A Surprise Return, and a Mysterious Object
I’D BEEN AWAY ON A CORPORATE JOURNEY, AND AFTER CONCLUDING SOONER THAN EXPECTED, I ARRANGED AN IMPULSIVE FLIGHT BACK TO MY SPOUSE, BEN. I ENVISIONED HIS EXPRESSION ILLUMINATING WHEN I CROSSED THE THRESHOLD. WE HADN’T SHARED MUCH “COUPLE TIME” RECENTLY, AND I DESIRED TO RENDER IT MEMORABLE.
THE RESIDENCE WAS SILENT, EXACTLY AS I FORESAW IT WOULD BE. PRESUMING BEN TO BE IN HIS STUDY, I VENTURED INTO THE GARDEN — THEN, I STOOD MOTIONLESS. ADJACENT TO THE GREENERY WAS BEN, FURIOUSLY DIGGING EARTH. AND BEFORE HIM RESTED A COLOSSAL EBONY OVOID.
IT WAS UNLIKE ANYTHING IN MY EXPERIENCE — IMMENSE, GLEAMING, AND JET BLACK, LIKE SOMETHING FROM A MYTHICAL FILM. I NEARLY CHUCKLED, CONSIDERING IT MIGHT BE A HOAX, BUT BEN’S COUNTENANCE HALTED ME. HIS PALMS WERE TREMBLING, AND HE GLANCED ABOUT ANXIOUSLY.
“BEN?” I UTTERED GENTLY. HE STOOD STILL, THEN PIVOTED TO CONFRONT ME, CONSUMED BY ALARM. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” HE INQUIRED, HIS TONE QUIVERING AND BOOMING.
“I WISHED TO STARTLE YOU. WHAT IS OCCURRING? WHAT IS… THAT?”
“IT’S NOTHING!” HE STATED RAPIDLY, AVERTING HIS GAZE.
“BEN, I DOUBT THAT QUALIFIES AS ‘NOTHING.’ WHAT IS IT? AND WHY DID YOU NEGLECT TO INFORM ME ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS?”
HIS VISAGE WEAKENED. “TRUST ME. I’M SIMPLY EXECUTING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.”
BUT MY INTUITION SIGNALED SOMETHING WAS AMISS. THE SUBSEQUENT DAY, WHEN BEN DEPARTED FOR WORK, I FOUND IT IRRESISTIBLE — I WAS COMPELLED TO EXCAVATE THAT OBJECT!⬇️The shovel felt heavy in my hands, heavier than it should. Each scoop of earth was like prying open a secret, a secret Ben clearly wanted buried. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the ominous silence of the garden. Finally, the top of the ebony ovoid was exposed. It was smoother than polished obsidian, strangely warm to the touch.
As I brushed away the remaining soil, I noticed faint, intricate carvings etched into its surface. They weren’t any language I recognized; more like abstract symbols that seemed to shift and writhe in the sunlight. A prickling sensation ran down my spine. This wasn’t just some strange rock; it felt… alive.
I spent the next few hours researching, poring over books on geology, mythology, and cryptography. Nothing. The symbols, the material, the sheer impossibility of its existence – it was all baffling. Desperate, I turned to the internet, stumbling upon a forum dedicated to unexplained phenomena. Hesitantly, I posted a picture of the ovoid, cropped to hide the location, and asked if anyone recognized it.
The responses started slowly, trickling in with skepticism and ridicule. Then, someone posted a single word: “Aethon.”
Aethon. The name resonated with a deep, unsettling fear I couldn’t explain. Further research revealed that Aethon was a creature from ancient folklore, a being of immense power said to be imprisoned within a dark egg, buried deep beneath the earth. Legend claimed that disturbing the Aethon would unleash unimaginable chaos upon the world.
Suddenly, Ben’s frantic digging, his fearful glances, his evasive answers all made chilling sense. He wasn’t burying something; he was *protecting* something. Protecting it from *me*.
That evening, I confronted Ben. He confessed everything. He had found the ovoid while working on a construction site, felt an irresistible compulsion to bring it home, to nurture it. He knew the legends, he knew the danger, but he was drawn to it, compelled to protect it, even from himself.
He’d been trying to rebury it, to keep it safe, but the knowledge of its existence, the proximity to its power, was driving him mad.
We argued for hours, fear warring with disbelief. Finally, we agreed that we couldn’t keep it. We had to alert the authorities, experts, *someone* who could understand what it was and contain it.
The next morning, we contacted a professor of ancient languages and mythology at a local university, discreetly sharing the photograph. He was intrigued, skeptical, but agreed to meet us at the house.
As the professor examined the ovoid, his eyes widening with a mixture of fear and fascination, the ground began to tremble. The air crackled with an unnatural energy. The symbols on the ovoid glowed with an eerie light.
The professor cried out, “It’s awakening!”
Suddenly, the ovoid shattered. A blinding light filled the garden, followed by an ear-splitting roar. When the light subsided, the ovoid was gone. And so was Ben. Just vanished.
The professor stammered, his face pale, “The legend… it said… it takes its keeper.”
I was left standing alone, in a crater where my garden used to be, the horrifying reality settling upon me like a shroud. Ben hadn’t been protecting the world from the Aethon. He had been protecting the Aethon, and in doing so, he had sealed his own fate. The Aethon was free, and I, the one who had dug it up, was left to face the consequences, a future filled with unimaginable chaos, and the haunting image of Ben, swallowed by the darkness he tried so desperately to contain.