Ten years earlier…
"Wake up, you slothful animal!"
Linda's voice was sharp. It cut through the thick fog of sleep.
Daniel lay on the sofa resembling a lifeless figure. Detached from reality.
"I said get your ass up!" Her voice climbed an octave. She began by tapping softly, then suddenly, it escalated into solid slaps on his leg.
Every slap conveyed her mounting irritation.
Your friends are outside engaging in something. You're dozing your life away like a pregnant cat!
Daniel moaned. A quiet grumble of dissent.
He rubbed his eyes. The faint glow of the living room pricked his senses.
"Mom what's happening now? Why is it so hard to find a brief moment of calm in this home?"
Linda just got back from the hospital after a double shift. It was quite obvious that she was very tired.
She needed to cover for her coworker at the hospital who suddenly left due, to a family crisis.
Watching her son, who just finished school and lacked both employment and motivation caused her to become utterly distraught.
"Peace? You seek peace?" she retorted. Hands resting on her hips.
"I asked you to wash the dishes. I mentioned the laundry well. See this mess!" Her hand motioned across the pizza boxes precariously balanced, on the tables edge with plates piled up in the sink.
Everything is a disaster. You spend the day doing nothing but eating and playing those ridiculous video games!
Daniel at last rose to his feet. He nonchalantly ran his hand through his hair. "Ma I never expected…"
"Of course, I know you didn't," Linda retorted, as her anger reached its peak.
"You never do! Because if you actually had the sense to think you wouldn't wait around for me to instruct you!"
Linda halted, her gaze moving across the room as though looking for another flaw to ignite her fury. Then her face changed from anger to worry.
"Where is your sister?!"
The question hit Daniel like a physical blow. His blood ran cold.
The video games, the nap, the chores... all of it vanished.
Chloe!
"I'm so dead!" Daniel exclaimed, the words a choked whisper. He sprang off the couch, the remnant of sleep in his eyes disappeared and was replaced by a sudden rush of panic.
He hurried into his room to put on a shirt.
Linda, overwhelmed by hunger and exhaustion remained frozen. Her hands rested firmly on her hips while she observed her son struggling.
She didn't need to request more; she realized he had already forgotten.
Daniel dashed from the house and, over the street like a child pursued by a dog.
Chloe recently turned thirteen. She was intelligent… excessively so, for someone her age. Consistently leading her class. She possessed dark hair and kind eyes that observed everything.
Daniel reached Chloes school. His body soaked with sweat his breathing uneven.
The school seemed scanty and unusually quiet late in the afternoon. Then, he saw her.
She was sitting alone on a small bench by the security stand. Her posture was perfect. Her school bag placed neatly beside her.
She concentrated on the sand patterns with such focus that she seemed to be watching her beloved cartoon play out in the grains.
Daniel felt a surge of embarrassment upon seeing her because she appeared utterly drained and starving much like an unattended patient.
He took deep breaths before shouting her name through his dry throat.
"Chloe!"
Her gaze met his for a brief instant before she displayed a soft smile which replaced her initial look of disappointment.
She stood up gradually her stature seeming helpless in his eyes.
He apologized deeply while leaning against his knees because he was out of breath.
"I sincerely apologize, Chloe. I was caught up in things that stopped me from arriving to get you promptly."
The justification he offered failed to persuade either of them.
Chloe, as quiet, as usual decided to remain silent. She approached him. Wrapped her small arms around his waist in an embrace.
She conveyed her joy regarding his arrival, with her tone.
The innocent words he spoke to her made his stomach twist with more guilt. Daniel spoke with a heavy voice while they walked home because he had brought her favorite chocolate.
He placed her school bag on his back before drawing her into a tight hug with his arm.
That night the home was enveloped in a tranquility. After completing their meal in silence the family gathered in the living room to spend the evening together.
As usual, that was the time they relaxed, discussed how they went and gossiped about anything and everything in their neighborhood.
Topping their gossip in recent times was the new gay couple next door whose garden they admired for its neatness and beauty.
Donald, Daniel's dad picked up the remote control. His moustache was well-shaved and his white beards were neatly trimmed.
