Violet Starchen:
"A never before seen occurrence has scientists worried; A series of Total Solar Eclipses has plagued the world. Total Solar Eclipses have been watched by people of Itvaine, Strolk, Uveles, Srando, Lenksurns, and more. More and more Total Solar Eclipses are being reported every day, and while the people of the world may think this is a global phenomenon that is to be enjoyed and remembered as one of the greatest things to happen in the history of the world, scientists believe this marks the end."
Denial. It's the first stage in the grieving process. When information you can't fathom has been told to you, and you refuse to believe it could be true. You refuse to believe that someone's life, a life, your life, can be stripped away from you so fast. You refuse to believe that there is something out there that can cause you so much pain you feel your stomach tighten into a ball of nerves so fierce you throw up, emptying whatever you ate for the day from your system.
You cannot process the words being spoken as you shake your head. You laugh it off, making yourself believe they're playing games with you, playing a trick on you, albeit it's not very funny. You hope they'll say, 'Just kidding,' and you'll awkwardly laugh at it just to make it disappear because you can't believe the rug could be pulled from underneath you like that.
"The world is in a state-wide Panic as it has been declared that we have-" the news reporter got choked up, unable to tell the world what the higher-ups had told her. Unable to express the seriousness of what the human race was to face at this moment in time. "We've just been told..." another pause as her lip quivered and her breath hitched as her breathing became ragged and her body started shaking.
Denial is that feeling where you sit on the couch hunched over with your elbows pressed into your knees as you have your hands over your mouth, staring into space and blocking everything out. You can no longer hear the sound of anyone talking; the sound of the air around stops.
You can't feel anything because, at the moment, there's nothing to feel. You're stuck in a constant state of disbelief, and you start retracting, making yourself disappear because you'd rather be alone. You don't want anyone drilling into you the terrible news you'd just received. You don't want anyone trying to make you feel for something that you don't even believe is real.
"Sorry about that, folks," the news lady smiled, although it was forced. "We've just been told by scientists that the increase in eclipses is a sign that the world is ending. We've been told that the sun and moon are moving closer to earth as I speak to you now and that..." another pause. She nodded her head as she stared at the desk, trying to compose herself. When she looked back at the camera, there was nothing there but an empty smile. "We have been given a time. A time for when the sun and moon will reach us, and we will be no more."
That's the stage I'm in. I'm in the stage of denial as I stare at the TV screen. There's nothing on it. The news report went off an hour ago. I sat there, my hands over my mouth as my elbows dug into my thigh. This wasn't real. This was a prank. This was the government's way of scaring us, of making us paranoid, just like how they did when they started talking about an apocalypse.
A soft chuckle escaped my mouth at the ridiculousness of it all. I shook my head, biting on my bottom lip. There was no way. The world was not coming to an end. The sun and moon were not heading for Earth at an alarming rate. Our world will not collide with the moon and star and cause our doom. We will not be erased with nothing left to ever say we even existed aside from debris hitting other planets. We are not dying.
"We have 22 hours. Everyone at work is being sent home to take this remaining time to spend with family and friends. It has been declared that the rest of our day will be spent doing things we love and celebrating our life and all that humanity has accomplished in its 65,000 years of being here, from the start of when the earth was created till the fishes that evolved and created the dinosaurs that roamed the earth all the way until us humans came." Everything the reporter said sounded bittersweet. It was as if she had skipped the first part of the grieving process and reached the end- acceptance.
22 hours. They're trying to tell me we have twenty-two hours to live. I don't believe that.
ČTEŠ
Eternal Eclipse End of Days: 22 Hours (A Short Story)
Sci-fi"Once Upon A Time, there was humanity. Now, there is nothing left." This is a short story.
