STORY

STORY

THE SMALL DARK SPOT
[Sky: Children of the Light - Sanctuary Caves]
A swarm of birds sail around a great pony over the sea.
2026-03-22 23:37:21
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-22 23:37:29
The ancient pony, known as a "horse" was believed to be the "stupidest creature alive." The great terrors that lurked deep in the sea did not approach the horse. To be grabbed by it would be death after all. This made it a perfect defense for birds, but even they did not ride it. It was a danger to ride a horse of such a massive size.

One bird did, though.
Cowboy
2026-03-22 23:40:00
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 07:56:13
While the other birds flew by its side, Cowboy sat on top of the head of the alien, unbothered. He tapped away at his phone, avoiding the comments other, more social, birds would throw his way.
Offline, he wasn't very social.
He keeps trying to ignore them, but he can hear them swooping down lower and lower to try and get his attention. Louder and louder. Cowboy just wanted to keep to his phone. He hunches his back, trying to look as engrossed as possible to ward off whatever questions they had.
He wants to shoo them away. Tell them to leave him alone.
But someone dares to touch his back, not getting the message.
He prepares to snap as he swings back.
"Howdy! Need anything?"
"Ah, hello there!" A broad-shouldered bird beams a wide grin.
"If you don't mind me saying, sir, I'd move over to the other side of the horse if I were you." He gestures, "Neptune's coming into orbit."
What an annoying thing to bother him with.
"Woah! Really? Thank you, that's important!"
"But don't worry, I would have been ok right here." Cowboy lifts his foot to show off his phone. "I think the world could have ended and you wouldn't have been able to tear me away from this here screen."
"Neptune don't scare me. I've seen a lot scarier, I'll tell you that." He says with a nod.
"Why, of course! I'll insist, but just wanted to make sure you're accounted for."
"You seem a bit engrossed in what you were doing, so better to know than to be blindsided by... well. You know."
"We're not even traveling together. What is this guy being so fucking nosy about....?" Cowboy thinks to himself.
Cowboy
2026-03-22 23:56:01
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-22 23:56:30
"Awww that's nice of you! Don't worry, I ain't mind one bit."
"Honestly, I might just take a look!"
"It's like a vacation you know?"
The bird's eyes widen at the comment. It takes him a moment to stammer out a response, "Ah! S-sir, I, really wouldn't-"
Gale didn't realize how quickly Neptune had approched. He caught a glimpse of an eye of Neptune behind Cowboy.
Just that split second was enough.
Gale
2026-03-23 00:12:03
Gale Profile
Posted by ID #7
Last edit: 2026-03-23 00:17:24
Gale's eyes dart away from the sky, dropping the thought mid-sentence. He blinks, snapping back from a sudden lapse. Fractured childhood memories on repeat, cradled by family-members he had not seen in many years. Trapped in stasis. He feels like he'd been gone for days.
"...You need to move." He rushes away, flying off in terror.
"Guess it wasn't a nice memory?" Cowboy hums to himself. He doesn't follow Gale's advice, instead choosing to turn around....
...and face the eye of Neptune.
Cowboy takes a few hops closer and tilts his head with a smile. The world around him tries to hold itself together.
Neptune wants to tell the tiny bird how much it loves it.
It's worried of scaring it off like the other bird. It tries to speak in a more acceptable tone. "Mmmmmoove.....mmmauuu."
"Do you want me to move? I don't know where I would go!" Cowboy takes a few hops to the side to see if this appeases the singularity.
"Looooooue." The world rips more with every hop. "Miiiice." Large tears start to pour out of Neptune's eyes. It's not frustrated at the tiny bird before it, but at something else. Something it can't even start to explain to a tiny animal without ripping its mind apart.
"Mice? Sorry. Don't tell anyone else, but I nearly hurl if I see a mouse, so if you want to show me something like that please don't."
Neptune warbles and pets Cowboy with a long hand. It bursts into a deeper cry, as if touching his mane triggered a terrible pain.
Without thinking, Cowboy looks at the Singularity and says "It's ok. You can tell me anything you want. What's wrong? I mean I won't understand, but you don't have to try and speak my language."
"Lucky for you, you happened upon a guy whose used to being held and cried into!"
