A man in a white lab coat stands at a podium. His head is bathed in sweat and he clutches a statement in his shaky hands. He reads into a camera, ‘the unusual anomaly that was first sighted six months ago, has suddenly and without explanation, vanished. Um, for reasons we cannot explain, it has taken the sun with it. The sun is gone. It takes approximately 8 minutes for the light from the sun to reach our planet, which now leaves us 7 minutes. 7 minutes until we can observe it’s effects. We ask everyone to please, not panic.’
*****
A cathedral bell rings in the distance.
Joe drops the chip that was halfway to his mouth. It lands on the carpet, splattering tomato sauce everywhere. He sits next to Sasha in his living room, fish and chips are spread across the table. They’re in shock having just seen the announcement on TV. 7 minutes. He looks down at his watch: 12:21. Sasha stands up without warning, making her way to the front door quickly.
‘Where are you going?’ Joe asks. He stumbles to his feet, following behind her.
‘My family,’ she replies as her pace quickens.
‘What about me?’ Joe asks coming to a stop in the front doorway.
‘I’m sorry Joe, you’re a good friend but – I can’t, I have to go!’ she climbs into her car and pulls out the driveway, accelerating away quickly, dodging around a pedestrian sprinting across the street.
The cathedral bell rings again.
Joe looks at his watch: 12:22. He quickly gets into his car and pulls out of the driveway. He dodges around other vehicles, racing in all directions. Joe got in the car without thinking, he feels like he needs to go somewhere – but he has nowhere to go. He doesn’t have family. His friends will all be with theirs. Is he going to be alone for the end of the world?
As he races along he has to start avoiding people as well as cars, the world is quickly going mad. Individuals are running in panic through the street, trying desperately to get home to their loved ones. A man runs in front of a Mini Cooper and is thrown into the air and over the roof, coming down hard on the tarmac. Joe looks in his rear-view mirror to see the man unsteadily get to his feet. The car that hit him doesn’t stop. Joe doesn’t either.
Joe turns his attention back to the road ahead. He slams his foot on the brake. The wheels on the car lock up as it slides to a stop, missing a father and his little boy by centimetres. The man picks up his child and rushes to the footpath, sprinting up the street.
The bell rings again.
Joe glances at his watch: 12:23.
He accelerates, throwing dust into the air behind him. He takes the next right. There’s a cathedral just ahead, it sits atop a grass hill, situated between two roads that split around it. Its where the bell is ringing from. Joe comes to the fork and slows down. He looks between the left and right. Neither option leads anywhere he wants to go. The car rumbles to a stop and stalls.
Joe gets out and looks around at the chaos unfolding on the street. Road rules have completely disappeared and in the distance smoke billows into the air; something has been set on fire. Joe runs his hands through his hair and collapses headfirst onto the car bonnet. He doesn’t know what to do. He punches the metal as hard as he can but all he achieves is bleeding knuckles.
The sounds of running footsteps arrive behind him. He looks up in time to see the father from the street running past, with his little boy still in his arms.
The bell rings.
Joe watches the two ascend the hill toward the towering cathedral. With a deep breath, Joe gathers himself and runs in the same direction. As he approaches the stone structure he can make out a crowd gathering at the front. It’s completely chaotic, some are banging on the doors screaming while others are kneeling in prayer, some just cry. Joe approaches a woman sitting on her own, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
‘Why are people out here?’ Joe asks. She doesn’t open her eyes, instead she continues to to mumble to whatever God she believes in.
‘They’re using the bell as a countdown, four rings to go,’ comes a voice behind Joe.
Joe turns his head to find a tall, skinny, bald man dressed in a pressed black suit.
‘They won’t let anyone in though, bit rude really,’ the man continues. He pulls a Lamington from seemingly nowhere and shoves it into his mouth.
The bell rings.
More people in the crowd scream and fall to their knees – drawing Joe’s attention.
‘Enjoy the apocalypse,’ the man says coolly.
Joe turns back to the man but he isn’t there. Joe looks around. The man has vanished. In his search, Joe notices a small wooden door on the side of the building. Another entrance? He slinks along the stone wall to the edge of the door. He grabs hold of the handle and pulls. It’s unlocked. It swings open. It enters directly into the nave. Joe steps into the large space, it’s ceiling is covered in an extravagant painting and there are small slivers of light streaming through the stain-glass windows.
‘Hey!’
Joe turns his head. He spots two priests kneeling at the altar.
‘I’m just going to let those people in,’ Joe says, walking towards the large double doors, blocked with a pew.
‘You will not,’ one of the priest yells, getting to his feet.
Joe doesn’t wait for permission. He sprints down the aisle and grabs hold of the pew; it’s much heavier than it looks. The priests are running down the isle to stop him but it’s too late. Joe manages to tip over the pew and the huge wooden doors swing open.
The bell rings.
People flood into the cathedral like a wave, sweeping the priests aside. Joe smiles, watching from the doorway as people pass.
They clamber to the altar, getting on their knees and praying. Joe’s smile vanishes. The crowd screams. Some cry. Joe turns around and looks out the door. The sun is shining. There’s barely a cloud in the sky. He looks back into the cathedral. It’s cold. People continue to scream and cry. Nothing has changed.
Joe glances down to see the little boy he nearly hit with his car. They make eye contact. The boy flashes him a huge smile – he has no understanding of their impending doom. Joe smiles back but the boy’s father hurriedly grabs him and drags him further into the building. The man gets on his knees and holds his boy close as he mumbles a prayer.
The bell rings.
Joe returns his gaze to the bright blue sky outside. He smiles to himself. With a spring in his step he leaves the cathedral. He finds a patch of green grass on the hill and lies down on his back. He closes his eyes and draws in a huge breath, it smells freshly mowed. The breeze dances across his face.
A bird chirps a happy song nearby. Joe opens his eyes to see the bird in question land next to his head. He watches as it picks at the ground, eventually acquiring its target – a worm.
Joe smiles to himself and once again looks up at the sky. The sun makes his exposed skin tingle with warmth. He draws in two deep breaths and slowly releases them – savouring every second. The blue sky begins to fade.
The bell rings.