The Apocalypse Of A Man

PS: Edited by our Literary Editor Kayleen Calicdan in SIDHI (UP School of Economics Newsletter)

A dog barks.

He stands up. Awaken. Alerted. He looks for his slippers and hurriedly puts on his shirt and pants. There’s no time to lose. He runs through falling ceilings covered with fire. Then, toasted children. Shit. Why now? He continues to run. He never stops. Stopping was not an option.

A wolf howls from afar.

Damn it. Why is it cold suddenly? Where am I? He stood up again for the second time and scans his surroundings. He found himself in a forest. He walks along a path that ended in a clean, serene lake. He looks at the waters and sees the reflection of the sky.

Meteorites falling on Earth. He never thought much about it during his childhood days. He thought meteorites were nonexistent, something to satisfy the call of imagination. He just stood there, counting the gigantic curses God has sent to mankind. One, two, three, ... He never stops counting --- he doesn’t dare to.

He watches the meteorites fall. A patch of light shines in the sky as each one falls. He jumps in delight. He ran towards the direction of unknown light. He never stops until he reached it. Is this what you call ‘happiness’? Fire. There’s fire everywhere he goes. He gallops like a horse, laughs like a drunk. He has never been this happy since she was gone. He jumps, laughs, gallops. He never stops. He doesn’t dare to.

Now I can feel warmth. This is weird. Am I not happy?

A rock from nowhere hit him. He is down and his mind is in parallel with his heart. At that moment, he feels a different kind of warmth. It’s from something I knew. Or is it someone? He falls to the ground flat on his back. I can feel her now. Her breath. Her lips. Her skin. All of her, I can feel them. Then he cries. He has never cried since she was gone. He can taste his own tears; the warmth of drops drenches his skin. I can’t take it anymore. I miss her. He continues to cry. He never stops. He can do nothing about it.

I miss her. I am definitely missing her. Where is she? I need her now. I need her soul. I need her warmth.

Without second thought, he jumps into a pool of fire.

Now, I can feel you, my love.