The young teenager did her best to ignore her mother. "Amanda Lynn!" Her exasperated mother yelled. "I told you no more! You have plenty of other ones, you don't need that one too."

"But it's my favorite!" Amanda whined.

"At the moment, it is your favorite! Fine, pick one. But you have to finish it by the end of the day. No excuses!"

Amanda purposely gave the most dramatic sigh she could possibly give before walking away.

                                                                                             ******

After Susannah and her family cleared the dishes, the men headed out to the garden. Charles had upgraded to some new vegetables and he was eager to show Susannah's dad. On the way out, Charles took notice of the sky. There was no sunset now and without it, the sky did not seem so odd. The whole sky was dark now but some areas did have stars. Maybe it was just some dark clouds that looked odd from that distance. What else could it have been? He chuckled at himself. Who am I? Chicken Little? Thinking the sky is falling?

But on reaching the garden, his laughter came to an abrupt stop. Where the plants should be was a hole. Not a hole in the dirt, but an inky black hole that seemed to go on forever. He was shaken and could not believe what his eyes were telling him. None of it seemed logical.

Something is very wrong here. His one thought was his family. He raced back into the house, frightening his wife.

                                                                                      ***

Looking up in alarm as Charles ran into the house. Susannah saw him scan the room as if doing a head check. "Susannah, you need to come quickly."

Following him out to the garden, Susannah asked, "Where is Dad?"

"He was right behind me."

"I didn't see him come in the...Oh! What is that?" Her voice rose and quivered when she saw her husband's pastime was not only gone but that strange nothing color in its place.

Susannah's mom called from the porch, "Where is your dad?"

Distracted, Susannah answered, "In the house."

Charles started to put his hand out to the blackness. "No!" Susannah stopped him, grabbing his arm. "We need to use something else."

Charles went over to a pile of sticks he had gathered from the lawn the day before and brought one over. He slowly prodded at the hole with it. There was no resistance, no sound. 

He pulled the stick back out. The end of the stick was gone. It had just disappeared

He ran for another stick and tried it again. Again they pushed the stick in and once it went into the darkness, it disappeared. 

The two looked at each other then down at the hole again. In that few seconds, the hole had suddenly grown by a foot in circumference.

Scrabbling back, Susannah asked, "Is this what had been happening all day?" She shook her head. Not quite. The black holes were not there with the earlier missing items. 

Thinking again, she realized there had been black holes. Just very tiny ones. Not specks, holes. What is going on?

"Susannah! I cannot find your father!" Her mother yelled out at her again.

"Mom, I will be back in a minute!" She shouted back.

Hearing a commotion coming from the street, Charles and Susannah walked toward the it. Neighbors and strangers ran down the road. Panic covered their faces. 

Susannah grabbed hold of the nearest person. It was her neighbor, Mortimer. "What is happening?" she said shouted loud enough to be heard above all the noise. 

Mortimer stopped his panicked flight long enough to say, "The aliens are coming! I told you they were coming!" He pointed to the sky before shaking himself from her grasp and continuing in haste down the road.

The pair looked up. The entire sky was now a solid black that continued down to the horizon line and below. The land itself seemed swallowed up by the darkness. They saw sparks fly as one house after another disappeared into the inky black.

Wide-eyed with terror, they rushed back to their children and mother. Their minds swarmed with every possible reason this could be happening and how to stop it. But Susannah could not sleuth their way out of this and neither could Charles steal them away.

The adults held the children tight, knowing this was the end for all of them. They could hear the snapping sparks as they got closer. 

A flashing light caught the corner of Susannah's eye. Turning her head, she saw their computer flash on, and then off, and then on again. 

The little icon sitting in the corner of the screen seemed to burn into her eyes. Horror filled her face as she comprehended what was happening. It couldn't be, it couldn't possibly be but it was. They were being deleted.

                                                                                                *****

Amanda's finger hovered over the mouse button. The computer screen read, "Are You Sure You Want To Delete This Neighborhood?" 

"No," she said with a sullen voice, "She is making me." Her fingered lowered. "Sorry, Susannah and Charles, little family. You were a favorite." The mouse button clicked as her finger pushed it. 

Her final message: Neighborhood Delete Completed.

Author's Note: Thanks for choosing to read my story, Disappeared! If you enjoyed it, please click on the star. Thanks!