Neptune wipes away its tears and drags Cowboy closer.
The world Cowboy knew stopped existing.
2026-03-23 00:34:48
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:03:15
[1940s Oldies Music Playing in Another Room]
2026-03-23 00:35:37
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 00:41:12
Cowboy was a bird.
2026-03-23 00:36:22
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 00:41:04
Hawk
2026-03-23 00:40:53
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:04:12
He was in the prime of his life, but onlookers wouldn't be able to tell. He was a chubby hawk who didn't want to look for his own food. The sky just a few days ago had turned a terrible color. It scared him, but after a few hours he just was back out looking for another meal. The trash he rooted around was oddly drying up, so he went to one of his favorite spots. The lake.
For the first time in years....since before he was born, he thought "This isn't how Earth looks."
Hawk
2026-03-23 00:45:12
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:04:50
As he lands near the fisherman he was troubled by these thoughts. "Earth?" "Before I was born?" It felt like he knew these concepts but didn't know where they came from. He looks up at the fisherman and screams like a greedy child for food.
"You gotta be kidding me! You're still around little hawk?"
"Ain't no one tell you? The world's ending!"
"Least it is for me."
The hawk doesn't know how to explain it, but it perfectly understands the fisherman, someone it has never understood before. Frankly it doesn't know what to do with this information and continues crying and squealing for food.
Fisherman
2026-03-23 00:50:28
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:06:14
"Yeah, yeah, shut it you fat bastard. Take your meal. Mind taking a listen while you eat?" The fisherman throws one of its catches to his hawk buddy who immediately focuses on ripping it apart.
Fisherman
2026-03-23 00:51:46
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:05:02
"This year has been shit. All started when I got cancer. Doctor told me "Don't worry, it'll kill you in 5 years. At your age a flu would have gotten you by then anyway.""
Fisherman
2026-03-23 00:52:45
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:06:59
"Then later, when I was assisting at the university, they told me "You gotta stop coming here. Time to retire and enjoy your golden years." and I nearly spat at them."
"I didn't spend 60 damn years studying vermeology to be told I'm becoming "Too old.""
Fisherman
2026-03-23 00:54:09
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 00:54:26
"It's vermeology! It's WORMS god damn it! How young do I need to be to talk about WORMS!"
Hawk
2026-03-23 00:55:28
Hawk Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:07:40
"Wark!!!!" The hawk worries momentarily that the large being before it will crush it, but it carefully takes another bite, assured that the fisherman doesn't suddenly want his fish back.
"That's what I told them little buddy."
"And it's like whatever god up there is taunting me! Now all these worms are......" The fisherman points to the giant red tendril from the sky that keeps dipping itself in and out of the water, investigating it.
"Whole world is covered in worms!"
"I'm going crazy ain't I?"
The hawk stares at the red "worm." In its mind it knows the name of it is "The Sun" but...it doesn't know how it does.
It being given a name doesn't happen for a long time, and it's not sure how it knows that either.
"Did you die as well?"
"Cause, here's my theory, and it's going to sound crazy."
"I think God and his angels are playing a little prank on me. I mean, if you were god, you'd do that right? Make old men go crazy so they keep talking about the end of the world. Make them say it's over for sure. I remember when I was a youngin, I always laugh at my grandpa saying the world was ending any day now, but you know, with this happening to me, maybe I'm thinking that when you're about to die, you start being absolutely sure the world is going to end."
"It's like a metaphor for an old man's own death."
"........................................."
"...................There's no damn way there's giant worms in the sky. No damn way. No fucking way I happened to be alive to see the end of the world."
"Wasn't it suppose to be global warming? The ice caps!"
"Or we were supposed to bomb each other to hell and back!"
"Or God sending down his angels to burn us for sin!"
"You're telling me it's DAMN WORMS FROM SPACE?"
Hawk
2026-03-23 01:07:02
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:09:32
"Wark! Wark!" The hawk opens its mouth, wanting another meal.
The fisherman feels a tug and reels in a fish. He looks at the poor fish flip around, trying to be freed of the hook and string. ".........................................................."
He breaths a long sigh, unhooking the fish and throwing it back in the water. "I bet you every fish I reeled up thought the same thing."
"I thought it was going to be a bigger fish."
