365 Writing Challenge: Month 1

Month 1 of my 365 writing challenge is over and so far, I was able to mostly get a story for each day of the month. As busy as I am, I am definitely questioning the wisdom of my decision to try this. As such, I did have to make some small concessions in my attempt to finish this challenge out. The major one being that I can start a story on that day and leave it unfinished until after the year is over and I go back to edit them. Then, any unfinished stories can be finished at that time. It might be a slight cheat but if I want to continue with this, I had to do it. Sorry.

Well, with all that in mind, I decided to release one of the stories written in the month here on my blog, so if anyone is following this, you'll find a free story every month (hopefully anyways). This one is about kaiju, which is a subject that I have always been interested in. Considering that Godzilla vs Kong is due out anytime now, I thought it the most appropriate one. in my take, kaiju are real but "piloted" by a human. I hope you enjoy, and as always, feel free to leave any comments or feedback you wish. I do enjoy hearing from you all.

Again, this is unedited so pardon any typos or grammatical errors.

January 9, 2021

The Mysterious Object in the Woods

A Kaiju-Awakening Story

We’ve all heard the stories of the mysterious object lurking in the woods. Some have even seen it while others have merely heard descriptions of it. But there was always one thing that everyone in my town could agree on.

The object was real.

It wasn’t like one of those hoaxes you hear about. Like Bigfoot or a house haunted with evil ghosts and what not. There were clear, concise pictures of our object, tons and tons of eye witnesses, and even a few news segments about it. There were even scientists and official government-type people coming to check the thing out but if they figured out what it was, they never shared that knowledge with anyone else.

It was the real, unexplainable deal.

The thing is, however, that I couldn’t just leave well enough alone. For most people, there was a sort of unspoken rule about the object and that rule was to just...leave it the f*** alone. Not even the scientists and government-type guys really messed with it. They took radiation samples mostly and soil samples around the thing but that was all (from what everyone says anyway). There was a rumor circulating that they tried to get physical samples from the object but it was impervious to any and all attempts to collect them. Eventually the scientists and the government-type people all left and didn’t come back. Whatever they found in and around the object didn’t scare anyone enough to tamper with it anymore.

But not me.

I wanted to know sure, but it was more than that. It was a burning need to find out and there was no talking me out of it. My family tried and even my friends, but I wouldn’t hear of it. So, one night, I left my room and grabbed some supplies I’d stowed away and made my way through the woods to the object. The trek was pretty easy, all things considered. The object garnered a lot of attention so a pseudo-trail had been beaten into the underbrush that was easy to follow. You’d think there would be people there to guard the object and make sure people didn’t mess with it, but nope. There were no guards. Mostly that was because nobody could do anything to the object. There was even a time when someone tried to tag it with spray paint but it just ran down the sides and didn’t stick.

Just to make sure you’re paying attention. This object can’t be broken, chipped, scratched, tampered with, or even spray painted on.

It was...mysterious...to the say the least.

I continued my trek through the dark forest, picking my way through it carefully so I didn’t end up twisting my ankle or worse. I had a flashlight but thanks to the moon’s brightness, I could see pretty well without it. About an hour after I left my house, I finally came up to it. The mysterious object.

It was rough, with a small, pebbly texture that looked and felt like reptile skin. On top of that, however, was a fine coating of this fuzzy material in different shades of maroon. The object was large but also curvy, like the humped back of a camel. There was no discernible front or back to it and nothing else that helped anyone figure out what it was. Some people thought it was organic in nature while others felt like it was something man-made. I had no opinion either way because this was the first time I ever really got close enough to it to make my own decision either way. My parents were pretty hellbent on me never going near it. They didn’t exactly trust it and had kind of made up their minds that it was dangerous.

I didn’t think so, however. I thought that whatever it was, it was probably benign and completely harmless. I walked up to it, slowly at first as my nerves got the better of me, and then with more confidence. There was an insane glee rising up inside me at the prospect of getting to examine the object closely.

There was just something inside me that was drawn to it.

So I walked closer and closer to it, almost in a trance-like state. My mind was empty of any and all thoughts. The only thing I could think about was the object.

What was it?

Why am I so drawn to it?

What is it doing here of all places?

Should I touch it?

The questions circled through my head, over and over again followed by feelings of anticipation, doubt, that weird glee, and more.

I reached out my hand, ready to place it on the object’s rough but fuzzy hide. I got closer to it, a little bit of hesitation surging through me. That doubt started to hit me again but a stronger, more powerful urge overrode it.

It wasn’t just an urge either. It was a need.

I had to touch the thing.

I was just about to place my palm against it, was literally centimeters away from it.

“Stop!”

I halted and turned around slowly.

“Mom?” I asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”

I watched my mom walk into the clearing, a look of fear on her face that gave me even more pause.

“You can’t touch that thing,” she said, as if that were an answer.

“What are you talking about? Plenty of people have touched it and nothing bad happened.” I was getting a little irritated with her.

Both my parents were so strict about the damn thing that my adolescent mind was starting to push back. They were being ridiculous and completely unfair. All my friends and everyone at school got to inspect the object, why not me?

"I don't care about all those people. I only care about you. You can't touch it. Just trust me on this. Ok?"

