Mark Roberts laughed as he strolled down the high school’s hallway. He was feeling great. For the last couple of days it had been unbelievably cold. Now the sun was out, and Mark basked in its loving warmth as he strolled to the school’s front office.

As he walked, his hand leafed through the papers he was supposed to copy for his teacher, Mr. Smith. His eyes darted across each page as they searched for something interesting. Damn, nothing. Technically, he could be suspended for going through a teacher’s confidential papers, but he knew he wouldn’t be caught. Abandoning his hope of finding something he would enjoy reading, he folded the papers in two, ran his forefinger and thumb along the bent edge to crease it, and tucked the papers into his pocket. The pockets in his shorts were huge and easily accommodated the documents.

Mark stopped walking and tried to think of a way to burn time while he enjoyed the sun’s warmth. He was in no hurry to return to the boring (and too-heavily air-conditioned) class. He flicked his wrist and brushed his fingers against his tee shirt, swiping at dust that wasn’t there. At the same time, he slid his hand into his left pocket and withdrew stylish black sunglasses. He raised them to his face and then let his hands continue upward to comb his dark brown hair with his fingers. Anything to waste time.

Eager to waste more time, he slowly walked towards the nearest drinking fountain, and one of the only ones that still worked. Leisurely, he extended his hand, pressed the button on the spout, and watched the water stream out. He could see a reflection of the sun in the water. Cool.

As he leaned forward to take a drink, everything changed. The reflection of the sun disappeared. His shadow was suddenly gone. He couldn’t see a thing. Mark froze. He stood there, motionless, as the cold water from the spout splashed off his face and ran down his chin. Slowly, he turned, afraid of what he would see.

The sky was jet black except for the multitude of twinkling stars. It was suddenly colder, although most of the warmth lingered in the air. He felt like he was standing in shade. He shivered, although not because of the temperature.

Shocked and dazed, he looked down where he was holding his left arm. He couldn’t see it. His right arm drifted over to it, and his fingers fumbled along his arm until he found his watch. His thumb pushed in the ‘glow’ button. It clearly read ‘11:45 AM’. Mark slowly looked back up at the dark sky. It wasn’t night, it wasn’t an eclipse, nor anything simple like that. Instead, the sun was gone. The light was gone. Mark was so confused he forgot to be terrified. That can’t be right… I must be dreaming. He concentrated and tried to wake up. No luck.

Mark slowly searched the entire sky. The sun was… gone. It was not in the sky. There was only dim starlight. "No. That’s impossible," he whispered to himself. For another moment he just stood and waited for his eyes to adjust. When he could see again, he turned towards the nearest classroom and walked inside.

The teacher was leaning heavily against a blackboard and looking faint. Around her, he could see her students were clamoring around on desks and counter-tops, trying to get a glimpse out the window. Half-finished assignments lay forgotten on the floor. Mark could hear several crying voices, and one praying furiously.

But Mark took no notice of any of this. He walked directly to the classroom’s TV set, an old Panasonic. Fortunately, a cable ran from the back of the set to the antennae jack in the wall. He turned on the set and flipped through the channels, trying to find the news.

The newscaster wore a white shirt with a stain on it. He was clearly upset, and not ready to go on the air. Mark noticed that he was in his boxers. A window in the corner of the screen read "Breaking News". It looks like they just threw this together!

"…breaking news. Uh… well, I honestly don’t know what the hell is happening, and of course nobody has bothered to tell me… something about the sun...." He paused and looked off screen. "What the… what is it, an eclipse? Well then what… oh my God…" He turned green, promptly rose to his feet, and walked off camera. After a few seconds the picture changed to a ‘Technical Difficulties’ screen with a picture of a dog chewing on a cable line.

Mark shuddered. This is bad. This is very, very bad. Then he wordlessly spun on his heel and walked towards the door. The teacher was huddled in the corner and just stared at him. Nobody else even noticed he was there.

He didn’t believe it. It was impossible. Of course it was. This couldn’t happen. For a minute, Mark lied to himself, telling himself he was dreaming. However, the lie didn’t hold out for long.

"Oh man!" he gasped as he stepped out the door. It seemed that it was already getting cooler.

Students and teachers stood outside, staring at the dark sky. They whispered and talked amongst themselves. Mark heard someone yell, "What the hell is going on?"

A teacher turned and reprimanded him. "Young man, we do not cuss in school!"

"The sun is missing!" the guy screamed. "Who gives a shit what I say? What the hell are you going to do, expel me?" The kid’s skin was taking on a crimson tint. Mark wasn’t surprised. He couldn’t remember ever hearing someone yell that loudly.

Another teacher reached over and patted the first one on the shoulder. Mark saw him whispering. The first teacher shook his head and walked back into his classroom.

Suddenly the magnitude of the situation hit Mark. His knees buckled and he fell back into a sitting position on the cool concrete. "Oh my God, we’ll all freeze to death!" he cried. "This can’t happen!" He almost said "I’m too young to die!" but it was just too cliché.

He had a great life. A wonderful girlfriend, many cool friends, his own computer… everything a teenage guy could want except a car. And here he was, doomed to freeze to death with the rest of the earth’s population at the age of 17. He couldn’t believe it.

The school’s PA came on. "You have all probably noticed the sun is not there," began a shaky Mrs. Lin, the school’s principal. "We are not sure what is going to happed. For now, school is dismissed. You may return home by whatever means necessary. All students will have access to the bus, although the students with bus passes will be brought home first. Every classroom will have its heater on to keep those of you who want to stay or can’t leave warm. We will get through this. Together."

Mark wasn’t so sure that was true.