"Or maybe the waters would run dry, and I'd rot in the sun."
"But no. It's a damn worm from the fucking sky that gets me."
"God did tell us to take care of all the animals on Earth. He must be doing this to show us He's angry."
"Knew I should have became a vegan."
The fisherman gets up, the bucket of his catches in his hands. "Did you see what the worms are like in New York?"
"..........................................................Wark."
Fisherman
2026-03-23 01:16:02
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:10:58
"Sorry, forgot I was talking to a hawk. You felt like my dog Brandy for a moment. She was always watching the TV with me."
"I saw it on the news. The worm over there is different. Trashing around. Terrible thing. This one right here......"
"Just....tapping on the water."
"Reminds me when I was boy, I'd bob the fishing rod all day thinking my tapping would draw them in."
"I almost went without a catch. But I think some fish out there took mercy on my dumb ass and died so I could have something to show to my pa."
Fisherman
2026-03-23 01:20:19
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 01:22:47
The fisherman throws his entire bucket of fish into the lake. He places the bucket on the shore and starts to trawl into the waters. "I'm tired of being scared of dying. I don't want to die of cancer while the world goes to shit."
"It's only right. I ain't able to feed you anymore."
Fisherman
2026-03-23 01:21:50
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 01:23:28
The fisherman grabs the long red tendril.
"I gotta be that one dumb ass fish."
It's been only one second since Neptune has tried talking to Cowboy. It sighs and twists as it wipes away its tears, holding Cowboy close.
Neptune
2026-03-23 01:27:32
Neptune Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:15:52
It struggles as it places him back on top of the large horse and holds out a bag of food. It takes one out and places the strange shiny golden pyramid on a plate for Cowboy.
Cowboy has just spent what felt like the last three years of his life, being born, raised by two dotting parents, leaving the nest, and eating trash out of bins in a world that didn't make sense.
"Yay!!!! Ambrosia!!!!" Cowboy grabs the plate and eats the meal in only a few bites. He jumps up and down, delighted by the meal.
Neptune squints at Cowboy. It takes out another piece of ambrosia before just handing the whole bag of it over to him. Neptune wipes its face. It knows Cowboy couldn't understand anything, but it's happy to have anyone listen to its pain. It wiggles its long body as it picks up speed and trails away from the flock.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world! A whole bag of ambrosia just for me!"
The pigeon tentatively approaches Cowboy, his head still held low. He occasionally catches glances at the bag of food... "Are you... okay, sir?"
"Think we lost you there for a moment."
Cowboy knows Gale isn't here to actually check on him. He wants to hiss, demand Gale just ask for HIS ambrosia which HE EARNED right now.
Drop the act. Stop trying to be NICE.
"Aww no! You didn't lose me at all."
"It was quite nice actually. I had two parents and they loved me a lot. There was also this fisherman who kept feeding me."
"The part where I ate trash wasn't so good, but I've eaten worse......"
"Hey, don't be shy! I saw you eyeing this bag of treats. Come over and get some. The bag is as big as me. I couldn't drag this back home if I wanted to. It's singularity food, best stuff in the world. Have you ever had it before?"
"It makes you feel like you're remembering a happy memory, but ain't no memory there. It tastes like the best thing you've ever had."
"Ah, can't say I have, no..." Gale relaxes some. He didn't get much further than squirming around under his parents, this guy must have been gone for ages.
"...It's an incredibly generous offer, sir, but I have to ask. You sure you're doing alright? I mean- how are you okay?"
"I caught that thing's eye for just a moment, and I feel like," He shifts uncomfortably in place, "Like, I'm missing something that was never there. I was happy to see what I thought was my family... but it wasn't mine. Never was."
"Oh momma and poppa hawk rocked! You should have stayed."
Cowboy
2026-03-23 01:58:03
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 01:59:22
"Before I could fly, a raven invaded the nest and ate my sibling in one glup!"
Cowboy
2026-03-23 01:58:34
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 01:58:57
"But then momma hawk comes back and fights it off. It was cool. I wonder how long she got to live after she finally stopped feeding me."
"Sorry, I guess this sort of thing is freaky if you've never had it happen before. You're a pigeon, so you work directly with the Sun, but I had to live with another singularity and uh......"
