False Dawn

A flash of light invades my closed eyelids, rudely wrenching me awake from my pleasant dreams. I prop up on my elbows and rub the sleep from my eyes. Morning already? 

My clock says 2:47 AM. That can’t be right; the sun’s already up. Maybe the power went out? Bright rays pierce the partially closed blinds near my bed. 

I peek through the slats, and my breath catches. On the horizon is the sun, but not the normal one. It’s a roiling red ball of fire, a man-made sun, rising with black anger into a mushroom cloud.

*****

Note: Micro-fiction, 100-words exactly