Morning

When they woke up, it was still dark outside. Joe resisted fully opening his eyes, thinking, It must still be early, maybe I can sneak in a few extra winks before my shower. Marian was already stretching and yawning at his side, sending tiny shock-waves through the bedsprings as she ran through her usual pre-jumping-out-of-bed routine. If I don’t open my eyes, she won’t know I’m awake yet. Joe felt Marian’s expectant eyes on him, but managed somehow to look like he was still asleep.

"Jesus Joe!"

Joe sprung into a sitting position, popping up like a freshly toasted bagel. There was a note in Marian’s voice that he shouldn’t have heard there: a high frequency, nearly panicked edge.

"What, what? What the hell’s the matter?"

Marian was gesturing at the digital clock perched on the edge of her bedside table. She was jerking her head back and forth between Joe and the glowing red numbers on the clock’s face, her mouth partially open in slack disbelief.

The clock read 08:30.

"8:30?" Joe clenched his eyes shut, opened them, blinked furiously, "How in the hell could it be 8:30? The sun isn’t even up yet." He reached for his own bedside table, fumbling until his fingers came upon his cell phone. Joe disconnected the battery charger and opened the phone.

The time on the phone read 8:31 am.

"This can’t be possible." Joe dropped the phone back onto the table and swung his legs out of the bed. Marian was still slack-jawed, moving her head back and forth, back and forth. Joe stood and moved toward the bedroom window, his gait clumsy; his mind and limbs still struggling to shake off the gauzy shroud of sleep. Grabbing the rope that controlled the venetian blinds, Joe whipped the window-covering up.

The world was black.

Where there should have been the frantic, bustling activity of a day already in-progress, there was near-total darkness. There were a few cars on the streets, but they drove slowly and with their headlights on. More arresting was the number of people on foot: standing, walking, milling around. Small groups were congregating here and there, seemingly in discussion. Joe stood there, taking it all in, until he noticed what was really wrong.

There wasn’t a single point of light in the sky.

No moon, no sun, not even a single star winked down upon the city. Some of the streetlights still cast a weak, yellow glow onto the pavement, and headlights and porch lights provided a little additional illumination, but there was no natural source of light.

"Get out of bed Marian," Joe was already to the closet, pulling out the nearest piece of clothing, "We have to get outside. We have to find out what’s going on."

Marian shook her head, hard, regaining her wits and composure. Joe tossed her a shirt and jeans, which she caught and dressed as quickly as she could. Joe took her hand and they descended their stairs, opened the door and stepped out into the lightless street.

The smaller groups of wandering, confused citizens had started to coagulate. A large mass was forming in a parking lot about half a block from Joe and Marian’s house. They walked quickly, not allowing themselves to run, toward the growing group. A murmur rose and fell from within the crowd; people were talking, asking questions, but in near whispers, as if something sleeping could be awakened by the wrong tone of voice.

Joe and Marian approached an older gentleman at the edge of the crowd. He was turned away from them slightly, looking off toward the horizon. Joe touched his shoulder gently, "Excuse me sir, does anyone know what’s happening?"

The man didn’t turn around, he stood stolid, pointed slightly away, "No," he said, "We’re just waiting."

"Waiting? Waiting for what?" Even as he asked the question, Joe realized that everyone in the crowd was turned the same way, facing the same direction. Every person on the street was fixed with their eyes to the east, where the sun should have come up hours before.