Theresa hummed a cheerful tune, pinning the notice on the bulletin board, when a sudden explosion of screams pierced the air. Her heart skipped a beat. She spun toward the window, her hands trembling as she rushed to see what had stirred such panic.
Expecting the worst—an accident, an injury—relief swept over her when she saw the children outside, all unharmed, but their faces were frozen in awe, eyes fixed skyward. She followed their gaze, dread creeping up her spine, and her breath caught in her throat.
There, slicing through the sky, was something that should not exist. Its unnatural form moved with a hypnotic grace, almost mesmerizing in its strangeness. Every fiber in her body screamed to look away, but she couldn’t. Theresa’s pulse quickened as the weight of the unknown pressed down, gripping her mind in terror.
Theresa dragged herself through the front door, utterly drained. A day spent wrangling preschoolers at a secluded mountain school had sapped every ounce of her energy. Chasing after kids, and getting them to hand in their projects had worn her down to the bone.
Dinner was a quick, no-nonsense affair—just a bowl of mac and cheese she barely tasted. All she wanted was to collapse in bed, maybe lose herself in an episode of Gilmore Girls before calling it a night.
Halfway through the episode, sleep began to pull at her, her eyelids growing heavy. With a sigh, she switched off the TV and sank into her bed, fluffing the pillow with a sense of relief. Just as she settled in, her gaze fell on the bedroom window—left ajar, letting in the cool night air.
Annoyed, she stumbled over to close it. But then she froze. In the dark, something flickered in the sky—an unfamiliar, pulsating light. Theresa’s fatigue melted into unease, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.
The light flickered again, casting an eerie glow that seemed far too bright to be anything normal. It shimmered with an unnatural intensity, like a beacon cutting through the dark mountain night. Theresa squinted, her breath hitching as unease gnawed at her.
“It’s probably just someone on a hike” she muttered, trying to steady her nerves. “A flashlight or something.” The explanation felt flimsy, even to herself. She forced her gaze away, convincing herself it was nothing worth worrying about.
Still, the light lingered in her mind, refusing to fade. Its pulsating glow seemed to grow brighter, almost daring her to look again. She tightened her grip on the window frame, reluctant to let the unease settle in.
With a quick shake of her head, she pushed the thought aside, shutting the window with a soft click. The cold night air was cut off, but the strange light continued to flicker outside, hidden now from her view.
Climbing back into bed, Theresa buried herself under the covers, but sleep didn’t come as easily. Her mind raced, replaying the image of the glowing orb. “You’re just tired out of your mind,” she whispered, trying not to think about the eerie light.
Eventually, exhaustion won, and Theresa drifted into a deep sleep, too tired to care about the world outside. She drifted in a peaceful sleep but her dreams were filled with images of the strange flickering light.
Theresa woke up to the sound of her alarm, the strange light from the night before nothing but a distant memory now. Shaking off the grogginess, she got ready for another long day at the preschool, her routine like clockwork.
The morning went by in a blur of finger paints and alphabet songs. The children, as always, were full of boundless energy. By the time lunch rolled around, Theresa was already feeling the weight of fatigue creeping in again.
After lunch, the kids poured outside for their usual recess, excited to have an hour of freedom in the open mountain air. It gave Theresa time to catch her breath, clean up the messes left behind, and grade their worksheets.
She tidied up the classroom, humming to herself as she adjusted a colorful drawing on the bulletin board. The peace and quiet felt like a welcome reprieve after the chaos of the morning. Everything seemed perfectly normal, just another day at school.
Then, without warning, a sharp burst of screams tore through the stillness. Theresa’s heart jumped in her chest. She spun toward the window, her hands instinctively freezing on the board, her breath catching in her throat.
For a split second, panic surged through Theresa’s body. Her first thought was that one of the children had gotten hurt. Heart racing, she rushed to the window, expecting the worst, dread pooling in her stomach. But when she looked outside, she saw all the kids standing, completely unharmed.
Relief washed over her, but something was still terribly wrong. All ten children stood frozen, eyes wide, their small hands pointing upward toward the sky. The silence that followed their screams was chilling, as if the very air had been sucked out of the moment.
Theresa stepped outside, her legs heavy with an odd mix of fear and confusion. “What are they looking at?” she whispered under her breath. When her eyes finally followed the path of their fingers, her breath caught in her throat.
