It’s the End of the World, as We Know It

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess...not!

Wake up reality’s here. Welcome to reality. How else can I say it? All my time here on earth, and mind you that’s a long time, people have lived in fantasy. There’s no pumpkins or princes in this story. It’s time to face the music, open your eyes to the world...

The year is 2087. Precisely, I’m 35,072 years old, but to the human eye I’m only about 13. As queer as it may seem, I’m immortal. Meaning to say when I die, I merely am reborn into an unborn infants body, and start life all over again. Yes, ever since the beginning of time. Don’t ask how the knowledge all of my former lives stays with me, I just think it’s a cruel joke from God, a very cruel joke. This is the last few days in my life. My story goes a little like this:

I woke up coughing and sputtering. Not another dream, I thought to myself, I wish they’d just leave me be. But then again, I’ve been doing’ a lot of wishing lately. After slowly looking around my room, I dropped my head back in my pillow not wanting another day to begin.

Later, as I waited on the corner for Diana, I dug through my bag making sure I had 3 water bottles. A short red head with vivid gray eyes was jogging toward me when I looked up from my search. “Hey Diana, you got the sandwiches?” I asked. “Sure. Which one do you want?” she asked in reply, holding up 3 sandwiches wrapped in sydo. Sydo is sort of like plastic, only biodegradable. ”I’ll take the turkey and cheese.” came my answer as we started to walk. She chucked the sandwich at me, me being spacey and barely managing to catch it, and I handed her a water bottle. She nodded a thanks and tucked it safely away in her shoulder bag. “I hope Jeff got some good chips today” Diana said. I nodded in agreement.

Diana, Jeffry and I had been bringing lunches for each other for many years. We have a system where 1 person brings like 3 sandwiches, 3 bags of chips, or 3 water bottles. We usually switch jobs every day, just to make it fair.

On our way to Jeffry’s house, I thought about how close we all are to death. Ever since U.S. troops invaded the Middle East, about 50 years ago, (for no good reason) America has fallen to the 10th strongest nation and became the most wanted country to blow out of the water. Literally. But we haven’t had an air raid since the south side of Manhattan was pulverized 2 months ago. (That’s good news. America usually gets one every two weeks) Luckily we’re farther up in eastern Manhattan, far away from the wreck.

“Jeffry’s late again.” Diana moaned. We had stopped in front of a rundown apartment building with faded numbers crudely painted over the door. “He most likely started some new contraption last night and’s adding some “finishing touches” this morning.” I said relating to the fact that Jeffry is fascinated with technology and building gadgets.

I sat down on the concrete steppes leading up to the worn doorway, and patted the step beside me for Diana to sit. She did just as the door opened. Our tall and lanky friend stepped out onto the landing looking glum. “Wuz’ the matter?” Diana questioned, standing up and brushing off her pants. “Oh...” Jeffry said as if he just noticed us girls standing on the steppes. “Did one of your death traps backfire on you?” I asked, trying to sound like I cared. “They're not death traps and they don’t backfire on me.. often.” came the dull reply. “I was listening to the cardio. A report came in from unknown sources saying that America will be bombed by 2 hydrogen bombs by the end of the week.” “No contraptions?!” I said in sarcastic shock. Diana gave me a good swat upside the head. “I mean: Oh, no not bombs! Spare me!” I said sarcastically again, rubbing the back of my head. My friends both gave me the I’ll-pretend-I-didn’t-hear-that look. “What?! I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. America has gotten 500 threats in the last 2 months anyway.” I stated. My pals were 20 yards in front of me already. I started jogging towards them, telling myself I would convince them later.

As soon as we arrived at the tool shed, Jon was already there, ready to assign us a day full of work. Another day of working our hands raw for the rich people, typical, I though. “Mr. Keith wants another coating of paint on his porch, Diana you get to do that today, and T.Denel wants Tierce babtsitted from 8 till noon, too. Jeffry and Addie you two get to work it out who will do the babysitting job.” I immediately pointed at Jeffry as soon as Jon, our instructor looked up from his paper. Jef gave me an evil look and sighed. “Ok than” Jon continued “Addie you get to mow the Vender Blocks lawns.” Darn, lazy, ignorant rich snobs, I thought, why can’t they do their own chores!? These people hire the “less rich”, a.k.a.us, to do what they are to “proper” to do! The world just ain’t what it used to be. Now, instead of getting neighborhood kids to paint your fence for 5 bucks, it’s getting the cheapest, lowest, workers. Don’t these rich snots realize the whole world is crumbling? Most of the poor teens that labor for these people have either no parents or their parents are gone or jobless. I kicked a clob of dirt, still thinking. Boy, if Christianity hadn’t died out 40 years ago, poor people would still be beggin’ for the second coming.

