, then smiled a goofy wide grin and, mimicking the ranger, waved and shouted back "Hey, you! How'd you get out there!?" As he waved, his hands discharged suddenly two large orange balls of energy at the group. Gasping, everyone began ducking for cover, the balls flying overhead. Two large explosions rang out in the distance., lighting up the previously darkening sky. Now the guy was moving closer, still with the goofy grin on his face. Peter stood again and held one arm out at the guy. "No, no! You stay out there!" The other hand found it's place on his radio. "Hey, listen, we got a situation out here by the hot spring. I'm gonna need some help. Seriously, big time!"
Again, the goofy grinning naked man mimicked Greely, mimicking his posture perfectly. "No, no! You stay out there!" Another ball of energy discharged from his hand. He then began mumbling into an imaginary radio. Again, the park ranger took cover. "You hear that!? Yeah! Now can we get somebody out here!?"
The response came and Greely sighed. "You've got to be kidding me. Alright, people. So we're on our own for a bit. Does anybody happen to carry a firearm or anything on them?"
One man of the visitors stepped forward and took aim at the glowing naked man. "Well sure! I never leave home without my .45!"
Pete was quick to stop him! "No-not to shoot him with! We don't want to make him madder! Not yet! You see what he just did there!? We have got to wait for backup!"
"Look!" a little boy shouted. The same one who had been grinding Peter Greely's gears all night. Now the man from the sky was close, right behind Greely, still smiling. For an instant, the group was frozen with fear. "Look!" He copied, pointing at him, and another another, more concentrated shot burst from his finger, vaporizing the boy.
"My baby!" his mother shouted. Snatching the gun up from the man, she unloaded all of the bullets into the naked man's head at point-blank range. His body hadn't moved at all, but there was now blood pouring from his head. After a moment, his goofy, happy grin was replaced by an angry frown. He smacked the gun out of the woman's hand and grabbed her by the neck, and in a movement so fast none of them saw it, she disappeared, tossed carelessly into the sky, though no one else knew where she'd gone. They looked around in disbelief, trying to discern what happened.
"Hey, where'd she go?" Greely puzzled.
"Hey, where'd she go?" the naked man repeated.
"God damn it, what now?"
"God damn it, what now?"
"Hey, stop copying me."
"Hey, stop copying me."
" Actually...Hmmm."
"Actually...Hmmm."
Just then an idea hit the park ranger. It was a bit of a long shot, but he was too worried about ending up like the boy not to try. He looked the naked glowing man in the eyes a moment, walked up beside him, and turned so that they were facing the same direction. Then he took up a crouching stance and said "Bye, seeya later," and jumped a little bit off the ground in a whoosh flying motion, like a child would when imitating a super hero.
"Bye, seeya later," the other man mimicked, though when he jumped, he rocketed off into the sky, moving so fast no one saw it, it just looked like he disappeared. "Whew," ranger Greely said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I think we've all had enough for the night. I'm not gonna tell you to go home, but you do have to get outta here. We're shuttin' down a while until we can get all this fixed. Actually, I suggest we all get going to a hospital or something so we don't catch disease."
Log in to comment