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The cloudy gray skies grew darker as the evening transitioned into night. Thunder faintly rumbled in the distance, and the faint breeze became a steady wind.
I observed the farm around me with unease as a sinister feeling seemed to simmer in the humid air. Something terrifying was coming, and it was not the storm.
I walked on the dirt path around the horse fields to make one last check, ensuring all the animals were locked up and safe. None of them were out for most of the day, but the uneasy feeling told me something was off.
My eyes kept glancing at the crop of woods to my left, wondering if its eeriness was all that unsettled me. But I just knew that wasn’t it.
Just as I was about to step onto the small wooden bridge overpassing the tiny creek, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I looked to my right, and that was when I spotted it .
In the distance, by one of our smaller, barely used farmhouses, something moved.
It wasn’t human, but it couldn’t have been an animal either. It looked to be a brown, bear-like creature walking on two legs with a black top hat.
From where I stood, I couldn’t make out much more, but there was definitely something unnatural in how it moved.
I stepped off the path and walked near the fence, as if being an extra six feet closer would help me identify the creature.
It seemed to walk with a limp and its head occasionally twitched, making me wonder just how dangerous it was. Maybe I could scare it off with a simple yell?
I was about to climb over the fence when the thing suddenly veered in my direction, revealing glowing red eyes.
Not good.
I backed away from the fence somewhat slowly, although it was difficult with the sudden pulse of fear running through my veins. Whatever that thing was, it was not meant to be disturbed. Perhaps it would have wandered off on its own if I never even noticed it. But that consideration didn’t matter as the creature began to move towards me at an unnatural speed, especially in relation to its staggered limp.
I stumbled back onto the path, about to cross the bridge when the creature suddenly landed right in front of me, crushing the wood under its heavy feet. I could only stare at them in shock, confused by the wires and rows of metal that were slightly obscured by faded brown plastic. My eyes slowly drifted up on instinct, curiosity getting the better of me as I saw metallic joints and more brown plastic.
My ascending gaze paused when I saw the face of a little bear at the top of the right leg. It wore a little top hat, and its eyes glowed white. But the most startling feature was its two rows of serrated teeth sharper than any living creature I’d ever seen. Of course, by then I could tell the thing was not living, but what was it then?
My gaze continued and I spotted two more of the little bear faces, one on the left hip and another under the right arm. There were several more holes in the brown plastic of the creature, revealing more wiring and metal underneath. I supposed the correct description would have been “endoskeleton,” which meant that it was a robot rather than a “creature.” Then again, my brain couldn’t help but label it as a combination of both terms.
For some reason, a pristine black bowtie was symmetrically placed at the base of its neck, and it made me wonder how something so dismantled had a single piece of perfection.
Then my eyes finally met the face of the thing, a brown bear with razor teeth and burning red eyes that dimmed their glow as they settled on me. Wires stuck out of its head and most of its right ear was missing.
I had a faint idea of what the robotic creature was officially called, but I couldn’t think of the name as its gaze locked onto mine. As if frozen by those red eyes, I stared back, unable to move despite my rising panic. And then the bear made its move.
Its hands reached toward me, and I was surprised to see that they were like a human’s rather than the paws of a real bear. However, they were tipped with sharp edges, reminding me of little knives.
For some reason, that was enough to break the trance, and I jumped out of its reach over to the other side of the creek. Metal groaned behind me as the wind picked up and tossed my hair in my face. I wasn’t sure where to go, but I found my feet turning towards the house to the right. What would I do then? Hide? Would the bear still be able to find me?
I didn’t look back as I ran and ran, spotting lightning out of the corner of my eyes while the thunder increased. A faint hope bloomed in my chest that the bear wouldn’t be able to follow me once the rain started, but I couldn’t be too sure as I continued to run.
Eventually, I made it to the empty house, hating that it was the one weekend I insisted to my parents that I could take care of the farm alone.
Once I was inside, I finally looked out the window to see if the bear was pursuing me, but there was nothing in the distance. I squinted to see if there were any flashes of red light, but nothing appeared.
What was I supposed to do next? Call the police? But then tell them what? Who would believe a robotic bear was chasing me? And being out in the country like that, how fast would help even arrive?
I locked the door and kept the lights off, hoping and praying that the bear didn’t know where I was hiding. I turned to head for the basement door when I heard a creak in the kitchen at the end of the hall.
Every muscle in my body went rigid as heavy and consistent footsteps made the wood floor groan. Purple light suddenly illuminated the kitchen as a bluish figure stepped into view. It had the ears of a rabbit with numerous holes in its body like the bear. Mechanical whirring filled my ears as the rabbit slowly turned and fixated its glowing purple eyes on me.
I couldn’t risk running towards it to reach the basement door at the end of the hall, so I bolted into the family room and ducked behind the couch.
More robotic sounds squealed in the kitchen as the rabbit took deliberate steps down the hall… towards me .
My mind scrambled for what to do, but I couldn’t think of anything as all my exits seemed blocked. The rabbit was on its way towards me, and I had no idea where the bear went. But at that point… it seemed worth it to at least call someone . However, in order to do that, I needed to get my phone, and I left it up in my room.
The footsteps continued to thud towards me, and I risked a peek over the couch to see if I could make it across the room to the stairs. But then, orange light filled the room as a new creature jumped down from the second floor. Metal parts screeched from the impact, and I immediately dropped to the ground as all my limbs shook with fear.
I was cornered, and I could only believe that the robots had come to kill me. I couldn’t think of a good reason for them to want to hurt me. I was an absolute nobody with no connections to anything like them, but I just knew it was true.
I tried to make myself as small as possible, as if they wouldn’t notice me that way. My shallow breaths were drowned out by the howling wind outside, and the heavy crashing of rain against the roof competed with the thudding footsteps of the robots. As the seconds passed, I tried to convince myself that they had forgotten I was there. But purple light suddenly shined down on me, and I heard raspy breathing that reminded me of a dying horse.
My eyes slowly drifted up to connect with the rabbit’s. Its gaping mouth of razor teeth hung open, as if it couldn’t wait to eat me whole. But in the split second before I felt talons shred me apart, I swore I saw sympathy.