ksenia burnasheva

black hole

2014

Usually at that time of night people would stay at home, cooking dinners and watching the television. Rare passers by would prefer to move quickly and would always avoid eye contact. Statistics say that it’s the least safe neighbourhood in London… I had to go down those roads and alleys daily, on my way home and I knew the way by heart – get off the bus, turn left, go down the alley, there is a playground on the left hand side and the back of the residential warehouses on the right, further on there is a council estate, my house is just around the corner from it, straight through the arch. My journey required this path.

That night everything was as normal, I was running with my books and my cameras having hundreds of routine thoughts in my head. I was walking in the shadow of the trees when I got that feeing when something just isn’t right. Ominous silence was suggesting someone else’s presence. I carried on walking, but now holding on to my belongings with white knuckles. To my surprise, the door to the playground was open, but no one was inside. I heard a sound somewhere behind me, I turned around – no one was behind me either, ‘it was all just my fear” - I thought and that’s when it all occurred to me.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; right under the street light there was a big black hole floating in the middle of the path in front of me. It was consuming all the matter around it. I hid in the shadow and held my breath, becoming an accidental witness of the unknown. It happened so quickly, but I still managed to take one shot of it using the last frame on my film before it disappeared.

It’s been almost a year now. I had that film developed and thought that this sensational image will be an object of interest to such publications as National Geographic or New Scientist. But no one believed me, even though I had that one piece of evidence, one burning image. Even my friends wouldn’t believe me; they prefer to talk about something else. My memory of this event started fading away and I returned to my normal life. I still walk those streets as I had year ago and only recently I’ve stopped stopping right in that place where I saw IT.

Two weeks ago I met this man, who was the first ever person who wasn’t amazed by my story even in the slightest. He told me that it happened to him before. He saw it as well! He sounded convincing, but without any evidence I found myself foolish at the thought of believing him.