The Day The Sun Exploded (a collection of short tales)

Sun Eaters

We called it The Day The Sun Died. Well, whoever of us was left after the sun shattered into a million pieces. Most people died from shards of the sun falling to the Earth, burning for two days.

The temperature dropped drastically. The flames gave in to a bone-chilling cold. Dust and sand helped turn the fires into mountains of glass. The rest of the living died from the icy temperatures. People, animals, plants, they all succumbed to the freeze. The handful of us left were left to wonder Why Us? Eternal darkness came.

That night (I'm assuming it was night, every moment was night now) a strange orb appeared in the sky. Scientists called it the Dark Star. I called it Dante's Last Layer of Hell because that's where we were.

I looked up to the sky, to the spot the sun once reside. In its place stood Darkness. Even the stars had scattered when the sun exploded and the Dark Star came.

I used to count stars, I once counted two hundred and twelve before I fell asleep on the grassy hill only to be woken up by the sun's rays kissing my skin.

Now I watch the sky simmering in darkness.

In my house I stood, shivering by the window. It had been weeks since everything froze over. There were no more birds singing on branches, no more butterflies. Everything on four legs had died. We were living on borrowed time.

Yesterday was my birthday. I had no presents to open, no candles to blow out. Everyone I had ever known or loved was gone. I hummed Happy Birthday To You under my breath as I watched the sky. I saw a halo forming around the Dark Star. It shone as the sun once had, bright, electric. I reached up, placed my hand on the frozen window. I longed for heat but all I felt was icicles biting down.

"Just one moment of light and warmth," I said softly. "I long for the sun." Frost formed on my breath. "It's my birthday. Don't I get one wish?"

From the halo, they appeared. At first, I thought they were angels but their wings were made of flames. Their eyes were infernos shining brightly. They crashed down to Earth making the ground erupt with blazes. They looked my way, nodded their head. Could this be hell? They opened their mouths, large as lions', opening until I could see inside them, right down to their skeleton. I saw bits of the sun resting in their bellies. I now knew where the sun had gone.