The first time I was aware of seeing it, was only 6 months ago. At first I thought it was a goof, and the next day it was almost impossible to remember. I'm sure now that I would have forgotten it completely, but I had made this little sketch on a paper towel, with "Wha?" scrawled next to some pizza sauce. Retracing my doodle the next day ushered back a few details, and believe me, that was plenty.
Let me back up. July 14th was an unremarkable Thursday and I was having a late meal watching the end of the local news, planning to get some Late Show/Tonight Show in before bed. I often bounce between shows depending on who's on - and that night was a Bill Maher, Parker Posey split. The news had been a bit depressing so it was nice to see Parker wearing balloons, and being her festive self. I think there was a cake and a celebration of sorts. During which, the camera cut back to the monologue area in a kind of random pan and zoom move, which struck me as odd… when out of the background it appeared! A tall, lizard-like, skeletal figure with glowing eyes! It wasn't Geoffrey from the Late-Late show, and it did not belong! I'm pretty sure that's more than I could've recalled without the drawing. Even only eight hours later, it was the fuzzy cartoon of a memory, or maybe some other show I might have dreamt about? Although, there was a specific tone, a churning sinking sound that I could recall clearly. I had to sit down as the rest came back.
Malevolent eyes conveyed an amplified sense of purpose. It splayed its half-dozen fingers with the nimble expedience of a spider spinning a web. That low, then lower rumble which was threatening to drop out of audible range. The spinning sensation, queasiness, and that voice. A voice like breathing in tar smoke expanded in my ears.
"EARTHWORMS. EARTHWORMS. EARTHWORMS."
Shit! I flipped back to Colbert. The thing was there too! Different set, same damn thing! How? Hackers? My adrenaline peaked! Not the heart-rate you want after three beers and a whole pizza. WTF? Flipped the channel again. Kimmel was just Kimmel. Click. Still on Fallon! Seriously how was this possible? And then, two things happened as it spoke again. First: instant and total calm. Second: I noticed I could see and hear it better while looking at the TV's reflection in the window (which still doesn't make sense but has been useful). And then it simply said,
"PLAY NICE AND YOU WILL GET A TREAT… REWARD".
I think I saw the flash of a pyramid and a lemon? I don't know. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I saw. In fact, I saw the creature two more times in month that followed. By then I was serious about finding somebody to corroborate my story. Enough with crazy looks from friends and people in elevators though. My self esteem can't take to much more of that, plus it occurs to me that personal safety is an issue now. So there's a better way I'm working on. Till then if you're watching late night TV and have a window or mirror near the tube, keep one eye open and a pen near by.
Z1Blithering-
