By Elana Joy, TIWP Creative Writing Teacher
Written for NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge 2023

The Autumn semester was halfway through

and midterm exams were soon to be due.

In the campus cafe students convened;

over laptops and coffee they careened.

I’d left my devices back in my dorm,

needing a break and to drink something warm. 

Preferring to study alone instead,

I people-watched and had coffee with bread.

All prepped to study throughout night and day,

students flipped through their notes with no delay .

It was as if the whole place was in sync.

Just then, sooner than a person could blink,

the WiFi went out and there was a shout!

“I’m gonna fail!” someone cried, “There’s, no doubt!” 

The cafe grew restless, filled with despair.

One student announced, “I don’t even care.”

Then distress was disrupted by a noise,

a notice on all iPhones and Androids!

Here’s what it read, though it may appear droll:

Available WiFi Network: BlackHole

Without hesitation students logged on.

If only they had known what this would spawn.

In no time at all, BlackHole had begun.

Teasing and tingling the tips of their thumbs.

Seemingly, against their will they first checked

their socials, and concentration was wrecked.

Each student had succumbed to elation.

Each swipe depleted their motivation.

Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram,

obstructed work flow like a river dam.

All focus on midterms redirected

the moment phones and BlackHole connected.

Derailed from their studies, easy to pull,

seeking a thrill in a world less dull,

the students were fed shots of dopamine,

the doses received straight from a phone screen.

Gathering data on what they loved best,

BlackHole acquired strength amidst unrest.

It lured the students into the darkness,

replacing notes in their heads with starkness.

Hoping to detach some began to squirm,

fixated but restless, like an earthworm.

This network was faulty; something was wrong.

The drive to keep swiping was much too strong.

Their goal of passing midterm assessments,

was lost in BlackHole along with senses.

What happened next was disturbingly odd.

It may have been hackers or maybe God?

Definitely caused by a force unknown, 

the following chilled me down to the bone:

All at once, each phone screen shined a strange light.

It was black but it glowed, blinding and bright.

Quickly expanding, the darkness took hold;

the students’ hunger grew the more they scrolled.

Horrified, I watched them begin to rise

up from their seats, emitting yelps and cries.

Wailing with fear as a force sucked them in;

each student consumed, I saw BlackHole win.

The cafe was left empty, still and cold.

BlackHole had grabbed ahold of all their souls.

I shudder to think about that dark day,

and now I avoid the campus cafe.