Genre: Sci-fi

The whole sky was eerily dark; in the distance a barn owl spread it beautiful brown wings, shed a few feathers and took off in flight, screeching on the top of its tiny lungs. Finding an ideal location, it put is claws out front and perched on a branch overlooking the window of a house. The window was covered in a thin layer of mist. The owl settled down comfortably and let out a few soft hoots. Everything was quiet. A gentle chilly breeze blew across ruffling the leaves of the tree. The breeze found its way through a small crack in the window and into a modestly furnished room. In a bed lay a young girl, with a faint smile on her lips, sleeping peacefully into the night, oblivious to what was around her.

As if to disturb the peace of the scene, the alarm clock perched next to the girl's bed started ringing. The startled owl screeched and took flight once more. The girl woke up with a start and banged her head on the bedpost. She rubbed her head and reached out to turn the alarm clock off.

TRIIINGG!

TRINNG TRIIING!!

She took one glance at the time and looked out from her window. Puzzled she looked at the time again 7:00 AM and its still dark out there? With the question bothering her she sat on the bed, her legs fumbling for her slippers. She slipped her feet into her slippers and slowly made her bed. She walked down to her parents' room and shook her mother awake.

"Mommy! The sun didn't rise! The sun died today!"

Her mother turned around and groggily replied,

"Honey, you probably had a bad night's dream go back to sleep"

"No mommy! It's seven in the morning and the sun hasn't risen yet! I heard the hoot of an owl at seven in the morning! Wake up and see it"

Sleep disturbed, the mother checked the time and looked out the window.

"See mommy! The sun has died!

She pulled her mother to see the miracle.

"Isn't it fantastic? I will never sweat again!"

"Sush honey, lets check whether you have school today shall we?"

The little girl's smile faded away.

"Why?"

"The sun didn't rise so we need to know whether we can go to school right?"

"But I want to go... I can play forever without sweating or feeling hot! I must see my friends!"

"Its dark outside sweetie, its not wrong to confirm with the authorities whether the school is functioning or not. Now why don't you hot the shower while I call up your school?"

"Fine"

*****

The mother dialed the number and sighed into the receiver. After a few rings a pleasant male voice answered,

"Hello! Alpha Active School here. How can I help you?"

"Hello, my daughter is studying in your school and I would like to know whether the school is functioning today or not."

"Ma'am, didn't you check out the news today? Over an hour ago there was a telecast regarding the sun failing to rise today. The Astronomers are giving this a serious thought and the government advices people to stay indoors until further instruction. So, to answer your question, the school is not functioning today. We hope to see your daughter at school soon."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome ma'am, just stay tuned to the 9:30 AM news."

"I will. Bye."

The phone clicked into the receiver. The mother kept the phone down and switched on the TV. She wondered what could possibly be happening serious enough if the sun didn't rise. For over billions of years the sun was prompt, what was happening now? For as long as she could remember, she was always complaining about the sun. "Its so hot and sweaty! Cant the sun stop shining? Can't it realize it is disturbing our game?" she used to ask her parents. But now she was actually worried. In this advanced society, people no longer used fossil fuels– everything was solar powered. If the sun failed to rise, it would mean no electricity. Sure, the generator could supply power for 15 hours, but after that there will be a blackout in the entire continent. She guessed they could enjoy about 3 hours of electricity left. She decided it was time to wake the household and fetch her daughter from the shower. Then she would have to hurry up the household chores and then turn on the TV for the news. If she were lucky, she would be able to listen to the entire documentary before the power ran out and would know what was going on.

*****

She checked her watch. It read 9:22 AM. Her little family of four had just finished breakfast. Her son and daughter were playing in the living room and her husband was cleaning up the dishes. She walked out of the dining and into the living. Grabbing the remote she turned TV on. The TV lights danced about her face but none of the clippings were of her concern. She flipped through the channels once more when she finally did find what she wanted:

The whole globe is filled with surprised cries of its tenants who didn't experience a sunset even at 7 PM and of those who didn't see the sunrise even after 7 AM. Astronomers and geologists have posed two possible situations. One scenario seems promising while the other might prove to be fatal. The first scenario is the shifting of the poles, while the other is the earth failing to rotate. Further research is taking place–

And the TV went dead. Just like that and without any warning the TV went dead. She couldn't ask for a worse timing. No power no more news from the world. The rest of her day would be spent on constant thought: is it fatal or nor? Will I live through? Will my children live through? 'Ignorance is bliss' most would say but this time she begged to differ. Knowing nothing is bliss, but knowing half is worse than hell. Now what? She silently questioned herself. There was nothing remotely useful that she could do now. All she had to do was sit and wait.

*****

For what felt like the millionth time, she checked her watch. It read '5:55 PM.' Her daughter was sitting in the balcony. She went and joined the girl.

"Momma, can you tell the sun to come back? I want it back. I promise I will never complain about the heat again. Just tell the sun to come back. I miss it. It feels so cold."

"Darling, all we can do is wait, and have faith. I'm sure it will turn out to be okay."

"I don't like his at all mommy."

"Trust me darling, I know."

The rest of the family joined the duo. As the four of them gazed into the dark horizon, a spark of red dotted the sky instilling hope in them. The spark grew onto a steady beam of light. The entire sky slowly woke. The sky was a beautiful blend of colors. All over the hemisphere hearts lightened up. Soon the sun was shining with the red glow of the morning. Life would be a little different, but since there were no fatal consequences, all was well.