The Crater

I hastily assembled my equipment before ducking out of the door. Social media reported a meteor landing several kilometers deep in the woods, approximately ten kilometers from the edge of town. I knew I had to move fast. The government wouldn’t be far behind, and beyond them, the media. 

In one hand I held a small cooler filled with all the instrumentation I could afford, while in the other, I carried a radiation detector. One couldn’t be too careful. Still, I was determined to get there first. After all, caution and science rarely went hand-and-hand.

I hurriedly walked to my car, turned the ignition and then pulled out of my driveway. From there, it was only a ten minute drive to the crash site. Already I could see smoke billowing from the distance. As I pulled closer and closer to the wooded area on the outskirts of town, my heart rate quickened. Was I too late? Would I find the crash site already besieged by cops and officials? Would I be turned away, my hopes completely dashed?

I parked my car along a dirty path. I would carry on the rest of the way on foot. I made a mental note which directly I last saw the billowing smoke stack and then headed on through the wood. My denim overalls provided me with sufficient protection against the poison ivy held within the forests, as well as the odd tick waiting for a meal of my blood. I started to proceed.

One thing which immediately struck me was how quiet the woods sounded. I didn’t hear any chirping birds. I didn’t hear any small rodents scurrying as I made my way through the trees. Honestly, I didn’t hear anything at all. I kept moving towards the crash site. As far as I could tell, I had beaten the bureaucrats. If I hadn’t, I would have heard a far more intense forest. But was that really the case? Was it possible the police had simply scared off all the wildlife, and I was heading for disappointment?

I promptly put such thoughts out of my mind. They served no greater purpose beyond my own aggrandizement. I kept heading down the path. When I reached a clearing, I saw it. The meteor sat, smoldering, on top of a hill. I had reached the crash site, and there wasn’t anyone else in sight. I was the first. This was my discovery.

My excitement almost paralyzed me with nervous jitters, but I managed to beat them back. I first checked the radiation levels. I was surprised to find them well below normal levels. I couldn’t fathom why this was happening. I continued my ascent for my prize. 

The meteor’s placement seemed odd to me. It wasn’t contained within a crater so much as it was encased within the woods itself, as if the dense foliage of the trees held the meteor in a protective embrace. I continued making my way towards the meteor. I quickly moved to remove a chisel and tweezers from my cooler, as I was anxious to collect any samples I could.

The meteor’s faint glow hung over the forest. Once again, I checked the radiation readings, confirming yet again the levels remained nominal at best. The trees surrounded the meteor like massive fence-posts, as if aimed at keeping intruders out. I slipped my way through the wooded barriers. The meteor lay several meters in front of me. Several leaves and branches encrusted over the meteor like a chlorophyll skin, but I pushed them aside all the same to observe the meteor’s sharp obsidian interior. I expected it to be smoking, but the stone looked strangely cold within the darkness of the forest. One could barely believe it fell from the sky less than an hour ago.

I started to chip along the surface with a hammer, only to notice the faint green glow intensifying. A neon liquid seemed from the impact point, seeping into the forests like a deep wound. I watched in amazement as the leaves and roots began to stir as if being nourished by the meteor’s liquids. 

My hand cupped the liquid into my hand. I only meant to smell it, but in my haste, some of the neon liquid reached my lips instead of my nostrils. A million colors swirled in from my eyes, some of which mankind will never be able to name. I staggered back, realizing my mistake too late as I dropped to my knees just before the meteor’s vaulted shrine. I fell onto the mound as the vines swirled around, claiming me as one of their own.

The authorities would arrive, right on schedule. They will discover my body, enshrouded in vines and leaves, much to their perplexion. I will be declared comatose, and the husk of my body will spend the rest of its day in a hospital. But my mind had joined with that black stone, and it has gone far beyond the pale limitations of flesh and sight.

I have learned the truth, and in the end, it was worth it.