He was a practical man. As a mechanic, his hands were often grease-stained. He hardly had time for unnecessaries.
Clicking the remote control decisively, he switched the TV channel from the football match Daniel had been concentrating on.
"Who's that?" Daniel yelled. "Who changed what I was watc..." His protest ended abruptly as he saw the control with his father.
He assumed it was Chloe. Occasionally she concealed it just to irritate him. When he caught his fathers look he quickly swallowed the remainder.
He sighed and collapsed back into the couch. He grumbled quietly about the unfairness.
The screen changed to a news broadcast where a female anchor with a soft voice, yet serious-looking, was speaking.
"... We continue to receive reports. However based on what we have observed far astronomers worldwide are documenting an exceptionally rare cosmic event."
The screen cut to an interview. One Dr. Tariq Nadir, an astrophysicist dressed in lab coat stood there.
He looked so sleep-deprived as he stood in front of a huge monitor showing complex diagrams on orbital paths.
"To clarify " he started. The gravity, in his tone caught the focus of everyone. "...This is neither a comet nor an asteroid originating from our system."
Maintaining that serious expression he went on. "Its hyperbolic path indicates an object or being that may have wandered through the Milky Way for possibly millions of years."
Donald grunted from where he sat. "Fear-peddlers! They'd really do anything for ratings these days." He added a tut for more effect.
"Let's hear what he has to say". Linda retorted.
"The historical significance of this occurrence is its projected path", Dr. Nadir continued while pointing to a simulation displaying on the monitor behind him.
"This object which we've called "XG-7" will expectedly pass directly between the Earth and the Sun in three days".
As he spoke, a dark, unlabeled planet was shown in the simulation, moving constantly along a path between the Sun and the Earth.
"Such planetary eclipse caused by an object from outside our solar system has never been recorded in human history. Thus, we are quite unsure what to expect".
Daniel who was sulking earlier, slowly leaned forward. He could not seem to remember why he was annoyed before.
Dr. Nadir spoke with a scary gravity, void of the usual media hype.
"Basically, it's just blocking the sun briefly, right?" Daniel asked the room, facing no one in particular.
"It's nonsense." Donald scoffed. "They are just exaggerating trivial matters to scare people".
"Watch. By tomorrow, they'll start selling 'XG-7 survival kits'." He chuckled at his own joke but no one else joined in.
The scientist maintained the seriousness in his face as the camera focused back on him.
We urge everyone to stay composed. Nonetheless it is important for all of us to be ready for irregularities, in the atmosphere and gravity. The reality is we are navigating unfamiliar ground.
That was the end of the news report. The channel switched to a brand ad for a new laundry detergent.
It felt strange how sudden everything returned to normal. A few moments before, the room was silent. The cheerful commercial seemed out of place.
Chloe broke the silence. She had been sitting on the floor, cross-legged with a thick book open on her lap. She hadnt flipped a page since the report started. Her eyes were so fixed on the TV screen.
"I'm not going to school on that day". Her small voice was firm.
Donald turned to her, his skeptical expression softening.
"Now, pumpkin, you heard the man. There's no cause for alarm. Scientists are just excited about a new rock they discovered".
"It's not a rock," Chloe argued. There was no trace of childish fear in her eyes. "The man said they don't know what will happen. Something does not feel right".
Linda took a quick glance at her daughter's pale face then at her husband's dismissive face. A kind of maternal anxiety seemed to rise within her.
"I think she should stay home, Donald. I mean, just to be safe."
"You're kidding aren't you?" He looked over at Linda. "I refuse to let my daughter miss school just because the media is doing what they do best. What lesson does that teach her? To hide whenever the news tells her to be afraid?"
"No. It's not that, dad. All I know is I'm not going". Chloe insisted.
Daniel watched the conversation. He was getting scared.
Well, he could tell of Chloe's determination firsthand. Usually, it was either about a complex math problem or a book she intended completing. This was different. It was a quiet, unwavering conviction that felt bigger than her age.
He felt something different. He, who forgot his sister just hours before, had this chill growing all over him. It seemed they were on the verge of an unprecedented darkness.