The moon is still dark which doesn’t surprise me, as it’s been this way for so long. I’m beginning to think I never saw it otherwise.

The atmosphere is so clouded with gasses nowadays it’s a wonder sunlight finds its way through.

We are forced to wear masks if we venture outdoors, the air being so toxic people have stopped wearing artificial cloth as the gasses burn holes in it or dissolve it totally which was an embarrassment many suffered in the early days.

The constant radio broadcasts promising a revolution since the darkness descended have stopped. The longer the rhetoric went on, the worse everything got. People now are tired, surviving as best they can.

Food is a problem, with reduced sunlight, growing crops even in greenhouses has become an issue, man-made sunlight isn’t the same and crop after crop has been produced which is stunted and poor in quality.

But mankind adjusts to change, its fights and kicks and screams, but it changes because to not change means the end and man has an overwhelming desire to survive no matter what.

In a field not far from the town a creature stirs in the dry earth. It scoops up a handful of dry dirt in its fury paw and eats it hungrily.

It looks up at the dark moon and thanks the heavens for it. Its eyes open wide, like dinner plates, absorbing the light coming through the darkness. When it has had its fill, it retracts them to a more normal size and moves off in search of food.

At present the dry earth is only partly offering sustenance, it needs something more. In the town, there is a plentiful food supply, and it sits on the hill overlooking the town considering its options. It can’t be greedy it knows that or the source will disappear.

A man appears alone, a hoe over his shoulder heading to a small plot outside the town.

The creature moves….

News is scant about the new menace, people believe its bad luck, some even think it’s a control thing by the town council. Life goes on, people keep vanishing, the creature grows stronger. The moon stays dark.

Written for: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2018/11/08/reenas-exploration-challenge-week-62/