There, hanging in the sky, was an object—strange, glowing, and utterly impossible. It pulsed with an unnatural light, shimmering with a translucent intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Theresa blinked, her mind struggling to process what was in front of her. Surely, this couldn’t be real. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to rationalize it, the strange disc-shaped object hovered in the sky, glowing unnaturally bright despite the daylight.
The day had been clear and sunny, but as the object came into view, dark clouds began rolling in from nowhere, swirling ominously. A chill hung in the air, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Something about this felt deeply, deeply wrong.
The children, however, seemed entranced. They stared in awe at the glowing object, their wide-eyed expressions filled with wonder rather than fear. Without warning, one of them broke into a run toward the forest, following the disc as it slowly drifted in that direction.
Before Theresa could react, the others followed, their small legs carrying them after the object with a sense of innocent curiosity. Her stomach twisted. “Wait! Stop!” she shouted, but her voice seemed to bounce off the air, swallowed by the strange quiet that now blanketed the schoolyard.
She watched in disbelief as the kids disappeared into the tree line, chasing the disc deeper into the woods. “It has to be a drone,” she muttered, trying to calm her racing thoughts. “Just a trick of light, or a prank… right?”
But deep down, she knew something was terribly off. The way the object moved—smooth, deliberate—was unlike any drone she’d ever seen. And those clouds… they gathered far too quickly, as if drawn to the presence of the disc itself.
Panic seized her. The children were running blindly into the forest, oblivious to the dangers that might lie ahead. Theresa’s instincts kicked in. Whatever that thing was, the kids couldn’t be left alone to chase it in the forest.
She bolted after them, her heart pounding in her chest, her shoes slipping on the dampening ground as the forest swallowed her up. The kids, completely unaware of the dangers lying ahead, ran joyously after the object, entranced by the whole thing.
Branches scratched at her arms as she hurried forward, desperately trying to keep the children in sight. “Come back!” she called out, her voice tight with fear. But the kids, driven by their fascination, continued to run deeper into the forest.
Her mind raced as she pushed herself to run faster. She didn’t care what that thing was anymore—she just wanted to protect them, to stop this madness before someone got hurt. But the forest seemed endless, and the strange, glowing object was pulling them deeper.
Through the canopy of trees, Theresa could still see the disc-shaped object glowing faintly as it moved deeper into the forest. It glided effortlessly, pulling the children further away, their small bodies darting between the trees, oblivious to her growing panic.
She pushed through the underbrush, her heart pounding, her legs aching. The forest seemed to close in around her as she raced after them, barely able to keep up. Then, suddenly, the trees thinned, revealing a clearing bathed in faint light.
The children reached the spot first, gathering in a circle beneath the disc as it hovered directly overhead. The dark clouds parted just as quickly as they had formed, and beams of sunlight filtered down, illuminating the clearing. It looked almost enchanted, like a scene pulled from a fairytale.
Theresa staggered into the bright spot, breathless, her eyes wide with disbelief. The children stood perfectly still, gazing upward, their faces filled with wonder. The glowing orb remained motionless above them, its soft hum barely audible in the silence.
Theresa opened her mouth to call the children back, but no sound escaped her lips. She stood frozen as the object pulsed one final time before vanishing soundlessly into the sky. The clearing was left in an eerie stillness, broken only by the soft rustle of leaves.
Before Theresa could process what had happened, the first child collapsed. Her heart lurched as, one by one, the others followed, dropping like flies to the soft grass. They fell as though in slow motion, their bodies limp, eyes closed.
Theresa’s breath caught in her throat, panic rising like a wave. She rushed to the nearest child, shaking his shoulders gently, her voice trembling. “Wake up! Come on, wake up Jimmy!” But there was no response—just stillness.
Her mind raced, fear tightening in her chest. She knelt beside each child, checking their pulse, their breathing. They were alive, and had no apparent signs of harm but they were still unconscious.
Minutes dragged on as Theresa tried in vain to wake them, her hands trembling with each attempt. Several agonizing minutes passed, her mind swirling with dread. Then, like the flicker of a forgotten memory, one child stirred. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open.
