The World After

A Perculiar Thought

As I round the corner of what was once a popular nightclub, a thought pops into my head.

"When was the last time I interacted with another person?"

Not through the darkened windows of passing cars, or people in school but a person I knew well and cared about. Somehow the thought had never come to me before. I guess I'd have to say three years ago, when mom died.

There came a time when mom disappeared, just like dad. I was fifteen by this point and was beginning to understand what was happening. During that time I mostly stayed with friends of my parents. One day I received a call regarding my mom and was driven to this facility on the outskirts of town. I wasn't really sure what it was used for. But it had been months I'd seen mom, and years since I'd seen dad.

The facility was large and had strange symbols all over the place. The people there all had big suits on and had me put on one of those suits as well. I asked about my mom and thats when they showed me. Inside of a sealed area was my mother, looking very very sick. They let me inside the area for five minutes so I could say goodbye. It was hard to look at her, but I had to. I should've been more sad than I was, but after being abandoned without a word twice by my own parents, this had almost felt natural to me.

Mom wasn't afraid, she seemed happy actually. Happy that she could see me one more time before she died. She told me to be strong, and that I'd need to be for what was coming next.

I left the facility and I can only assume that shortly after I left, mom passed.

I continued my schooling and graduated. I feel like my time in school was wasted. I'd never made any friends and everything went to hell before I could continue my work in college.

I finished my nightly stroll and head back into the place I call home. It's the last place that reminds me of any happy memories. It's got a regular old name just like any other place but I've got a special name for it.

Dan's