THE 2024 SOLAR ECLIPSE

Solar Eclipses are a rare occurrence. Many have died without ever witnessing one, sometimes because whenever there is a solar eclipse, they are on the other side of the planet. Because of this, solar eclipses themselves are considered spectacles - and as such, even schools pause their programs to behold this beauty.

On the 8th of April 2024, a solar eclipse was expected to occur. Everyone in Western Europe was waiting with anticipation, while the unfortunate souls in different time zones had to be contented with just their screens.

This was of course a few days before the April holidays and schools were yet to close. The students in a certain boarding school were pretty excited. Not only were they going home in a few days, but they also had a free day for themselves. For a school that was focused on studying even at the last minute, they really couldn't deny the students their one chance of fun. The student council made this possible in the guise of 'bettering the understanding of Physics within the students' and even added an evening Physics discussion period just to convince the school. Of course, it was all a sham, but since the boarding master was a teacher of Physics, everything was taken care of as soon as he was convinced.

It was in one of the third year classes where the loudest of noises could be heard. This was basically because there was a large group at the back of the class who were having a rather fun discussion about the eclipse which was expected at around 1300 hrs - 3 hours from then. Topic of the discussion? Well, that was really simple - what really happens during an eclipse?

"I guarantee you that vampires will appear today," the group of 9 burst out laughing at Joel's comment.

"Dude, is all you think about vampires?" Hans, who was seated opposite him, asked after they quieted down.

"You're just jealous because my idea is way cooler than yours. Like, who even thinks of angels during an eclipse?" Joel replied, trying to downplay his embarrassment by directing the humiliation to someone else.

"Do you really know what bible accurate angels actually look like? They are terrifying and cool at the same time, emphasis on the terri…"

"Alright, we are not having another Sunday School here," Jacob cut him off before they could continue the same argument a few minutes ago. "And your vampire idea sucks," he said as he lightly punched Joel's shoulder. The others agreed with him. What they were hearing was either too corny or too religious.

"What of, say, something like a shadow underworld rising after hiding for all their lives?" It was Caleb's chance to be laughed at, but everyone remained civil, waiting for that one guy to bring about the stopper.

"I'm pretty sure you are just speaking about the black market or something," Joel was the one to speak.

"Huh? I'm talking about shadows, not people who sell shady stuff."

This brought about an argument that didn't make any sense at all. How do you even begin to debate between shadows and drug dealers? It was so absurd, yet it lasted for almost an hour, the two fronts about to go all out when one of the 9 spoke.

"I read that, in the last solar eclipse, more than 100,000 people died…" They went quiet for a while, wondering how to process the statement.

"Um, Kane?" Hans began. "You know that more than a thousand people die in almost every country, and since there are 195 countries in the world, that sums up to 193000, per day…"

"That's what I'm trying to…." Kane protested.

"Hold up, how do you even know these numbers?" Joel asked, his gaze towards Hans.

"Do you just randomly look this up while at home or what?"

"OK, come on, guys. This shouldn't be about me but rather…" He was interrupted by James suddenly calling him.

"Hans, about that thing we talked about." Hans fished out a pen from his locker, ripped out a piece of paper from one of his exercise books and wrote something then gave it to James.

"What was that all about?" Jacob asked after James had walked away.

"I was just giving him a porn site recommendation."

"You're joking, right?" Everyone had that look on their faces.

"Of course, I'm joking. I just told him that trying porn would be fun, and he shouldn't just dismiss it. I then likened it to reading a novel, where you wouldn't know if it is good until you try it for yourself. Now he's pestering me, so I gave him a random anime to search for on Google. It's called Spyfam."

"Isn't Spy-Fam a porn website though?" Jacob asked.

"Hahaha, how do you even know that?" Hans said realising his mistake. He only ever knew the common websites.

"Why didn't you just give him a common site?" Joel asked as he took Hans' pen from his hand.

"Isn't it better to actually journey through the internet until you find the good sites? You end up learning about the importance of ad block and such." Everyone agreed with him there - that was a first.

"Hey guys!" the prefect yelled from the classroom door. "The teachers are calling for us, they say we should get ready for the eclipse." He then disappeared outside. The group separated as almost everyone began to leisurely walk towards the field.

The field was packed as approximately 1000 students watched as the moon inched closer to the sun. Of course none of them (perhaps most of them) dared to look directly into the sun lest they all would need glasses the next day. The sun was ironically scorching that day, and the students were beginning to express their discomfort. A total eclipse took place for maximum 7 minutes and 32 seconds, and thus that was also the maximum that they would stay outside.

The moon was already inching close to totality, and Hans was patiently waiting for it. "Hey, Hans!" It was Joel, again. "Here's your pen, bro."

"Thanks," he said as he extended his arm to receive it.

Then the darkness of the eclipse swallowed them. Totality had arrived.

Hans lost his focus, allowing the pen to slip between his fingers and drop to the ground. They both instinctively crouched to pick it up. It was then that the events became a little hazy, or rather were too fast that no one really understood what happened. It could also be explained that no one could explain what actually occurred.

And so we will start from the beginning:

At 13:08:21 - Totality occurred, marking the beginning of the total eclipse.

At 13:08:41 - Total darkness ensued for everyone in the school premises.

At 13:08:42 - As if they had just blinked, light returned to their eyes.

At 13:09:01 - As Hans and Joel stood up, wondering what had happened to their eyes, their schoolmates' heads dropped to the ground, their bodies following suit.

At 13:09:30 - Their minds finally woke up, sending them into a spiral of fear, confusion and disgust, as they witnessed the disturbing scenes below them.

At 13:10:04 - Hans' gut-wrenching scream filled the air as Joel stood speechless. For the next two minutes, this was the norm.

At 13:12:30 - A shadowy figure appeared before the two. It had the figure of a human, as if someone's shadow had just risen from the ground.

"I guess I missed two of you," it said as it approached Hans. It then slashed through the air with his hands.

At 13:12:40 - "Please don't kill…" Hans begged as his head rolled on the ground. 'Huh, I guess Kane was right.' That was his last thought.

At 13:12:50 - Joel's head landed on the ground. His last thoughts? 'Fucking hell, can't this guy even hold on to a pen?'

At 13:13:06 - "A thousand and forty-eight this time, huh," the shadowy figure spoke. "This will last us about 50 more years." It then disappeared.

At 13:14:06 - Total darkness around the whole world.

At 13:14:07 - Light returned to everyone's eyes, however, the school was completely empty and dry. There wasn't even a single drop of blood.

At 13:14:09 - Totality ended, having lasted 5 minutes and 48 seconds.

The school was discovered to be deserted the following day after some of the teacher's partners found it weird that their significant others hadn't gone back home that day. Investigative bodies were formulated, as the search began, but nothing was ever found. YouTube videos talking about the bizarre incident were made in abundance as people chased the free clout. The school was eventually shut down when no one was admitted for the next 4 years, the government claiming the land.

No one really knows what actually happens during solar eclipses. There has never been a repeat of the incident in the numerous solar eclipses to follow. Even so, the world still remained fearful, and thus every eclipse was turned into an international holiday, to avoid any major gathering that would lead to that huge number of deaths.

50 years later, the story had been passed down as an ARG, as an urban legend, as a myth to scare children into doing what their parents tell them.

A certain group was mobilised through the internet to attend an event during the eclipse, 50 years later. The 2000 of them planned to record everything that happened during those few minutes to finally learn the truth. Of course, they've been doing this during every single eclipse, so who's to say that this year will turn out different?

THE END IS ALWAYS FILLED WITH DARKNESS