Tweets from the Eclipse

A horror story in thirty-four tweets:

The darkness is coming. I can hear the first faint whispers already. And those strange, distant, dissonant bells.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Continued below:

My mind twists. Friends and co-workers seem strange & threatening. I put on headphones to block the whispers, but...

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

the shadows still slither and writhe in the corners of my vision.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Doors open in our building, but no one is there.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I dreamed of this. I think. Maybe I still am? This cannot be real, can it?

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Paula from accounting is scrawling strange glyphs on the walls of her cubicle. I dare not look at them closely. I speak to her & she snarls.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Went to look outside, but there's a flock of blackbirds huddled against the wall of the building.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

They didn't fly away when I approached. Just looked at me. I swear one of them croaked "No." The eclipse hasn't even begun yet, not really.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I weep for our fate in the coming darkness.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

The porphyry statue that my grandfather brought back from the far East has moved two shelves higher and turned to face me.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I did not see it move.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

There are things moving inside the walls. I can hear them, shifting and scratching.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Boss is back from his meeting. His skin is turning into bark, with moss & leaves where his hair used to be.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Tried to call HR. Heard the phone fall from the cradle. Then nothing but the screams.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Darkness spreads across a cloudless sky, reaching... strange things roam the halls, still half recognizable.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I have locked the door, but I fear it will not hold.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Something happened out in the hall: a brief shriek, & now I hear crunching sounds. Perhaps it will keep them distracted a little longer.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Something is happening to me. I can't stop shivering. And my hands and fingers aren't... aren't right. Transcription software still works...

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Whispering into the microphone so the others don't realize I'm still here.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

We're almost there. Something pale and half there, like a wisp of fog, reached under the door. I stayed still and it went away.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I miss having fingers, though. Typing was much easier than dictation, especially now my voice doesn't sound so good either.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

The walls bulged in, then stopped. Now everything is silent. Or I've gone deaf. No, I can hear my own voice, whispering.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I hear movement in the hall again, and faint voices. Are those people? Coming out of hiding? Or something else?

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I think... I think my arms are back. It feels weird to have bones again. Fingers still don't feel quite right, though.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

And that was definitely a voice outside. Like, a real human voice outside the door. I may unlock and look out in a few more minutes.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Fingers still aren't quite what they used to be, but at least they're solid enough to type.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Opened door and quietly checked the hall. Co-workers are all here, moving around interacting. Not possible. I heard the screams.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Were they restored once the totality passed? Or were they... replaced?

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Asked Dan from HR what he thought of the eclipse. His face went blank for half a minute. Then it cleared and he said, "It was really cool."

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

So I guess we all just act like nothing happened. Everything's back to normal, right? Except my fingers, I mean.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

They're basically okay. They work. But they're less flexible with only 3 phalanges in the fingers, & two in the thumb. Less graceful.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I checked Dan's fingers, and his are the same as mine. Everybody's are, now. And nobody seems to notice or care. Maybe it's just me?

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

I think... I think I'm going to go back to my office, get my stuff, and take the afternoon off. Maybe it'll feel normal in the morning.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

Oh, God. I can still hear something scratching around inside the walls.

— Michael Mock (@MockRamblings) August 21, 2017

~finis~