"What to do When the Asteroid Comes” by Andrew Southern
The asteroid was hurling toward Earth. Every small, insignificant person looked up at the sky or at the news and knew the end was near. The countdown to extermination rang through the air like wedding bells in a church. They had succumbed to the unfortunate result of time. An asteroid. Some took a moment to reflect on the countless times throughout their short lives that the end was thought to be near. There was the nuclear war scare of 2020, the flooding crisis of '35 and (of course) the Third World War. All, however, had been false scares, if you will. All had been benign compared to this giant, hurling horror moving toward Earth at an alarming rate. They had taken solace in the fact that this was truly, undeniably the end. No more false scares. They were no longer afraid. The looting stopped soon after the announcement. All that was left was to decide how one would spend their final moments. How will they celebrate their lives?
For Johnny Segal, an accountant from Manhattan, deciding how he would spend his final moments was simple. You see, Johnny Segal was somewhat of a paranoid individual. He feared just about everything that may eventually pose a threat: Bees, potholes, even angry ex girlfriends. So, as a result, he had meticulously planned out how he would enjoy his final moments should Armageddon arrive. He thought through every moment of his life to a T, and how it ended was going to be no different. The moment it was announced that the collective governments' of the world had failed to neutralize the threat, Johnny gathered his “last day kit” (as he called it) from the largest drawer in his work desk and made his way briskly from his work office on the 55th floor of a Manhattan high rise to his favorite place in the world: his home office. A surprising spot to adore in the sort of way Johnny adored it; usually this sort of adoration was reserved for grand parks or great cities or even monuments. Johnny Segal, however, was happy with the smallest of things. He ran through the streets of a now manic Manhattan and finally arrived at home. Johnny locked the door behind him and arrived in his office. He was not scared. He felt at peace knowing that he would no longer be forced to worry about bills or work or annoying neighbors. Somehow the knowledge that from that moment on until the last breath he took nothing would matter brought him an overwhelming feeling of relief. It was as if this final moment was a sort of celebration for himself. He was celebrating making it this long in life without throwing himself off a bridge. He placed his “last day kit” on the desk and opened it. A photo of his deceased wife and children, a glass and a fifth of Jack Daniels Whiskey. Nothing grandiose or dramatic. It was the little things for Johnny. He carefully placed the photo on the desk after clearing it off completely. Johnny then placed the fifth of whiskey and the glass on the desk. The countdown still rang through the air reverberating in his head. He didn't mind anymore, though. He poured himself a tall glass of whiskey. No need for a two finger rule or arbitrary measurements like shots anymore. He poured as much as he liked. Johnny clinked his glass against the photo and took a long, fulfilling sip. His eyes now moved from his family to the window in front of him. You see, the office was not his favorite place for any other reason other than the view out the window. He could see the entire city before him. The sun was no longer visible as he could see the hurling asteroid from his window, as well. It blocked his view of the sun which didn't bother him much. He sipped silently to himself and watched. He watched the hysteria of the streets below hush to a sort of collective moment of acceptance. There was no reason to be scared anymore. A smile danced across Johnny's face as the asteroid grew larger and larger until...
