space is terrifying (pt. 2, monsters in the darkness)
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The vast silence of space seems to hide unspeakable terrors just beyond our sight. The darkness contains unknown monsters that could instantly snuff out human civilization.
Consider the immense power of asteroids, many large enough to cause a global catastrophe like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. We know they’re out there, invisible in space between planets, yet we are helpless to stop one on a collision course with Earth. They lurk in the blackness, cosmic billiards balls ready to strike at any moment.
Then, there are the possibilities beyond our imagination.
What alien horrors wander the unlit gulfs between the stars? Are there creatures that feed on light and warmth, drawn to civilizations like moths to a flame? Space is so immense that we’ve barely explored our backyard; the vast and ancient parts of the cosmos likely contain things we couldn’t even conceive of in our worst nightmares.
If unfathomable aliens exist, they have had billions of years to advance technologically, genetically engineer themselves, and plot in the dark. They may be watching us, monsters hidden within the silence, scheming incomprehensible horrors for an insignificant blue world.
The very act of looking out at the cosmos may attract their gaze.
Staring into the void, we peer into the abyss that stares also into us.
Terrible jaws may unhinge in the black light-years away, drooling at the prospect of devouring such tiny illuminated morsels floating defenseless in the ocean of night.