Object Ascending is just a flash fiction piece written as a ‘panster’ writing exercise (without plotting.) The author, was attempting to capture a feeling, or a sense of the emotions that he thought would represent an extra terrestrial presence.

The writing prompt for the fellow writer would ask of them to: write about an incoming extra terrestrial invasion from an original viewpoint, and rather than describing the event and aliens themselves, attempt to capture the feelings/emotions.

Object Ascending

The whole town was buzzing with excitement. Finally, proof they are real – thought everyone! Even the elderly seemed oddly at peace with this new reality, putting aside their religious optics to admire and take in their beauty. 

It was on a hot July day when they appeared, bleeding through the sky like overlapping maps until they converged to create one. Dozens of them stayed afloat, bobbing in the clouds like fishing bobs in a shallow pond. Enamored by their beauty, the town residents pulled out lawn chairs, sprawled out blankets on their lawns, and even left work to view with their families. 

“Daddy, what do you think they are doing up there?”

“It doesn’t matter, honey, just enjoy this feeling. And their beauty, just look at them,” replied her father, serene and monotone.

And this is how it was. Not only in this town, but in all of them. Globe-wide sightings became a co-dependence. These objects in the sky are warranted and needed. They provide the people with hope, joy, and a constant feeling of wonder – the proper emotion, as Emerson would put it. 

Object Ascending Continued …

Governments put their arms down, neighbors acted like communities, and technologies were becoming less omnipresent. People were soon leaving their communication devices in the past for this new feeling. This feeling was comparable to the heightened senses one experiences during a traumatic event.

A loving wife is driving her daughter home from practice when she is quickly forced to slam on the brakes to prevent a head-on collision with oncoming traffic. But it’s of no use. The accident happens. It happens in slow motion, or, at least that is how it is perceived. The mother exhibits a memory recall of high detail; from the feel of the grime on her teeth from the day’s lunch to the thoughts racing in her head, her grip tightening on the black leather steering wheel, the glass shards squealing at a high pace flying across the car, the thick globbing yell her daughter cascades out, the smell of perfume she used to wear to work, and hundreds more details. Her awareness of the situation and oneness with it all becomes all she can think about.

There is liberation in her trauma – the acceptance of what has happened in all her cells. Each molecule is able to recall the pockets of information receives from the incident- to be scarred, in pain, feeling, odorous, capering at the moment. 

Humans now chose to only exist in this state of awareness. It was like absorbing all of life’s emotions and experiences into one inhalation. An inhalation that paralyzes them, an inhalation the clears and fills the minds thoughts, an inhalation that never ends. Even professional drug abusers traded in their paraphenelia for this new ‘drug.’

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The more time spent devoted to these objects means more awareness and more connection to them. Until the connection becomes the leech it was designed to be. Just as quickly as they had forgotten about how to live and to create new experiences, they now forget to care for themselves.

They stopped cooking. There is no need to cook anymore as they feel both, full and hungry at once. They no longer needed to find love and acceptance, for it was within previous experiences that they could extract from memories to reanimate the senses.

They atrophied. Bodies, cars, factories, transportation, etc. ceased to function. What is time anyway, other than a fleeting thought from one moment to the next? If it will be resurrected to live again, if only but in their minds, than why continue living?

“Object Ascending” is a flash fiction exercise written by Willy Martinez. Copyright Mind on Fire Books 2022. Most of the photos used for this article were borrowed from Deb and Martin Art on Pinterest.