#it still looks like may 14th
Life has been hectic, but here at last is a ficlet for the May @fluffbruary prompt “Eclipse.” We’re just going to pretend it’s still May 14, okay? If Fluffbruary can be year-round, it’s only fair that the fourteenth of the month can take place at any time. ;)
Moment of Eclipse,rated G, 400 words
The park is full of people, a disparate crowd come together to witness the eclipse. They’ve been waiting some time for the culmination of the strange, natural phenomenon presently underway… and now, at last, their patience is rewarded. Eerie yet beautiful shadow bands undulate across the ground, rippling lines of darkness and light dancing together.
Near the pond where even the ducks have gone quiet, on a bench somehow left unclaimed by the earlier arrivals to the park, somewhat less ephemeral versions of mingling darkness and light lean close to each other, hands interlocked and faces turned upwards.
There they sit, sharing in the six-thousand-year-old awe of the humans surrounding them as the shadow of the moon hurtles into position to temporarily block the sun. The park is all but silent, the entirety of the gathering seemingly holding its breath into the climax of the event.
Once, eclipses such as this one were thought to be indicative of an impending apocalypse. This pair, having seen the true end of the world come and then change its mind, knows the difference.
“It is rather a shame,” Aziraphale says under his breath, soft enough not to disturb the scene, “that this will be over so quickly.”
“Hm?” Crowley acknowledges with a questioning grunt.
“They never do last very long. This one is supposed to be just over three minutes, I believe I read?”
“That’s what they said on the radio,” Crowley confirms.
“Ah, well,” Aziraphale sighs. “I suppose we will just have to appreciate it while it lasts, then. Live in the moment, as they say.”
“The moment.” There’s a thoughtful edge in Crowley’s voice. “Hm. Yeah. I guess so.”
A lingering pause, the space of a heartbeat or two. Then, from the left side of the bench, there is a soft sound as of fingers snapping.
(Find all of my Fluffbruary prompt fills here!)
