Monday Flash Fics: Alive

Alive

I’ve been observing the phenomena from the start. I like to think I’d caught on to the fact things were changing on a fundamental level, long before most others did. It still took me a while to figure out what it all meant, but I’m convinced it gave me an edge. I saw it before anybody else, and because I did I may be able to survive.

It started small, with toys in our houses and shops. Think of a version of Toy Story in which the toys don’t feel the need to hide the fact they’re alive. To me it was obvious. I am careful about where I put my stuff; everything in its place and a place for everything. So when I woke up one morning to discover my collection of ceramic pigs had not only rearranged itself but also moved from the windowsill to the fireplace surround, I knew something was wrong. I would have accused Pete, my partner, of moving them, but he’d been away for the weekend. I put them back where they belonged - using a ruler to make sure they were once again separated equidistance from each other - and installed a camera.

The next morning I woke up to find them sitting on the coffee table. I checked the recorded images and thought I’d lost my mind when I saw them move of their own volition. I sat on the couch, facing the small table, with my laptop on my knees, watching the video over and over again when, out of the corner of my eye, I spied movement. Right in front of me two pigs changed position.  I’m not ashamed to say I freaked out and hid in our bedroom for the next twenty-four hours until Pete returned.

He found me there and laughed out loud when I told him what had happened. He changed his tune when I asked him to check where the pigs were now and discovered not only had they taken over the living room floor, they’d also been joined by his collection of cats. When I showed him the video images he agreed with me we were facing a situation although, unlike me, he didn’t freak out.

I researched what I’d seen and what I found shocked me to the core. The bible, Nostradamus and all others who made predictions about the end of the world had gotten it wrong according to this text. It clearly stated the end of the world would start with inanimate objects taking over from the living and breathing creatures.

There are no more live frogs or cats in our town and I suspect I won’t be able to find a breathing horse now that these horses have escaped from the carousel. Others are still unwilling to believe this is really happening. They’re convinced it’s a colossal joke being played on mankind. They don’t know that the text states that only those with eyes to see will survive.

It is only a matter of time. Sooner or later the mannequins in shops will grab their freedom. God help those who refuse to believe.