The Comet By J.R. Gardner
"Now go!” A loud, yet soft voice yelled....I’d woken up from a bad dream I cannot seem to remember. I found myself lying in the grass of a field not too far from my home around 8:30pm. I remembered I was collecting sticks for the fireplace back home. I recollected myself and my bags and walked back home. I returned to an argument between my mother and father.
“He is not joining those fools in the military!” My mother screamed towards him.
“The boy is 15! He’s old enough to make his own decisions and follow through with them,” He told her.
They finally noticed me standing in the doorway as tears started to form in my eyes. Looking at me speechless, my mother came towards me and leaned in to hug me.
“Get away from me!” I yelled, as the tears began to flow down my face.
I threw down the bags and sticks and ran outside towards the town streets. Unintentionally, I ran into a childhood friend, Nick. He was sitting on the ground reading a peculiar book I’d never seen.
“What’s that there?” I asked him
“Oh! Junior, you’re not gonna believe this. My uncle wrote this book about the world outside of the towers,” he told me.
“You’re gonna get arrested for having that! You know we aren’t allowed knowledge of what’s outside of those towers.”
Hearing a large amount of footsteps coming towards us, I grabbed the book, tore out a few pages to store in my pockets, and threw it into the canal nearby. It was the local military.
“What are you boys doing out at a time like this?” One of the soldiers asked.
“What do you mean sir?” We said in unison.
“We’ve received news from the royal family to evacuate all residents of this area to the inner gate. He’s had a vision of something disastrous happening today with that comet supposedly showing up in a few moments.” He told us.
The comet in question showed itself in the night sky and was beautiful.
It’d split in two, then four. I’d never seen a comet before, so this was an enticing experience. I looked back at the soldier and told him that we would be fine. I looked back up and there it was. A small chunk of the comet coming down right towards our town.
*BWOOM!*
Screams crowded the air and the blast wave had hit us. The horror of people and dismembered body parts flying throughout the air with the strong wave of sharp wind put me into a shock. My body began to freeze, I looked at Nick and he was staring at the soldiers who’d be wiped away with the blast wave into the canal. The water began to turn red. My brain was dysfunctional, and my nerves were frozen. The constant memory of my family’s argument before I left ran through my mind. I grabbed Nick from his shock and ran back to my street only to see my house destroyed.
“Mom! Mom!” I’d yelled out towards the rubble.
“I’m here!” A faint voice said in the pile of wood remains about 10 feet in front of me.
We both reached and grabbed the wood rubble and threw it to the side and there she was. Crushed under a wood pillar, my mom laid there in the destroyed kitchen I’d now recognized. We tried to pull the pillar up, but it was too heavy. Nick looked up at the sky seeing another chunk coming down.
“We gotta go man, I don’t wanna die!” He told me.
“He’s right, leave me here. Live a long life, and yes, you can join the military. Now go!” She urged.
We found the final bullet train out of town, leaving my mom behind and I took one last look back, remembering our last, short argument, vastly regretting it.
“He is not joining those fools in the military!” My mother screamed towards him.
“The boy is 15! He’s old enough to make his own decisions and follow through with them,” He told her.
They finally noticed me standing in the doorway as tears started to form in my eyes. Looking at me speechless, my mother came towards me and leaned in to hug me.
“Get away from me!” I yelled, as the tears began to flow down my face.
I threw down the bags and sticks and ran outside towards the town streets. Unintentionally, I ran into a childhood friend, Nick. He was sitting on the ground reading a peculiar book I’d never seen.
“What’s that there?” I asked him
“Oh! Junior, you’re not gonna believe this. My uncle wrote this book about the world outside of the towers,” he told me.
“You’re gonna get arrested for having that! You know we aren’t allowed knowledge of what’s outside of those towers.”
Hearing a large amount of footsteps coming towards us, I grabbed the book, tore out a few pages to store in my pockets, and threw it into the canal nearby. It was the local military.
“What are you boys doing out at a time like this?” One of the soldiers asked.
“What do you mean sir?” We said in unison.
“We’ve received news from the royal family to evacuate all residents of this area to the inner gate. He’s had a vision of something disastrous happening today with that comet supposedly showing up in a few moments.” He told us.
The comet in question showed itself in the night sky and was beautiful.
It’d split in two, then four. I’d never seen a comet before, so this was an enticing experience. I looked back at the soldier and told him that we would be fine. I looked back up and there it was. A small chunk of the comet coming down right towards our town.
*BWOOM!*
Screams crowded the air and the blast wave had hit us. The horror of people and dismembered body parts flying throughout the air with the strong wave of sharp wind put me into a shock. My body began to freeze, I looked at Nick and he was staring at the soldiers who’d be wiped away with the blast wave into the canal. The water began to turn red. My brain was dysfunctional, and my nerves were frozen. The constant memory of my family’s argument before I left ran through my mind. I grabbed Nick from his shock and ran back to my street only to see my house destroyed.
“Mom! Mom!” I’d yelled out towards the rubble.
“I’m here!” A faint voice said in the pile of wood remains about 10 feet in front of me.
We both reached and grabbed the wood rubble and threw it to the side and there she was. Crushed under a wood pillar, my mom laid there in the destroyed kitchen I’d now recognized. We tried to pull the pillar up, but it was too heavy. Nick looked up at the sky seeing another chunk coming down.
“We gotta go man, I don’t wanna die!” He told me.
“He’s right, leave me here. Live a long life, and yes, you can join the military. Now go!” She urged.
We found the final bullet train out of town, leaving my mom behind and I took one last look back, remembering our last, short argument, vastly regretting it.