“Alright, if the town’s folk haven’t had any disappearances or deaths, hopefully he is just a reclusive species.” Walking up to the front door, making sure that whatever was inside heard my steps clearly. I knocked on the door stating my business. “Mr. Woodrow, my name is John. I heard you found a meteorite outside by the old farmhouse.” I couldn’t hear anything from inside. “I was wondering if I could get a look at it.”
A noise like someone threw rocks into a trash compactor echoed out from inside. “Go away. I don’t have your little spaceship part.” The noise made my body shake like I was using a jackhammer.
Steeling my resolve I spoke up. “Mr. Woodrow, I know that you found the little metal capsule. I also know that whatever is happening is probably scary, you're confused and alone.”
“Capsule?” The voice spoke up again, the curtains moved to reveal a single glowing blue eye peeking out from inside.
He has probably changed far more drastically than you. So we may need to do something more obvious if he lets us in.
“Okay.” Looking at where the curtain parted I looked directly at the single glowing eye. It looked like a perfectly cut sapphire, with more facets than I could count. It was timeless, holding secrets of the past and the future. “I know what you are going through, far better than most. If you will let me inside I can show you.”
Without a word the doors lock clicked, a creak that echoed through the house revealed the inside. Stepping through the door frame revealed a house that looked like an elephant had pushed its way inside, tearing into walls so it could wander through the manor with ease. The first few steps up to the second floor had been crushed but everything above it was untouched, while the walls were scuffed and scratched.
“You do not look like you have been touched by the capsule.” Looking over to the voice made of stone, I realized what he meant.
I wasn’t sure what Mr. Woodrow looked like before, but he wasn’t human anymore. With a massive body that was made of stone, giant pillars of amber rose from his back and swelled up and over his head. His face was replaced by a mixture of the dull stone covering his body and blue sapphire like crystals that dotted what may have been his features. His limbs weren’t connected to his body anymore, chunks of stone floated to make up the bulk of the limb. Small wedges of amber floated around the ‘hands’ to create four fingers, while six large vertical supports made him seem like a spider crawling along the ground.
“Your sins must be small in number, if your punishment is so slight.” He looked me up and down, the only thing that made me look even mildly different was the ever growing teal surrounding my iris.
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“Although not as clear as your transformation, I have been affected as well.”
This will be uncomfortable but I will undo it when I am done.
My flesh began to crack and peel, large chunks of dry flesh fell to the floor. I closed my eyes as my face was converted. For just a few seconds raw muscle could be seen on the surface, before being rapidly consumed by the ever expanding cluster of moss. It looked like a glowing teal carpet was emerging across my body, while tube-like structures with flowing liquid pushed through the ever expanding surface. Small clusters of toadstool like mushrooms sprung up in seemingly random sections, it was like the floor of a mushroom forest came to life.
“Hmm, it seems you are as human as I am.” He looked me over again, this time with the same unreadable expression. It was hard to lie to him, this was just a costume, even if my skin was actually laying in heaps on the ground. Myc could undo it whenever he wished, I wasn’t forced to live trapped in some strange new form.
“I found a capsule too, mine was filled with a strange teal fungus. With the dozens of meteorite reports after that shower, I went out looking for others like me. You are the first that I have found.”
It was hard to tell what the large crystal was thinking, the few crystals that made up his face barely even moved when he talked. He didn’t seem to breath, but the floating crystals that made up his fingers casually circled his hand. While his limbs slowly shifted whenever he moved his massive torso.
“Seeing you, knowing that I am not the only one to suffer this fate…” He looked up, past the ceiling. “...fills me with pain. That there are so many that have spat on God’s name like I have.”
“What?” Just from talking to him I knew that he didn’t have someone like Myc. That there was no one to talk to him, to help him figure out why this had happened. Although I was not expecting any of these people to blame God for their transformation, even if I should have.
I had never believed in God, with the cruelties that humans had committed and the terrible and painful things innocent people went through. Either God was a cruel being that never deserved our worship or it did not exist.
“God did not change you into this creature, there is no one punishing you for something you have done. I don’t know where these capsules came from but, I know it is not a punishment.” I told him, contempt filled my voice. I could understand that this was difficult but he had accepted his faulty reasons without even looking for actual answers.
Although he did not have typical facial features I could tell he was mad. “You act like this could be anything but God punishing sinners. When my wife fell ill I cursed his name, blaming him for her death. Then I was cursed with this inhuman form, forced to hide from the world, alone.”
“Look I am sorry for what happened to your wife. I am sure it was tragic and sudden, but you cannot blame God for every cruelty in the world. These things happen, and whatever this is…” I gestured to his and my altered forms, “...it does not have to be a curse that you hide from the world.”
It does not seem like you will be able to convince him.
He crawled forward to lean over me. “Everyday, I grow more crystals, I become less human. My memories fade and I find myself sitting staring at nothing. I fear one day I will become nothing more than a pile of stone, unable to move, barely able to think. Only existing to suffer an unending punishment.” His voice was becoming more agitated, it continued to drop and rumble. Like he was a volcano waiting to erupt.
Perhaps we should leave him to his personal penance. He is clearly unstable, and I doubt we will be able to convince him that this is not a divine punishment. We will not be able to do anything if he decides to attack us.
“We have to do something. He is going to continue to metaphorically whip himself for the rest of his unnatural life.” I questioned how long a rock monster would live, I mean I suppose he may continue to fade like humans did. Although being a rock monster may mean he could live forever.
“WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?” His voice shook the house and my bones. I held my head to limit the rocking of my brain in my skull. I didn’t even notice when the front door slammed open, revealing the small reporter who told me where to find Mr. Woodrow in the first place.