by M. R. Lang
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\n\u201cSo\u2026 what do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nThe recent graduates from Eastly High School started to gather at the park hours ago.\u00a0 It was decided that tonight shall be the party to end all parties.\u00a0 Because, not only is today the last of high school, it is the last day.\u00a0 By the time the party\u2019s over, there will be no more parties.\u00a0 Whether or not they all know, nobody really cares.\u00a0 The two to survive the night, we shall call, Adam and Eve.<\/p>\n
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\nEve stops dancing on the edge of the sidewalk for a moment to think. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cRemembered\u2026 loved\u2026 the last one standing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She takes another moment to consider what she\u2019d said.\u00a0 She closes her eyes and raises her arms in victory.<\/p>\n
Adam keeps staring at the page taped inside the store\u2019s window: \u201cHELP US WELCOME REBECCA BACK TO OUR FAMILY 6\/24.\u201d\u00a0 His eyes stay on the note as he turns his face towards Eve.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u00a0 Rebecca\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t know.\u00a0 But I feel reassured knowing she\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n
A car blows by Eve going at least 50 and the two almost meet in a very awkward way.\u00a0 She shuts her eyes lightly and savors the wind.\u00a0 Adam leans into a light pole and watches with a smile.<\/p>\n
Adam looks as the bank\u2019s digital thermometer turns into its digital clock. \u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re going to be late.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go.\u00a0 We\u2019ll miss the good freaks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stopping her twirls, Eve walks backwards to the car outside the pharmacy, and leans the back of her head on the roof.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turns to leave, knowing she\u2019ll be right behind him soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the end of the world.\u00a0 Of course, you\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nSara transferred to the school a few months ago.\u00a0 Her “use your rules to go fuck yourself” attitude won over classmates who thought she was \u201cnu-punk\u201d which meant something to whoever said it first.\u00a0 In reality, Sara\u2019s just a punk.\u00a0 She goes to the parties because there\u2019s always booze and usually drugs.\u00a0 She gets them free.\u00a0 When she doesn\u2019t thank you for them that means you\u2019re cool.<\/p>\n
Eve pulls on Adam\u2019s sleeve, as if that\u2019s the on switch for his ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are we walking towards Sara?\u00a0 She hates everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI like people who hate everyone.\u00a0 Very relatable.\u00a0 Good liars, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eve goes to the opposite side of the picnic table Sara\u2019s sitting on and grabs one of the drinks Sara didn\u2019t thank anyone for.<\/p>\n
Sara mostly ignores Eve, but turns a cocked eye towards Adam.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you guys doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAvoiding responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam nods to a wristband on Sara\u2019s left arm.\u00a0 If nothing else, accessories tend to bring attention.\u00a0 Sara wasn\u2019t one for attention, really.\u00a0 Then again, someone like Sara knows how to cut one\u2019s wrists properly.\u00a0 A horizontal cut along one wrist must be Sara\u2019s way of saying, “oh yeah?!”\u00a0 Whatever the answer is to that questions is, it isn\u2019t “yeah!”<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to\u2026 shave\u2026 my watch\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Eve stands and turns. Grabbing Adam\u2019s jacket, she walks them off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, better luck next time.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nWhen they woke up yesterday, they both knew.\u00a0 The world would end and whatever comes after would begin.\u00a0 Selected by God, Fate, sheer force of will\u2026 they don\u2019t take the time to consider it.\u00a0 Why the world ends, how it will end, why they\u2019ll survive\u2026 doesn\u2019t seem to matter.\u00a0 Even if the flow happens to be in the molten steel coming from the skyscrapers that used to live in Main City up north, go with it.\u00a0 Adam can\u2019t stop his nose from whistling when he breathes too hard.\u00a0 Eve can\u2019t even stop the ends of her hair from curling up when it gets too long.\u00a0 The end of the world is over their heads.\u00a0 The world will end, and they will watch.<\/p>\n
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\nAlan and James had taken down the Christmas lights from one of the gazeboes in the park, and are now replacing them with 9-volt batteries and many small strings of wire.<\/p>\n
Eve tiptoes up on the outside of the gazebo and gets her finger up close to a battery to see how hot it is.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019d all the batteries come from?\u201d<\/p>\n
James kicks the box full of 9-volts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmoke detectors.\u00a0 Snagged on our way here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam chuckles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess the chance that the fire finally starts the night two toasters steal the detector batteries are slim.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEh,\u201d Alan scoffs.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s my stance that if a fire starts, the race needs to remember \u2018fire bad\u2019 without the piercing beep noises.\u00a0 Otherwise, Baby Darwin cries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eve touches a battery and jumps back a little.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, uh\u2026 why?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIs pretty,\u201d Alan moans.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever thought you two would be much for aesthetics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam offers Eve his cup of what tastes like paint thinner and sadness to cool off her finger.\u00a0 She dunks her finger in the cup and takes a swig.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing if it can get hot enough to actually start a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
