An Alien Presence (Chapter 4)

## Chapter 4: An Alien Presence

And so it was, the town became a city, sprawling into the distant hills and savannas, with its expansion and

progress came taxes and troubles, growing too fast and cursed by its own popularity said some, not like the old days!! The bigger things become, the more difficult to collectively manage and maintain; divisions appear despite the appearance of prosperity and promises of better days just around the corner!

Some said it was the end of an era, some the dawning of a new age! Some prophesied doom and gloom while others spoke of a time of plenty. Strange days indeed and even stranger nights! Then one dark night it happened! Strange lights in the sky and rumblings in the mountains until ka-BOOM! It was as if a comet had fallen from the stars, strange sounds echoed around the city and citizens were overcome with visions of euphoria that saw them dancing with child-like enthusiasm in the streets, like everyone was watching, but no-one gave a damn!

It was days later when they were still to be found speaking in tongues and gibbering to themselves, that The Kaptain announced a state of emergency declaring himself Mayor with full executive powers to deal with the incident. Citizens returned to their senses to find an enormous and unusual structure looming over Downtown, installed to monitor contamination said The Mayor, but there was something strange and unearthly about this ominous spider-like machine...

## The Legend of Arcadia

Then on that fateful night it happened. At the time, speculation and paranoia was rife in Boomtown. Increasing occurrences of unexplainable phenomena had prompted evangelical priests to take to the streets preaching chapter and verse pertaining to the apocalypse. Elusive individuals dressed in dark suits had been spotted about town and when approached they would flash an ID card and inform you that they were here on government business.... and not to ask questions. What should’ve been a huge gathering of townsfolk to celebrate the New Year had quickly resolved into groups of fearful individuals huddling in their homes trying to comfort one another. And their fear was well founded.

It was when the night was complete and the hour was none, that out of the clear star-speckled blackness a brilliant white light materialised. So intensely powerful was this radiance that several residents who had only glimpsed it for a second had their retinas burned out before fleeing screaming... and blind. One crazed priest who was stumbling aimlessly claimed the white effulgence was the wrath of god, come to cleanse the sins of man. Another deranged woman was dancing around clumsily claiming that she had been chosen, that her masters had finally come to free her, and other such nonsense. Those *with* the sense to avert their gaze quickly discovered that they had to cover their ears to avoid being deafened by a raging cacophony.

The excruciating auditory bombardment hit a climax with a huge CRASH and the townsfolk fell like dominoes as a wave of energy smashed them to the floor. Then silence ensued. A high-pitched surreal sound began to take its place. This seemed not to derive from the townsfolk’s natural hearing though; it seemed to originate from within their heads itself. It was at this point that the townspeople who were still conscious uncovered their ears, opened their eyes, and stared in disbelief. They were staring at what could only be described as the outer rim of an alien spacecraft that must have collided into downtown Boomtown, decimating most of it. Arcadia had landed.

## Navigation

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## References

1. ↑ https://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/the-story/chapter-4-an-alien-presence/
2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120617055016/http://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/page/chapter-4-part-2