The night when the moon became an eye I’d say everything changed. The earth went to sleep, but when he woke up.. his mother was gone, replaced by a giant eye that had a cold, eerie stare.
October 23rd, 2028
My bed was cozy on a cool spring morning, I didn’t wanna get up but remembered that I had a couple of chores to do before heading to school. I wanted to get a head start on today so I wouldn’t have to stress my house-bound mother out. She’d been bound since I had graduated from middle school; that’s when dad just left because he didn’t want to “deal with her disabilities”. I’ve been taking care of her and myself ever since. It was 5:44 AM the time that I peeked out the curtains and realized there was no moonlight outside, on a supermoon night. I didn’t think much of it so I continued with my morning routine, same old thing. After I was done with the dishes, at 6:15 AM I walked over to my mother’s room to give her medicine. Walking into her room, she abruptly awoke, “I hope I didn’t scare you ‘ma..” I said feeling a bit bad as she’s such an old woman; my mother chuckled a bit, “Oh no dear, you’re just fine I was just dozing off waiting for you but then you came in and it just surprised little old me”. I nodded to her, “If you say so ‘ma..” I lifted her up by adding another pillow behind her and I gave her 2 pills and a glass of water. “I’ll be back to check on you before I leave, alright?” I stated, my mother nodded at me and smiled “Don’t go too hard on yourself.” I smiled at her and walked out of her room, closing the door behind me gently.
I went to check the clock, at 6:23 AM. I gasped, realizing I had to be ready and out the door by 6:45. I hurriedly brushed my teeth and grabbed my backpack & car keys. “Bye ‘ma!” On my drive over, I let out a sigh of relief, my teachers would kill me if I was late another day, I thought to myself. I felt horrible for leaving my mom without checking on her like I promised, I’ll make her some cookies when I get home in order to make it up to her. Getting to the school gate at 6:50. Right on time. I checked in with the guard and pulled into my parking spot. I hurriedly put some mascara and blush on that I had grabbed on my way out of the house. I walked out of my car and into the school building, I walked up to the front office and scanned myself in; on the way over to my class I was thinking.. What should I make for dinner tonight? Maybe I can invite Elise and Lily over to help me bake dinner and those cookies for my mom. Elise and Lily have been my friends since elementary school, we all met in third grade and have been friends ever since, I still remember the time in middle school when Elise had beat up this one girl… all because she was flirting with Lily’s boyfriend. Elise is so protective, Lily couldn’t do anything herself because she really isn’t like that; poor Lily would’ve just sat back and done nothing if it weren’t for Elise. In all honesty, I think Elise might secretly have a little crush on Lily.
I got to my first-period class, Medical. I really don’t dislike the class, but my mom was the one who made me join it, just doing it to make her happy. I greeted Mrs. Leciz, “Morning Miss, how’s your morning?” Mrs. Leciz rolled her eyes at me, “Yes, yes Nayana you’re not gonna get away with that missed report you still haven’t turned in to me, other than that I’m having a usual morning.” I shyly backed away and sat down at my seat in the back, next to Vanessa. I don’t know much about Vanessa, but from what went around last year, she slept with her best friend’s dad… pretty disgusting honestly, and might I add illegal? The dad got locked up and his daughter got in a catfight with Vanessa; she left a NASTY mark on Vanessa. She got her jaw broken, from what I heard it was a very brutal fight. It’s good to see her doing better now though; other than that incident, she was just a quiet person; still can’t believe she’d do that though. “Alright, seems like only half of you are here today so I’ll just let you make up the work you need to get done in other classes” Mrs. Leciz voiced, I rolled my eyes realizing I seriously had nothing else to do in any other classes. In all of the other classes, I have just been given literal coloring sheets since we are nearing the end of school.
Vanessa stared at me; I was creeped out for a second but then she spoke, “Did you see the moon last night?” I was creeped out HEAVILY now; the look in her eyes was piercing, her eyes did not move at all and her pupils were tiny. “No I didn’t see it last night, why do you ask?” I answered with another question; she shook her head and laughed a bit, “Sorry..” she paused. “I only ask because she looked like she was dying.” She abruptly stated, chuckling to herself, “Oh? What do you mean ‘she’?” I asked. She coughed, “Well I mean that the moon looked like it was fading. Last night was a supermoon which is, of course, a very noticeably bright moon. But if it was a bright moon, where was the light? Where did the mother moon’s brightness go when she was supposed to be shining her brightest? Is all hope lost? Is this a sign from the gods that we have messed up? Is the world going to end? If we lose the moon how will Earth continue? This is what I mean Nayana.” She rambled, her eyes shaking and her voice giving out; I got up and asked, “Miss, please may I go to the bathroom?” Mrs. Leciz gave me a thumbs up, I turned to Vanessa, “Please excuse me.. lady issues you know.”