There was no anger on her face, which was good. She had a temper when she wanted.

What I did see, was that fear though. But why? It was almost like she knew…

I stopped mid-thought.

Like she knows what this thing is, my brain finished for me.

"You know don't you?" I stared at her reaction but the answer was written on her face. I could read it clear as day in her eyes. “What is it?”

She didn’t want to respond though and my anger got the better of me. So, I did something stupid. I looked right at her and then put my hand on the object’s hide.

“No!” she shouted, but it was already too late.

As soon as I touched the thing, the whole ground started shaking and rumbling. I thought it was an earthquake. My mom tried to steady herself by holding on to a tree but the rumbling and shaking only got worse and she fell to her feet.

Fear shot through when I saw that and I tried to make my way to her to help but I wasn’t fast enough. I heard a horrible creaking, cracking sound and that fear dumped an icy chill into my body as I watched a giant tree branch crack and fall right on to my mom.

She never had a chance to save herself.

“No! Mom!” I shouted, all the while the shaking ground was now starting to rip itself open.

I ignored that, however, and just tried like hell to get to where my mom was. It wasn’t going well, however. The ground was unstable and I quickly fell to my knees. There were horrendous ripping sounds and then something that I know I will never forget.

It was the sound of a creature roaring at the top of its lungs. The sound was so loud that it nearly flattened me to the ground. I turned on to my back so I could see what was going on and immediately wished I hadn’t.

A huge, impossibly gigantic creature was ripping its way free of the earth. Bits of dirt and rubble were sliding off it’s impervious skin. I realized with horror that the mysterious object was a relatively small portion of a massive stegosaurus-like armored plate coming out of its spine and it was so massive that it took nearly thirty minutes to claw its way out of the ground. When it did, however, I was staring at the biggest, scariest monster I’d ever seen in my life. There was a massive crater where it had been buried. I was on the very rim of it with my feet dangling over the edge. The monster, however, was just straddling the crater like it was no bigger than a tiny

crack, one massive foot on either side of it.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing but I forced all that to the back of my mind and made my way to my mom. I had to help her. When I got to her, I realized just how bad off she was. The tree branch was massive and had clearly done a lot of damage. There was blood and she was starting to look pale. Her eyes were wide and frightened and she was muttering over and over again.

“Sorry...sorry...sorry…,” she kept saying. It was like a mantra.

“Mom? I’m here,” I told her. I wanted to grab her hand and tell her everything was going to be all right but it was buried underneath the branch.

“I-I sh-should’ve t-told yo…” Her voice trailed off near the end and her eyes lost their spark of life.

“Mom!” I yelled. “Mom! Please no. Please don’t die. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to! I swear. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ll listen to you. I’ll do whatever you want me to. I promise. Just don’t die! Don’t DIE!”

I collapsed next to her, crying and bawling. I completely ignored the fact that a monster the size of a skyscraper was hovering over me, entirely motionless now.

I sat there, crying, for what felt like forever. It might have been for all I know. I just wanted my mother to come back but I knew she wouldn’t. I knew she was gone. When that realization really hit me, I got angry.

Enraged even.

And there was only one thing that I could direct that anger at.

The monster.

I got up slowly, the rage building up with the heat of an inferno. I grabbed a fairly large rock and through it at one of the creature’s massive legs. It clunked into it and then fell down the huge crater.

“You killed my mom!”

The creature seemed to hear me. Its massive head turned and looked down at me. Huge red-gold eyes peered down at me. Then it started to reach down to me, one of its long, clawed fingers seeming to reach out to me like it was curious or something.

I found another rock and threw it at it. I was so angry but even back then, I knew it was irrational. Deep down, however, I think I was really mad at myself and in subsequent years, I would mostly blame myself for what happened to my mom. But at that moment, it was the monster that caught my rage.

“You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!” I was screaming this but the monster was still reaching for me.

I don’t know why I didn’t move out of the way. I suppose it was the same impulse that made me want to touch the thing in the first place.

The seconds drew out and time felt like it was suspended in those moments. Then, eventually, the tip of the creature’s claw touched my forehead. I wasn’t afraid anymore and the rage inside me started to go away. There was something going on, something important. I could feel it and quickly got wrapped up in it.

As soon as the monster’s claw touched my skin, weird things happened. There was a disorienting sensation, like that feeling you stand up too fast sometimes. There was a flash of darkness that lasted a few seconds and for a moment, I thought the monster blinded me. But then I could see again, but I wasn’t seeing out of my eyes. In fact, I wasn’t even where I had been just a second ago. Instead, I was looking down, like from a great height. It was like I was on top of a mountain and staring down at the landscape below.

“What the hell is going on!?” I screamed but that’s not what came out. Instead, a huge, booming roar came rolling out of my throat.

A sinking feeling hit the pit of my stomach. I raised my arms but what came up weren’t my arms. They were long, monstrous things with wicked claws.

How is this possible? I asked myself. I’m the monster!

[Not a monster.] An insidious voice whispered back at me.

Then what are you? I asked. What the fuck are you!?

[We are kaiju.]

I hope you all enjoyed this story. Stay tuned at the end of February for another one.