The air was chilled as the winter breeze began to blow through the small suburban town, sending shivers down the spines of every passer-by.
It had been an especially calm winter season, too calm for anyones liking. Snowflakes had been but distant dreams to the residents of the town; none had ever previously visited the place at such a peaceful time of year.
Now, however, something had changed. A deep, low rumble could be heard late in the night coming from the depths of the forest; like the rumbling of thunder during a storm, but much deeper and more incessant. It was a sound that many had never heard before, and it filled them with fear of what it could possibly be.
As the days went on, the rumble intensified and became louder. It soon began to shake the foundations of homes and many of the towns buildings. Every night, the sound grew louder, until finally, one evening, it reached a crescendo, and the towns inhabitants could not help but to look up at the night sky.
What they saw was nothing less than terrifying. The sky had been ripped apart as if by a celestial blade. The stars seemed to flicker and dance as they fell from the sky, while the moon glowed an eerie, luminous orange. The clouds had all vanished and in their place was a huge crater that spanned the sky from horizon to horizon.
The townspeople stood in a state of shock, unable to comprehend what they were witnessing. Some people screamed, some cried, and some just stood in disbelief, unable to make sense of what was happening. But then, beneath the terrified murmurs, came a familiar voice.
It belonged to a young girl, no older than ten. She stood in the middle of the street, at the very center of the town, and shouted above the chaos, “It’s a tear in the sky, a tear in the dimensional fabric that surrounds us. We must protect it!”
As the girl walked away, the townsfolk followed her. Eventually, they had formed a large circle around the crater, and in the middle of them stood the girl, now wearing a strange mask.
“We must protect this rift in our reality,” she shouted. “We must keep it from being invaded by any entity that is not of this world.”
The townspeople nodded in agreement and began to form a line to guard the nearby perimeter, just in case something tried to come through the tear. Day and night they stood watch, and, for a time, it remained quiet.
Then, one night, an eerie silence descended upon the town. Everyone felt that something was about to happen, but no one knew what.
Suddenly, a faint whisper was heard from within the rift, a whisper in a language that no one could understand. Then, out of the tear came a figure, hovering in the air. It was humanoid in shape, but wasn’t of this world. Its skin was green, its eyes were bright red, and it seemed to be looking right at the terrified people below.
The figure spoke the same strange language as before, but this time the words were loud and clear. In a deep and booming voice it said “I am the protector of this rift, and I have come to take it back.”
The townspeople trembled in fear at the sight of this strange creature, but the girl in the mask stepped forward and said “No! You will not take it. I am the protector of this rift, and I will not let you pass.”
The creature then laughed and said “You are too weak to stop me.”
But the girl was not alone, for behind her and on either side of her, the townsfolk had formed a line. And as the creature moved forward, they followed, uniting their strength against it. In the end, they managed to keep the creature contained and force it back through the rift.
The town was safe, and the tear in the sky once again sealed. But the people would never forget that day, nor what had come through it. From then on, they referred to it as the Ripped-Sky Incident, and they honored the bravery of the young girl who had saved them.
The creature may have been defeated, but it had left a permanent scar on the town- a scar that would remind them of the power of unity, a lesson that would stand forever.
