Short story: The Awakening of the Mist

In a world where eternal mist shrouds the secrets of the universe, the arrival of two alien spacecraft triggers a series of events that defy reality itself. This is where our story begins:

Mist had always been a constant on the planet Eridu. The ancients spoke of times when the stars shone brightly above the firmament, but those eras had been left behind, buried under layers of a mysterious vapor that covered everything.

In this scenario, the two ships landed gently on the rocky terrain. They were imposing structures, with lights flashing in rhythmic sequences and surfaces so polished that they looked like mirrors distorting the reality around them.

The inhabitants of Eridu, accustomed to the stillness of their world, watched in awe and wonder. The doors of the ships opened, and from them emerged figures that defied all logic: beings of changing shapes, with bodies that flowed like water and faces that never remained the same.

Soon, the visitors began to interact with the Eriduans. They did not use words, but communicated through thought-altering waves, seeding visions and nightmares that intertwined with reality. The people of Eridu began to lose track of what was real and what was a figment of their imagination.

The aliens' influence grew into a psychological labyrinth from which escape was impossible. The fog grew thicker, and within it, the Eriduans faced their deepest fears, materialized in horrors that lurked in every shadow.

As time passed, the distinction between friend and foe faded. Eriduans no longer trusted their own eyes. Some claimed to see aliens walking among them, disguised as acquaintances, while others swore that the mist had revealed to them hidden truths about the universe.

When the haze reached its thickest point, the Eriduans discovered the truth: the ships had not brought visitors from another world, but were physical manifestations of their own psyche, projected into reality by the haze. Eridu had always been a living planet, and its mist a conscious entity that sought to understand its inhabitants by exploring the depths of their terror and their hope.

Source of the images

Image created with Starryia