Today's Reading
Where was the old man headed at so late an hour dressed in such nice clothes? And where was he now? And what in the world was he warning Jeong-su about? His tone sounded like he was warning Jeong-su of something more important than just sidewalk etiquette. Perhaps there was a large sinkhole in the alleyway. Jeong-su looked around but didn't see any such hole.
What he found was a completely different kind of danger.
Jeong-su stopped walking because the alley seemed different. At first, he thought the streetlamps were out. But that wasn't it; they were on. Blocking the alley was an object. The jet-black surface of this object blended into the surrounding shadows, making it seem like the alley was shrouded in darkness.
Jeong-su had never seen such an object before. It was perfectly round, and didn't reflect light. Jeong-su felt like he was staring into a hole in the fabric of space. The object was several steps away from him.
"What is that?"
Someone seemed to be wondering the same thing as Jeong-su. Standing next to him and staring at this mysterious object was Jeong-su's neighbor. He had a plastic bag in his hand and was in midstep. He must have been out to throw away the compost. But this spherical black shadow was blocking his way.
"It's so dark," Jeong-su's neighbor said. "Do you know what that is?"
Jeong-su didn't. The neighbor dragged his sandals across the street as he approached the object. The heavy bag of compost swung like a pendulum as he walked.
"Someone's furniture? A car? It wasn't here just a moment ago. Don't people know not to park here?"
As the neighbor said this, the shadow appeared to be growing. But Jeong-su quickly realized that wasn't it. No, it was moving—moving closer. And this wasn't a shadow; it was a physical object.
But what kind of object, he didn't know.
Wary of this mysterious thing, Jeong-su took a step back.
"Is it a balloon?" the neighbor asked as he reached toward the object. But just as his hand made contact with the surface, his fingers passed through it and into the inky blackness. As the object continued moving unabated toward the man, the rest of his arm, starting with his wrist, forearm, then elbow, disappeared inside.
"What in the world?"
It happened so fast that the neighbor couldn't even process it. It was only when the thing reached his shoulder that he began panicking. He dug his heels into the ground to stop himself from going any farther, but it was too little too late. The man let out a scream as his sandals began dragging across the asphalt.
"Argh! Aaaaaargh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
The object moved past his shoulder and on to his head. When his mouth disappeared, so did the screams. Next was his torso. And when it was halfway down his other arm, the garbage bag he was holding fell to the ground. His legs flailed in the air for a moment before finally being sucked into the darkness. This was the last Jeong-su saw of his neighbor.
Now it was advancing toward Jeong-su. Although he was terrified, he was incapable of taking his eyes off the object as he frantically retreated. As the object followed him and passed under a bright streetlamp, Jeong-su got a good look at it.
The object was a black orb, roughly two meters in diameter. It resembled all at once a large bowling ball, a black weather balloon, and a metal marble. And despite its large size, it made no sound as it moved. Although it wasn't chasing Jeong-su fast enough to catch him, it was unrelenting and persistent in its pursuit, almost as if it had locked on to its next target.
He started to run.
"Help!" he cried. "Please, someone help! Save me!"
But no one came out of their home. He had just witnessed something horrible. His neighbor had disappeared. His life was in danger. And yet no one cared enough to come help.
Jeong-su ran into the nearest supermarket. Two old women, who had been sitting in front of a TV and chatting, looked up at him.
...
