Thy passed us wearing silly costumes while making noise on whatever instrument they had found. We looked at them shaking our heads “Hey!” Jack shouted “It’s been weeks since the duck died. Get over it.” They stared at us incredulously but soon realized they had put a little too much effort in the whole charade. Amazing how much work and preparation they had done. For a duck. They turned and walked away with sad faces. Jack threw one last grin my way and left me there.
I walked a little towards the green hills, which in that small town could have been any direction. There was a moose standing a few meters away from me, somewhat hiding behind a tree. It carefully made a few steps in my direction and finally reached toward me. I extended my arm, but it recoiled. We stood there watching each other with the sun setting down in the background until the moose left.
I turned around and started walking the empty main street. The perfect suburbs. No trash, beautiful houses, and an uncanny silence.
The sky was clouded except a spot over the middle of the street. It looked like a painting, giving a glance into another world with small little white dots in it. I reached Jack, as he was standing in front of the house, and I noticed the small dots looked like hot air balloons but with soldiers, each with a sonic weapon in their hand.
“We need to go, now!” I told Jack “Take the ear plugs, I have a few” “What are you talking about?” he asked, “nothing is going to happen” “Can’t you see them?!” I screamed at him “They are coming for us!” I turned, I needed to get something to defend myself, but it was too late. Before our eyes, a spectacle of smoke and fire and white soldiers.
Aromatic deception 