Diana tugged my shoulder, waking me up from my thoughts. “Lets move out.” she commanded in a solider-like tone. “Hup hup.” Jon added to the sarcasm. I smirked, and started walking east toward the Vender block with all my work still lying ahead of me.

By noontime, I was sweating as if I was an Egyptian slave building the great pyramids. (Trust me, I was a former slave, and you do sweat a lot.) As I approached the pitiful shed, the same shed as this mornings meeting, I noticed my friends had already gathered. “I thought you had gone to mow lawns no to fix pools” Jefry remarked. “Har har.” I replied sarcastically, taking my seat next to him with my sandwich and water at hand. “Unhand those chips Jef, ”Diana said, abruptly changing the subject “and we’ll surrender the rest of your lunch.” Jeffry did so, handing us each of us a bag of chips and grabbing his other food.

After lunch, and after I convinced Jon to let Jeffry help me with finishing the lawns, Jef and I trudged back to Vender block. On the way we had light conversation: “How were the adorable children you babysat?” I sarcastically started. “Not adorable. Actually, quite the apposite. They were so energetic I think I lost 2 years of my life just trying to keep up with them.” Jeffry said, rolling his eyes. “I think something should be invented to control beasts like that.” “There already is one,” I said, “it’s called rat poison.” By then we had already reached Vender block. Time to start working.

While pulling the start cord on the ancient mower I was using, a flicker of light caught my eye. I noticed Jeffry saw the glimmer too. As I turned toward the motion, I had one thing on my mind. “Planes.” I whispered softly to myself. Unfortunately, I was right. ”Hit the deck!!” I screamed—loudly. Both of us immediately stuck our noses in the dirt, waiting for explosions. After about three minutes I heard “Coast’s clear.” from my left. Apparently Jeffry had looked up to see what’s going on. Swiping dirt from my mouth, I stood up and joined Jef, who was gazing into the horizon. “Wonder what they wanted.” Jeffry said, thinking out loud. “They just flew right by without even a backward glance.” “I know” I replied, even though it was a rhetorical statement. It’s almost hard to remember what life was before every plane in the air was a threat, I thought to myself.

Jeffry and I finished the lawns fairly quickly, so we were the first to arrive back at the shed. Jon soon came into view though. “What were you doing all day today?” Jef questioned him. “I, for your information, was collecting your salaries from all the good people you work for.” He said, proudly holding up a sydo baggie filled with little, bronze coins. “Good people?” I said disgusted. “How many people did you have to hassle and how many didn’t pay?” ”Well I had to hassle everyone and 12 people didn’t pay.” Jon admitted. Jeffry rolled his eyes as to say: typical. “By the way, where’s Diana? I thought she’d be back by now.” Jon added. ”Oh yeah” Jeffry said slowly. Apparently it had just dawned on him that Diana was missing. “All she had to do is paint a porch,” he continued with a grave look on his face. “It shouldn’t’v taken all that long.” “ Don’t worry. Diana’s a big girl, she can take care of her self.” I said mostly to comfort myself. After all she was alone when the whole plane shenanigan happened. “I’ll go find her,” I said quickly.