Samantha Rosemary, however, celebrated her final moments in a much different way. As Johnny Segal made his way out of his work office towards his home, Samantha was rushing to the home of her lover, Ronald Smith. The moment she had heard the announcement blare out of her Iphone 15's emergency alarm system she knew she wanted to be nowhere but in her lover's arms. As the mass hysteria took over the streets of Manhattan, Samantha moved calmly but with a fast pace. She knew she must remain above the barbaric state of many of her fellow men and women. She had been raised to be a proper lady, after all. That's not to say that she always followed those teachings, but in this moment she felt her mother's teachings fit. So, she continued down the sidewalks as people around her looted, fought and mated in the streets. She knew where she had to be and was forced to turn down several handsome gentlemen callers eager for one last moment of ecstasy along her way. Unlike Johnny Segal (who at this moment passed swiftly by her on his way home) Samantha Rosemary had never thought about the end before. She hated to think of death as it depressed her and seemed to only detract from the experience of living. She hadn't thought about this moment once in her life despite the constant threats of its arrival in the past. She always remained focused on the present. This is why it surprised her when she so certainly knew what she wanted to be doing in her final moments. Without a single bit of planning or foresight, she knew she wanted to be in Ronald Smith's arms. This is why she felt overjoyed with happiness when she finally arrived home. She had walked nearly 20 blocks to get there. She walked inside just as the moment of hushed acceptance fell upon the crowds in the street and knew she would have only a few moments to be with her lover before it was over. A few moments was enough for Samantha. She ran inside as the asteroid drew closer and hollered with all of her might for her lover to come to her and embrace her one last time. Ronald Smith, however, was nowhere to be found. Samantha checked every room before accepting this to be fact. Tears immediately ran down her face as she wondered where he was spending his final moments. She also wept for herself. She wished she had made this moment more meaningful. She fell to the floor and wished she hadn't wasted her final moments of life on such a futile pursuit. As she wept, the asteroid drew closer and closer until...
Moments after the announcement had been made and Johnny Segal had packed his “last day kit” and Samantha had began her journey home, Ronald Smith left his home. Yes, he knew very well that Samantha Rosemary would be on her way there, but he had other plans for his last breath. He had other plans for what would be the last thing he saw. Of course he felt much anguish due to the knowledge that he would be deserting Samantha and denying her one final embrace, but when Armageddon arrives every person must think for themselves. He knew he had no time to pine over her any longer. This moment would be his and his only and he wouldn't let her take it away. So, with a heavy heart, he ran from his home to which Samantha was en route, and went instead to Washington Square Park in East Village. You see, Ronald did not love Samantha in the same sort of way she loved him. It was true that he enjoyed her company and very much enjoyed making love to her, but he knew that he couldn't see himself being stuck in that home which he dreaded so much with a woman whose company merely contented him for his last moment. No, Ronald had other plans. The countdown rang in his ears in much the same way as they did in Johnny's at this very moment as he arrived at his destination. His chosen burial sight. He looked around at the hysteric men and women around him as they let out all of their inner anguish, anger and confusion on one another. He saw a couple making love on a bench, an old man hugging a wild pigeon, two children crying as their parents beat one another, letting out years of pent up aggression on one another. There were no longer any rules. Ronald Smith continued to search the park desperately for one person in particular. He knew there was a strong chance that she would not be there, contrary to Samantha's incorrect belief that Ronald would certainly be at home. Ronald, however, was willing to take the chance. Unlike Samantha, he would still find peace in the knowledge that who he thought to be his true lover did not feel the same way about him. He continued to search for her hoping that she had the same thought as him. This was where they had always planned to meet if they ever built up the guts to leave their respective spouses. He desperately hoped that this was they day they did just that. It was just then that he saw her. She was nearly naked, lying motionless in the grass. A man stood over her motionless body, disrobing himself. Ronald sprinted to her rescue and punched the man so hard, with a fist filled with a life's worth of passion, that he died instantly. The bone in his nose had launched up into his brain. Ronald fell to his lover's side. She had left her husband for him. She did love him. The moment of hushed acceptance fell upon the crowd just then as Ronald curled up next to his beloved. She was dead. She would never know that he chose her. His moment, much like Samantha's, had been taken away from him. He did not find peace like he thought he would. He only found anger. He clutched her body and shouted her name: Jordan Johnson. He shouted and shouted as the asteroid drew closer and closer, until...
