clutching the damp soil beneath her, she found a moment to appreciate the planet's warmth amidst the events raveling in the sky. moisture blinded her eyes as the gravity of her predicament weighed on her.
officials announced one hundred days before the fall of the meteorite shower headed for her planet; that equated to about twenty five hours earth time.
100 moons until arrival.
the free falling boulders painted nearly half of the sky in scarlet streaks. she could practically kiss their rocky tails with how close they were, sunbathing in their uv debris. she welcomed them.
hours passed, marked by the symphony of droning alarms that urged the public to evacuate or take shelter. sure, she could flee along with most of the city to the underprepared colony, only to fight amongst her neighbors for less than adequate supplies. or she could take shelter underground, which would inevitably lead to the same outcome. but nothing would protect her from the aftermath of the shower.
she couldn't bring herself to pry a can of beans out of her former middle school teacher's hand or drink the last sips of fresh water as her local grocery store clerk watched. she felt no need to compete with other diabetics for the last vials of insulin. nor would she bother performing fake sign language to communicate her needs to the privileged folk who only spoke the common tongue. none of it suited her. even at that moment, as she coughed out her lungs, it didn't occur to her to take a hit of oxygen before offering it to the bodega cat down the block.
there was simply no place for her in a post-apocalyptic world. she acknowledged that many moons ago.
so she sat at the hill with all of the other (in)sane people who couldn't leave a home that was never made for them. hundreds sat, scattered across the grassy park, each of them with front row tickets to their own cleansing.
eventually, the air shifted as she and the outliers witnessed the final moon crossing the horizon. the sky whirled, a high pitched screech penetrating the atmosphere. her eyes were stunned by the elaborate light show produced by the alien rocks. she accepted her fate, her heart erupting as she allowed the planet's embrace to engulf her in its softness.
she didn't feel an impact or hear a sound – only a flash that was just as dark as it was bright.
officials announced one hundred days before the fall of the meteorite shower headed for her planet; that equated to about twenty five hours earth time.
100 moons until arrival.
the free falling boulders painted nearly half of the sky in scarlet streaks. she could practically kiss their rocky tails with how close they were, sunbathing in their uv debris. she welcomed them.
hours passed, marked by the symphony of droning alarms that urged the public to evacuate or take shelter. sure, she could flee along with most of the city to the underprepared colony, only to fight amongst her neighbors for less than adequate supplies. or she could take shelter underground, which would inevitably lead to the same outcome. but nothing would protect her from the aftermath of the shower.
she couldn't bring herself to pry a can of beans out of her former middle school teacher's hand or drink the last sips of fresh water as her local grocery store clerk watched. she felt no need to compete with other diabetics for the last vials of insulin. nor would she bother performing fake sign language to communicate her needs to the privileged folk who only spoke the common tongue. none of it suited her. even at that moment, as she coughed out her lungs, it didn't occur to her to take a hit of oxygen before offering it to the bodega cat down the block.
there was simply no place for her in a post-apocalyptic world. she acknowledged that many moons ago.
so she sat at the hill with all of the other (in)sane people who couldn't leave a home that was never made for them. hundreds sat, scattered across the grassy park, each of them with front row tickets to their own cleansing.
eventually, the air shifted as she and the outliers witnessed the final moon crossing the horizon. the sky whirled, a high pitched screech penetrating the atmosphere. her eyes were stunned by the elaborate light show produced by the alien rocks. she accepted her fate, her heart erupting as she allowed the planet's embrace to engulf her in its softness.
she didn't feel an impact or hear a sound – only a flash that was just as dark as it was bright.