1

It began with a silence. A silence that seemed to echo against every surface and magnify as time crawled by. It was deafening in magnitude and paralyzing in intensity. Then it was gone, leaving only the deep throaty voice of a shattered earth behind to fill the void.

Thom dove beneath the kitchen table next to Tanya and Pete as the chandelier crashed to the floor in the next room. Dishes fell to the ground around them, forming an eerie snow-like scene with the three of them huddled together in the room’s center.

“Thom,” Tanya said weakly over the sound of the shattering front window. “What in God’s name is happening?”

Thom winced as the ground silently shook once more. “How should I know,” he responded between shudders. Thom looked over at Pete who was covering his head and appeared just as scared as he was.

Just as suddenly as it had seemed to appear, the shaking was gone and the world was plunged back into the ghostly stillness of which it had been born.

Read the rest of this story »