Black

The world was ending. It didn’t happen like anyone thought. There were no zombies, no contagious viruses that spread. No aliens came from the sky and killed all mankind. And humans didn’t kill ourselves either with pollution or whatever. The world was ending long before any of that was even a thought. Or that’s what I believe. It wasn’t until a few years ago that everyone started to take notice of the strange things happening. People began disappearing without a trace. Soon after, planes, cars, trains, even houses began to disappear as well. People began to worry and blame the government for keeping them in the dark but they had no idea what was going on like the rest of us. It wasn’t until June 24, 2027, that we all saw what was happening. That was the day the entire world watched my parents die.

It had started like any other day. Wake up, take care of my 2 year old sister, eat breakfast together and help Mom and Dad prepare for their next speech. Dad was Secretary of Defense for the North American Army. As such, whenever a new phenomenon happened, he had to reassure the public while the rest of the government bodies tried to piece together what was happening. Last night another airplane disappeared into thin air. The pilot was talking into the radio and the next second, he wasn’t. I wasn’t supposed to know this but anytime the phone rang, I quietly answered to listen to the conversation. As a 17 year old girl, I liked to be kept in the loop.

I grabbed my dad’s suit jacket and handed it to him. He was quieter than usual so I asked him what he was talking about today. “Another plane disappeared last night Hayley. I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” He abruptly sat down, putting his face in his hands. Almost instantaneously, Mom and I were on either side of him, trying to reassure him it was the right thing to do. After a few minutes, he stood up without a word and walked to the car. I went to grab Jessie but Mom stopped me.

“Today is going to be a hard day for your Dad. Why don’t you two stay home and clean the house or something so he has something nice to come home to?” I nodded my head in agreement. Not like there was anything to clean though. The maid came every other day and we always liked to keep it clean anyway. So I sat around until Dad’s speech was to be aired on tv.

I grabbed Jessie from her toys and brought her into the living room so I could actually watch her. I brought her in just in time to see my father start in on his speech. “Today, I regret to inform you that Flight 281 went down last night and is believed to have fallen somewhere in the Atlantic.” The tv had some slight static and the picture went away for less than a second. I hadn’t noticed it this time but every time I saw it afterward, it was like a flashing light.

“We have already sent out search-“ My father didn’t get to finish his sentence, as his entire being was turning black. His skin began to bubble and turn ink like. His hands began to lose shape, as they seemed to be pulled away from him. My mother stood behind him but she was no comfort. She had the same black ink enveloping her, taking her away. Every one was screaming and running away. But I couldn’t seem to look away from what was once my dad and mom. Their darkened bodies began to float away in the wind, as if melting from the sheer force. And just like that, my parents were gone. What seemed to be an eternity was actually only seconds. Where my Mom and Dad once stood were empty spaces, no trace of them to be found.