This morning started like any other. The sun had just begun to rise, casting a soft golden glow over the yard. The air was cool, and everything seemed calm and familiar. I stepped outside with a simple plan in mindāto water the flowers and check around for any mess the cats might have left behind overnight. Nothing unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But the moment I opened the gate, something felt⦠off.
At first, it was just a smell.
A terrible, overwhelming odor hit me instantly. It wasnāt the usual earthy scent of soil or the faint mustiness that sometimes lingers in the early morning. Noāthis was something much worse. It was sharp, sour, and strangely metallic. The kind of smell that makes your chest tighten and your stomach turn before your brain even has time to process it.
I paused, instinctively holding my breath.
āMaybe something died nearby,ā I thought. It wouldnāt be the first time a small animal wandered into the yard and didnāt make it out. Still, something about this felt different. Heavier. More unsettling.
I took a cautious step forward.
Then another.
Thatās when I saw it.
Right beside the flowerbed, lying on the ground, was something I couldnāt immediately recognize. It was slimy and reddish, glistening slightly in the morning light. At first glance, it looked like⦠something turned inside out. Its texture was uneven, almost pulsingāor maybe that was just my imagination reacting to the shock.