A word before you begin. This is something I am hoping to institute on a weekly basis. It is a project I am working on that will be part of a series, but more than that, for me, it is a lesson in not censoring my writing. I have no plot, no characters, and no direction in mind for this exercise. It is just me, writing the next thing that comes into my mind. In essence, I am learning about this setting, these characters, and their motivation along with you. So please understand that this is not meant to be some highly polished, masterful work. It’s very much a work in progress. Please feel free to leave any thoughts or critiques in the comments. I will be adding to this story as we go.

Tara sat on the bed and reached to the floor to grab her socks, first putting on one and then the other. Suddenly, there was a ‘woosh’ at the window. Tara assumed it was a flare up of the wind again, an aftershock from the storm last night. But then she heard a hollow tap. Then two. Then three. Someone– or something– out there sounded like it was trying to get her attention. She crossed the room to open the blackout curtain, but as she passed the full length mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door, she realized she had not yet put on a shirt. She slid on a Black Sabbath t-shirt that she was told had once belonged to her father. The same shirt she wore yesterday. It was comfy, and conveniently hanging over the back of her desk chair.

She drew back the curtain. It was still dark outside. Surprising for this time of morning. Even in the winter, the sun was usually out and shining by 9 AM. It was also raining. She could see it pour down on the houses across the street, but oddly, the storm stopped in the middle of the street. Tara opened the second story bedroom window and peaked her head out. It was also raining on the neighboring houses to the left and the right, but there was a good 20 foot radius of clear, black, star specked sky surrounding her house. No sign of what could have been making that tapping noise, either.

Tara pulled her head back in and was about to close the window when a strange creature flew in and landed beside her on the desk. The creature was quite like a bird. It had wings and a tail of long plumage, a thin, needle-like black beak, and large black eyes. There were feathers on the wings, but on the rest of its small, thin body, it had what looked more like a fuzz. If it was feathers, they were of the type that is usually found on baby birds. Regardless of what was covering it, it was a navy blue color with a gray stripe along the bottom of the wings. The bird-thingy creature also had fuzzy arms and legs with tiny black monkey-like hands and feet. The creature stared at her. She stared back. Never in her life had she seen anything quite so strange. The creature did not move. It appeared to be smiling, however, if beaks are capable of smiling.

Tara furrowed her brow at it, uncertain if it was actually real or if she was just in the midst of a vivid and very realistic dream. She took a step in the creature’s direction and reached out her hand to pet it– or maybe grab it and throw it back out of her room. She hadn’t decided yet. The thing seemed to anticipate her thoughts, however, and jumped back, flapping its wings, to evade her reach.

“No, no. Mustn’t touch.” It reprimanded her, in a creaky, high pitched squeal, thrusting out its beak as if it intended to strike.

Tara snapped her hand back in shock, holding it with her other hand as if the creature actually had bitten her.

“Master will be along soon to collect you.” The creature told her, landing on her desk lamp, far out of reach of where she stood.

“Master?” She repeated. “Collect me?” Tara turned toward the window again and flipped the lock mechanism. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“That won’t keep Master out.” The bird-monkey replied. “Master is cunning. Master is powerful. Too powerful for the glass weather blocker.”

Tara stared at this strange creature, with its strange way of speaking. She inched one foot toward the door, but for some reason seemed to lack the motivation to bolt out of the room. Uncertain of if it was fear or sheer morbid curiosity as to what this creature could be going on about or maybe even compelled to stand here by some outside force. She looked back to the window just in time to see what appeared to be a shooting star falling through the gaping hole in the clouds. It hit the sidewalk in front of her house, shifting the earth beneath, knocking a fence post crooked.

“There is Master now!” The creature flew to the window.

Tara held her hand at the lock. If what the creature said was true, it wouldn’t make any difference, but she preferred the false sense of security that holding the window down provided. She leaned toward the window to get a better view of this thing called “Master.” How was a meteor any threat to her? If it was supposed to land on her, it missed by a great deal.

But the meteor moved. Not only did it move, it shot back up toward the sky. Tara squinted at it, hand still on the window, trying to figure out what kind of meteor could change direction after hitting the ground like that. Even stranger, still, it stopped in mid air. And for the first time, Tara could see that it was not a meteor rock at all, but a person, swinging a two handed sword as though they were fighting something off, though Tara could not see anything surrounding the radiantly glowing Being with their radiantly glowing sword. She could, however, see some sort of dust– or perhaps they were sparks– dissipating into the air every time the Being thrust their sword.

“Master is coming for you, next.”

The voice made Tara jump. She had been so caught up in the sword dance that she had all but forgotten about the strange little creature hovering above her right shoulder. She looked at it as it puffed up its chest in pride, then back to the window and gasped.

Standing– or rather floating, seeing as her room was on the second story– directly in front of her, on the other side of the window, was the resplendent being. Their skin seemed to be created of luminescence, itself. Every inch of their body, every article of clothing, every shoulder, length hair on their head, even their sword radiated like the moon or a far away star. The being locked eyes with Tara and a cold chill traveled up her spine.

The bird creature began rapidly flying around the room as if it suddenly realized it was trapped, knocking into things, and emitting a high pitched noise that was somewhere between a cawing and a maniacal laugh. Tara didn’t dare tear her eyes away from the ominous glowing being before her, however, as they sheathed their sword, blazing, colorless eyes never wavering from hers. They then lifted their hand and after a loud crack, everything fell silent, including the erratic bird, from moments before. Even the rain seemed to still.

The window unlocked itself and opened without the being ever having to make a movement. Tara’s hand dropped to her side. Her whole body felt heavy and limp.