I See It Now.

I’m the Chief of Police for a small town in the Midwestern United States.

Our town has about 800 residents.

There’s me and two other police officers. We share the same cruiser. Our town doesn’t have much of a budget. Our police department doesn’t even have a jail in it. It’s just a simple office in the city hall building.

To get a lay of our town, you can think of it as a hole in the wall.

There is a rural route highway that passes through giving us an entrance and an exit. We’re merely a crop circle in the middle of the woods. A forest surrounds our little town.

But for such a small and rather poorly budgeted town, we did invest in some nice security cameras for the main street.

The cameras capture City Hall, the Fire Department, and the Post Office. Those are all the buildings that matter the most.

Beyond that is a timbered-out field of grass and a railroad track that goes through the back of the town. The cameras can barely make out the trains roaring through at 65 miles per hour.

But that was enough. That was enough for, well, I’m getting ahead of things…

OK – From then beginning now!

I arrived at the City Hall at 0500 hours. It was still dark. The police cruiser wasn’t parked in front like it normally is. It was down the road, parked in front of the post office.

I went ahead and walked to it. It’s not far from the City Hall.

When I got to it, I expected my officer to be in it. But he wasn’t in it. The door of the cruiser was open. The cruiser was running. The officer was nowhere in sight.

I checked the post office. I checked around the building. I checked some of the houses and businesses in the vicinity. I even walked back to city hall and checked there.

I called my officer. I texted him. I snapped him.

Nothing.

It was confusing, to say the least.

I didn’t know how to respond.

Did he quit and this was his way of leaving his post?

I wasn’t sure.

But we do have security cameras. They can paint a picture of what might have happened.

I walked back to the empty but running police cruiser, hopped in, closed the door, and drove it back to city hall. I went inside and went straight to the CCTV security system and started rewinding the footage.

It’s hard to explain what I saw on the security footage…

I saw my officer drive slowly on Main Street, patrolling like he was paid to do, but then he stopped in front of the post office. He stopped and parked the cruiser just like I found it this morning.

He got out and stood still, just staring towards where the railroad track was.

I fast-forwarded the footage and watched him stare at the same spot for a few hours.

The cameras are advanced enough to see well in the dark at close range. I could see my officer but not the railroad area he was looking at. That was too far, and it was too dark outside.

But then, after a few hours of standing in one position and staring, he moved.

He went down to his knees. He cried into his hands. This lasted about ten minutes. Then he rose up, stared towards the railroad, and then started walking towards it.

The closer he walked in that direction, the less I could see him. Then I finally couldn’t see him anymore.

I paused the footage and contemplated.

What was my officer doing? Was he having some sort of mental breakdown? Nothing happens it our town. He must be having problems at home, I thought to myself.

But I needed more answers.

I needed to see what he might have seen.

So, I went out and drove to the cruiser to where I originally got it. I got out of the cruiser. Before I could shut the door, something caught my attention.

And that’s where the story is now.

For the past few hours, I’ve been staring at it. It’s beautiful. It’s terrifying. It’s sad. It’s big. It’s hungry. No one will be able to look at it and lead a normal life afterward. The streets have remained empty here in town. Shockingly, no one has come out but they will be shortly.

I have to leave. I need to get closer to it. I can see my officer at it. He’s waving for me to come.

It’s beautiful, but it’s definitely horrifying.

If I told you any more, I don’t think your mind in its state could handle it. My mind isn’t in your state anymore. If I was, I’m sure my brain would bleed.

This is goodbye from me, but it’s getting closer, and it’ll be here soon.

Get ready for it.