"Let's just say.....watching my sibling get eaten was a cakewalk compared to the lives I've lived......"
"It's ok, I'm sure this won't ever happen to you again."
"Ahah. Yes, I suppose I didn't linger long enough..." The pigeon is made sheepish by the comment. "You've quite the resilience, sir."
"Looked, yet alone approached it! You're on another level, man, I wouldn't have dared. I tend to avoid weather like this, no matter how many times I take this route..."
"Oh I love the weather. It's always nice to see a change of pace. I know I might sound crazy, but I LOVE traffic."
"Seeing a city explode into traffic, it's so pretty. All the lights and sounds........."
"But uh, I can fly, so I get that folks hate when there's traffic warnings on the weather report...."
Gale maintains his smile for a moment, before gesturing back over to the bag, "...Well. As long as you're sure you're feeling fine, I won't turn down the offer."
"Yeah, feel free to have as much as you want." As Gale takes an ambrosia from the bag, another bird swings overhead, asking for some as well. Cowboy agrees, and soon there's more.
Soon the whole swarm is surrounding him. A small party has started around HIS bag of ambrosia that HE earned. Some don't even ask, assuming that the rare meal was being shared around.
Cowboy backs away from his meal to look at the sight.
He looks at the swarm of GREEDY FUCKING RATS EATING HIS FOOD. Acting as if he was invisible. All this effort he went through. He was willing to share a bit, but once they all got a smell of food, those GREEDY FUCKERS just couldn't stop taking. Couldn't stop eating. Crawling over him like he didn't exist.

He wanted to bite them. Rip them apart. Scream at them and tell them the whole world is falling apart because of people like them.
"Hey, you alright with sharing the rest of it?"
"Yeah don't worry about it!"
Cowboy
2026-03-23 02:23:13
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:22:08
"Oh wait, actually, let me grab like, six more and you folks can have the rest! I'm visiting a friend so I want to give two to him, then I want to give two to my wife........"
"And then two more for me! You folks can have the others." Cowboy grabs his share of the ambrosia and leaves the other 100 or so of it to the others.
Cowboy
2026-03-23 02:26:03
Cowboy Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:24:36
He hops away from the flock to the back of the horse. Despite some of the other birds asking him to stay he won't.
He can't stop thinking about how none of the other birds are as big as him.
He can't stop visualizing biting the others. Digging his claws into them and telling them all to learn some manners.
He sits alone and returns to his phone, finally in peace.
Chat started between Cowboy and Memetical_Cargo
[Pilotredsky - Clock Like Woz]
"I was a bird today."
"????????????? Are you not a bird everyday?"
"Hmmm well I kind of spent 3 years as a bird. It was pretty nice."
".....................Did you accidentally look at a chatty singularity?"
Cowboy
2026-03-23 02:34:41
Cowboy Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-24 17:03:02
"I did it on purpose!"
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT ON PURPOSE?"
"Oh, well cause it looked like it needed to get something off its chest. I figured it likely wasn't that bad and it wasn't."
"Afterwards it gave me a whole bag of ambrosia!"
"But then I gave it all to the other birds with me. Everyone was really happy about it."
"Can you be a little more greedy for your sake? Those things are expensive....."
Cowboy
2026-03-23 02:40:03
Cowboy Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:29:57
"Well when I was a pet I ate a lot of ambrosia. Kind of got sick a few times. I just think it's likely the first and last time a lot of them will ever get that stuff for free so why not you know?"
"Ok, I'm going to make a little correction. I'm not asking you to be greedy for yourself....."
Memetical_Cargo
2026-03-23 02:41:25
Memetical_Cargo Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 02:41:42
"But maybe next time you could be greedy for meeeeeee?"
"Aww dang you're right. Maybe I should...." Cowboy gets up. He flexes out the claws on his foot that isn't holding his phone.
But he sits back down. He doesn't want to interact with the other birds. "Oh, don't worry. I saved six of them."
"Two of them are for my friend, and four of them are for you!"
"Yeah well how much are for you?"
"I ate......"
"Soooooooooooooooooo many of them!"
