The following day after the appearance of the anomaly was just as I had expected it to be; loud and disoriented. Unsurprisingly, my boss called and said I could take a break from work although no nationwide curfew had been put in place.
In light of the free time at hand, I decided to do so research about the anomaly since I couldn't see it up close- due to the fact that it was off limits by police order.
"The end time huh....." I sneered, reading through one of the post I had seen online. It was natural for people to assume that whatever was happening was related to a religious "end time" and personally speaking, I couldn't blame them.
I scrolled through some trolling and unreasonable topics before stumbling on a particular article that stood out amongst all I had read.
It was written by a scientist and astrologist, professor J.S Maria. She explained extensively what the wormhole had comprised of and signs of its appearance that had appeared months before the event even occurred.
"I and my team had been researching certain paranormal sightings that we uncovered few months ago, even before the events of yesterday and I can firmly note that we had predicted that something of such was likely to happen." She wrote, emphasizing on the side effects that the anomaly would cause if it was to be present for long.
I was intrigued truly, by how much passion she shared in her research and even went as far as to follow her on her socials so I could get updated on the rest of her works.
My research however that day ended when someone made a tasteless sexist remark of how little the facts of her work included and I couldn't continue when everything blurred from the following argument.
Rukius had gone out for a bit to replace the controls for his game set and i was astounded as to how carefree he was, judging by his reaction the previous day.
'Maybe I should take a stroll also' I thought, getting ready to step out of the house before the ringtone of my phone halted my movements.
It was my mom.
I suddenly felt agitated as my throat dried and my feet started tapping unconsciously. We hadn't spoken in months and even when we spoke it was just me responding to her voicemails with my own voicemails, an unhealthy relationship between family.
I reached out to grab the phone, feeling a mild ache on my side. The loud jarring noise of electronic appliances running and neighbors shouting had surprisingly diminished, almost like the world was honouring the conversation about to be held.
"Hey mom" I bellowed, looking at the floor as her gentle voice reached from the speaker of the device I held, enveloping me like her hug.
"Hello Nezro, how are you" she replied, her voice was much calmer that it usually was and I could hear a tinge of worry in her tone. She most definitely had called because of the events of yesterday and I knew the only reason it was this late was because she didn't live in Orion like me.
"Hope you're safe, Nez" She followed, not giving me enough time to juggle the replies.
I pressed the phone closer to my ear before replying. Standing up and walking towards the entrance so I could feel the breeze and calm my nerves.
"Yeah..... Yeah sure I'm fine, how about you mom" I asked shyly, all the built up manliness and confidence i had vowed to show crumbling at the sound of my mother's voice.
"I thought you wouldn't take my calls after our argument, that's why I didn't call sooner but after I saw the news this morning..... I just couldn't bear." She shuddered, probably leaning on the kitchen table as she spoke because I could hear the family creaking of the edge of the table.
We spoke for much longer, with me mostly reassuring her that I was ok and didn't need to fly over back home.
She still seemed worried even before she hung up but it seemed she decided to take me for my words.
I took a bath after everything, letting the warm shower wash away all the nervousness I felt as I reflected on what I had planned for the future.
The afternoon news came soon after, making it hard for me to distinguish what it was that actually took priority at the moment, my half closing eyes or the urgency of the information that the newscaster shared.
I decided to sit through the news and my findings were not all that disappointing altogether.
The reporter shared details about the closed door meeting the president was going to have with the administrator and how the president himself had requested it to be done in private without the prying eyes of journalists and TV reporters.
I took a nap not long after, pushing away all the unnecessary information that spiraled in my head.
*****
"So, what do you think about the wormhole that appeared, huh Nezro" Phram questioned, leaning over his chair and staring me right in the eye.
I shifted my gaze from him and looked in the direction of Philip who was now speaking, defending me like we were close friends.
"Stop biting off at Nezro Phram, can't you see we're all clueless about the events" Philip sighed. He was a calm, educated man in his early twenties same as me, but with a bit more grace.
It even reflected in the way he spoke, often lacing his words with the most respect he could muster so he didn't sound disrespectful.
Rukius was the one who had dragged me out to this gathering, all under the guise of hanging out and relaxing when I pretty much knew it was so he could hit on our next door neighbor who happened to tag along, Joan.
He had a crush on her ever since college and happened to just coincidentally -that I can affirm of- find a lodging in the block she was in.
Now the bastard wasn't anywhere in sight, leaving me with complete strangers.
"So, what do you do these days Nezro" Willow chimed, sipping the beer that stood between us.
They weren't all complete strangers on a second thought, Willow and Philip had gone to the same college with me and Rukius, although I had barely spoken with any of them.
"I build apps online and work part-time at a grocery store" I responded, fearing that my reply to the question would come back and bite me in the back.
Unsurprisingly, it did.
"You build apps now?.... Wow that's cool, for what company" Willow beamed, moving from where she sat to share my chair with me, beer still in hand.
I moved a bit from her, just enough so it wasn't awkward and stared at the exterior of the bar before replying calmly.
"I'm affiliated with a lot of companies but for now, DROKE"
Her eyes which was once brimming with joy had dialed back a bit at the sound of the second rate software company I had mentioned, owing to the fact that it was nothing compared to the multinational company she worked for.
"Oh, that's nice" She replied modestly, weighing her tone so as not to sound offensive and yet attractive.
I just rolled my eyes a bit and shaked my head when she said that, finally readjusting myself once more till I was at a perfect distance from her.
"You two love birds seem to be catching up nicely" Rukius whispered from behind. Catching me off guard but not enough to jolt me.
Just as expected, Joan was with him and she waved at me fondly before sitting directly opposite me.
The rest of the events of the day became blurred as I began drinking excessively in order get my mind off what had been occuring recently.
I got home after midnight, hauled up Rukius ass from the car to his bed before finally retiring to rest myself.
A mild migraine was developing from all the drinking but I paid it no heed hoping the sleep would help numb it.
'What a complete waste of time'
I wasn't a fan of get-togethers but I couldn't lie, I needed this particular one. Maybe relaxing a bit wouldn't hurt.
At least not like a migraine!.