Word: Plangent

plangent  

British  

/ ˈplændʒənt /

adjective

1. having a loud deep sound

2. resonant and mournful in sound

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                Looking around the small town, Henry marveled at how quiet it was. He was used to the big city, so a place like this was a novel experience. Oh, the usual sounds were there, of course. Cars still drove, people still talked with each other. But they were so much smaller here. There were pauses between the cars, and conversations could be overheard.

                And everyone seemed so nice here. Everyone seemed to get along wonderfully. They even treated him with kindness, even though he was not a local. At least, that’s what it appeared to be on the surface. Henry was left wondering if they actually felt that way, or if it was all surface level. He could not imagine any town, even one as small as this, without a few jerks and unpleasant people around.

                Well, even if everyone was faking, he could not do anything about it. The people here had their way of doing things, just as those in the city did. Besides, the veneer of friendly civility was nothing new to him.

                As he continued to meander through the streets, a sound rang out. It was deep and resonant, like a large bell. Everyone on the streets froze. Even the cars stopped moving. Another peel of the unseen bell rang out. People started moving again, but not at the sedate pace they had been. Now, they were all suddenly in a rush to get somewhere.

                As a third ring echoed through the air, Henry managed to get the attention of a young woman who was not too happy about being stopped.

                “What’s going on? Why’s everyone acting so weird?”

                “Weird? That doesn’t matter. Can’t you hear the bell? Hurry, we need to get inside!” She said.

                “What? Why?”

                “Why? Are you an idiot? Come on, we need to get inside before the fifth ring. If you still want to pretend you don’t know what’s going on, we can talk then.”

                As a fourth bell peal echoed out, the woman’s eyes went wide. Anyone still on the street started running. Henry shrugged and followed. He got inside a small convenience store. Everyone else was huddled away from a window as the door shut. A man that Henry assumed was the owner locked the door.

                Henry looked and saw the woman he had spoken to before and approached. “So, you want to tell me what’s going on now?”

                “Not really. You shouldn’t need to be told. Everyone knows what the bells are.”

                “I know what a bell is, but they usually don’t cause everyone to act like…whatever this is.”

                The woman looked at him quizzically. “What? Do the Seekers have a different method of operation where you’re from?”

                “The Seekers?”

                “Yeah, you know. The Seekers.”

                “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

                That got people’s attention. Everyone within earshot turned to look at him. Henry shuffled around, suddenly very nervous.

                “I guess they must call them something else in other towns?” The woman asked. Everyone seemed to agree with that. “The ones who come with the bells, you know. Go around, looking for something.”

                “Or someone.” An older man chimed in.

                “Right. If they catch you outside, they’ll take you away, and all that’ll be left is a dried-up husk a few days later. You know. Those guys.”

                “That doesn’t sound remotely right. I mean, that’s the kind of thing that gets made into a bad horror movie.”

                The unseen bell rang out for a fifth time. Everyone in the store shrank away from the windows, huddling together. They all watched the windows closely for something. Henry did the same, not sure what was going on.

                As he watched, something moved passed the windows. They were humanoid, but definitely not human. Their legs and arms were too long and bent at odd angles, like they had too many knees and elbows. Each arm ended with a bulbus mass that vaguely resembled a hand, with four stubby fingers. Their heads were tall and oddly cylindrical, with a ring of beady eyes, letting the Seekers see in all directions. They did not have a mouth, instead having a round hole where a mouth should be. Each Seeker had a different body shape, but all were too short for their limbs. Some were thin, others were shaped like an overfilled balloon, while had distended and engorged bellies.

                “What…the…hell?” Henry said quietly.

                “Yeah, they’re freaky, aren’t they?” The woman said. “How do you avoid them in your town?”

                “I…what? I’ve never seen those in my life. Never even heard of them.”

                “What?”
                “These…things don’t appear anywhere else in the world.”

                That really got other people’s attention. They even turned away from the monsters outside.

                “They don’t?” The woman asked.

                “No way. I think someone would’ve noticed if they did.”

                The crowd looked from Henry to each other. “We’ll call a meeting to talk about this.” The older man from before said. “They’re going to want to hear what this man has to say.”

                Henry swallowed a lump in his throat. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about his situation.