Forever.
It's such a strong word. It can give a sense of relief, a sense of happiness. But most importantly, it can provide a sense of fear and uncertainty.
Nothing in this universe can promise forever. Every good and unholy thing had a turning point, for better or worse.
But nothing lasted for eternity.
At least, that was what I knew for the first two decades of my life.
The standard picture of the universe in my mind didn't have a sign of anything everlasting. However, the image was incomplete.
For millions of years, sunlight has been Earth's central source of power, warmth, and not to mention light. Without it, humans would die along with the planet—simple science.
Then again, nothing is forever. The universe proved every thought and theory contradictorily valid and invalid when the earth lost its star.
The sky, which used to change continuously, was charcoal black now, with distant stars peeking occasionally. It was nearly impossible to tell what color of flower bloomed without a close look.
"Miss Fenix, will you be kind enough to pay some attention?" Mr. Martinez's harsh voice pulled me back into reality. I fixed the glasses resting on my nose.
"Sorry, sir," I apologized, and he returned to his lecture.
Who could tell this was eleven in the morning?
It was a natural sciences lecture today. So, my mind somehow drifted away while listening to things that were not entirely true.
'The last sunset' as the world called it, I didn't witness it with my own eyes. But people said that it was an unforgettable sight.
It had been a few months since that specific day.
The last day. It was supposed to be the last day of earth and everything within. That was what science taught me.
Without the life-giving star, our planet was supposed to end.
But the only thing that fell upon us was darkness. Everything else was going naturally.
What else was there to believe in then? The theories of how the planet worked were null and void.
Initially, people thought it was temporary, but with time, everyone understood that darkness was here to stay. Maybe forever. Like I said, it's a strong word. So strong that you can't accept nor deny it.
But luckily, adaptation is human nature. We learned to live with sunlight. We would learn to live without it. That's what they said, to give people hope. Just hope, no certainty.
But we did. Humans are scary creatures in a sense. You wouldn't find anyone talking about the last sunset anymore. Everyone looked past it.
But I couldn't do so.
While I admired the darkness more than I should have, the atmosphere didn't feel the same. The night didn't look the same as before. It was beautiful in some cases. Calm, peaceful, and unnatural.
But nothing ever changed as if we were frozen in time at some point in the night. Could that be the case? No, it couldn't.
The sunset was like a storm that swept away everything that made sense to me. It felt as if the never-changing cold and solitude was a warning for an upcoming storm. The seemingly calm atmosphere appeared to be desperate. Desperate to change and engulf the world that ignored warnings and signs.
And I was the one unprepared.