**Gabriella**
April 1, 2023—it was supposed to be a normal day, maybe even a bit of fun with the typical April Fool's pranks. I was in my dorm, finishing up some homework, when everything went dark. The lights flickered off, and at first, I thought it was just another prank. Everyone did. My friends and I laughed, assuming it was just the government messing with us, playing some elaborate joke. But as the minutes turned into hours, the reality began to set in.*
The day had started like any other. The campus was buzzing with the energy of spring, and the usual chatter about impending exams was drowned out by the anticipation of harmless April Fool’s pranks. I remember feeling a sense of relief as I made my way back to my dorm after a grueling morning of lectures, thinking I could finally relax and catch up on some assignments. The sun was still high in the sky, casting long shadows across the quad, and the laughter of students echoed off the old brick buildings. It was a picture-perfect afternoon.
I was at my desk, surrounded by textbooks and notes, the soft hum of my laptop the only sound in the room. The assignment I was working on was tedious, but it kept me grounded. Outside, I could hear the faint murmur of voices and the occasional burst of laughter as people carried on with their day. Everything was normal—until it wasn't.
It happened so suddenly that at first, I didn’t even register what was going on. The overhead light flickered once, twice, and then blinked out, leaving me staring at the darkened screen of my laptop. My first thought was that someone was pulling a prank. It was April Fool’s Day, after all, and the campus was notorious for its elaborate jokes. I rolled my eyes, half-expecting the lights to snap back on, maybe accompanied by some announcement over the PA system declaring us all fools. But the lights didn’t come back on. The room remained dark, the silence now oppressive.
My phone buzzed on the desk, the screen lighting up with messages from friends.
*“Is this some kind of joke?”*
*“Power’s out in the library too. Anyone know what’s going on?”*
*“Guys, I think something’s really wrong…”*
I glanced out the window, expecting to see the campus bathed in the warm glow of evening lights. But there was nothing—just an unsettling darkness stretching across the horizon. The familiar hum of campus life had ceased, replaced by a tense, almost eerie silence. It was as if the world had suddenly taken a breath and was now holding it, waiting for something to happen.
The hallways of the dorm were filled with the sounds of confusion. Doors creaked open as students stepped out, their faces illuminated by the dim light of their phones. Conversations overlapped, voices tinged with nervous laughter.
“What’s going on?”
“Do you think this is part of some prank?”
“This can’t be real…”
We gathered in the common room, where a few candles cast flickering shadows on the walls. The atmosphere was surreal, a mix of nervous excitement and creeping dread. We joked about the apocalypse, trying to mask our unease with humor, but it was clear that no one really believed this was just a prank anymore. As the minutes dragged on, the jokes died away, replaced by the growing realization that this was no ordinary blackout.
When the RA finally appeared, her usually calm demeanor replaced by a strained expression, we all fell silent. She told us to stay put, that the university was looking into the situation. “It’s probably just a localized power outage,” she said, trying to reassure us, but her eyes betrayed her. I could see the fear there, the uncertainty.
An hour passed, then another. The darkness outside grew thicker, pressing against the windows like a living thing. I kept checking my phone, but there was no new information. The university website was down, and every call I tried to make failed to connect. Even the emergency services line was dead. A knot of anxiety tightened in my chest. Whatever was happening, it was big. Bigger than anything we could have imagined.
As night fell, the city became a black void, swallowing up the last vestiges of light. The moon hung low in the sky, a sliver of silver in the vast expanse of darkness, offering little comfort. The streets that were usually bustling with life were now eerily quiet. But that quiet didn’t last long.
From my dorm window, I could see the first signs of panic setting in. A group of people ran down the street, their voices raised in frantic shouts. A car alarm went off somewhere in the distance, a jarring sound that only added to the growing sense of unease. The stillness of the night was shattered by the sound of breaking glass. My heart raced as I watched a small crowd gather outside a convenience store, their faces twisted with fear and desperation. It was like watching the unraveling of civilization in real time.
Inside the dorm, the tension was palpable. Some students huddled together, whispering about what could be happening, their theories growing wilder with each passing minute. Others paced the halls, their anxiety manifesting in restless movements. The RA tried to keep everyone calm, but even she was losing her composure as the situation dragged on with no resolution in sight.
Hours passed in a blur. The common room, once filled with nervous chatter, grew quiet as the reality of our situation sank in. We were cut off—completely isolated from the world outside. Without electricity, without communication, we had no way of knowing what was happening beyond the walls of our dorm. It felt as though we were adrift in a sea of darkness, each of us an island unto ourselves.
The panic outside escalated as the night wore on. I could hear it all—people screaming, the sound of heavy objects being thrown, the distant wail of sirens that eventually faded into nothingness. It was like the city was coming apart at the seams. Every now and then, someone would try to peer out into the night, but the inky blackness offered no answers, only more questions. What was happening out there? How far had this blackout spread? Was it just our city, or was the whole world plunged into darkness?
Sleep was impossible. I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, my mind racing with thoughts of what tomorrow might bring. My roommate, Julia, was curled up on her bed, her face illuminated by the dim glow of a flashlight. She had stopped trying to reach her family hours ago, the repeated failures draining her of hope. We exchanged a glance, both of us too scared to voice our fears.
As the first light of dawn began to filter through the window, I realized with a sinking feeling that nothing was going to go back to normal. The power was still out, and the world outside our dorm had become a hostile, unpredictable place. We were alone, cut off from everything we had ever known. The future, once so certain, now stretched out before us like a dark, endless void.
The world had gone dark, and nothing would ever be the same again.
