Yesterday had started like any other day with unsuspecting humans gathering around their lives as if tomorrow was promised. Many tomorrows and next weeks had already been plotted out. Birthdays and anniversaries anticipated with the assurance that things would come around as they always did. Not much thought was given to the fact that the sky was unusually dark and the air was thick and smelled like sulfur. Easily explained away as a chemical spill or a faraway fire being fought by brave firemen, of course what else could it be. Not the earth gasping and spitting out the cancerous toxins that it could no longer absorb or flush down the river or bury under ground. Nothing to worry about and that Global Warming business was nothing but some hogwash rhetoric conceived from the minds of bored tree-hugging fanatics. They all needed to be gathered up and dumped in a vat of tar and feathered for causing such a raucous. This was earth we were talking about after all, it had been around forever, we had at least a million more years to have to deal with this doom and gloom nonsense and by then we’d all be dead anyway. People could be so dramatic. If her ignorant belief had been true, then she had lived a million years in a day and Arna was very much alive to witness the tragedy of her utter stupidity. On wobbly legs she stood amidst what was left of earth, smoke rising up silently telling her, “I told you so!” Off in the distance she saw Karma’s silhouette, pointing her long skinny finger toward heaven, her laugh piercing the silence that was even thicker than the air Arna was attempting to breathe. She didn’t even acknowledge her presence, didn’t care that she was staring at her through teary bloodshot eyes. Knowing she’d be dead soon just like the others, Karma turned her back and disappeared into the horizon. Arna suspected that it would be too much to hope that this was all just a dream sequence from some overacted television drama. Nope, this wasn’t the Ewing’s Ranch and JR was lying somewhere amongst the others. Sadder still, no one was yelling cut from the distance. This was it; this was where the buck had stopped with a screeching halt.
As she stood knee deep in the rotting piles of flesh, she suddenly didn’t know whether to scream or laugh hysterically. Finally, she was the “It” girl, the most beautiful woman in the world, the undisputed most envied beauty on the planet. All of her hours spent weekly at the gym, all the rabbit food she’d consumed and all the money she’d spent on blocking Father Time from setting up camp on her face, had paid off. All those young, skinny girls who’d looked at her with eyes crossed with pity and arrogance now had nothing to say. Who’s laughing now? As she continued to look around her at the blackened bodies baked to a crisp lying useless on the street, she felt a deep twinge in her gut that made her nauseous, wiping a tear that had fallen on her cheek, realized she still envied them. She was still on the outside looking in, the only one not invited to the party. Things hadn’t changed and she hadn’t received the memo that yesterday was the last day; death had become the ultimate pink slip. Wasn’t that just like her life, Arna thought, always the last to know the juicy details, the latest gossip and now the last to die? She wandered what the end would be like for her? Did these people feel pain or was it quick and painless? It was hard to breathe and Arna began to get a new understanding of eternity as she inhaled the thick black crud. Maybe she was already dead, lying among all the others in the middle of Main Street. If she kept walking, maybe she’d run into her own body and this was some sort of out of body experience. Was everybody else watching the same morbid nightmare?
Suddenly, up ahead about 100 yards, Arna saw a small building, completely intact. It had been a little mom and pop diner just yesterday. How strange, it seemed totally unaffected by the black storm that had rained down upon earth almost 24 hours ago. Its bright red roof stood out among the black and gray background. Arna found strength from somewhere and began running; jumping and tripping over bodies praying that she hadn’t gone completely mad. Stopping within arm's reach of the front door she struggled to catch her breath, it was real, it was beautiful! Vibrant color in the midst of blacks and grays. Her hands began to shake and slowly she placed her hand on the door, afraid that her touch would prove this all to be some cruel joke, one last laugh at her expense.
As she stood knee deep in the rotting piles of flesh, she suddenly didn’t know whether to scream or laugh hysterically. Finally, she was the “It” girl, the most beautiful woman in the world, the undisputed most envied beauty on the planet. All of her hours spent weekly at the gym, all the rabbit food she’d consumed and all the money she’d spent on blocking Father Time from setting up camp on her face, had paid off. All those young, skinny girls who’d looked at her with eyes crossed with pity and arrogance now had nothing to say. Who’s laughing now? As she continued to look around her at the blackened bodies baked to a crisp lying useless on the street, she felt a deep twinge in her gut that made her nauseous, wiping a tear that had fallen on her cheek, realized she still envied them. She was still on the outside looking in, the only one not invited to the party. Things hadn’t changed and she hadn’t received the memo that yesterday was the last day; death had become the ultimate pink slip. Wasn’t that just like her life, Arna thought, always the last to know the juicy details, the latest gossip and now the last to die? She wandered what the end would be like for her? Did these people feel pain or was it quick and painless? It was hard to breathe and Arna began to get a new understanding of eternity as she inhaled the thick black crud. Maybe she was already dead, lying among all the others in the middle of Main Street. If she kept walking, maybe she’d run into her own body and this was some sort of out of body experience. Was everybody else watching the same morbid nightmare?
Suddenly, up ahead about 100 yards, Arna saw a small building, completely intact. It had been a little mom and pop diner just yesterday. How strange, it seemed totally unaffected by the black storm that had rained down upon earth almost 24 hours ago. Its bright red roof stood out among the black and gray background. Arna found strength from somewhere and began running; jumping and tripping over bodies praying that she hadn’t gone completely mad. Stopping within arm's reach of the front door she struggled to catch her breath, it was real, it was beautiful! Vibrant color in the midst of blacks and grays. Her hands began to shake and slowly she placed her hand on the door, afraid that her touch would prove this all to be some cruel joke, one last laugh at her expense.
The door was unlocked, of course, what did she think, that mom or pop would have run from the kitchen to lock it just before keeling over and dying in the corner booth? Pushing the door open and peering inside she suddenly realized that she could breathe and the air was clean and fresh inside the diner. What startled her the most was that it was filled with afternoon diners, ordering burgers and fries, malts and sodas oblivious to the state of affairs outside.
"Welcome to Selma's, let me show you to a table."
To be continued...