Theresa gasped in relief. But, she couldn’t shake the chill that had settled deep in her bones. One by one, the children began to wake. They blinked, confused, disoriented, but otherwise looked unharmed.
Theresa’s heart still pounded in her chest as she stood back, watching them in disbelief. What had just happened? What had she just witnessed? Theresa couldn’t grapple with this bizarre set of events at all.
Theresa forced herself to focus, pushing her rising panic down. She needed to get the children back to safety. Gently, she gathered them, herding the still-dazed group back through the forest. Every step felt heavier as she kept glancing skyward, half-expecting the strange object to return.
The woods seemed darker, more sinister, but Theresa pressed on, guiding the children down the familiar path toward the school. Her mind whirled with questions, but her priority was getting them out of the forest, away from whatever they had just encountered.
Once they reached the schoolyard, Theresa quickly ushered the children inside. Her hands shook as she reached for her phone, she firstly called the ambulance and then dialed each parent with a sense of urgency. “There’s been an incident.”
“The children found a weird strange object today and chased after it in the forest. I guess they fainted from exhaustion there but they’re awake and absolutely fine now. I have called the ambulance to get them checked in the meanwhile.” she explained, trying to keep her voice steady.
It didn’t take long for the parents to arrive, their faces twisted with fear and confusion. Theresa could see the disbelief in their eyes as she recounted what happened—the strange object, the children’s collapse. Her words sounded impossible, even to her.
The skepticism was palpable. One mother stepped forward, her voice sharp. “What nonsense are you talking about? Flying objects? Really? You expect us to believe that?” Another parent chimed in, accusingly, “What did you give them? Some kind of spoiled food?”
Theresa blinked in shock. “No, no, I didn’t give them anything like that.” But the accusations flew faster. “Maybe it was that mushroom stew you served for lunch,” one father suggested darkly. “The wrong kind of mushrooms can poison someone, you know!”
Her heart sank as the parents crowded around her, demanding answers she couldn’t provide. The children, meanwhile, looked bewildered but unharmed, seemingly having forgotten everything that happened before they collapsed.
Theresa tried to remain calm.. “This can’t be real,” she whispered under her breath, frustrated with the barrage of questions. “There’s a reasonable explanation for all of this.” But no matter how hard she tried explaining what she had seen, nothing made sense.
The parents weren’t satisfied. “You’re responsible for their safety,” one mother said coldly, “and this is how you protect them?” Theresa felt the weight of their scrutiny, their anger. The trust she had worked so hard to build seemed to be crumbling.
The principal was called in, pressing her for answers she didn’t have. Theresa stood in the middle of it all, her mind reeling. She felt their eyes on her—judging, blaming—yet she couldn’t shake the image of that pulsing, glowing flying saucer from her mind.
The aftermath left Theresa hollow—her mind clouded with shock, fear, and a growing sense of confusion. She replayed the events endlessly, but no matter how much she tried to explain the sighting, no one believed her. The skepticism felt suffocating.
It couldn’t have been a UFO. The thought alone seemed ridiculous. But if not that, then what had she witnessed? The question gnawed at her, festering beneath the surface. It wasn’t just about the event anymore—it was about her sanity, her credibility as a teacher.
Determined to make sense of it, she launched her own investigation. Late into the night, she combed the internet, searching for any mention of glowing orbs or similar phenomena. But the results were vague and unhelpful, full of conspiracy theories that led to nowhere.
Feeling defeated but still resolute, she turned to the town archives, hoping to find something tangible—an old record, a news article, anything. She poured over stacks of dusty documents, but her search led to fragmented stories of odd weather and strange lights, never anything concrete.
Still unwilling to give up, Theresa went to the local library. She spent hours sifting through old town records, scanning the yellowed pages of forgotten history. But every lead felt like a dead end. Nothing aligned with what she had seen and witnessed that day at the school.
Just when hope was slipping away, her eyes landed on something curious—a weathered journal tucked among old books. As she flipped through its pages, her heart raced. It belonged to the town’s founder. His account was startling.
He too had seen a glowing disc in the sky—described with eerie accuracy. Like her, no one had believed him, and he had painstakingly recorded every detail of the sighting. The journal ended abruptly without ever giving a clear answer as to what the glowing object in the sky could be.
