The Rift


By Kaiden G. Stone


It happened without any prior warning, apart from a small earthquake that shook buildings whilst people were still asleep, completely unaware of what was happening out in the world.
He turned on the T.V. hoping to catch something on the local news as he did every morning as if he was on automatic pilot. He switched on the kettle then put two bagels in the toaster.

He sat down in his snug leather armchair and ate his breakfast; he had been watching the recent activity on the local news networks, but without really taking anything in…until now. The newsman’s report spoke of extremely freak weather phenomenon, the likes of which had never been seen in human recorded history.

News cameras on location near New York harbour were focused on a cloud mass so dark and dense, that nothing could be seen through it, and it was the size of the entire length of at least 15 American football stadiums.

The larger the mass became, the more fearsome it became, as earth-shattering electrical storms triggered the ground to open up, swallowing entire buildings in the process.

At that precise moment, Michael Borden’s life suddenly became more precious than ever, as the world was thrown into perpetual darkness.
So stunned by what he was seeing, he leapt up knocking his coffee and bagels over that were on the side table next to him.

The TV’s screen suddenly became a knarled pattern of fuzz and static as the city’s power
Grids began shutting down, one by one. He messed with the buttons as if expecting it to suddenly go right.

All he was presented with, however, was a blank screen, but the audio was still playing on a loop, as a public announcement was played declaring a statewide emergency warning.
It was then when he realised that something wasn’t right; that this day would eventually become the darkest, hardest and loneliest of his life.

The warning delivered a message to anyone that had the luck to survive; it was a chilling message that made the hairs on the back of Braden Collin’s neck stand up.

As he listened to the broadcast, he heard the shrill and ear piercing screams of people in fear. He could hear the voices of children shouting for their parents; other voices were of people warning of something so horrific and dark that it caught the human race off guard.
He couldn’t face listening to anymore. So he turned off the T.V. and realised just how real the situation was.