The Asteroid was hurtling straight towards Earth…
… And
I could finally feel the end near.
Vaughn
sits beside me in silence. Nona is nowhere to be seen but I know she’s near. I
can hear both of our heartbeats. Vaughn’s is like a drum in my ear while mine
is dull behind my chest. I feel relief, pressure lifting off my chest and a
sudden realization that this will all be history in an hour.
I’ve
got one hour.
“I
can’t believe it.” Vaughn’s eyes grew slightly wide, starring blankly down at
his scuffed shoes.
“What?”
“What
do you mean what?” His mop of hair
flew around his face when he turned to face me. I could feel the fear pulsing
off him.
I
shrug. “Not sure what’s so hard to believe, mate. They said it loud and clear
on the radio-“
“Shut
up, Vance.” His long fingers ran through his waves. They trembled slightly. “I
heard what they said, I just-“
“Can’t
believe it?”
“Yeah…
yeah, it can’t be true.”
My
head turned slightly to face him. This was a strange sight. Vaughn was in an
anxiety-ridden state, trembling limbs and jaw shaking with fear. I sat before
him in a cool state of mind, as if the perky lady on the radio station had
informed us of a Sunday Brunch happening this weekend instead of death in less
than hour. I guess fear does show who we really are.
Vaughn
shot up from his seat, hands still entangled within his hair. “How are you so
calm about this, Vance? We are set to be extinct in sixty minutes.”
My
blue eyes looked at him for a long moment before speaking. I was hoping they
would do the talking but it didn’t seem they were getting through to Vaughn. “Because
this isn’t breaking news,” I said bluntly. “This was set in time since the
beginning of everything. We’re only just learning of it now is all.” When
Vaughn continued to stare at me white-faced and shocked, I sighed and
continued. “This was set for you and I and Nona and everyone we know to experience.
The Earth we stand on has been moving towards this end since it formed. Vaughn,
why stress over something inevitable?”
His
mouth shut then and his eyes grew soft. Vaughn moved over to where I sat and
plopped down next to me, starring at his hands once again. He only spoke when I
cleared my throat.
“I
guess you’re right.”
We
sat in silence. Nona came and joined us from the other room where she’d been
calming herself down after hearing the news. She sat on the other side of the
Couch of Memories. I could feel them soak up within us, the flashes from the
past blinding my vision. I watched stories and moments of myself with Nona and
Vaughn. I saw my mother, my sister. I even saw Dad. I visited times of woe and
happiness, passion and dull aches. I saw life.
We
stayed side by side for sixty minutes, movies playing in our heads. I don’t
remember the crash or an End. I just saw life.
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