Wind sang through the cottage in the same old tune, only this time it was both familiar and foreboding. The waves seemed to whisper secretively, and the candles guttered on the sills. No one spoke for a long time, but eventually the silence was too much.
“How long are we supposed to wait?” I hissed.
We had been in the basement for three days. The world was supposed to end last week. Yet here we are. Waiting to no longer exist. However, the grumble rumbling in my stomach made it very clear that at least I wasn’t dead.
Terrance lifted his head off the threadbare couch. “Have you tried the radio?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes at him. He had been drunk for the last 72 hours. Unaware that the power went out as soon as the weather took a turn. The worst was that the comet was supposed to crash into the earth. Tidal waves would devour the coast, and volcanoes could erupt, covering the rest of the world in ash. The best-case scenario would be if the earth was knocked off course, and we would have a new normal. Only facemask wouldn’t do us any good.
But since I was breathing and starving, I’m guessing the earth shifted. Or at least that is what I’m hoping that was. Because I don’t remember the last time I felt an earthquake in South Carolina. It was probably during my grandma’s life that the earth shook.
I wonder if this is how the dinosaurs felt? Watching a ball of fire fall from the sky, trying to figure out if they would live or die. Maybe this killed the neanderthals, and the homosapiens were stronger. It’s strange how technology has advanced and yet history is still a mystery. Sad that even with all the technology at our fingertips, we aren’t much different from our prehistoric neighbors.
“Lily!” Terrance called out to me. “Have you tried the radio?”
I could shake the man. “Of course I have.” I bit at him.
He didn’t believe me because no sooner did the words come out of my mouth was he was up and staggering to the bookshelf filled with the end of the world supplies. He cranked the handle and static filled the room.
I folded my arms over my chest. “See, nothing.”
Terrance ignored me and scanned the channels. The crackling was never ending. Until he flipped from FM to AM. That’s when the radio came to life. The first channel had people calling out in Spanish. The next was Portuguese, followed by Creole. It took a few more scans before he found someone talking in English.
“Terrance stop!” I shouted at my husband.
The radio called out “Mayday. Mayday.”
“What are we at sea?” He almost changed the channel before I hit him in the head with a pillow. “Okay, I’ll sit down.”
I decided I had enough. If something out there was going to kill me, I’d rather not be dealing with my husband while hangry. He might survive better if I wasn’t locked in the same room as him.
As I ascended the stairs, Terrance grabbed my hand.
“Lily, don’t go. I can’t bear to lose you.” His voice shook.
“T,” I smiled. “If I don’t find anything to eat, you won’t be losing me. But I’ll lose you.”
He gasped, drawing his hand back in pretend horror. “Be gone, my feisty mistress of doom.”
I cautiously opened the door, not sure what to expect. Would the air be toxic? Would there be looters who made themselves at home thinking the house was empty? But I wasn’t ready with what I came face to face with.
Clear blue and purple skies filled my picture frame window in the front of the cabin. The glass was shattered and scattered about. But it didn’t look like looters. Birds sang louder than I have ever heard before. And a crystal rainbow reached across the horizon. Only it was beneath the clouds. Part of me wondered if it actually touched the ground.
I didn’t find humans in my home. Just squirrels who built a nest in my living room. The end of the world has come and gone and we still lived. All my cabinets were filled with food and I opened my refrigerator and it was still cold. I emptied the fruit and took the meat from the freezer.
“Terrance, my love,” I sang sweetly. “I need you.”
“Coming,” his voice rang from the basement.
As I pulled food onto a tray to bring out to the grill I heard Terrance come into the kitchen. When I turned to face him stopped. Fluttering near his head was a small winged creature.
“What? Do I have a droll on my face?” He asked, rubbing his scruffy beard.
“I think there’s a fairy next to you.” I said quietly.