I trekked to Mr. Keith’s house in a matter of minutes, imagining what could have happened to Diana. I hope she’s ok, I thought franticly; she’s almost never late! As I rounded the corner to reach the back porch on Mr. Keith’s property, I gasped. The sight before me was – worth gasping. The wood deck was bright pink. Unfortunately there was no Diana in sight. Getting a little anxious I jogged toward the structures steppes “Diana?” I called with a quiver in my voice. “What?” a familiar voice snapped. “Thank the creators your ok!” I exclaimed with relief. ”Why wouldn’t I be ok? And who are the creators?” Diana asked grouchily. I still couldn’t tell where her voice was coming from. “Never mind.” I replied relating to the creators question. I’d forgotten that there was no religion what so ever anymore. “Where are you anyway?” I asked. “I’m under the porch looking for the paint brush that fell between a crack.” came the irritated reply. I rolled my eyes. Yup, I thought, same old Diana. I got on my hands and knees and crawled through an opening that led under the porch. Low and behold, there was Diana. She was squinting in the dim light, looking for the lost paintbrush. I sighed, picking up the large brush lying right in front of me, and said, “I got it. Lets go.” Diana’s head snapped up. When she saw the tool in my hand, she growled in anger. “Don’t worry,” I said a few moments later as Diana climbed out of the opening after me “My eyesight isn’t picture perfect either.” Since I was a blind man in the 1800’s, I’d learned to cope with any type of eyesight. “I can barely see the birds in the sky any more! Not to mention I can’t see colors.” Diana snapped in reply. Glasses have become a luxury since they’re so expensive, and there is no cure for colorblindness. I uneasily glanced at the brightly colored porch. I was sure pink was the wrong color. I have to talk to Mr. Keith quick, I thought. “Nice job. What do you call the color?” I asked. Diana looked at me as if I was the one who was colorblind. “I call it pine green. Why?” she answered “Nothing.” I said shrugging “You go to the shed, and I’ll tell Mr. Keith his painting is done.” “Thanks.” Diana said somewhat relieved. “It’s been a long day.” I nodded in agreement. As soon as my friend rounded the corner out of sight, I sprinted up to Mr. Keith’s front door. My strong knock echoed thru our customer’s house and he answered the door taking his time. “Mr. Keith,” I said keeping my eyes glued to the floor “I accidentally painted your porch the wrong color today. I’ll redo it tomorrow as soon as I can. My apologies.” I didn’t need to look up to know that his face was beat red. “This is most definitely coming out of your salary you worth less scum.” Mr. Keith said, in a voice filled with rage. He than shoved me off his steppes and ordered me to go home. Could’ve been worse, I thought as I walked. Just wait until he finds out what color it is. I silently chuckled on my way down the uniform streets.

That night, I crept into my shabby home silently. I put the remainder of my wages on the small wooden table next to the door, and looked up to see a worn woman carrying a sickly baby in her arms. “Hello mama.” I whispered. “Hello Addie.” she replied to me in a soft voice then she asked, “ Do you know where Marty is?” I hung up my coat before answering “Nope sorry.” Marty was my older brother who normaly just roamed the slums, sometimes not coming back home for days. “You had a long day again?” mother then questioned, changing the subject. “Yup” I replied. After work I’d gone to the city food store, and done my best bargaining for our groceries. “You’re such a good girl.” Ma said, tiredly smiling when I handed her our food in a sydo bag. “You did the same thing when you were 14.” I said modestly. While mother was putting my purchases away in the puny kitchen, I took Alise, my baby sister, to the bedroom. Quickly, I changed her diaper, slipped her into her pajamas, and tucked her into her crib before she could make too much of a fuss. “Good night Alise.” I cooed gently. I then tucked myself into the top bunk, waiting for mother to come. She did appear, about 30 minutes later, and slipped into the bottom bunk. A little while later, I heard soft snoring telling me that she was asleep. Before I fell asleep though, I thanked God, Yahweh, Abba, Buda, or who ever, for watching over us.

I was running as fast as my legs would carry me. Branches were whipping by me. My family and friends were calling, crying for help. I couldn’t see anything but pain. People were dying, screaming, and burning everywhere I turned. “STOP” a strong voice commanded Everything went silent and white . . .

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a strong hand shook me awake. I opened my eyes slightly to see mother. I immediately shut them. Oh no, I thought, if anyone is waking me, that means one thing. I’m very late. I jumped out of bed, quickly got dressed, and washed out my mouth. It was also my day to bring sandwiches. I swiftly slapped together 3 peanut butter sandwiches, grabbed an apple for breakfast, and shot out the door. As I neared the corner where Diana and I usually meet, Diana was already there. I raced up to her and said, “Sorry-, I- over-slept.” between gasps. “That’s ok. Lets just hurry.” she said, setting our pace at a jog.

