Welcome to The End

“An astonishing phenomenon seems to have occured this morning, worldwide. Scientists are struggling to explain why the day cycle is occuring at incredible speeds!  Whether it be a bad omen or an optical illusion, it has left everyone around the world baffled. Environmental researcher, Mia Killas has more.”

My father turned off the television, and I turned over to face him. His eyes were wide with fear, his hands gripping the remote too tight- his hands slightly shaking. The mood was mirrored throughout the small house, the stress building up amidst our panic.

We knew something the reporters wouldn’t dare to say to the public.

“How long do we have before -” I couldn’t bear to finish the sentence, my voice trembling. It was no use disbelieving what Dad had told us, we knew once the sun rose it was no practical joke. 

I stared out the window, amazed and horrified. The stars were clear, at nine in the morning, when they usually blinked away by seven.

“2 hours.” His voice was short and tense, clipped at the end. He held more anger than he would dare show in front of me. Grief and intense sorrow manifested in the heavy bags under his eyes, the profound arch in his back. Just looking at his broken resolve caused part of me to crumble, the stone that was my father had cracked. 

It was always theoretical, when online personality tests would ask us what we would do, with one day left to live. Would we spend it with friends, or family? Go out or stay home? What the tests failed to address was the all-encompassing dread that sucked the air out of our lungs and clutched at our chest. It weighed us down and fished out every negative emotion we had shoved down into ourselves, pulling it up to the surface.

Regret, anger, helplessness, all gurgled up from deep inside of me. Why hadn’t I done more with my life? Dissatisfied, frustration appeared out of nowhere. It was not fair! I was supposed to have time to live, opportunities should have bubbled up and carried me down a path into a journey of my own. I had plans to go to Oxford for scientific research and a degree, to find the person I was meant to be with and spend my life with them.

We were supposed to have a little wooden cottage down in Italy, a getaway place for when work became overwhelming. We were going to have a lovely adventure called life, ending only when we were in our 90s and had reaped the fruits of existence.

What would I do now? I had less than two hours before my death, a fact I still struggled to fully understand. It all occurred so quickly, and now the days blurred together. Literally.

I supposed on the last day of my life - of everybody's lives - I would have to live as much as possible. I had to shove away the overwhelming emotions, for they would only intensify the longer I wasted time. 

“I’m going to Layla’s.” I announced. “Right now.”

Mother gave me a grim smile, and Father just nodded ever so slightly. I practically dashed out the door, fishing out my bike from the back of the garage with no regard for caution. Once it was out, I hopped on and started pedalling down the street.

The wind blew in my face, and the unusually hot rising sun shone on the pavement under me, though I had seen the stars just minutes before. No longer wallowing in sorrow, I was determined to make my last day count. 

I pedalled until my legs were sore from exhaustion, miles away from the house. However, my destination was not Layla’s. Instead, it was the field. 

A large expanse of unmanaged cow grass lay before me, reaching out towards the sun. Morning dewdrops still laced the long blades, however I cared not for the dampness as I sat in the pasture. 

I ran my fingers over the natural green, and underneath the growth was a single purple flower. I pulled away the bunches of grass to get a better look, struggling to keep them contained as they slipped through my fingers. The flower appeared to be a small lily, one in new bloom. 

I did not pick it, instead I let it be. An underlying disappointment coursed through me, running through my thoughts subconsciously. The whole world was ending, not just mine. The beautiful nature on earth would quickly be shrivelled up by the dry sun.

The grass would become quickly dehydrated, turning brown starting at the tips and making its way down to the root. The flower would close up into a small bulb, and recede from direct sunlight completely.

People would hide in their houses, running their air conditioner in overtime. It would not be long until the protective technology crumbled under the full force of the heat.

We had less than an hour, until we spun too close to the sun. The green grass would shrivel up, the intense heat would kill every human on the planet. I felt myself sweating, in another part of my consciousness. I felt separated from myself, one with the grass and the soil and the trees. Nature. 

The bees were buzzing, I listened to the birds chirp in the background. Distant whirrs of cars passing in the street were background noise to the orchestra that was nature.

It was expected that life would end somehow. So very suddenly, an undiscovered force sent earth catapulting towards the sun. Spiralling in the opposite direction - we would meet our end once we got close enough to the powerful ball of fire. 

Humanity was not quick enough to realize what was coming, to stop our impending doom.

I groggily checked my watch, 11:15. By my father’s calculations, we had 10 minutes left. 9. 8. 7.

Eventually I stopped checking it, too tired and weighed down by the immense heat, even though I stared up at the stars. 

I need to get inside. It’s too hot.

Deliria has become my friend. My mouth is parched, I can’t find the energy to move.

I am not afraid.

Welcome to the end.