《THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (Completed)》Chapter 3- ON HORSELL COMMON
Advertisement
I found a little crowd of perhaps twenty people surrounding the huge hole in which the cylinder lay. I have already described the appearance of that colossal bulk, embedded in the ground. The turf and gravel about it seemed charred as if by a sudden explosion. No doubt its impact had caused a flash of fire. Henderson and Ogilvy were not there. I think they perceived that nothing was to be done for the present, and had gone away to breakfast at Henderson's house.
There were four or five boys sitting on the edge of the Pit, with their feet dangling, and amusing themselves--until I stopped them--by throwing stones at the giant mass. After I had spoken to them about it, they began playing at "touch" in and out of the group of bystanders.
Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station. There was very little talking. Few of the common people in England had anything but the vaguest astronomical ideas in those days. Most of them were staring quietly at the big table like end of the cylinder, which was still as Ogilvy and Henderson had left it. I fancy the popular expectation of a heap of charred corpses was disappointed at this inanimate bulk. Some went away while I was there, and other people came. I clambered into the pit and fancied I heard a faint movement under my feet. The top had certainly ceased to rotate.
It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this object was at all evident to me. At the first glance it was really no more exciting than an overturned carriage or a tree blown across the road. Not so much so, indeed. It looked like a rusty gas float. It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue. "Extra-terrestrial" had no meaning for most of the onlookers.
Advertisement
At that time it was quite clear in my own mind that the Thing had come from the planet Mars, but I judged it improbable that it contained any living creature. I thought the unscrewing might be automatic. In spite of Ogilvy, I still believed that there were men in Mars. My mind ran fancifully on the possibilities of its containing manuscript, on the difficulties in translation that might arise, whether we should find coins and models in it, and so forth. Yet it was a little too large for assurance on this idea. I felt an impatience to see it opened. About eleven, as nothing seemed happening, I walked back, full of such thought, to my home in Maybury. But I found it difficult to get to work upon my abstract investigations.
In the afternoon the appearance of the common had altered very much. The early editions of the evening papers had startled London with enormous headlines:
"A MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM MARS."
"REMARKABLE STORY FROM WOKING,"
and so forth. In addition, Ogilvy's wire to the Astronomical Exchange had roused every observatory in the three kingdoms.
There were half a dozen flies or more from the Woking station standing in the road by the sand pits, a basket-chaise from Chobham, and a rather lordly carriage. Besides that, there was quite a heap of bicycles. In addition, a large number of people must have walked, in spite of the heat of the day, from Woking and Chertsey, so that there was altogether quite a considerable crowd--one or two gaily dressed ladies among the others.
It was glaringly hot, not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind, and the only shadow was that of the few scattered pine trees. The burning heather had been extinguished, but the level ground towards Ottershaw was blackened as far as one could see, and still giving off vertical streamers of smoke. An enterprising sweet-stuff dealer in the Chobham Road had sent up his son with a barrow-load of green apples and ginger beer.
Advertisement
Going to the edge of the pit, I found it occupied by a group of about half a dozen men--Henderson, Ogilvy, and a tall, fair-haired man that I afterwards learned was Stent, the Astronomer Royal, with several workmen wielding spades and pickaxes. Stent was giving directions in a clear, high-pitched voice. He was standing on the cylinder, which was now evidently much cooler; his face was crimson and streaming with perspiration, and something seemed to have irritated him.
A large portion of the cylinder had been uncovered, though its lower end was still embedded. As soon as Ogilvy saw me among the staring crowd on the edge of the pit he called to me to come down, and asked me if I would mind going over to see Lord Hilton, the lord of the manor.
The growing crowd, he said, was becoming a serious impediment to their excavations, especially the boys. They wanted a light railing put up, and help to keep the people back. He told me that a faint stirring was occasionally still audible within the case, but that the workmen had failed to unscrew the top, as it afforded no grip to them. The case appeared to be enormously thick, and it was possible that the faint sounds we heard represented a noisy tumult in the interior.
