Would you resist the call to blend?
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The sirens stopped, but the figure stayed.
Deathly still, as if waiting to draw breaths.
Sockets wide, drawing.
Hollow.
Bloodshot.
Its presence swallowed the echo of the sirens.
Its silent gaze pressed on Janine’s ears, shrinking their calls.
Todd stared at it through the window, a picture of calm.
Too calm, like he already expected him.
Janine, meanwhile, noticed little things in the house—
Not in sync.
Lights flickered, fickle sparks in the night air.
Her phone froze, responding dutifully to the sirens’ calls.
Everything in the home jittered in disharmony, refusing her rhythm.
Heeding a will not her own.
Todd drew the being close.
Too close.
The figure drew his spirit, almost locking him in.
The young preteen whispered about what he shouldn’t know at his age-almost to an intimate, imaginary friend.
The figure whispered into his bones, carrying the weight of memory.
A weight–unlearned. The branches of the trees in the garden swayed, bending to the windows, as if responding to a conductor–
The figure in the backyard.
Todd’s knowledge, untamed, began to corrode.
He lifted his head.
And turned.
The air hummed where the figure still stood.
Angry. Edgy.
Janine’s phone froze, responding dutifully to the sirens’ calls.
The backyard tenant was closer each time Janine looked away.
Not moving.
Always nearer, though she never saw it move.
It collapsed distance–still.
Neighbour’s eyes peeked, on edge, from behind the curtains,
Waiting.
Then, Janine knew.
The civil readiness drills weren’t meant to protect–they were coined to foster obedience.
Conformity.
To a being that defined–for others.
And, like clockwork, the neighbours stepped into their backyards.
Walking in perfect sync to the movement of its arms.
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