Why are we afraid

You all know how big a rabbit is.  Jack Rabbits and hares are much bigger. they’re the size of large cats or small dogs or just-walking-age children.

They also like to hang out in gangs of a hlf dozen to over 30.

and in the middle of backcountry dirt roads.

perhaps they’re dustbathing

or blood sacrifce

I don’t know because when you come up the road at night because your dog has a tiny bladder and needs to go out at midnight and you have no yard so you’re walking him on the dirt road around your neighborhod because you might aw well get some stargazing in, and you come just over the ridge to see a coven of twenty jackrabbits in the middle of the road

and

they

all

stand

up

not just onto all fours like a proper prey animal

No they get up on thier hind legs and don’t just sit but STAND like tiny rabbit-skinned toddlers, wobbing slightly as they stare directly at you eyes shining in your flashlight’s glow

…Blood Red.

And a chill goes through you on that warm july night because while they’re a puntable size and allegedly herbivores they’re standing and watching you just like people and you are vastly outnumbered.

everyone freezes

you’re considering your odds aganst roughly 200lbs of Suspiciously Humanoid Hare

and they’re considering their odds against you

the only sound in the never-ending high desert wind 

somewhere in your peripheral vision you can see the streetlights but they seem awfully far away

The nearest Jack Rabbit

Blinks

and takes a single shuffling step

forward

You area an overdevloped monkey and your prefrontal cortex is capable of some amazing feats but it runs very slowly compared to the reflexes of a rabbit and you’re frozen as you desperately scramble for the appropriate course of action, hands feeling thick and useless, mouth dry and feet imeasurably heavy there’s no way you’d outrun THESE, god there’s a rabies outbreak going around that shit’s not curable-

The Dog

L U N G E S

It’s only the briefest of movements but the animal you’d picked out for his gangly legs and floppy ears and goofy smile is suddenly a dark shape of muscle and teeth and had flung himself at the horrible goblin rabbits faster than mere physics should dictate, appearing in the circle of the flashlight for only the briefest of moments before the jolt from the leash makes you stumble and the light falters

The Jack Rabbits

Scatter

Vanishing into the faintly starlit sagebrush in as so many faint gray shapes that might be mistaken for the dustclouds they kick up

Later, you sit on the couch disquieted

and you wonder

If the sight of the Jack Rabbits standing and studying you was frightening enough to make you yearn for the safety of the yellowed streetlights

what must it be like from thier end?

what terrifying creature 

deliberately ties itself

to something so horrible

CONGRATULATE, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING FOR.

Starry Greetings!

Seems like Planet X wanted to finish off Halloween with one… last…story…

https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/vacuum-decay-ultimate-catastrophe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijFm6DxNVyI

We are but wayward leaves, scattered to the air by an indifferent wind.

@fadenet halloween event | the ring (2002), dir. gore verbinski

Aries: An empire of fire and salt water. Fertile island fortresses patrolled by many-armed stone sentinels wielding golden flamberges. Rivers of fire spilling into the sea.

Taurus: An empire of honey and snow. Castles that stand as decadent art. Colossal ghostly spirit foxes watch over forests of cherry trees.

Gemini: An empire of rain and silk. Glittering iridescent cloaks and wide brimmed straw masks. The aqueducts flow ever deeper into the mountains.

Cancer: An empire of time and woodlands. Citadels of fossilized lumber strong as any metal. Old rusted weapons jut from the grass like weeds.

Leo: An empire of roses and bridges. Subtle stonework hewn rough by ages of wear. Stone blossoms wilting as the season passes.

Virgo: An empire of tombs and amber. The spires of the great necropolis are visible over the labyrinth walls, as kongamato patrol the skies.

Libra: An empire of sand and glass. The libraries of a thousand cities stolen, collected in the grand archives. A library of libraries. 

Scorpio: An empire of blood and stars. Nothing is left of this great people, but their decedents know their history well. Spilling blood on the great story-stones that dot the overgrowth brings whispers of the past. 

Ophiuchus: An empire of wind and hooves. Steeds like a thunderstorm, heavy and dark. Leaving only nursing trees and pillars to the dead in their wake.

Sagittarius: A landless empire of wanderers. Cloaks of feathers and ritual smoke. Comfortable boots and hospitality, though they are the guests.

Capricorn: An empire of stories and loss. Ruins buried under ice, unseen for generations.

Aquarius: An empire of brass and coal. The corpses of war machines that now dot the landscape. Rusted green in the autumn rains.