Muse Playground October Prompt #5 Silent Legacy
A Silent Legacy
The Queen approached the torn chain link fence with curiosity. Something deep within the memories passed down from her mother and her mother’s mother this place was familiar. She looked past the fence toward the dark building. It lay silent in the empty landscape but there was a comforting familiarity to it. Moving along the chain barrier toward the open gates she paused to examine a hastily erected sign. Cocking her head she fought with her meager knowledge to make out the black images. “Human” was the only set of figures she recognized. Her massive head once more turned up to the building. It was a human structure that lay beyond. That only furthered her growing curiosity. She herself had never been in a human building as large as the one sprawling out as far as her vision could scan.
Hastily she crossed the open distance between the fence and the building. Once in the shadows of the brickwork she slowed working around the perimeter. There was a door, a human sized door behind the overgrown vegetation. Pushing it aside she worked her claws in the gripping motion she had observed in the humans. The shriek of sharp chitin against metal echoed as she slid her fingers through the latch and pushed. The door gave way to darkness. It was a calming dark, returning her to the closed dark spaces which she was born and lived out her motherhood.
Rows of doors lined the halls but she wasn’t interested. Instead she followed the maze of halls. Her kind had been here before. She could smell the odor of their fear and anger still lingering. The scent agitated the Queen as she moved more quickly though the halls. They soon gave way to an open interception that radiated out like the spokes of a wheel into countless halls ending in doors. Most were closed but one stood broken and it was from there the reek of Alien pain was the strongest.
Her mind, though more animal then not could comprehend the idea. Fear, pain, anger, humans, closed. This was a prison, a holding place where they had trapped them. She had faced the cage once when she was still immature but the truck had never made it to its destination. The hive had come to her rescue.
Moving in low and pressed to the wall the Queen edged toward the broken door. She squeaked the sound of a nervous juvenile, as the fear became oppressive. So strong was the knowledge of that scent that even the matriarch froze glancing over her shoulder back the way she came. The silence only made the feelings more intense. They were colonial and rare was it she was without her sisters, daughters or mother. Another squeak and she pushed her hulk through the opening.
Her senses were brought to a fever pitch as she took in the large room. Barred pens lined the room, most with smashed gates. Those did not bother the Queen. It was the pillars of glass that brought a shrill cry of hurt. The liquid was still and in her eyes it glowed a brilliant violet. In this watery grave hung children of all shapes and sizes. Dead. The word rang over and over in her mind.
The great body moved to the closest and she clicked rubbing her face to the glass feeling for life with in the glass. There was only silence. The soothing vibration of the heart beat did not accompany the suspended body. The cries became louder with each that revealed lifelessness. Reaching the far end the Queen settled on her haunches gazing out on the room. Death. Humans. Children. Death. The low growl came as she returned to her feet. She remembered this place now. Her mother was a child here in this place. Hatched in this place of winding halls and violet horror. Extinction was the human word her mother had used to label this place. The land of killers, human killers.
The Queen retraced her path to the outside. Mother’s memories were fresh in her mind. She could see the faces that had been the torturers. They were all gone now. Mother had broken free while the Queen formed within her. This place was the past, the prison but now they were free and the humans… The Queen regarded the sign once more. The Humans were… closed.
Crossposted to Muse_playground
The Queen approached the torn chain link fence with curiosity. Something deep within the memories passed down from her mother and her mother’s mother this place was familiar. She looked past the fence toward the dark building. It lay silent in the empty landscape but there was a comforting familiarity to it. Moving along the chain barrier toward the open gates she paused to examine a hastily erected sign. Cocking her head she fought with her meager knowledge to make out the black images. “Human” was the only set of figures she recognized. Her massive head once more turned up to the building. It was a human structure that lay beyond. That only furthered her growing curiosity. She herself had never been in a human building as large as the one sprawling out as far as her vision could scan.
Hastily she crossed the open distance between the fence and the building. Once in the shadows of the brickwork she slowed working around the perimeter. There was a door, a human sized door behind the overgrown vegetation. Pushing it aside she worked her claws in the gripping motion she had observed in the humans. The shriek of sharp chitin against metal echoed as she slid her fingers through the latch and pushed. The door gave way to darkness. It was a calming dark, returning her to the closed dark spaces which she was born and lived out her motherhood.
Rows of doors lined the halls but she wasn’t interested. Instead she followed the maze of halls. Her kind had been here before. She could smell the odor of their fear and anger still lingering. The scent agitated the Queen as she moved more quickly though the halls. They soon gave way to an open interception that radiated out like the spokes of a wheel into countless halls ending in doors. Most were closed but one stood broken and it was from there the reek of Alien pain was the strongest.
Her mind, though more animal then not could comprehend the idea. Fear, pain, anger, humans, closed. This was a prison, a holding place where they had trapped them. She had faced the cage once when she was still immature but the truck had never made it to its destination. The hive had come to her rescue.
Moving in low and pressed to the wall the Queen edged toward the broken door. She squeaked the sound of a nervous juvenile, as the fear became oppressive. So strong was the knowledge of that scent that even the matriarch froze glancing over her shoulder back the way she came. The silence only made the feelings more intense. They were colonial and rare was it she was without her sisters, daughters or mother. Another squeak and she pushed her hulk through the opening.
Her senses were brought to a fever pitch as she took in the large room. Barred pens lined the room, most with smashed gates. Those did not bother the Queen. It was the pillars of glass that brought a shrill cry of hurt. The liquid was still and in her eyes it glowed a brilliant violet. In this watery grave hung children of all shapes and sizes. Dead. The word rang over and over in her mind.
The great body moved to the closest and she clicked rubbing her face to the glass feeling for life with in the glass. There was only silence. The soothing vibration of the heart beat did not accompany the suspended body. The cries became louder with each that revealed lifelessness. Reaching the far end the Queen settled on her haunches gazing out on the room. Death. Humans. Children. Death. The low growl came as she returned to her feet. She remembered this place now. Her mother was a child here in this place. Hatched in this place of winding halls and violet horror. Extinction was the human word her mother had used to label this place. The land of killers, human killers.
The Queen retraced her path to the outside. Mother’s memories were fresh in her mind. She could see the faces that had been the torturers. They were all gone now. Mother had broken free while the Queen formed within her. This place was the past, the prison but now they were free and the humans… The Queen regarded the sign once more. The Humans were… closed.
Crossposted to Muse_playground