Cowboy
2026-03-23 02:47:14
Cowboy Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 08:31:47
"Don't worry I think I'd get sick if I ate more. You know if you eat too many you start seeing the faces of people you've seen for only seconds on the street vividly in mirrors. It's crazy. Makes humans go nuts sometimes. That's why you gotta be careful. Ok?"
"Four of them isn't going to make that happen right.....?"
"Nah, it takes like, 10 of them for it to start happening............."
"I should warn those guys actually...."
"Anyway, how has your day been going? I know the election debates start tonight. Are you going to be ok?"
"I saw some of the candidates and well....."
"I don't want to talk about it. I just........."
"Hope Boe wins......."
"My mother has been talking to me about the election and it's freaking me out. How the FUCK did some of those guys even get on the ballot. Who voted them in???????"
"Look, don't worry about it, I'm sure no one crazy is going to win office ok?"
"I trust all of us to stay sane and not vote for the freaks."
"The head of A to Z is on the ballot! He's going to rig it!"
"He literally controls the system! We're fucked! He's going to falsify the votes and everyone is going to be like "Well shit, it's not like we can do anything about it, whatever, he'll be gone soon!" and it'll be too late, it'll take that FREAK only 4 years to turn half the population into ROBOTS!"
"Chill. I'm sure he won't even get into office, and even if he does he's not going to turn us all into robots."
"Mother has already told me that if that FREAK wins that the entire island is going on strike. They know that they'll overwork the miners......"
"OR THE MINERS WILL BE THE FIRST PEOPLE CONVERTED INTO ROBOTS SO THAT THEY CAN KEEP WORKING 24/7!"
"Ok first off, he's seriously not going to win. Second off, I think the strike is a good second plan of action just in case, but it won't come to that ok?"
"Has your mother just been like, scaring you this entire time?"
"Well, at some point she realized she was freaking me out and she tried really hard to pivot into a better conversation.....so we started talking about you......."
"Ok that sounds good."
"AND THEN SHE FUCKING CALLED YOU AUTISTIC FOR NO REASON!!!!!!!"
"Uuuuuuuuh....."
"AND I WAS LIKE. MOTHER! MOTHER! YOU CAN'T JUST FUCKING CALL COWBOY AUTISTIC FOR NO FUCKING REASON??????"
"Is that bad?"
"YES IT IS!"
"Dang......."
"And she was like, Cargo honey, I am not making a joke here, why are you yelling at me?"
"What was she saying, exactly?"
"All I did was ask "What do you think of Cowboy" and she was like-"
Memetical_Cargo
2026-03-23 03:05:59
Memetical_Cargo Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 09:10:44
"Oh he seems nice. I didn't know he was autistic though."
"LIKE WHAT'S HER ISSUE?!?!?!!?"
"But I am autistic."
"......................................................................."
"WHEN DID YOU BECOME AUTISTIC!?!?!?!"
".................................................................."
"Forever I think."
"I."
"FEEL A LITTLE STUPID."
"AND NOW I HAVE TO GO APOLOGIZE TO MY FUCKING MOTHER!!!!!!"
"Cowboy, I genuinely did not realize. I just thought you were like."
"Cowboy................................................."
"I think it's ok if you keep seeing it like that."
"I just feel stupid because the first thing she mentioned to me was "He reminds me of your father" and I was like "Mom shut up." I should have know she was trying to give me hints."
Memetical_Cargo
2026-03-23 03:18:50
Memetical_Cargo Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2026-03-23 09:11:16
".............Anyway, look I'm going to believe you on this election thing, but......I don't know. I just feel like it's going to all go wrong and the world is going to collapse."
"Even if the worst happens, it'll only be for 4 years, you know?"
"That's a lot of time."
"But we'll figure something out."
"Well, the world will figure something out. I don't think anything will happen to us. We're not miners or smart enough to be turned into robots first."
"Not unless you're secretly really into programming or something."
"Why would I be into programming?"
"I don't know! I'm learning a lot of new things today!"
"I just cannot believe I didn't realize your childhood bag covered in the SAME DAMN pin of the SAME DAMN character from Space Fantasy wasn't a giant flag. My mother is going to think I'm STUPID!"
"I'm going to leave before I embarrass myself more."
"Love you too, Cargo."
Cowboy hunches over his phone again.
This time no one was going to take this moment away from him.
No one is typing.