11 January 2013
From behind the clouds and out of sight, the cylinder appeared. Except, it wasn't really a cylinder, more of a hollow tube.
A hollow tube, with ridges. Long, thin ridges that ran down the entirety of the tube's length. It wasn't clear if these were affixed to the outside of the tube, or if instead they had been formed by the gouging out of deep trenches into the tube's side.
As the tube emerged from the swirling vapours it gathered minuscule droplets of water, which excitedly careened along the tube's undulating exterior.
Then, behind the tube, a faint shadow appeared. As it darkened in colour so it also grew in size, until it completely dwarfed the tube. The edges of the shadow were still obscured by the billowing clouds, but as it silently crept towards the tube, suggestions of its form wavered in the light.
Suddenly, it burst through the cloud with terrifying speed, and hazy shadow was solidified into a dense, brooding mass. From the centre of the mass emanated several talons, each as jet black as their origin, and tapered to a menacing point. With deadly accuracy, one of the talons dealt a fatal blow to the tube's exterior, altering it's course and causing the tube to tumble backwards into the dark heart of the beast.
Having caught its prey, the clawed terror then dramatically swooped upwards and out of sight. As it went, it callously threw the tube's droplets back into the perpetually swirling clouds. The droplets pierced a small hole in the cloud, just large enough to offer a glimpse of what lay behind. Through this hole, a wondrous sight could be seen. For there, behind the clouds, were many more tubes all identical to the one felled by the beast.
Tubes • Opuss № I