en years earlier…
"Wake up, you slothful animal!"
Linda's voice was sharp. It cut through the thick fog of sleep.
Daniel slept on the worn-out couch, like a dead man. Lost to the world.
"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.
Each smack projected her rising frustration.
"Your friends are out there doing something meaningful. You're here sleeping your life away like a pregnant cat!"
Daniel groaned. A low rumble of protest.
He scrubbed at his eyes. The dim light of the living room stabbed at his senses.
"Mom, what is it this time? Why is it so difficult to get a moment of peace in this house?"
Linda just got back from the hospital after a double shift. It was quite obvious that she was very tired.
She had to stand in for her colleague at the hospital who rushed out because of a family emergency.
Seeing her son, a recent high school graduate having no job and ambition, made her lose her mind completely.
"Peace? You want peace?" she shot back. Hands on her hips.
"I told you to do the dishes. I told you about the laundry. Look at this pigsty!" Her gesture swept over pizza boxes tilting dangerously near the edge of the table, dirty plates crowding the sink.
"Everywhere is a mess. You do nothing all day but eat and play your stupid video games!"
Daniel finally pushed himself up. He casually brushed his hair with his left hand. "Ma, I didn't think…"
"Of course, I know you didn't," Linda retorted, as her anger reached its peak.
"You never do! 'Cause if you had a brain to think, you wouldn't wait for me to tell you what to do!"
Linda paused, as her eyes scanned the room as if searching for another fault to fuel her anger. Then her expression shifted from anger to concern.
"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 rushed into his room to pull on a shirt.
Linda, a storm of hunger and fatigue, stood motionless. Her hands were planted firmly on her waist as she watched her son fumble with panic.
There was no need to ask again, she knew. He had forgotten.
Daniel ran out of the house and across the street like a boy chased by a mad dog.
Chloe clocked thirteen of recent. She was smart — almost too smart for her age. Always at the top of her class. She had long dark hair and warm eyes that noticed everything.
Daniel arrived at Chloe's school. His body drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.
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 experienced a deep wave of shame when he saw her appearance because she looked completely exhausted and famished like a neglected 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 rose from her position with a slow movement while her tiny frame appeared defenseless to him.
He apologized deeply while leaning against his knees because he was out of breath.
"I'm deeply sorry, Chloe. I was involved in some activities that prevented me from picking you up on time."
The excuse he made was completely unconvincing to both of them.
Chloe, as reserved as ever, chose to keep quiet. She walked towards him and hugged his waist while her tiny arms encircled him.
She expressed her happiness about his arrival through her gentle voice.
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.
Later that night, the house experienced a delicate state of calm. The family spent their evening together in the sitting room after finishing their dinner in quietness.
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 thought it was Chloe. She sometimes hid it to get on his nerves. As he met his father's strict gaze, he swallowed the rest instantly.
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're still getting more reports. But from what we can tell so far, astronomers all over the world are recording a very unusual celestial occurrence."
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 be clear," He began. The seriousness in his voice drew the attention of everyone in the room. "...this is not a comet or an asteroid from within our own solar system."
With that same stern face, he continued. "It's hyperbolic trajectory signifies an interstellar object or entity that has roamed the Milky way perhaps for 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 encourage the public to remain calm. However, we all should be prepared for possible atmospheric and gravitational anomalies. The truth is, we are on a very unfamiliar terrain."
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 are joking, right?" His gaze shifted to Linda. "I won't allow my daughter skip school because the media does what they do best. What are we teaching her then? To hide every time the news tells her to be scared?"
"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.