James puts a battery to his tongue to see if it\u2019s alive enough to use.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an expression of anger, irony, and boredom.\u00a0 Mostly boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s mostly irony.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam watches Eve\u2019s face as she tries to figure out what she just drank. \u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIrony and 9-Volts. Should totally be a cover band.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElectronica covers of Sixties folk songs.\u00a0 We are Irony and 9-Volts,\u201d she sneers with a rock sign, the now empty cup hanging from her singed finger.<\/p>\n
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\nThey didn\u2019t bother with graduation or the last day of school.\u00a0 Anyone else who survives won\u2019t care if you have a diploma.\u00a0 They\u2019ll just be happy if you\u2019ll share your water or aren\u2019t a zombie foraging for brain meats.\u00a0 They spent the last two days of recorded history together.\u00a0 Watching their favorite movies and shows in case it\u2019s the last chance.\u00a0 Talking about the advantages of living in a post-apocalyptic world.\u00a0 Such as the destruction of Wal-Marts, Starbucks, and L.A.\u00a0 No more ring-tones, no more spam, all the Twinkies that will never grow old.\u00a0 Survivor: Earth.\u00a0 There were jokes about that Twilight Zone episode where that guy\u2019s glasses broke.<\/p>\n
The scariest thing about the end of the world is whether or not you and your loved ones will survive.\u00a0 Adam and Eve have nothing to be afraid of.<\/p>\n
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\nAmy is both the only student this year to have a parent in World War II and to graduate at sixteen.\u00a0 Seeing her father now makes her think of all the kids to be born to old, decrepit couples living and having sex far, far beyond their years thanks to modern medicine.\u00a0 Amy thinks modern medicine should cure young, poor people before making rich, old people live despite their decaying innards.\u00a0 She also drinks heavily.<\/p>\n
Jay pierced his left eyebrow at the start of freshman year.\u00a0 People say he did it to make people think he was punkrock.\u00a0 Later that year, he started walking around school with a cigarette behind his ear around teachers.\u00a0 People say he did it so people would think he didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 Sophomore year, Jay got a tattoo of a lion pouncing on his right wrist.\u00a0 People say he did it so people would say he\u2019s tough. For a time, he wore a beaded dog collar.\u00a0 For another time, he\u2019d speak with a fake, Madonna-English accent.\u00a0 People never say that Jay likes to control what people think about him, but if they did, they\u2019d finally be right.<\/p>\n
Alison was a cancer survivor by the age of eleven.\u00a0 It was touted as a miracle and the doctors all told her she was very lucky.\u00a0 Every time she\u2019s screwed up since then, her parents yell and scream about how she\u2019s living her second chance, and about how most people aren\u2019t so lucky.\u00a0 After cooling down, her parents always try to make up for yelling with a gift, and her friends all tell her how lucky she is.\u00a0 Alison spends a lot of her time on Internet journals and forums trying to console terminal patients.\u00a0 She watches specials on TV about good people who are dying from illness.\u00a0 For the last seven years, Alison has never once felt lucky.\u00a0 Every breath makes her feel guilty for surviving.<\/p>\n
Ryan thinks about friends who died when he wasn\u2019t around.\u00a0 Steven cries himself to sleep thinking about the horrible people he knows who will all succeed him.\u00a0 Jamie signed her name with hearts until her boyfriend betrayed her with a word.<\/p>\n
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\nStanding across the street from the park, Adam and Eve watch their former classmates and co-inhabitors of planet Earth.\u00a0 They dance, they drink, they be merry despite themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod,\u201d she sighs.\u00a0 \u201cThey all look so happy.\u00a0 I hope we won\u2019t have to bury them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t worry about it. We\u2019re about to inherit all the Febreze in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam produces a small flask from his jacket, and fills Eve\u2019s little cup back up.<\/p>\n
Eve coughs out a little laugh, trying not to cry.<\/p>\n
\u201cToast?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s to the end of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
They drink and squeeze in close.<\/p>\n
The car that almost hit Eve earlier flies by them and the park, seemingly going nowhere.\u00a0 The car\u2019s stereo pumps out the bass that\u2019s probably from a song, but no one can tell for sure.\u00a0 The car\u2019s left headlight goes out as it hits a mailbox up on a curb.\u00a0 The car\u2019s driver suddenly crashes from his amphetamine high.\u00a0 The driver\u2019s car suddenly crashes from the driver\u2019s amphetamine crash.\u00a0 Neither survive the night.\u00a0 Somewhere, a gazebo burns.\u00a0 Really, it signifies nothing.<\/p>\n
Adam looks at Eve.\u00a0 Eve looks at Adam.\u00a0 The fires start.\u00a0 The world comes to an end.<\/p>\n
<\/br> by M. R. Lang \u201cSo\u2026 what do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d *** The recent graduates from Eastly High School started to gather at the park hours ago.\u00a0 It was decided that tonight shall be the party … Continue reading
\nOf course, the end of the world isn’t necessarily the end of the story…
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\nM. R. LANG<\/strong> is the leading cause of death among the elderly and infirm. He is not a Commonwealth. His hobbies include the destruction of all you hold dear, and he is a fan of puppies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"