chp 2a

It had started out as boring day for Shaun. Sitting in the lecture, he had spaced out for a while, staring out the window at the bright sunshine. He had been trying to read what Clement was typing on his computer but when the text was blocked by Clement’s body, Shaun realised that it would be very obvious to his lecturer that he was more interested in what Clement was doing.

So he had taken to staring out the window. That’s when he noticed thick grey specks on the horizon. At least, along the mountain ranges on the horizon. Rain fell infrequently on the planet, still, grey clouds were nothing spectacular. However, this time, he noticed that the storm front was very much wider.

He softly kicked Clement’s chair. In response, Clement leaned back while his fingers continued typing without pause. “Look out the window at the storm front,” Shaun whispered.

Clement turned his head and squinted. Then he called up his Instant Message programme and texted a message to another classmate.

Raymond was sitting at the front of the class but his computer screen was showing the latest results for the city’s football league. However, Raymond’s eyes were now focused outside the window.

The storm front was growing wider and darker. Suddenly, an announcement came through the Public Address system, “Attention all citizens, the government has declared a state of emergency due to the impending storm. Please return to your homes and stay indoors. Supplies will be rationed. Looters will be severely dealt with.”

“Oh my, the thousand year storm,” the Lecturer remarked as he looked out the window. Turning back to the class, he dismissed them without any homework, urging them to return home immediately. Then without waiting for the class to empty, he had left the room and headed to his office.