Jordan Johnson was a simple woman. She was completely content with a simple life with simple things and simple outcomes. So, it's no surprise that when the announcement had been made and the countdown had begun that she chose a simple way to end her life. Just as Johnny Segal was fleeing his work office and Samantha was running home to Ronald and Ronald was running to her, she chose the nearest bench and took a seat. She had no need to run. She just so happened to be in Washington Square Park taking a walk at the time. Oddly enough, Ronald Smith hadn't even crossed her mind. She just wanted to spend her last moments sitting with herself and looking at the sky. She wanted to see the Asteroid as it crashed into the place she called home and die with that last, final image in her head. A sort of absolute image. The image of it all ending clearly and definitely right before her eyes. She stared and relaxed in reflective bliss for only a few moments before the hysteria set in. People screaming, crying, looting. A loud scream is what first drew her attention away from the sky and toward the people around her. It had come from a young woman who was being beaten by her husband right in front of her own children. The sight horrified her and she tore her eyes away and back to the sky. Jordan thought that if she could keep herself aimed upward, she could avoid the hysteric mass around her. She did not want their chaos to ruin her final peaceful moment. It did. A man grabbed her from behind-he was able to sneak up on her on account of her staring at the sky-and threw her to the ground. She screamed and pleaded with the man to let her be and to let her mourn the loss of her own life, of all of their lives, in her own way. The man wouldn't listen. He began to kick her and beat her with a branch he found under an old tree. As she lay on the ground, her clothes being ripped from her body, she looked to her side to see equally brutal chaos all around her. People didn't know what to do with themselves. This news had left them in such confusion that they broke into mass hysteria. She closed her eyes as the man did to her what he set out to do. Tears streamed down her face. This was the only time she thought of Ronald. She wished that it was him instead of this brutish man. She wished he was there to stop the man, but Ronald was still two blocks away. The man finished and gave her one final smack to the head with the branch. The last thing she heard before passing would be the loud countdown. The same one that Ronald heard and that Johnny heard. The same one that Samantha heard as she arrived at home to an empty house. The same one every one heard. It was then that Ronald spotted her corpse and had his final moments.
As Samantha wept and Ronald screamed, Johnny smiled to himself. He was one of the few who was able to truly find peace in the way that they all wished they had. It seems that one must have already lost everything and everyone important in his life to truly find peace in the end, for Samantha and Ronald and Jordan all lost something in their final moments. They all continued to lose right up until the end. Johnny, however, celebrated making it through that pain already. He smiled. As he smiled, the asteroid outside of his window grew larger and larger and larger until...
They all finally found peace at last.
The asteroid was hurling toward Earth. Every small, insignificant person looked up at the sky or at the news and knew the end was near. The countdown to extermination rang through the air like wedding bells in a church. They had succumbed to the unfortunate result of time. An asteroid. Some took a moment to reflect on the countless times throughout their short lives that the end was thought to be near. There was the nuclear war scare of 2020, the flooding crisis of '35 and (of course) the Third World War. All, however, had been false scares, if you will. All had been benign compared to this giant, hurling horror moving toward Earth at an alarming rate. They had taken solace in the fact that this was truly, undeniably the end. No more false scares. They were no longer afraid. The looting stopped soon after the announcement. All that was left was to decide how one would spend their final moments. How will they celebrate their lives?
For Johnny Segal, an accountant from Manhattan, deciding how he would spend his final moments was simple. You see, Johnny Segal was somewhat of a paranoid individual. He feared just about everything that may eventually pose a threat: Bees, potholes, even angry ex girlfriends. So, as a result, he had meticulously planned out how he would enjoy his final moments should Armageddon arrive. He thought through every moment of his life to a T, and how it ended was going to be no different. The moment it was announced that the collective governments' of the world had failed to neutralize the threat, Johnny gathered his “last day kit” (as he called it) from the largest drawer in his work desk and made his way briskly from his work office on the 55th floor of a Manhattan high rise to his favorite place in the world: his home office. A surprising spot to adore in the sort of way Johnny adored it; usually this sort of adoration was reserved for grand parks or great cities or even monuments. Johnny Segal, however, was happy with the smallest of things. He ran through the streets of a now manic Manhattan and finally arrived at home. Johnny locked the door behind him and arrived in his office. He was not scared. He felt at peace knowing that he would no longer be forced to worry about bills or work or annoying neighbors. Somehow the knowledge that from that moment on until the last breath he took nothing would matter brought him an overwhelming feeling of relief. It was as if this final moment was a sort of celebration for himself. He was celebrating making it this long in life without throwing himself off a bridge. He placed his “last day kit” on the desk and opened it. A photo of his deceased wife and children, a glass and a fifth of Jack Daniels Whiskey. Nothing grandiose or dramatic. It was the little things for Johnny. He carefully placed the photo on the desk after clearing it off completely. Johnny then placed the fifth of whiskey and the glass on the desk. The countdown still rang through the air reverberating in his head. He didn't mind anymore, though. He poured himself a tall glass of whiskey. No need for a two finger rule or arbitrary measurements like shots anymore. He poured as much as he liked. Johnny clinked his glass against the photo and took a long, fulfilling sip. His eyes now moved from his family to the window in front of him. You see, the office was not his favorite place for any other reason other than the view out the window. He could see the entire city before him. The sun was no longer visible as he could see the hurling asteroid from his window, as well. It blocked his view of the sun which didn't bother him much. He sipped silently to himself and watched. He watched the hysteria of the streets below hush to a sort of collective moment of acceptance. There was no reason to be scared anymore. A smile danced across Johnny's face as the asteroid grew larger and larger until...
