Beautiful Nights

Prompt: "It's 3 AM. An official phone alert wakes you up. It says, "Do not look at the moon." You have hundreds of notifications. Hundreds of random numbers are sending, "It's a beautiful night tonight. Look outside."

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Laura Everett woke to the sound of her phone vibrating on the table to the side of her bed, interrupting the rather pleasant dream she was having. Thinking it was her daily alarm, she grabbed her silk pillow and threw it over her head in a futile attempt to block out the noise—but alas, it did nothing but leave her with a matted nest of hair on her head. Her open window permitted the gentle summer breeze to circulate through her apartment as her black curtains to fluttered against the old, grey walls.

After a few minutes of refusing to believe that it was time to start the day, she forced herself into a sitting position, grumbling as she took her phone off the charger to turn off the alarm. 

Her eyes squinted as they adjusted to the brightness that now illuminated the small room. It took her drowsy mind a moment to register what the lock-screen of her phone greeted her with. The usual notification alerting her to wake up was completely absent, and instead of seeing the picture that always appeared when she got on the device—the one that was taken during the Florida trip of her fiance, Jason—message upon message surfaced, blocking the photo entirely.

"It's a beautiful night."

"Look outside."

"The moon looks lovely tonight."

Laura frowned, the pads of her fingers brushing against the screen as she scrolled through the strange messages. Multiple unknown numbers appeared above the texts. She nearly got out of her bed to see what everyone was talking about when one message caught her eye. It was one of those emergency ones that she'd only ever seen hurricane alerts on.

"Do not look at the moon. Stay inside and keep your doors shut and windows covered."

What was going on? Apprehension surged through her veins as she opened her phone, quickly finding that the WiFi was down. Her thumbs tapped against the glass screen before Jason's contact name appeared on the screen. Laura hesitated—it was only three in the morning, for crying out loud—but after a moment of consideration, she hit the call button, leaning her back against the wooden headboard behind her. The phone rang a few times, but no one answered.

Letting the device drop to her side, she sat for a moment in contemplation. Maybe this was all a dream. She nearly went back to bed, but she halted when she caught sight of her open window. The moon cast a beautiful glow on her room—the faint light seeming to sparkle against the pieces of decor hanging on the walls. Her brows furrowed as she surveyed the room, watching in awe of the luster the moon provided. 

She began to feel an indescribable longing to see more of it. The way the moonlight graced every surface in the room with its presence replaced her anxiety with a sense of peace. The fear she once had completely vanished as the beautiful light became more and more welcoming. 

Before she could stop herself, Laura swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her bare feet brushed against the cold floor as she walked toward the window, desperate to see more. The young woman's mind became muddled with admiration, but she couldn't care less.

Within a few seconds, she stood directly in front of the opening, her head tilted to the sky as she stared at the moon in all of its beauty. 

For a moment, everything felt perfect—until a sharp pain snapped her out of the trance.

After blinking a few times, her gaze shifted to her hands. When her mind finally registered what was happening, her mouth dropped open in horror as her fingers began turning to dust. Laura's breath hitched and her heart started pounding as reality started to sink in. She stumbled away from the windowsill, watching as it spread to her hands and arms. "No, no, no, no—"

Laura's vision began fading into black. Her eyes darted around frantically, losing the last bit of her strength as the rest of her body began to turn to ash. Finally, her gaze landed on the moon again.

And that was the last thing she ever saw.