The moonlight filtered in as on gossamer wings, icing the rumpled blankets on the bed. He stood, cloaked in shadow, just inside the room. If one looked in that corner, all they would be able to see would be the whites of his eyes. He wasn't threatening, he just stood there. Reverently, watching the girl beneath the blankets, as she breathed evenly the stress of the day away. The last time he saw her was over a year ago, just before he left for his last mission. Oh, for him to come forth! To hold her once again! To leave the darkness and gently wake her ...
But that was not to be. He opened his eyes and immediately was back in the hot, dirty, dusty climate that was his home for now. The day was shaping up to be a scorcher; one was just like all the others. He was stationed at the base to oversee the communication that his team received from the Corporal's office. His tour should have been over a month ago, but there was an uprising just north of them about 5 weeks back and they needed all hands right now. He opened the the door to his hut and made his way across to the mess.
"Hey, Boyo!" the slight soldier at the nearest table called out, as he entered.
"What's the story?" he asked.
"Something's off," the soldier spoke in sotto voce, furtively looking around.
"What'd ya mean?"
"The night watch heard something coming over the airwaves about a countdown and a gathering."
"I'm not following - a countdown to what? and a gathering of what? for what? That doesn't make sense. Are you sure they heard right?"
"They're as confused as we are."
"I better get over there before they sign out," he said as he got up from the table. Making a small detour by the food, he grabbed a protein drink and a coffee before heading out the door. He still preferred a cup of coffee to start his day, even though it was probably nothing more than coloured hot water.
He made his way across the compound and was oblivious to the changing atmosphere until he put his hand on the door to push it open. He stopped. The hot, dusty morning air had taken on a chill and a shadow oiled across the sun to pull the earth into an eclipse state ... sans eclipse. With his hand on the door, he looked up to see what was holding back the sun. The sky was black - not black like night, but black from an obstruction.
It happened so suddenly that he didn't see it coming. Within a micro-second, a searing flash of light. White-hot and intense, like the focus of a magnifying glass. Once instant he was looking up; the next he was a small pyramid of ash, human carbon, in front of the door, with the shadow of his hand burned into the door. And somewhere in between, with eyes closed, he stepped out of the shadow of the corner, gently raised the blankets and joined his wife in bed. One more breath and it was over.
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