Prof. Malcolm Richardson had always had a reputation for being a bit absentminded, and today was no different. He was running late for his first lecture, as he'd misplaced his car keys the night before, and spent close to a half an hour looking for them, before discovering them in his coat pocket.

After pulling into his small car into his reserved parking space, conveniently located close to Blair Hall (one of the perks of being a tenured professor at ECU), the building in which his classroom and office were located, he hurried along the side walk to the entrance.
Just as he entered the door, he looked down and noticed he'd left his tablet computer in the car. Coming to an abrupt halt, he turned and began heading back to the car.

As he walked he thought to himself what a lovely day it was with the Sun shining brightly on his face and light breeze blowing in. That's also when he began to notice how quiet it was. How strange he thought. Normally there were dozens of students scurrying about, hurrying from one class to the next, hanging out reading, some just sitting and taking a moment to gather their thoughts. But this morning there was nothing. The Quad was completely devoid of all activity, there wasn't a sole in sight.

After taking a moment to check his watch and make sure he had the correct day, he quickly glanced at his computer to make sure there wasn't some special event to which the students and facility had gone, as it wouldn't have been the first time he'd forgotten. But as far as he could tell, except for the absence of people, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.

TO BE CONTINUED