Three Tales of Survival Horror
Some you win, some you lose
Jonah
From within the belly of the beast he crawled, his hands digging into wet sand that threatened to suck him under. The smell of rotting flesh combined with briny air made Jonah gag, despite being free.
For weeks, he had been trapped inside the hulking creature, nibbling away at its internal organs for sustenance.
As Jonah stood on the beach, staring at the dying prison blubber, he felt no sympathy. He viewed it as a battle of man versus beast, and he had emerged victorious. The creature stared at him with a black eye, which blinked slowly out of existence.
Soulless Superhero
He landed on Earth with the best of intentions, sent by a superior race of beings. They saw the imminent destruction of a planet and hoped to avert it.
The human race eyed him with distrust, saw him as an unwelcome intruder. He was faster stronger, and better in every way that the people of the civilization he hoped to save. They saw a foreigner.
Cast out and ignored, he sent word back to his own. There was no saving a planet divided and hell bent on destruction. The decision was made to bring about the end ahead of schedule.
From Below
For years, we searched the skies, sending out radio signals in hopes of discovering that we are not alone. All this time, we were looking in the wrong direction.
When the first cracks appeared in the earth, creating sinkholes from which light appeared, we wrote it off as nothing more than a fault line we never knew existed.
When the machines crawled out, it became clear that we were surplus to their requirements. The only thing louder than their killing instruments were the screams of our dead and dying. Our time is ticking down, and all hope is now gone.



John, I enjoyed how this piece reframes familiar narratives by shifting the perspective. What begins as stories we think we know gradually becomes something stranger and more unsettling. There is a recurring theme of humanity confronting forces beyond its understanding and responding in ways that ultimately seal its fate.
The brevity works in its favor. You give the reader just enough detail to spark the imagination while allowing the implications to linger long after the final line. Well done. Monica
My cosmic adled brain will have a go at one of these, though im on holiday so i cant yet say when i will 😄