Day 6

 Prompt: "An immobile time not marked on clocks." 

(C. Baudelaire)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

She knew that nothing would be the same after this moment. The world froze and time stopped. 

Rumours had been swirling for months, she could even remember instances when news reports had said something that made her wonder what were they really talking about. But nothing was ever certain. Nothing was ever said to the people. Everything was done behind closed doors. People who had power knew; no one else did. 

She looked out the window. All the cars had pulled over, and there was no movement in the streets. Even the people had stopped walking and were looking around with faces mixed between curiosity and horror. 

Inside the school, everyone was looking towards the PA system on the wall above the whiteboard. Even the teacher had frozen with the textbook in hand. Josie's pen was held midair as she was in between writing another word in her notebook - that wouldn't matter anymore. Marco's head had popped up from his routine nap in this class, and he wasn't napping anymore either. 

This moment, frozen in time, would be the moment that everyone would remember as years and decades pass. This moment marked the time before and the time after. 

After about three full minutes of the siren wailing, it stopped. The silence was deafening - even the ticking that once marked time was silent, too. We all held our breath. What would come next? 

"Good afternoon, Markham High," the principal's voice came on. She couldn't tell what emotion was in his voice. It certainly was like nothing she had heard before. "Please give us your full attention. There will be an announcement coming in a minute for our information." 

The room broke into a soft buzz. She could hear whisperings of "What's going on?" and "What's happened?" and "Are we being attacked?" Ms Johnson had sat down at her desk, set the book down, and had a look of uncertainty about her. She was obviously as puzzled as we were. 

Then the announcement came. It was the voice of our prime minister. This was not coming from the interior of the school, but being broadcast throughout the nation. 

"Fellow Canadians. We have reached a momentous event in our nation's history. Our world history. This has been many years in the making and at last, the time has come. As you know, we have been slowly setting the direction for a greener world, a more sustainable world. We have been on a path of destruction for many decades. As our society has continued to use up the earth's resources, we have been putting into motion research and plans to make the transfer to a completely green and self-contained living experience. This has not only happened in Canada but throughout the globe. 

You will have 24 hours to gather your most valued possessions and will be given a location to meet for transportation to our new lives. Your personal technology will receive a message of where you are to go."

This is the first time he has spoken with coherence, she thought. Is this really our PM? or a deep fake or some sort of AI cover? She was unsure. But what she was sure of was the rising sickness inside her. 

"Do not be concerned. Everything has been planned in detail and once we are settled in our new lives, things will return to normal. I promise you - this is for the good of our planet, for the good of our nation, and the good of our people. We are one." 

And the message ended.