Bogleech.com's 2019 Horror Write-off:
Rabbit Reverse
Submitted by Mefista
She blinked, enjoying the warmth of the yellow sun, and stretched idly, looking at the people scurrying around. In her age, she needed barely anything more to feel truly content.
Suddenly, a familiar silhouette caught her attention: a lone youngling was trying to navigate the street, still too large to really fit into society, and instinctively fearfull of anything shining, which was a bad thing here...humans loved the shininess.
She exended her upper limbs and vibrated them gently, trying to get the larva's attenion, and it seemed to work: youngling stopped stumbling and rotating, and made a straight line for the tiny plot of grass the elder sat among. After a brief ceremonial nod, elder asked:
- First time on Earth, right?
- Yes! - larva hummed in a whispery voice (still too loud for humans around, making the ones nearby shudder). - I am traveling all alone because I wanted to know how the Sorla were defeated, but no-one else was interested. Do You posess the knowledge about that?
Crossing all of her limbs tightly to appear friendlier (she knew it wasn't one of her own young, but tried to be positive to all of them, including brainless stage-twos), the elder answered:
- I do, and, giving that you're on Earth, you have probably heard that humans had the final say in all that.
- Yes! I, I want to know who is to be my hero! All the top breeders in our colony got slayed by Sorla soldiers, and I had to develop all alone...
Elder rattled her small spinal block, worried, and youngling continued hastily:
- Us sirvivors later moved to other colonies, it was nice - I even regrew to fit in more. But I still want to know whom to be thankfull for.
Elder, rattling a bit more, hoped what she was about to say wouldn't sadden the larva:
- Oh, well. Humans didn't fight the Sorla. As it was said, no-one could fight the Sorla. They complied instead, and, as it was requested, started to send load after load of food animals to their planet. And that is what lead to Sorla's end.
Youngling crossed his upper limbs, seemingly more confused, and the elder, chuckling, started her explanation:
- Humans love to eat. Absolutely love. You know they are among the species with the most developed palate, and most of the things they consume for taste are not safe even for most of their own planet's species, and they sometimes start eating not cause of hunger, but just because food looked tasty. Because of that, they eat way, way more than necessary, and so developed various ways of replenishing the supplies. Among them, social and scientifical engineering of other local species with the goal of maximising their productivity. Which meant that those creatures produced generation after generation after generation at the incredulous rate.
- Nice! - larva extended his underdeveloped spinal block, probably thinking about all that endless food mass. Elder smiled inside at such a childish display, then continued:
- Geval, the Sorla homeworld, is a harsh and heavily irradiated...I think humans called it "hellscape"...nothing like Earth, or Tuma, or even Kallaedon. That's why Sorla ended evolving so tough. But, it also has nothing mobile besides Sorla...brainless, nonmoving life covers all. Due to it, no-one could predict what effect would it have on the earthen animals.
Youngling wiggled, excited to hear the rest.
- The "rabbit" animal showed it first, so, years later, it was called the "rabbit effect"...if human scientist are to be believed, the animal started to rapidly evolve into a large, agressive entity, incredibly similar to its long-extint ancestors - as if it was reversing itself. Soon, other, less productive animals started to show the "reversed" trait, so Sorla tried to send them all back to Earth. But, you see, it was too late.
Youngling gasped:
- Were the...the rabbits the ones to finish off Sorla? Are rabbits my hero?
- Yes, the rabbits "reverted" into being huge and predatory. But, it wasn't them who ended being a biggest problem for Sorla, - with the last words, her upper limbs crossed tight, the elder touched the thing they were sitting on, and larva suddenly realised it wasn't a bench or a rock. Rather, it was a skull - skull big enough to fit them both in its jaws. He looked at the elder, eager to hear the name of heroic monster.
- Well, yes, it wasn't rabbit, or cow, or pig, no...it was a small, non-mammalian, almost brainless creature. It is called "chicken".
Suddenly, a familiar silhouette caught her attention: a lone youngling was trying to navigate the street, still too large to really fit into society, and instinctively fearfull of anything shining, which was a bad thing here...humans loved the shininess.
She exended her upper limbs and vibrated them gently, trying to get the larva's attenion, and it seemed to work: youngling stopped stumbling and rotating, and made a straight line for the tiny plot of grass the elder sat among. After a brief ceremonial nod, elder asked:
- First time on Earth, right?
- Yes! - larva hummed in a whispery voice (still too loud for humans around, making the ones nearby shudder). - I am traveling all alone because I wanted to know how the Sorla were defeated, but no-one else was interested. Do You posess the knowledge about that?
Crossing all of her limbs tightly to appear friendlier (she knew it wasn't one of her own young, but tried to be positive to all of them, including brainless stage-twos), the elder answered:
- I do, and, giving that you're on Earth, you have probably heard that humans had the final say in all that.
- Yes! I, I want to know who is to be my hero! All the top breeders in our colony got slayed by Sorla soldiers, and I had to develop all alone...
Elder rattled her small spinal block, worried, and youngling continued hastily:
- Us sirvivors later moved to other colonies, it was nice - I even regrew to fit in more. But I still want to know whom to be thankfull for.
Elder, rattling a bit more, hoped what she was about to say wouldn't sadden the larva:
- Oh, well. Humans didn't fight the Sorla. As it was said, no-one could fight the Sorla. They complied instead, and, as it was requested, started to send load after load of food animals to their planet. And that is what lead to Sorla's end.
Youngling crossed his upper limbs, seemingly more confused, and the elder, chuckling, started her explanation:
- Humans love to eat. Absolutely love. You know they are among the species with the most developed palate, and most of the things they consume for taste are not safe even for most of their own planet's species, and they sometimes start eating not cause of hunger, but just because food looked tasty. Because of that, they eat way, way more than necessary, and so developed various ways of replenishing the supplies. Among them, social and scientifical engineering of other local species with the goal of maximising their productivity. Which meant that those creatures produced generation after generation after generation at the incredulous rate.
- Nice! - larva extended his underdeveloped spinal block, probably thinking about all that endless food mass. Elder smiled inside at such a childish display, then continued:
- Geval, the Sorla homeworld, is a harsh and heavily irradiated...I think humans called it "hellscape"...nothing like Earth, or Tuma, or even Kallaedon. That's why Sorla ended evolving so tough. But, it also has nothing mobile besides Sorla...brainless, nonmoving life covers all. Due to it, no-one could predict what effect would it have on the earthen animals.
Youngling wiggled, excited to hear the rest.
- The "rabbit" animal showed it first, so, years later, it was called the "rabbit effect"...if human scientist are to be believed, the animal started to rapidly evolve into a large, agressive entity, incredibly similar to its long-extint ancestors - as if it was reversing itself. Soon, other, less productive animals started to show the "reversed" trait, so Sorla tried to send them all back to Earth. But, you see, it was too late.
Youngling gasped:
- Were the...the rabbits the ones to finish off Sorla? Are rabbits my hero?
- Yes, the rabbits "reverted" into being huge and predatory. But, it wasn't them who ended being a biggest problem for Sorla, - with the last words, her upper limbs crossed tight, the elder touched the thing they were sitting on, and larva suddenly realised it wasn't a bench or a rock. Rather, it was a skull - skull big enough to fit them both in its jaws. He looked at the elder, eager to hear the name of heroic monster.
- Well, yes, it wasn't rabbit, or cow, or pig, no...it was a small, non-mammalian, almost brainless creature. It is called "chicken".