The blaring alarm clock rang it’s generic bells, waking Cherrysun-132 from his sleep. He gently hit the “off” button, stopping the awful noise. He pulled himself up in his bed, stretching every inch of his body. With every movement his joints cracked, and his muscles flexed, then fell to a relaxed position. Swinging his feet over and standing up, he made his way towards his window. Every step falling hard, and bringing on more exhaustion than the last. When he reached the window, yawning, he pulled back the curtains, letting in the view of a bland scenery.
The sky that lay over gave off a gray-brown sheen. No sun shined, no moon glowed, and no starts twinkled. The eradication of light had taken place decades ago. The “suburban” landscape added to the blasé affect. One, seemingly endless street traveled down rows of seeming endless, white, one story houses. Every house’s territory marked off by the same white picket fence, and every “lawn” covered with the same gray-brown granite tiles.
As Cherrysun-132 looked down the long road, he noticed the Shadowing Day celebration was beginning. Quickly, he threw on his Shadowing Day white robe, and made his way outside, heading for the growing group of people.
The air had a fall morning chill to it, though Cherrysun-132 had no idea or concept of a, “season,” He knew it only as “hot” or “cold.” As he walked, breathing out for long periods to watch his breath form frozen puffs of clouds, he realized how late he was. The usual Shadowing Day groups had already formed, and only a few spots were still left empty.
The front row started on the left side of the road, and spanned ten people across to the right side of the road. Behind the front, was another row of ten people, spanning from the left to the right side of the street, and so on.
Cherrysun-132 walked by quite a few rows before reaching his. In the front stood the individuals of the Shiplake group, consisting of the numbers one through ten. The second row was occupied by the people of the Wonderwall faction, consisting of the numbers 11 though 20. Eventually, Cherrysun-132 reached the Cherrysun group, consisting of numbers 131 through 140.
Cherrysun-132 took his place in line, between Cherrysun-131 and Cherrysun-133. Only one row followed behind the Cherrysuns. They were known as the people of the Nomenclature group, numbers 141 through 150. At one point, there were many more people, but groups were ultimately all killed off by the Shadowing Day sacrifices.
Stepping in perfect unison, Cherrysun-132, and the rest of the population walked towards their destination, wide-eyed and eerily quiet. As they passed the last of the houses, the final spots filled up. Everyone was together, and everyone feared it would be there final walk for the Shadowing Day festival.
As the group traveled further away from their suburban town, they entered an almost foreign looking desert. Completely flat land lay in front of them. Not a single mountain, hill, or valley took it’s place upon the dull landscape. The temperature grew higher as they trekked further into the desert. The sky, now giving off a brighter tint of gray, curved for days, ending at the unreachable horizon. Not a cloud grazed the atmosphere, and no foliage blossomed in the dirt.
The speed of the group had slowed to a crawl, and they were no longer stepping in unison. Their feet dragged, kicking up the dirt, soiling the bottom of the white robes. The air grew thick with heat, and deep breaths could be heard throughout the congregation, and the lust for a thirst quenching liquid sat on the tongues of everybody. Fatigue was setting in, and the drive to keep going was quickly falling away.
But finally, after what felt like weeks of roaming, the entire group stopped. Everyone, now back to their wide-eyed, eerily quiet selves. Cherrysun-132, and the others stood absolutely still, not daring to show any kind of fear or emotion. Slowly each and every individual tilted their head up at the sky, now shining a pure white hue upon them.
Then, everything stopped. Air ended it’s movement, the heat felt as though it had lifted far above the group, and all breathing had ceased. The world sat in a state of almost nonexistence. All that was, wasn't, and all that wasn't, began, and with that, it started to commence.
Air rushed back in blowing everyone to the ground. The sky seemed to be giving off a horrid shrieking noise, putting as much pressure on their eyes, as it did their ears. The wind continued to rage with hurricane-like forces, now pounding down on to the crowd making sure no one moved.
Then, Cherrysun-132 began to rise up. His back arched, and limbs hanging helplessly from his body. All eyes immediately focused on him, waiting for the sacrifice. The sky now blazed with a white gleaming, still screaming, the wind still blowing.
Cherrysun-132’s body began convulsing. His back and legs, bending in towards each other, then releasing outwards to a painful curving of the spine. Everyone’s eyes moved back and forth with Cherrysun-132’s body, as it trembled in the sky, watching for what was to come next. The rest of the Cherrysun people held a smile, thrilled that he was the first Cherrysun ever to be part of the sacrifice.
Cherrysun-132 began shaking faster. His body now nothing but a blur of white flesh and robe, climbing nearer to the shining white, howling sky. The light became almost unbearable for the group, and many were squinting their watering eyes, and covering their ears from the shrill ringing.
Finally the shuddering of Cherrysun-132’s body stopped, and hovered above. His appendages were now stretched beyond humanly possible. The shrieking halted, and the air no longer pushed down on them. The sky gave one last pulse of white, and turned pitch black. The crowd stared on in darkness, blind to everything. A loud clap sucked the air out their lungs, and with that, the normal gray-brown sheen shot out across the sky covering every inch. They all gazed on, still lying on their backs, refocusing their eyes.
Once clarity regained control on their retinas, Cherrysun-132’s body could no long be seen. Only the gray-brown sky dully shined above them. The cool air had come back, and the feeling of extreme thirst had left everyone. Cherrysun-132 had saved them. His sacrifice alone kept them in the lightlessness. His sacrifice allowed for the continuation of life behind the pale backdrop, but soon, a new sacrifice would be needed on the next Shadowing Day, to save them from the light.