I was very glad to do as he asked, and so become one of the privileged spectators within the contemplated enclosure. I failed to find Lord Hilton at his house, but I was told he was expected from London by the six o'clock train from Waterloo; and as it was then about a quarter past five, I went home, had some tea, and walked up to the station to waylay him.
Advertisement
A World Reborn
Tell me do you live so that you can enjoy life or do you live so that you can escape into another world of books, movies and games? There is something fundamentally wrong with a world if its inhabitants have to escape it by means of fantasy. However, what if reality became fantasy and your actions have consequences, would you still like it? follow John as he adventures through perilous dangers, deceit and death in this reborn world. This is my first novel, so please be gentle with me. There might or might not be sexual content, depending if people want it, but I still put up the warning for now.
8 71Children of the Singularity (S4)
Even the end of the world had its beginnings. Most reminisce over comforts that seemed so common yesterday even though yesterday was so far away. A select few reminisced over the original pocket that now enveloped the world. It began with the Chernobyl disaster releasing an otherworldly being preying on humanity's very soul. It grew stronger with every scream, it’s corruption instilling absolute bedlam and madness. With the required elements all being present in that fateful year of 2012 the predator found it’s escape in those who became known as the Children of the Singularity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artwork by AlexAlexandrov (deviantart)Metro 2033. (2011). [image] Online at: https://alexalexandrov.deviantart.com/art/Metro-2033-264522763 [Accessed 2 Jan. 2018].
8 190Alpha
Elaine Chernoble has spent years traveling from place to place, training her pack to be the best, pushing aside her demons by busying herself with helping others overcome theirs. Her hardwork finally pays off when her pack becomes the strongest pack in America. Traveling around and helping other packs train and become stronger became her lifetime goal, striving not to let what happened to her own pack, happen to other.Nameless, that's what they called her pack."The Raven Deity", they called her.But, even a deity has her troublesome past that is the catalyst for her seemingly perfect present.It isn't until she gets a call from the pack called Moon Stone, does her world turn upside-down, inside out and runs in circles that make her dizzy."My name is Scinece Evans and that's my twin, Lincoln."Coming from a disturbing past that would make even a grown man shiver, Scinece and Lincoln Evans, have yet to find the person that will understand them better than they understand themselves; someone that will care for them; someone who looks past their past and appearances. Sure, they had their father, but even he walked on eggshells after the incident. And that someone stumbles into their borders, all bloody, skin hanging off by a thread.Follow Elaine and the twins' journey as they stumble along the path of stitching each other back together good as new. But then again, a book isn't complete without a few bumps in the road.
8 216System of Gods and Devils
Roger gets reincarnated after his murder into a Cultivation world. He gets a normal family until his parents run away and his adopted sister gets taken away by her real family. He then finds himself alone on the lap of an abandoned Immortal which is now his wife. Tags: Harem, OP, Cultivation,...
8 255We Get What We Want (Yandere Proxies x Reader)
They had just got done putting (Y/N)'s ex friend/enemy and her ex boyfriend in their torturing devices."Who are you!? What do you want!?! Let them go!!!!" She yelled as she glared at them, the one with the feminine mask looked at her, coming over. "We are Masky, Hoodie, and Ticci Toby, and We Get What We Want.... And this includes you, my dear (Y/N)." Masky said as he caressed her cheek.
8 167High Strangeness
Tyler is being hunted by the Grinning Man and flees to Marble Springs, where he teams up with Serling and Price, real estate agents who sell haunted houses. *****After his brother disappears and a burial mound explodes, high school student Tyler Graves starts having strange visions. His brother warns him that something is coming for him. Soon, Tyler's entire family is slaughtered, and he's being hunted by an otherworldly entity known as The Grinning Man. Fleeing to Marble Springs, he meets Serling and Price, real estate agents who specialize in selling haunted houses. It's up to this unlikely trio to stop a madman from destroying the world - by literally unleashing Hell on Earth! (Sequel to Apartment 239.)[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]
8 140