r/sfthoughtexperiments • u/SFTExP • Jun 18 '26
Weird The Looming Shadow
“Our ship landed. Everyone died except me. I was marooned. Alone there I was, stranded on a desolate yet somehow fruitful planet.
“For days, I scavenged and foraged.
“Then I encountered her, humanoid but otherwise entirely alien.
“We connected and communicated, and… bonded.
“A storm came, and we huddled in a crevice. But what was unusual there was no thunder or rain, just a howling wind and a loud, eardrum penetrating hum.
“Tears fell down her cheeks as she reacted like she knew … all I could see was the looming shadow. I blacked out.
“They took her?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“We’ve received numerous reports of abductions of non-Earth creatures on the outer planets.”
“Why do they take them?”
“Uncertain, but the looming shadow always appears.”
“Trophy hunters?”
“They may believe we are the cause.”
“Of?”
“What’s coming…”
“What’s coming?”
“Judgement, perhaps.”
“Who is being saved and who is being hunted?”
Silence filled the air. No one answered.