Spore - The Day the Sun Didnt Shine

The Day the Sun Didnt Shine

By Maya Spore

Copyright 2015 Maya Spore

Smashwords Edition

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Hey, where did the moon go?

Jack Simmons was busy locking the CPC 1100Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope on its new target, a star system inthe Orion constellation, when he heard his colleagues panickingvoice.

Sheesh, what now? He hated when peoplemade him lose concentration. He sighed and looked up from hiswork.

What are you talking about Simon?

The moon, Jack. Its gone all the sudden!Was there a lunar eclipse tonight?

Not that I remember.

Jack was sure he hadnt seen anything aboutone. Just to be sure, he looked it up on the internet.

Nope, no eclipse tonight, dude.

Then where did it go?

Jack was starting to lose his patience.Behind a cloud, stupid.

He couldnt believe Simon had disturbed himfor such a beginner mistake. He didnt know Simon as someone whomade such mistakes though, and thats why he didnt continue withhis work on the telescope yet.

Both men formed the night crew of the YubaCity Astronomical Observatory in California that night, and bothhad their schedule to attend to. The telescope was used by a lot ofscientific programs that ran in the area, and the timing didntleave room for many interruptions like this to occur.

Dont you think I checked that, Jack? Thereare no clouds tonight, and there is not a trace of moonlighteither. The moon just seemsgone.

Jack gave in, and got up from his chair,joining his colleague at the controls of the smaller telescope thatwas mounted on the roof. He immediately noticed that Simon wastelling the truth. The sky did seem abnormally dark.

Was it like that the whole time? Jackasked.

No, it had only just happened when I saidso. It looked like someone had flipped a switch or so, putting thewhole sky into darkness.

The stars are still there, so it cant be anunexpected cloud, Jack said. Did you check if the moon is stillthere but dark?

Simon turned the smaller telescope around tothe spot where the moon should be, according to the lunartimetable. There was nothing to see, not even the typical rednessof the moon during a lunar eclipse, caused by the reflected lightof the sun on the Earths surface. People often thought that duringa lunar eclipse, the moon was completely invisible, but that wasnttrue.

I dont see any stars where the moon shouldbe, said Simon. Theres something out there that is blocking thestars behind it.

Time to make a phone call, Jack concluded,and Simon nodded again. Jack picked up the phone and dialed thenumber that was hanging on the notice board, the one labeledNASA.

***

On the other side of the world, in a littletown on the Belgian countryside, Maya was mowing the lawn when ithappened.

Living quite far from town, amidst fields atthe edge of a larger forest, she owned a large property. Mowing itwas a challenging task for a young woman living on her own. Still,she loved living here. She enjoyed the quietness and feeling closeto nature, thats why she also kept a few animals around.

Just as she was wondering whether it was timeto empty the mowers bag, it suddenly became dark.

Wow, whats this? the blonde girlwondered. There wasnt a cloud in the sky before.

The suddenness of the darkness falling madeher believe that a huge thunderstorm was rapidly developing, andshe feared that a whirlwind might soon strike her. She looked upand was unable to see anything through the darkness.

Id better get inside before all hell breaksloose.

She only had a rough clue where her housewas.

Shouldnt there be more wind when athunderstorm approaches? Or thunder rolling?

Just then, the lights of the streets poppedon and gave her a rough idea where she was. She was able to make itinside the house and sighed in relief. The animals were stampedingrestless in their compounds. She knew exactly how they werefeeling, but she had to put her own safety first.

I hope the stables will hold.

She threw the door shut and turned on thelights. She then quickly closed all the windows and after the lastone was done, she dropped to the floor.

After a few minutes of catching her breathback, she got up and took a glimpse outside. It was still darkoutside, but what she could see of the trees visible in the lamps,their branches werent moving a lot.

Ive never seen a storm behaving thisstrange.

***

Eric Rogers closed his debate with the words,These plans to relaunch the economy are not only misleading andthe fruit of poor reasoning, but they are also dangerous as theywill cause a disaster on the long-term number of jobs and ournations wealth. And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, this man isnot to be trusted.

With a last, triumphant look, he faced theaudience before he took his seat again, knowing he had just crushedhis opponents arguments.

He looked at the poor mans face, who openedhis mouth and said, Excuse me Sir, we have a situation.

Eric was puzzled at his words. Why did theguy react like that? That made no sense at all. Then, he feltdizzy as the TV studio started to swirl around and became blurry.Something shook his arm vigorously and then he found himself in adark room, laying in his bed and his personal assistant pulling onhis arm.

Please, Mister President, wake up. We havean urgent situation!

Eric Rogers, President of the United Statesof America, felt the last traces of his dream disappearing and theawareness of his function returning to him.

A situation, what is happening? A terroristattack?

We dont know what it is yet, Sir, but itseems serious.

Eric quickly got up and put on his bathrobe.His wife made a sleepy noise and turned on her other side, while hefollowed his assistant Paul to the Situation Room. His Secretary ofDefense was already there, and the elderly man was watching a TVscreen, where a live newsfeed of CNN was being displayed.

Whats going on, John? Eric asked.

John States said nothing but nodded to thescreen. Eric saw LIVE:Paris displayed in the corner,and the reporter was telling her story. He tried to pick in intowhat she was saying, and understood that it was about a solareclipse. Then it struck him that the background of the reporter wasthat of a city in the middle of the night, not one in broaddaylight that you might have expected at that time of day inEurope.

Did you wake me up to show me a solareclipse? Oh, please!

John used the remote control, and the TVswitched to another live coverage on a different channel. LIVE:SYDNEY was displayed this time.

The reporter there was also standing in frontof a dark city, and was talking about the gigantic eclipse thatseemed to have struck the entire world.

John kept zapping and channel after channel,news reporters were bringing live coverage from cities all over theworld, cities where there should have been daylight at that verymoment.

A total eclipse worldwide? Eric asked. Inever heard of one before.

Me neither, John said. And I have talkedto the Administrator of NASA and he assured me it is not evenpossible to have an eclipse at the same time over the whole surfaceof the Earth. Something is definitely going on! And its not justthem, our side is affected as well. The moon has disappeared.