Reality Storms

Omniscient POV

The tree burst backward through time.

Sarah watched in fear as the ancient oak beside her shrank from a mighty giant to a sapling, then to a seed, then to nothing at all. The spot where it had stood for three hundred years now held only empty air and confused birds that had been nesting in trees that no longer existed.

"Everyone stay close!" she yelled to the group of survivors huddled behind her. "Don't touch anything that's shimmering!"

Around them, the world had gone completely crazy. The Reality Storm had hit their hiding spot five minutes ago, and since then, the rules of nature seemed to be playing a cruel joke. Gravity worked sideways in some places. Fire burned cold and froze the air. Rain fell upward into a sky that kept changing colors like a broken TV.