Samantha Rosemary, however, celebrated her final moments in a much different way. As Johnny Segal made his way out of his work office towards his home, Samantha was rushing to the home of her lover, Ronald Smith. The moment she had heard the announcement blare out of her Iphone 15's emergency alarm system she knew she wanted to be nowhere but in her lover's arms. As the mass hysteria took over the streets of Manhattan, Samantha moved calmly but with a fast pace. She knew she must remain above the barbaric state of many of her fellow men and women. She had been raised to be a proper lady, after all. That's not to say that she always followed those teachings, but in this moment she felt her mother's teachings fit. So, she continued down the sidewalks as people around her looted, fought and mated in the streets. She knew where she had to be and was forced to turn down several handsome gentlemen callers eager for one last moment of ecstasy along her way. Unlike Johnny Segal (who at this moment passed swiftly by her on his way home) Samantha Rosemary had never thought about the end before. She hated to think of death as it depressed her and seemed to only detract from the experience of living. She hadn't thought about this moment once in her life despite the constant threats of its arrival in the past. She always remained focused on the present. This is why it surprised her when she so certainly knew what she wanted to be doing in her final moments. Without a single bit of planning or foresight, she knew she wanted to be in Ronald Smith's arms. This is why she felt overjoyed with happiness when she finally arrived home. She had walked nearly 20 blocks to get there. She walked inside just as the moment of hushed acceptance fell upon the crowds in the street and knew she would have only a few moments to be with her lover before it was over. A few moments was enough for Samantha. She ran inside as the asteroid drew closer and hollered with all of her might for her lover to come to her and embrace her one last time. Ronald Smith, however, was nowhere to be found. Samantha checked every room before accepting this to be fact. Tears immediately ran down her face as she wondered where he was spending his final moments. She also wept for herself. She wished she had made this moment more meaningful. She fell to the floor and wished she hadn't wasted her final moments of life on such a futile pursuit. As she wept, the asteroid drew closer and closer until...