When we reached the shed Jeffry and Jon were already there and in deep conversation. Diana and I didn’t catch much of it because suddenly an extremely loud alarm sounded. The air raid alarm. All four of us searched the sky for the danger. To the east, flying our way was a whole fleet of bomber planes, with bombs. By habit, Jon, Jeffry, Diana, and I all took cover. Meaning we all lay down on our stomachs, covered our heads with our hands, and sincerely hoped we would live to see tomorrow morning. Explosions shook the earth, making our ears hurt and our stomachs roll. I heard painful screaming while something hot was showering down on my legs. Was it me screaming or was someone else in pain too? I also heard fire crackling on a tree or bush behind me. More screaming, more pain. This time it seemed far off. The ground shook some more. Then every thing went black.

A soft face with bright blue eyes was gazing down on me I’m positive I’m not dead. Death is a little different. The gentle face smiled down on me with what looks like love. “Wake up” it said in a whisper ”Wake up, wake up, wake up,” as it just me or was it getting louder each time? “Wake up,wake up” Nope it wasn’t just me. It was really getting louder. With a final “Wake up!” a soft jolt sent my wondering mind back to my body.

I slowly opened my eyes, realizing both Jeffry and Diana’s faces were over mine. Someone must have flipped me onto my back. ”Good,” Jeffry exclaimed “you’re awake.” After a few minutes, I’d managed to sit up. “How long was I out?” I asked. The sun was already pretty high in the sky. “I’d say about 4 hours.” Diana answered me, shoving a cup of hot water into my hands. She then spoke to Jeffry, he nodded, then left our little camp. I couldn’t hear what they said, so I just left it alone. As I sipped my water, I took in my surroundings. The little shed was in pieces, and only 4 or 5 tools were in sight. The few trees around us were either burned black or still slightly burning. The burning ones were far enough away thought, so they were no threat. In front of me was a small fire with an equally small caldron hanging over it. Diana was crouching next to the caldron, stirring its contents. My guess is that’s where my hot water came from. When I looked down at my legs, I almost chocked on my mouthful of water. They seemed to be wrapped in—“Leaves?” I asked, “My legs are wrapped in leaves? What happened?” Diana looked up from the fire and replied, “Well, there weren’t any bandages so I sent Jeffry out to look for some leaves that were still intact. Your legs burned a little. They should be fine by tomorrow.” I nodded, glancing around me once more. “ Speaking of the devil, where is Jef now?” I asked “He went looking for some for some food.” came the reply “And Jon?” I asked as my 5th question. Diana sadly looked down at the ground. “Jeffry and I looked all over for him, but he’s nowhere to be found.” she said. “Oh” I said frowning with sadness and worry. Maybe he’s still alive, I thought. Just maybe he survived somehow. Maybe.

When Jeffry returned, he looked as bad as I felt. His face was bruised, and 5 of his knuckles were bleeding. Jeffry then dropped a potato, a can of condensed soup, and 2 bottles of water at Diana’s feet, and sat down with a loud plunk. “What happened to you?” Diana questioned him. “I’ve been digging through pieces of wood, sydo, and metal for the past hour. Let’s just say they weren’t very cooperative.” he answered tiredly. “Tomorrow I’ll help you look for food.” I offered Jeffry. “Alright.” he accepted. Resting his head onto the blackened tree he was sitting against, Jeffry closed his eyes for a little catnap. By the time Diana’s scrumptious smelling meal was ready, I was dozing and Jef was out like a light bulb. To wake us both up, our chef walloped the black pot with her garden shovel she was using as a spoon. I jumped awake, where as Jeffry only snorted in his sleep and murmured something about llamas. I laughed while Diana rolled her eyes, and banged on the caldron a few more times. “Wake up sleepy head!” she called as soon as Jeffry’s eyes sprung open. “I’m up, I’m up!” Jef said hastily. “Just don’t hit that thing again. You only needed to hit it once any way.” Diana and I exchanged looks and smiled. “Now,” Diana said getting back to business “How are we going to eat the soup?” An idea came to me. Not thinking I was ready to walk yet, I ordered ”Hand me that empty water bottle, Jef, and go see if you can find the bush trimmers.” Jeffry handed me them, and I used the trimmers to cut the bottle in half horizontally. “Vuala” I said when I had finished,”Two lovely bowls, for you guys, and I can use my cup” that trick was the only thing I learned from the 10 years of girl scouts in the late 20th century. “Problem solved.” Jeffry said, “Let’s eat!”

