The world ended on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2030.
I remember waking up to a bright light in the sky. Looking to the left. The light got brighter, like the sun was shining inside of my room.
The next minute went by, and everything went still. In my next breath, the world around me turned into Hell, and the last thing I remember is my mother screaming my name, before everything went black, soothing, endless black.
The world ended on Wednesday, December 18th, 2024.
That morning, my father was sick, and couldn't get out of bed, so our mother got us ready for school. All that morning, she looked incredibly pale, and I remember asking her if she was okay. She smiled, and shrugged it off. I wish she answered me.
School was normal. I wandered through the day, barely talking.
When I came home, my mother was sick in bed too. She and Dad looked so pale.
That night, I couldn't sleep, hearing what sounded like my mother and father retching in the bathroom.
The next day, I got up, got my siblings up, and got them ready. We went to school, came home, and there was a social worker sitting on the doorstep. He was smiling, but there was pity behind his eyes.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xAIFlOakL
108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPx7731kId
"Your parents will be fine", he assured me. Why do adults lie to children? Do they think we're idiots, and don't know they're lying? My parent won't be fine. I can tell. The pity in his eyes, the people looking away as I walk down the street of our small town. They're dying. And I'm not. Why am I not?108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJgFLoner4
The world ended on Monday, August 6th, 1945.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg8UJFX1nl
I kissed my wife goodbye that morning, drove our oldest to his work, then went to the hospital.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgpI3CgTsZ
When I got there, Dr. Yamamoto was waiting for me. Takeshi had worsened.
I stayed late to keep the little boy company, since he didn't like the dark.
Lucky, he didn't have to wait for long before it started to glow out the left window.
In the next second, an unimaginable heat filled the room.
And then it was over. The light faded.
And the windows exploded, shattering into a thousand pieces.
The force of the blast threw me, and I knocked my head on the doorway.
The last thing I remember seeing before I blacked out was a large piece of metal impaling Takeshi's chest.
And when I woke it was worse.
The world ended on Monday, September 23rd, 2086.
I was lying in bed, my breath rattling through my weak frame, echoing out into my room. Goddamn, why'd they have to make the room so dark? Draping all their black cloths everywhere, crying over my frail body, making such a fuss. Busybodies, all.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPdgzZmdZG
The boy slipped into my room, quiet as a whisper. We'd never spoken. Not out loud, not directly. But through the words he read each morning, the book I had carefully prepared for him, I hope he could understand.
He was my legacy. He was the one who would achieve what I could never. But he was more than that.
He was a son.
And a star.
He was that most purest of beings, which all of us struggle to be. He was himself.
He sat in his usual place. Just close enough to the window to get the light breeze that always came through this early in the morning, just near the door, so he could bolt out at any moment, yet also close to the phone, so he could call the doctor if necessary.
He read in silence for a few minutes, before, in a great huff, he leaped up and moved over to the window.
He unceremoniously ripped down the cloth over it, letting the morning light pierce the gloomy space. Instantly, it was so much warmer and brighter as the light brought joy into the otherwise dolorous space.
A small smile twitched across my lips. Seems he had the same idea as I did.
It occurred to me that I'd never asked him his name. I didn't know who the boy was. Or why he'd been sent to watch over me in my last days.
"What's your name, boy?" My voice was scratchy as it croaked out of between my lips. It had been a while since I'd used it.
The boy jumped in surprise, turning to stare at me for a full ten seconds before responding. "Daniel, sir. Daniel Turner." His voice was surprisingly high, and I had a feeling Daniel used to be Danielle.
Turning on my side, I grinned at my wife's image on the sidetable. She'd passed a couple years earlier. I still remember her smile, and her beautiful hair, like strands of silver in my hand.
"Thank you, Daniel," I croaked out.
"For what, sir?" The boy questioned.
I didn't answer. I just reached out, grabbing my wife's picture in a trembling hand, and pressing it to my chest.
I closed my eyes, smiled one last smile, and was gone.108Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDFsWE06A0