Moments after the announcement had been made and Johnny Segal had packed his “last day kit” and Samantha had began her journey home, Ronald Smith left his home. Yes, he knew very well that Samantha Rosemary would be on her way there, but he had other plans for his last breath. He had other plans for what would be the last thing he saw. Of course he felt much anguish due to the knowledge that he would be deserting Samantha and denying her one final embrace, but when Armageddon arrives every person must think for themselves. He knew he had no time to pine over her any longer. This moment would be his and his only and he wouldn't let her take it away. So, with a heavy heart, he ran from his home to which Samantha was en route, and went instead to Washington Square Park in East Village. You see, Ronald did not love Samantha in the same sort of way she loved him. It was true that he enjoyed her company and very much enjoyed making love to her, but he knew that he couldn't see himself being stuck in that home which he dreaded so much with a woman whose company merely contented him for his last moment. No, Ronald had other plans. The countdown rang in his ears in much the same way as they did in Johnny's at this very moment as he arrived at his destination. His chosen burial sight. He looked around at the hysteric men and women around him as they let out all of their inner anguish, anger and confusion on one another. He saw a couple making love on a bench, an old man hugging a wild pigeon, two children crying as their parents beat one another, letting out years of pent up aggression on one another. There were no longer any rules. Ronald Smith continued to search the park desperately for one person in particular. He knew there was a strong chance that she would not be there, contrary to Samantha's incorrect belief that Ronald would certainly be at home. Ronald, however, was willing to take the chance. Unlike Samantha, he would still find peace in the knowledge that who he thought to be his true lover did not feel the same way about him. He continued to search for her hoping that she had the same thought as him. This was where they had always planned to meet if they ever built up the guts to leave their respective spouses. He desperately hoped that this was they day they did just that. It was just then that he saw her. She was nearly naked, lying motionless in the grass. A man stood over her motionless body, disrobing himself. Ronald sprinted to her rescue and punched the man so hard, with a fist filled with a life's worth of passion, that he died instantly. The bone in his nose had launched up into his brain. Ronald fell to his lover's side. She had left her husband for him. She did love him. The moment of hushed acceptance fell upon the crowd just then as Ronald curled up next to his beloved. She was dead. She would never know that he chose her. His moment, much like Samantha's, had been taken away from him. He did not find peace like he thought he would. He only found anger. He clutched her body and shouted her name: Jordan Johnson. He shouted and shouted as the asteroid drew closer and closer, until...
Jordan Johnson was a simple woman. She was completely content with a simple life with simple things and simple outcomes. So, it's no surprise that when the announcement had been made and the countdown had begun that she chose a simple way to end her life. Just as Johnny Segal was fleeing his work office and Samantha was running home to Ronald and Ronald was running to her, she chose the nearest bench and took a seat. She had no need to run. She just so happened to be in Washington Square Park taking a walk at the time. Oddly enough, Ronald Smith hadn't even crossed her mind. She just wanted to spend her last moments sitting with herself and looking at the sky. She wanted to see the Asteroid as it crashed into the place she called home and die with that last, final image in her head. A sort of absolute image. The image of it all ending clearly and definitely right before her eyes. She stared and relaxed in reflective bliss for only a few moments before the hysteria set in. People screaming, crying, looting. A loud scream is what first drew her attention away from the sky and toward the people around her. It had come from a young woman who was being beaten by her husband right in front of her own children. The sight horrified her and she tore her eyes away and back to the sky. Jordan thought that if she could keep herself aimed upward, she could avoid the hysteric mass around her. She did not want their chaos to ruin her final peaceful moment. It did. A man grabbed her from behind-he was able to sneak up on her on account of her staring at the sky-and threw her to the ground. She screamed and pleaded with the man to let her be and to let her mourn the loss of her own life, of all of their lives, in her own way. The man wouldn't listen. He began to kick her and beat her with a branch he found under an old tree. As she lay on the ground, her clothes being ripped from her body, she looked to her side to see equally brutal chaos all around her. People didn't know what to do with themselves. This news had left them in such confusion that they broke into mass hysteria. She closed her eyes as the man did to her what he set out to do. Tears streamed down her face. This was the only time she thought of Ronald. She wished that it was him instead of this brutish man. She wished he was there to stop the man, but Ronald was still two blocks away. The man finished and gave her one final smack to the head with the branch. The last thing she heard before passing would be the loud countdown. The same one that Ronald heard and that Johnny heard. The same one that Samantha heard as she arrived at home to an empty house. The same one every one heard. It was then that Ronald spotted her corpse and had his final moments.
As Samantha wept and Ronald screamed, Johnny smiled to himself. He was one of the few who was able to truly find peace in the way that they all wished they had. It seems that one must have already lost everything and everyone important in his life to truly find peace in the end, for Samantha and Ronald and Jordan all lost something in their final moments. They all continued to lose right up until the end. Johnny, however, celebrated making it through that pain already. He smiled. As he smiled, the asteroid outside of his window grew larger and larger and larger until...
They all finally found peace at last.