I walked away before Vanessa said anything even crazier, I walked out of the class not even wanting to return to the class that held that girl in it. What did she mean, why did she refer to the moon as “mother”, or “she”, is she in some kind of cult of something.. I mean she’s not wrong, it was supposed to be a supermoon last night and there was no light. But I think I just saw things… I walked into the bathroom, going to the sink just to take a breather and throw some water on my face. I walked out of the restroom not feeling ready to face this girl that is possibly clinically insane, I knocked on the door to get let in. A guy opened the door, and I walked back to my seat next to Vanessa, “Can you maybe explain what you meant Vanessa..?” I asked because curiosity was getting the better of me, “What are you talking about, let me do my work” she scoffed. I looked at her with wide eyes, did this girl not remember what just happened a couple of minutes ago she was just shaki-
RING
Never mind… there’s the bell.
—
Walking to my next class, I finally get to see Elise and Lily; literally need to talk to them right now. I’ve missed them so much, there was a three-day weekend due to a professional duty day for the teachers. Elise got her phone taken away because she snuck out again and got caught AGAIN! Lily is a horrible responder, she ghosts everybody she talks to without meaning to; she’s just constantly busy with her boyfriend. She and her boyfriend, Luis have been dating since 7th grade, so that’s what… 4 years! Good for them I guess, but I think all the school guys are just.. Immature and not worth my time. “Hey Nay!”, a voice from behind me spoke; my back was tackled playfully. I looked behind me and it was Elise! “Hey Eli, I’ve missed you so much” I gave her a hug, “Girllll- It’s only been a couple of days!” She laughingly replied, I rolled my eyes heavily; “True true, have you seen Lily?” I asked, as I really missed her. “Yeah, she’s with her boyfriend right now, let’s just get to class,” She said in a hurry, she grabbed my arm and dragged me to our next class. Earth Science. It’s an alright class. The teacher I find, Mr. Arcarya, is a little out of it; he’s a 78-year-old man who talks to himself constantly. He is a widower so I guess that’s expected for him, especially at such a senile age. Poor guy though, I know he’s trying his best.
We finally arrived at the classroom door, it was nicely decorated because he really doesn’t care what his students do, so he lets them decorate his door. There are some cute science-related stickers; like DNA, and the periodic table, you get the jist of it right? His door was already propped open so we just walked in, the classroom had big windows, though it was very gloomy in here today. Me and Elise walked past his desk talking in sync, “Good Morning Mr. Arcarya” he nodded his head and went back to reading his book. We both walked to the back of the class and unpacked our stuff; I looked at Elise, “Seriously where is Lily, she has 1 minute left before the bell rings.” Elise just shrugged in the end, “I’m really not sure Nay.” But just at that moment, “Hey guys!” It was Lily! Lily sat down with us, wearing the cutest outfit as she usually does of course, a pink skirt with a cute crop top reading, “Angel” I think it describes her well, she’s always been one of the sweetest people ever. I just worry for her, she’s so easy to be taken advantage of since everyone knows she still has the mind of a 9-year-old.
“Class let’s get started, we are going to continue what we were taking notes on yesterday, the moon; how exciting..” Our teacher spoke sounding SO excited to be continuing to “teach” us. All he makes us do is take notes, I wouldn’t count it as teaching in all honesty, everyone in the class usually just slacks off to do work, or if you’re Elise you just scroll on Instagram. The moon was something I was always interested in though, most people think the moon is an asteroid but it’s truly a natural satellite. Speaking of the moon, I still wonder what Vanessa was on about; I mean she isn’t wrong, last night was supposed to be a full supermoon. Yet there was no light? “LOOK OUTSIDE!” One of my classmates yelled, my heart dropped… It was snowing. White, pure, soft snow falling from the sky. It was the middle of the end of spring. We live in Missouri, this is not what is supposed to happen; it was heavy snow, nothing light. What is happening? “This is freaky.. What is happening?” Lily spoke, she seemed scared; I would be too in all honesty. Elise held Lily’s hand in comfort, “Everything will be okay Lils, I’m sure the weather is just acting a little freaky is all.” I spoke, trying to reassure her of the crazy weather going on outside. Lily had always been scared of little things, but for once I could agree with her this was more than just a little thing; especially since she knows how freaked out I get about the end of the world. It was only the second period for crying out loud and yet this is the freakiest day I’ve had in my whole life.