While slurping down the soup I asked Diana, “What kind of soup is this?” “It’s the cream of chicken and the potato that Jef got.” she replied. “Not bad.” Jeffry commented, “Anymore?” I peaked in the pot to see a few dabbles of soup burnt to the bottom. I shook my head to Jef. “Alright then,” he said, “I’m one beat boy who’s going to turn in for the night.” “I’m right after you” I seconded. He and I both looked at Diana. “I’ll the dishes before I get to bed.” she said. “Ok trooper.” I replied, finding myself a soft spot on the ground to lie down on. Although I closed my eyes, I didn’t fall asleep until both Diana and Jeffry were snoring. My last thought going through my head before I before I dozed off was: I bet anyone, anything that I’ll have another dream tonight. And I was right.

The sweet face was getting farther and farther away.I didn’t want it to go. Then, in a blink of an eye, it vanished. Suddenly, I was back to the time when my long life began. Before the first ice age. Everything was tropical. I lived at the peak of the world. A bright, colorful light was playing at my face. I reached up to touch the waves of color—when suddenly my mind exploded.

My eyes popped open. More bombs were coming. I was sure of it. Every thing made sense! All the dreams I’ve been having, were telling me what’s coming. My brain was reeling. Should I warn the others? Should I overlook my theory? What should I do? I just lay there for the next 5 minutes, thinking. AAwww heck! I’ll just go with my instinct, I thought. I bounced to me feet, ignoring my throbbing legs, and gave 2 shrill whistles. My crew woke up immediately. “Alright people,” I announced “I just want you all awake when the rest of the bombs are dropped.” “What? There are more bom--”Diana cut her sentence short when the far off sound of explosions sliced through the night air. “I think we’d better get going then” Jeffry said nervously. Once again, he’s being captain obvious, I thought with a little humor. My humor evaporated though, when more bombs rang, sounding closer. Diana, sounding scared, said, “Where should we go?! Where’s safe?” Don’t ask why, but an image unexpectedly appeared in my head. A show, called the Twilight Zone, had an episode wherein a man survived a dangerous bomb because he was in a bank vault. “A bank safe!” I shouted, “We can go to one of those old money vaults in a bank!” Jeffry’s eyes went wide with thought, while Diana looked down right confused. “Perfect!” Jef said, “The thick walls and deep location is perfect to protect us!” Poor Diana still couldn’t put 2 and 2 together. “Diana we’re going to a bank vault. It will act as a bomb shelter.” I explained quickly, since more blasts were sounding. “Grab all you can carry!” Diana got the caldron, our 1 remaining water bottle, and the garden shovel. Jeffry snatched his coat, the 2 peanut butter sandwiches, and a sturdy strip of metal. All I managed to scoop up a spade, from the broken shed, and the small box of liquid matches. We started scrambling through the city, trying to remember where the old bank was. “I’m pretty sure it’s right under this rubble!” Diana called to us, pointing at a pile of waste and mud. I hauled my shovel over to the pile and started to dig, until after about 20 minutes, all I had to show for my work was a heap of mud. “This isn’t working!” I pointed out, “The bombs are going to be on top of us soon!” As to confirm my statement, an explosion erupted, this time closer than ever. I swung my shovel one last time, desperate. My heart lifted when I heard a clang of metal hitting metal. “I found it!” I screamed, “Help me find the entrance!” All three of us dug and dug and dug. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the doorway was un-dug. My friends managed to slip through but before I could, an enormous blast went off, sending me on my back. The last thing I heard was “NNNOOO!!!!” Till this day, I still have no idea who yelled that phrase, but I do know that one mili-second later, I felt a cold piece of metal pierce through me. Then blackness. I died. As blunt and heartless as it seems in this story, Addie Carter died that day. Now Tate Killo, is living a happy life in the 4th ice age of man kind. I’m actually glad my name is Tate Killo. I love living with the people who we used to consider prehistoric.

The End