Inky tentacles across the sky. It’s not something you want to see, now is it?

​

“Be calm, son,” my father said. “It’s not as bad as you think.”

 

He’s wrong, surely.

 

I haven’t heard anyone scream as loudly as my mother did when she woke and saw a bleeding, orange eye bearing down on the town, its black pupil scooping up the light and drowning it. The appearance of life couldn’t even penetrate its void. The eye has moved since my mother woke. We didn’t know where.

 

At one point, it was only me and my father out there, standing in the streets. We were the only ones outside, the only ones watching the tentacles slither and slide across the sky, cutting through clouds and blocking out the sun. Each tentacle had thousands of barbed spikes across it, some carrying debris. And I could I have sworn one was covered in blood.

 

Something red at least. But my father’s words still rang in my head.

​

“Be calm, son. It’s not as bad as you think.”

 

I think it rather is.

 

A few years passed but they're still in the sky. The eye follows around us, orbiting like the moon. I'm not even sure the moon is still there. I hadn’t seen it. The thing above us has been called ‘The Creature of Our Demise’, or ‘The One to Destroy Us All’. But some have opted to call it Dave.

 

And I agreed.

 

Dave hasn’t hurt us. Dave hasn’t caused any kind of mishap at all. All it’s done is hover above us, watching with its immortal eye. And with its new name, many have found Dave less terrifying. But my father’s words still spoke to me.

 

“Be calm, son. It’s not as bad as you think.”

 

I started to believe him.

 

Dave continued to hover there, watching over all who walked beneath it. Some started to worship it, saying it was the divine deity that was here to save us. Others just greeted it every time they woke up. And yes, I was one of those people. I greeted Dave as I left my home and I greeted it as I returned. If I left to grab something from the corner shop, I greeted Dave. Just as quickly as Dave arrived, it became part of our lives. People still tried to take it down, firing as many ballistic missiles as possible at it daily, but still it remained there, its watchful eye presiding over all.

 

Over time, my father’s words began to fade. I didn’t need them anymore.

 

“Be calm, son. It’s not as bad as you think.”

 

But my father was proved wrong, as he often was.

 

Something started to change in Dave. Its eye’s glow was more intense than usual. Apparently, soon after the glow grew, a tentacle hit the Earth. It was felt the world over. Some started to defend it, saying it was our years of attacks that provoked it, others said it was its plan all along. But whatever the reason, it didn’t still Dave. It continued to strike parts of the world, wiping out civilisations. Soon, the world fell silent. No calls came over radios, no shouts in the streets. But once the cries stopped, so did Dave. Its reign of terror was done.

 

But, it didn’t move. Didn’t leave. It’s still in the sky, it’s orange glare beaming down on all who might be alive.

 

We might be the last here.

 

And that’s why I'm telling you, my son, the same thing my father said to me when Dave first appeared in the sky.

​

“Be calm. It’s not as bad as you think.”