The class sat there for what felt like an eternity, just watching the snow fall; probably still in disbelief. We were reassuring Lily that it was probably just something minor causing the strange weather. The announcements finally came on; beeping loudly.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
“GOOD MORNING STUDENTS, AS YOU CAN SEE WE ARE HAVING SOME.. INTERESTING WEATHER THIS MORNING. PARENTS HAVE ALREADY CALLED CONCERNING THE WEATHER, DUE TO THE FREAK OUT WE ARE DECIDING TO SEND YOU HOME EARLY.” The announcements screeched loudly, coming to an end. “Alright class, please stay safe and pack up so we can all get the hell out of here.” Mr. Arcaya spoke quickly, running over to his desk to pack up all of this stuff; which was kind of disturbing to see him running around frantically. “Did he just abandon us?” Elise spoke, “We haven’t even been dismissed yet?” Lily spoke, obviously confused. “Elise, Lily, we gotta get out of here, we can take my car.” I turned around and looked at them, giving them those eyes of worrisome. We left the class frantically after packing up our things, we were all just free to leave, and all three of us walked out of the school getting through the snow and starting to pile up on the road. I got in the driver’s side, Lily sat in the back while Elise sat beside me; we just needed to get out of here. “Let’s go to your house Nay, Lily have you texted your boyfriend to let him know you’re with us? He’s probably worried about you.” Elise spoke as I started to pull out of the parking spot. “Yeah I’ll text him right now” Lily spoke, pulling out her phone; the drive was quiet. “Crosses” by José González played over the radio on the way over to the house. It was quiet, I think they were just in disbelief that it was still snowing outside. Is this what Vanessa was talking about? Is this the end? What about the moon? What was she talking about.. There are still so many unanswered questions that I have, but nobody can answer them. But I guess none of my questions are impossible anymore since it’s snowing outside.
We arrived at my house, Elise and Lily getting out of the car in sync while I had to take a quick breather, I reassured them I’d be fine and that I just needed a minute to myself. “What is happening, why is it snowing… Maybe it’s just global warming?” I talked to myself, feeling no better than Mr. Arcaya. I stepped out of the car, taking my stuff with me from out of the car, just as Elise and Lily did, and escaped into my house so I could get away from this… “Snow”. I met Elise and Lily inside of the house, “My mom said she would come get me and Elise so we will hang out here for now until she comes.” Lily spoke to me, “Alright, that’s fine..” I didn’t want them to leave in all honesty, I was scared I would never see them again. It really felt like the end of the world and I didn’t wanna stress my mother out by telling her what was happening just 5 feet beyond the wall she laid upon. I went to go check on my mother, just to make sure she was alright; I knocked on the door and walked in, she was asleep so I closed the door not wanting to disturb her sleep. “Elise, my mom is here.” Lily spoke as I walked back into the living room, “Please be safe guys, I don’t know what would happen if I lost you both text me when you both make it home,” I spoke, hugging them both before they walked out my door into the snowy afternoon.
Little did I know this would be the last time I saw either of them.
—
I woke up at 6:57 PM, and I had fallen asleep on the couch. I looked out the window to see if it was still snowing, it had stopped. I yawned and got up checking my email to see if there was school tomorrow. I had a lot of text messages but that hadn’t worried me as seeing if I was even going to school the next day mattered more to me, I opened my email and it read:
“Dear Families, Due to the strange actions occurring in the past hours we have canceled school until further notice….”
