The End

The end of the world was coming. Actually, it was in progress, and it was chasing me.

I was in my car, speeding down the freeway, trying to outrun a wall of voluminous clouds. It pursued, close behind, rolling over the asphalt and gaining speed. The opaque, billowy clouds, chalk white with flashes of silvery lightning, swallowed everything in its path. I was on the phone with my mom, describing what I was seeing.

“No, there’s no sign of it. It’s not on this side of the country yet,” she said, uncharacteristically calm.

“It figures California would get hit first,” I said, picturing her looking out the kitchen window and up at the sky. I watched the clouds in my rearview. “Wow! There are flashes of color now! Yellow, pink, blue, green, purple! It’s really quite beautiful! Spectacular, even!”

A jolt of anxiety tore through my chest as the clouds enveloped the back of my car. Foot on the gas pedal, I pressed it to the floor, clenching the steering wheel, my breaths shuddered with excitement. It’s happening. It’s really happening. This is it. I’m going to die. It’ll all be over in a minute. Tears flooded my eyes and spilled onto my cheeks. I was scared, not of dying but of how. At the sight of it, I was more curious and exhilarated than anything. I didn’t think the end of the world would be so…vibrant. Hollywood got it all wrong, I guess.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar filled the interior of my car as the clouds consumed me like an ocean wave. “It’s got me, Mom! This is it! I love you,” I yelled to the phone in my hand. I shut my eyes, trying to fight the welling panic as I waited for whatever was going to happen…happened. The roar grew louder. I felt an outside pressure evenly grip my entire body and braced for the pain and violence. There was neither.

The resonating rumble began to dissipate, and I opened my eyes. My car was gone, and as far as I could see, so was the world as I knew it. No people. No buildings. No trees. No animals. No sounds. I was alone and weightless, suspended in a hollow pocket within the clouds. There was no wind against my skin, but I could feel my body gently propelling forward through endless space and time.

My eyes fixed on a golden light in the distance as more colors pulsed within the clouds all around me like silent fireworks. Yellow, violet, teal, orange, blue, crimson. I marveled over the colorful display, no longer scared but still curious and excited. As the golden light grew near, there was warmth in its radiance that released a soothing hum that, when it reached my ears, filled me with indescribable joy and love.      

“I don’t know if you can hear me, Mom,” I yelled once I realized I still had my phone in my hand. “I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s glorious!”