Eyes on the moon

Part one: Eyes On The Moon

I knew I wasn't crazy. The news confirmed what I had seen. There are eyes on the moon. Not dark holes that look like eyes. Real eyes, almost human.

The eyes have been there a few days. The news keeps talking about it. Theorizing what may be the cause. It doesn't matter what happened to the moon, only that it did happen. Sometimes when I go outside I can't help but feel like the moon is watching me. I know those damn eyes are too big to notice it watching me but the feeling stays all the same.

I try to stay inside. Even before the moon "woke up". I don't have anything against people or the outside, I just prefer staying inside. I work from home and try to focus on this more than other things. But I had to go out. I was running low on food and had to get groceries. Thankfully my local shops were still open. I left with my service dog, Bernie, who I had for mental health issues that I won't dive into.

I took a glance at the moon. It was the same as it had been the past few weeks. I wouldn't say I was getting used to it, but it didn't seem to shake me to the core as much as it did previously. I got my groceries and was bringing them inside. Everything was this new normal I had learned to accept.

Part two: The Blink

It blinked. The moon blinked.

And I knew deep down inside me that it would only get worse from there. I didn't get much sleep that night. I kept having nightmares of the moon. It would have a mouth, eating the earth. Thankfully Bernie kept waking me up. News broadcasts were covering it by the next day. Titles like "the moon blinks" dotted every news outlet and search result online. But nobody mentioned the quakes. I had felt the earth shake underneath my feet moments after the blink.

The cycle of emotions had restarted. I was back to feeling fear when I looked at the moon. I felt watched again. The moon appeared at all times of day now. I've heard rumors of groups blinding themselves in worship of the moon. I've seen posts of others belief in the cause posted seconds before blinding themselves. They speak of the moon like a long forgotten god. They call themselves the followers of the stellar eye.

It was standard cult stuff. Ascension and the like. But one thing they said caught my attention. The red tide they called it. They spoke as if everyone already knew what it was.

Part Three: It Follows

Eventually, due to my focus on work I forgot about what I had read online. Work had me going on an out of state trip to the main headquarters of the company. The only problem was the moon. The trip required me to drive two days. I stopped at a motel for the first night, paid out of pocket.

The moon was closer than it was before. Visibly closer. And the eyes were staring at me. It was a subtle change but I knew the moon was looking at me. Even Bernie seemed uneasy. I just forced it to the back of my mind. Still didn't sleep much, damn nightmares again. Its always the same dream.

I continued my trip to headquarters for my meeting, or whatever they had planned. The rest of the trip there and back was uneventful, or as uneventful as life had become.

Part Four: The Red Tide Begins

When I got home things went back to how they were when the moon blinked. I was afraid but pushed forward. This sense of faux normalcy was broken the second night after my trip. A moth landed on my window. A lunar moth. When I took a closer look at the moth it wasn't a normal moth. It was bleeding from the eyes and wings. A thin yellowish liquid slowly leaking out onto my window.

In the background behind the moth was the moon. It looked the same as on my work trip. Except it had a mouth. It was smiling with a small, compared to the size of the moon, red streak coming from the eye. Thats when I realized Bernie was outside, howling at the moon. The sound was faint but still audible. I ran out to him.

His eyes were leaking blood just like the moth. I pulled him inside and tried to patch him up but it didn't do much.

Part Five: Teeth

I've been getting more sleep since I lost Bernie, unfortunately. I get more sleep but I'm trapped in the nightmares of the moon. My mental state keeps getting worse. The red tide has ended. I still don't know how far it spread. Now the moon has teeth. A wide toothy smile full of razors. I keep spiraling deeper into this personal darkness of mine. I saw giant worms swimming in and out of the moon. I can't tell if it's real or not.

Each day the moon gets a little closer to us. It's mouth getting a little wider each day with the shrinking distance. I fear my nightmares are set to come true. I don't want to live in a world eaten by an ancient horror from the stars.

I sit here now, pistol loaded in my lap. Urging you, who ever reads this, don't let the moon consume you. Don't let it win. End it before you lose the chance for good.