Little Friends

 

When he first saw what looked like two small pairs of glowing orbs, John didn't quite understand what he was looking at. When they blinked he realized they were eyes. As his headlight illuminated the cave a bit more, he saw that those eyes were much larger in proportion to the small bodies to which they belonged.

They glowed a luminescent blue, and were oval shaped. They seemed to observe him with the same curiosity and fascination with which he looked at them.

"John?" His supervisor called out, "you found something?"

For some reason, John decided it would be best to keep his discovery to himself. Partly because he wasn't sure if what he was seeing was even real.

"No. Nothing in here." He responded.

The search party continued to look for the two missing hikers, until they were finally found by the lake. Exhausted and starving, but relieved at finally being rescued.

Once the hikers were airlifted and safely sent home, John went back to the cave. He peeked into the hole in the ground, even used his powerful flashlight to help him see better. But there was nothing there. Those creatures with those huge luminescent blue eyes, were gone.

He reckoned that perhaps he really did hallucinate. He was tired and sleep deprived, so it was entirely possible that his mind conjured up something that wasn't actually there. He decided to go home and get some rest.

As he was driving home, John realised that his cell phone was missing. He figured he must have dropped it in the woods. He considered turning around and going to look for it. But he was just too tired. Besides, it was getting dark. Going into the woods after dark would be dangerously foolish.

He decides he would look for it the next day. Perhaps enlist the help of a friend.

When he got home, he took a shower and ate dinner before turning in early at around 10 pm. On account of his exhaustion, he dozed off within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.

At around midnight, he was awakened by strange noises in his room. It sounded like loud clicking. Groggy and annoyed he opened his eyes, and what he saw nearly caused his heart to stop. Right in front of him on the bed were those two pairs of glowing eyes.

Stricken with fear, John was unable to move. He tried to scream but not sound came put of him.

Then, he saw one of the creatures holding something. It was his cell phone, and the creatures was offering it to him.

With a trembling hand, John took the phone.

The creatures blinked their huge eyes a few time before bounding off the bed and then jumping out the window.

For the next few hours, until the sun came up, John just sat there in bed. Going back to sleep was impossible after what he had seen and experienced.

The next day was his day off. He decided to spend it trying to make sense of what he had seen the night before. He searched the internet for hours looking for any creatures that had such big eyes. He found nothing. He hadn't been able to get a good look at their bodies, so their unsettling eyes were all he knew about them.

He felt that he needed to stop obsessing over those things, or he would lose his mind. A workout always made him feel better. So he went into his second bedroom, which he had turned into a gym/television room/reading room. As soon as he entered, he felt annoyed. He didn't have his dumbbells. His neighbour had borrowed them a few days ago and despite his promise to return them within the next two days, hadn't.

He huffed and decided thirty minutes on the treadmill and some push-ups would have to do.

After finishing his workout and taking a shower, he sat down on the couch and tried to pick something to watch on the multiple streaming services he was subscribed to.

Before he knew it, he had dozed off.

His slumber did not last long however, as he was woken up by the same clicking noises he had heard the previous night.

Once again, those strange creatures stood before him. And in each of their hands were each of his dumbbells. The ones his neighbour had borrowed and hadn't given back.

They put the dumbbells down on the floor before handing John a piece of paper. Then they ran to the window with a terrifying speed, jumped out and in moments they had crossed the street and disappeared from view.

John sat there trembling for a while before he looked down at the piece of paper. On it were scribbled the words "T H A N K Y U".

The writing was very messy. It looked as though written by someone who clearly did not know how to write.

Were they thanking him for not telling his supervisor about them? Seemed like it.

He then looked at the dumbbells. Each of them weighed 10 kilograms. And those beings, which were no bigger than house cats were holding them with such ease.

And how did they know about them? He had not said a word out loud about wanting them back.

Could they read his mind?

Whatever those things were, they were now roaming free. Two otherworldly creatures with impossible strength, terrifying intelligence and possibly the ability to read minds were now out there. And John was the only one who knew about them.

What were they? What were they capable of? What were their intentions? He could only guess.

John plopped down on the couch, wondering what on Earth he had helped unleash into the world.