Blah blah blah, as I expected there was no school tomorrow; I opened my messages just to see if Lily and Elise made it safely home. Skimming my messages, they had made it home just fine; Thank god. I cooked dinner for me and my mother as if nothing had occurred earlier that day, making some chicken noodle soup since it was freezing inside the house as well as outside with all the snow that had piled up over the churning hours of the eerie snow falling from the sky. After I had poured the soup into a bowl for my mother, I knocked on her door and walked in with her dinner, “Hey ‘ma I know you’re probably freezing so I made us some soup..” I said smiling at her being awake. I grabbed her a bed tray to eat her food, “Thank you dearest, I’m sure it tastes delicious. Have you noticed how cold it has gotten?” She asked, I looked at her strangely because I had already mentioned that. She’s already experiencing Alzheimer’s.. It made me sad to realize one day she might forget who I am; “Yes ‘ma, I wouldn’t worry about it though, I’ll bring you some extra blankets for tonight, let me take the trash out first.” I nodded to her and walked out to get things done, as I was walking out I closed the door behind me and went to take the trash out before I grabbed her blankets. I went into the kitchen to grab the trash bag and I threw it over my shoulder.
I unlocked the door to go outside and walked out. It was pitch black outside, wasn’t it only 7 PM though..? It was way too early for it to be midnight black outside, I felt as if I stepped into a whole different dimension… The streetlamps weren’t on? They trigger automatically on our street as soon as they sense it’s getting dark outside. I tried using my flashlight on my phone, but my phone didn’t turn on. I don’t remember turning it off, maybe it had died? I walked down the driveway shoeless, with no light outside, dead silence. But, then I hear it.
SQUISH
Where did that sound come from? I looked around for what could have made that sound… I continued walking down the driveway, I made it to the end and put the bag in the trash.
SQUISH
Now I was freaking out. I looked around again, looking for any possible thing, even something on the driveway? Nothing.
SQUISH
I looked up. Could I be dreaming? This is a joke of course!
SQUISH
Where the moon should have been; there was an eye. The size of a… of a what? IT WAS HUMONGOUS, that’s where the sound was coming from, every time it blinked, it made that ‘squish’. I ran, I ran fast, this is just a dream. I ran back into my only safe haven, I ran into the house; locked the door, and put furniture in front of the door. What is happening to the world… I ran to my mother’s room because we needed to get out of there. I burst into her room, she wasn’t in her bed. Her room had looked like nobody ever even laid in that bed, it was neatly made and nobody was in it. The soup I had made for her wasn’t even there, I looked around the room. I looked in the closet, nothing, under the bed, nothing, outside the window, nothing, on the bed, there were 2 bulges under the covers. I ripped off the covers in hopes of some clue on where my only hope had gone yet, I was deceived. All that was discovered under the covers was the most gut-wrenching thing and impossible thing I never would have thought I could have found, it was a pair of eyes. Her eyes, look like they were ripped out. Her beautiful golden eyes were ripped out from her skull probably, all that was attached was the optic nerve; the bloodied strings that lay beyond her eyes. I ran out of the room, “This isn’t happening, this ISN’T happening..” I screamed loudly to myself. I was gonna be sick, I ran to the bathroom and threw up; this is all just a lie.
Obviously, none of this could have happened, it’s just a sick prank of course. I forced myself to stop throwing up, maybe I could just call someone… Wait, my phone is dead. This is sick, this is all so sick, it’s just a big prank; I’m gonna scream at everyone when this is over. Please just be over already.. Maybe I can walk around and find help… but what about that eye outside? It didn’t seem bothered that I was outside. Let me just be quick.. I ran out the back door since I had blocked the front, I ran around to the front door of a neighbor’s house.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
Over and over I knocked, but nobody answered. I tried 5 more houses. But nobody had ever gotten the door? Where did everyone go? Is this why half of the people at school weren’t here today? Was Vanessa right all along? When is it my turn? Just take me already, I don’t want to live in a world without my mother. That EYE. It was staring at me, directly at me. It disturbed me, it didn’t blink, it did nothing but stare. Cold and eerie, is the only way I could describe it, that feeling of chills running down my spine happened. What is it? What happened to the moon? The eye continued staring at me, then.. BLINK, that squishy fleshy sound happened. After that, I blinked. Something hot was running down my face.
Blood.
It ran down my face, burning; it was coming from my eyes. Is this what my life has come to? Is this really the end? Have my years on this earth meant nothing to god? Where is god? Is this what we truly believe in when he is not here to help us? There were still so many questions unanswered, I couldn’t control my body anymore. I had found out what happened to the rest of the world, they had ended up becoming nothing; just as non-believers expect the end of a human life to be. Just more gruesome. I don’t know what happened to my body, all I know is that I was the next victim of the eye that floated over what people had called home for billions of years.
This was the end, we were the end of what could’ve been more.