THE END… (short story)

The End...

Things were getting worse -- fast! News stations from all over the country were reporting on, a light reddish color dust falling from the sky… To be honest, the color was a reddish - orange - brown.., almost like rust. And it definitely was not good for you… People, mostly workers that had to be out in it for any length of time, were reporting a slight burn to any exposed skin and head -- like a sun burn.., except the pain was coming more from the inside of your body and not the surface…

Some cities that saw this kind of toxicity coming, completely enclosing themselves in these huge very futuristic looking silicone (I think) bubbles -- very weird. But they knew once the hard-right had taken control of government and had started rolling back 100's of regulations a day… In no time at all, at least 90% of the water was undrinkable -- unusable for anything.., which made it a valuable commodity, considering we (the body) needs it to survive! And it wasn't just the water -- the air was polluted and much of nature had turned into vast wastelands…

And it wasn't just the earth that was on a collision course with its own mortality.., the people were more divided than ever -- only now, it was a class thing… That 0.01 percent, the privileged.., now held almost all the wealth and the rest of the people just fought over the scraps… Everyone knew the planet and the people would not be able to take much more.., and now with this rust colored dust falling from the sky, people could almost feel -- the end was near…

With the first signs off the atmosphere breaking up -- giving out, he didn't really remember the exact term.., in China, the deaths started to mount up quickly, that not even the ever so secretive Chinese government could cover it up. Even with globalization taking a backseat to survival of the fittest.., it would have been impossible to hide the devastation, that had taken one of the worlds largest populations.., and reduced them to nothing more than the size of a small insignificant country.

The whole world knew of the pollution problem in China -- it was already horrible… But when the the United States started breaking environmental treaties and pumping the atmosphere with all kinds of toxic shit, at such an unprecedented rate, for the sake of more profits.., they just followed suit… And within just a few years large parts of the population started to die off -- 9 tenths of their population has been wiped out by, what they are describing as a -- degeneration in specific parts of the atmosphere… THE FUCKING CHINESE ARE ON THE VERGE OF BEING EXTINCT -- like I said earlier, things went from bad to worse.., quick -- in the blink of an eye…

And once he heard about the red dust.., he knew immediately what he had to do… He was a city boy through and through, but when he was a boy, the only time he was ever on a plane, he went out to California on a business trip with his Dad, right by the famous tourist attraction Joshua Tree.., way out in the desert. While his Dad was in the bar getting drunk, he snuck out of the cheap motel room -- in search of Joshua Tree…

Remember, he was a complete city boy -- he never knew the night could get so dark… Within just a few minutes he was completely lost, out in the middle of the desert -- and it can get cold in the desert at night… As he sat there shivering, the moon his only light, trying to light a few twigs on fire with a book of matches he swiped from the bar -- things were not looking too good for him… Just as he was down to his last match, a figure appeared wearing a full bear skin -- that scarred the living shit out of him.., but he held a big tribal looking stick and had paint on his face -- it was an Indian, an old tribal leader… He wrapped him in another animal skin for warmth and as he chanted into the darkness, he was making a bonfire like you have never seen…

He could feel the heat from the massive flames that shot throughout the cold clean air.., and he could feel the ground beneath him shake from the vibration of the loud and getting louder chanting -- and then silence… The Indian took the boy (he was only 10-11 years old) closer to fire and he kneeled down and put a small amount of face paint on him… He chanted for a few seconds looked up to the stars.., and then right in the boys eyes and said -- "When the red dust comes, the end is near… You have been chosen to go on from this life to many, many more lifetimes.., do not fear the end. This is the center of the universe.., when the red dust comes, the end is near…"

He wound up spending the whole night with this tribal leader, in the middle of the desert… A ten year old boy from New York City.., and after initially almost crapping his pants because he thought he was about to be eaten by a bear, he couldn't have felt more comfortable and safe, then he did with that Indian. But he knew.., what the reports of red dust meant…

The only things he felt any attachment to were -- his dog, woof.., and the only thing his Dad ever gave him -- his old classic car… He had completely restored this beautiful machine to its original glory and even added a few little extras… He didn't want to die in a city that had a big bubble around it.., and on that same trip out west with his Dad as a boy, on the flight home when he was looking out the window of the plane, his Dad leaned over and said -- "The best times I ever had in my life, were driving across this country, just me and my dog."

The decision has been made -- he grabs his "to-go survival bag," his dog and heads west in that beauty of a car… Before the radio cut out for good, the only reports coming through were that of devastation.., fires were breaking out all over the country -- the world. As he sped down the highway trying to picture what his Dad might have seen when he was making that same trip, when he was a young man -- when the world had hope.., and the grass was still green…

Everybody knew how much he loved that car.., and as a practical joke for his birthday one year, he received a box of old 8-track tapes that contained some of the best classic rock-n-roll ever… As he drove west through what was now a decaying wasteland, heading for.., what the old Indian tribal leader called the, center of the universe.., he could see, in his minds eye -- the miles and miles of rolling hills, ripe with the signs of nature. All the beauty that had once existed revealed itself.., as the world all around him crumbled -- he just put the pedal to the metal, turned up the radio and rocked out to some killer tunes with his dog. If this was the apocalypse (and it was).., he could think of no better way to face --the end!


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