"Wake up"
Emile whispered in a sad attempt not to alert his friends down the hall. Tony wouldn't budge. How could he still sleep in thought Emile, they had planned this dive for weeks now and his brother would just snooze like this?
He would have to go on his own. But first things first, he needed breakfast. Emile wondered to the kitchen groggy-eyed and half asleep given that it was still 5:00 am and he was sleeping off jet lag from the day before. The cold tile floor sent chills up his spine, he had no shoes on. He turned on the old TV that had been in the kitchen when they started living there. It clicked on and the high pitched squeal of its components could be heard.
Emile turned up the volume slightly and changed the channel to the local weather/news station letting it run in the background as he prepared a self-taught recipe of scrambled eggs and bacon. The news was an intriguing thing to Emile, something he thought "Curious". Sometimes it was so unpredictable yet so reassuring and never the same as before, but today was different.
"Abnormally rainy out there today Phil"
said the weather man to his assistant meteorologist.
"Looks like it Jim."
The assistant echoed back, who had just started to list off the days' forecast, to which Emile was listening intently to
"Don't forget about that eclipse Phil".
Emile checked outside
"Little rain never hurt anyone."
He was talking to himself now, something he had made a habit of anytime he was left alone with his thoughts (unfortunately a very common occurrence) His friends would sometimes worry for him, but ultimately let him be.
Emile then Started eating his half hearted breakfast attempt.
After three minutes of his tongue dodging sharp bits of partially burnt bacon he had scarfed down his food. He then cleaned his mess and drew up a note explaining why he wasn't in the dorm and where he had gone to his friends, leaving it on the fridge at what he thought was the average eye level. He then headed for the door. As he was leaving all the appliances in the kitchen began to flicker
" Anorher blackout?"
He thought aloud, they happened all the time where he and Tony were from, In his head it didn't deserve a second thought.
He stepped into the garage. The floor was slightly damp due to the rain but everything off the ground was safe and dry. Emile then walked up to the truck turning the key to unlock the gift he got from his parents in commemoration of his eighteenth birthday only a month prior.
"Already packed"
he said aloud while pausing to look over the latest scuba gear he and his brother had packed the day before.
He turned the key in the ignition and the truck roared to life. The digital clock on the console showed 5:30, 5-20-50. He hit the automatic remote on the ceiling of the truck attached to the visor. He could practically feel the rusted garage door as it screeched and moaned, as if someone hadn't oiled it in a decade. Emile winced hoping that the sound didn't wake anyone else in the dorm, and pulled out of the driveway and into a narrow street overlooking the Pacific.
On the way to the bottom of the short mountain Emile pondered the idea of seeing the eclipse from under the water, how would it feel to witness something so awe inspiring from beneath the surface of the void. To think that it only happened only after so many years and decades.
After a five minute ride through downtown area Long Bay, CA Emile had made it to the place they had planned their dive around, Naples Reef. He pulled the truck into a toll parking lot that was open and paid for ten hours worth of parking fees, proceeding to then unload his gear from the truck and begin a short rucking stride to the diving location he'd mapped out. Emile had deemed it wise to bring Tony's scuba tanks giving him more time under water at the cost of weight, but this wouldn't be a problem thanks to the near weightlessness of water.
The sand that he walked on was cold, for it had not felt the sun in thirteen hours and the wind and rain was picking up. Stopping just before the surf, he threw the diving equipment on the ground and set up a tarp to protect it from the torrents of the early morning shower.
Assuming it was safe to change at this hour with no one for a few miles. He undressed and put on his wetsuit along with the rest of his gear. A digital diving watch and pressure gauge on his left and right hands.