>>58088320
>The man showed pictures of his rural homestead.
>Pictures of work he’d done, pictures when he first bought it.
>He noted where the trees were in each photograph.
>Then, with his camera recording, showed how things weren’t matching.
>He swore up and down trees in his backyard moved.
>Including a tree stump where there was none before.
>You swiped.
>The next one was a sandile.
>Clear as day, it was a sandile nipping at man getting close to the tiny croc.
>You couldn’t tell what language that man spoke.
>But he’d posted videos of it for five straight days. Only now did his latest finally take off.
>Video after video.
>Picture after picture.
>Comment after comment.
>Some convincing beyond a doubt.
>Some dubious, and others people trying to get in on the newest trend.
>This was too weird to be true for most of the public.
>But the thought was planted.
>Sometimes amazing things are in plain sight.
>Until you know what you’re looking for, you might not ever notice.
>Now that thousands of people believed new species might be all over, they were going to see them.
>Reading the comments was sobering.
>Lots of good advice and clever jokes.
>Some schizoid messages too.
>But a hint of panic was unmissable.
>Preppers sprinkled into every comment section.
>”Shoulda stocked up.”
>”Grab what you can.”
>”Expect shortages.”
>And the doomsayers offered takes of all varieties.
>”Pandemic 2?”
>”If that’s the Pokémon I think it is, run.”
>”I had to leave my house.”
>”Police didn’t know what to think.”
>”I couldn’t get a picture.”
>For unaware commentors, or those who weren’t so trustworthy, it must have felt like the whole world was playing a prank.
>Much as you wanted to keep scrolling, you had your limits.
>Rough and strange times were on the horizon.