The day seemed normal enough. As usual, you live a life of predictability in the small town of Hadlow. I could recite my day as if it was a song lyric. Wake up, go to work, get home, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. In a place where everybody knows everybody, there was no escaping the town’s gossipers, or your nosy neighbors who seemed to mind everything but their own business (looking at you, Chad and Tara).

I was fresh out of high school, with no idea what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I’m assuming this is how most of us feel, but we just pretend to have our shit together. My day consists of standing at a register, greeting customers and taking orders at the town’s well-known burger joint, Toasty Buns. Yeah, I know, the name sounds ridiculous, but that’s above my pay grade.

I didn’t mind my job. In fact, it was often a place where my friends would stop by to hang out. I work a late shift, and my workday typically ends at 11pm. This day was no different. Actually, I lied. It was very, very different.

While I was making my way home, I took a longer path through my cul de sac, which was quiet and still. I never liked my late-night walks home, and I always felt like I was looking over my shoulder. The only lighting around were street lamps, and I began to pick up the pace as I got closer to my house, scrolling through my phone.

As something caught my eye, I briefly glanced up at the night sky. That’s when I saw it. Streaking along the sky, with vibrant hues of red, orange, blue, green, and yellow, was a rainbow. At night. A rainbow at night.

For a moment I entertained the thought that someone may have snuck an edible or two into my sandwich during my lunch break. However, as I blinked not once, not twice, but three times, the rainbow continued to illuminate across the sky, expanding further than my near-sighted ass could see. From where I was standing, the rainbow branched off into segments, creating smaller, fainter streams of color.

I fumbled with my phone and eagerly snapped a picture, rushing to get home immediately. I was so excited to tell my friends and family that I had just seen the weirdest shit. I wanted to pull them outside so they could also witness what was happening.

The last thing I imagined was that this sight would be an omen, and the worst day of my life. The next morning, the sun did not come up.