But this small lead had flamed the embers of hope in Theresa’s heart. She wasn’t delusional or a lunatic, what she had seen and witnessed that day was real and someone else had seen it too. All she had to do now was find out the truth behind this strange phenomenon.
Determined to uncover the truth and restore her sanity, Theresa packed her essentials and made her way into the forest. The same forest where she had first seen the glowing orb, where the children had fainted—this was where it had all started.
As she entered the clearing, a wave of unease washed over her. It was as if the trees themselves were whispering secrets, the wind carrying an eerie stillness. The place where the orb had hovered felt different now and Theresa was haunted by the memory of that fateful day.
For several nights, she returned to the clearing, hoping to catch another glimpse of the glowing phenomenon. But time after time, she was met with nothing but the cold, indifferent darkness. The forest seemed alive with anticipation, but still, the orb did not appear.
Weeks passed, and Theresa began to question herself. Had she imagined it all? The tension, the weight of doubt, hung heavily in the air. But just as she began to lose hope, one night, the silence of the forest was shattered by a flicker of light.
There it was—the same glowing orb, suspended in the night sky, pulsating with an ethereal glow that made her heart race. Theresa barely had time to catch her breath before the orb began to move, gliding smoothly through the treetops as though beckoning her to follow.
Without hesitation, she pursued it, the trees blurring as she kept her eyes locked on the strange disc-shaped object. It moved purposefully, pulling her deeper into the forest. She felt both fear and exhilaration with each step, driven by the need for answers.
But just as before, the orb reached the cliff and, in an instant, vanished. One moment it was there and the next, it was gone. Theresa stood at the cliff’s edge, staring into the abyss, her heart pounding in her chest. She was left alone, again, without answers.
The cliff haunted her thoughts. Why here? Why did the orb always disappear at this very spot? She needed to understand why, and she knew that the answers might lie in the valley below. The next morning, Theresa set out, determined to explore the valley.
As she drove along its winding roads, the familiar landscape of the forest seemed to hold more secrets than she’d imagined. Something was out there—something that defied explanation. And she was going to find out the truth, no matter what!
Theresa drove aimlessly for hours, the winding valley roads leading her deeper into isolation. The further she ventured, the more the landscape transformed into something eerie and unfamiliar. At the base of the valley, she pulled over, her eyes widening at what lay ahead.
Nestled among the trees was a cluster of structures—unexpectedly high-tech and out of place in the otherwise untouched wilderness. Figures moved purposefully between them, but from this distance, Theresa couldn’t make out much more.
Curiosity mingled with dread as she crouched behind a thick tree, trying to stay hidden. Peeking out, she squinted at the scene below. Men in uniform—clean, precise—bustled between the buildings, some standing guard while others seemed engaged in various tasks.
Her breath caught when one of the strange flying objects, the same disc-shaped orb she had followed, lifted off from a platform. It hovered momentarily before gliding effortlessly into the air. Theresa’s mind raced—what were they doing with that thing?
The sight stirred something in her memory—the uniforms, the precision of their movements, the secrecy. Then, like a puzzle clicking into place, the realization hit her: this wasn’t just some strange camp. This was a military base, hidden deep in the valley, far from the eyes of the town.
Theresa’s hands shook as she grabbed her phone and snapped photos of the base—the uniforms, the flying object, the strange machinery. She needed evidence. This was bigger than anything she had ever imagined, and she knew she couldn’t expose it alone.
Theresa’s heart raced as she drove back to town, the weight of her discovery pressing heavily on her. Once she arrived, she sought out a trusted local journalist, someone she knew wouldn’t dismiss her story as outlandish. Together, they reviewed the photos Theresa had clicked.
The more they dug deeper, the clearer it became: this was no accident. Documents revealed covert military operations, testing advanced aviation technology and using the valley as their private laboratory. The gas released by the hovering disc had been designed to keep civilians away, ensuring their work remained undiscovered.
When the article finally went live, it shook the town to its core. The community, once skeptical of Theresa’s claims, now saw the truth unfold before their eyes. Theresa’s name was vindicated and town’s shock turned to outrage as the extent of the military’s deception came to light.
Weeks later, as Theresa stood in the classroom, watching the children laugh and work on their projects, she felt the weight lift from her shoulders. Peace had settled in at last, and with it, a deep sense of relief—everything was fine again.