When Darkness Falls

It was a stormy night. Everyone in the village just went to bed after a good celebration of a great harvest. Nobody noticed the huge portal that opened up at the border. Nobody expected it. I was lying in bed excited for the following day. They just announced earlier that day that a monster-hunt will be held soon. My father, as always, was happy to be able to participate. I tossed and turned in bed as lightning struck and thunder roared. Rain symbolizes life and blessing. I closed my eyes with a smile on my face, thinking of the better days to come. Then, the ground shook. I opened my eyes almost immediately. The ground shook again. I stumbled down my bed and hurriedly looked out the window. The rain wasn't any help. I couldn't see anything in the dark. The door flew open and my brother said we needed to leave. We ran out of the house into the pouring rain. There, I saw it. The sight of it sent shivers down my spine. It was a giant spider. The spider was taller than the tallest tower, and its body bigger than the village plaza. Its legs were spiky and could easily crush houses. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. The spider caused complete chaos. Everybody was soaked by the rain. Everybody was screaming, but their screams were faint due to the storm.

Our parents came running towards us, and together we made our way through the chaotic streets. The ground shook when the spider moved. We saw it turn to our direction. It got closer and closer, and we ran faster and faster. The spider moved slowly, probably due to its heavy body. Yet in one swoop, it was behind us. We continued running, that was all we could have done. My father stopped to help an old woman and told us to go on ahead. My mother pulled as both onwards. The spider moved again. We looked back and witnessed as debris fell and my father was out of sight. My mother was crying. I could tell even in the rain. We kept going, we kept running. Then out of nowhere, a car came behind us. In a second, I felt my head hit the pavement. The car swerved and crashed into a building. The driver didn't move, neither did my mother. My mother was just lying there, motionless. Her body was positioned in such an awkward way. I was only eight years old but I was old enough to know what it meant. I cried. My brother wept beside me. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we heard them. We heard them creeping from the darkness. Spiders. They were smaller than the giant but bigger than full grown bears. We ran for our lives. One spider spit out something from its mouth. It missed my head by an inch and I watched in terror as a bicycle melted from the acid.

We ran, heading towards the bridge. It was the only way out of the village. My brother was admirable throughout the night. Despite the tragedy, he looked composed. He kept a firm grasp on my hand. On his other hand was a rake he picked up and had being using as a weapon. We were almost at the bridge when a spider appeared. The people screamed. The spider spit out its acid. The acid touched my back and I screamed in pain. I fell on the ground. I lifted my head to see my brother. He was a short distance from me, at least what was left of him. He was gone too. Despair fell all over me. I closed my eyes and waited for my turn. Then I felt someone touching my head. I looked up to see a man, a soldier. The soldiers had arrived. I looked around. A couple of soldiers were fighting off the smaller spiders. Other soldiers were pushing the cannons towards the giant enemy. We were safe. The soldiers came. But still, they came too late.