Cloudy Days

Today will be the day. Adam hoped and prayed to any merciful god that might happen to be listening.On the front porch he remained. Waiting for the mail to come. He missed text-messaging and all the other 21st century wonders that once graced his old home. Now the most advanced he had was an old thrift store radio that could only play two stations from where he lived.One played the news, the other played smooth jazz. He stuck with the latter. As the music from the radio was gradually drowned out by the pitter-patter of rain he noticed the sun starting to set. Knowing what this meant he proceeded to break down into silent inaudible tears.

The day mankind began its descent into madness and decay was April 20th 2020.The date would become a point that conspiracy theorists latched onto since it was both the date of the Columbine shootings and Hitler’s birthday.Adam knew that whatever unleashed its wrath upon our blue rock hardly had our systems of dates and times on it’s mind. It was a normal summer day over a park in Tennessee. Families having a wonderful time in the wide open fields, hikers exploring the woods, and a little league baseball game hitting its midway when a few observant people in the grass noticed something unusual happening with the clouds across the blue sky the clouds began to merge together. Within 15 minutes this large mass of white vapor clarmored together with onlookers Fixated upwards at a loss for words. Adam recalled they were a handful of people who escaped the scene due to a sense of foreboding that overcame them. These would make up some of the only survivors. Within a millisecond collapsed dead bodies from men, women, children, and infants riddled the bright green foliage. The sky once again became clear and the sun shined brightly lighting up a world destined for darkness.

In the following weeks not a single news outlet from small-town community papers to mainstream corporate news stations went without covering the new biggest mystery of human history. As CNN took a commercial break Adam practically begged his wife not to go on her business trip. In the present this memory rattles his head as it has done for the past year or so. Kim assured him that all would be well and that “everything will be alright” since there was no reason to think this situation would even happen a second time, let alone be a threat to her travels. After a kiss and a promise to call upon landing she was on her way. It took less than an hour before Kim’s basic optimism would be undone.”Breaking news” said the reporter interrupting an ongoing interview “Word has come in and…” Adam sat there staring seemingly at the tv yet truthfully at nothing. It had happened again.Kim’s words echoing throughout his head. “Everything will be alright”.

In the following days riots broke out in major cities, federal governments were rushing to instill order, and churches and bars filled with people equally needing solace. Almost daily there were reports of masses of clouds coming together and forming what some describe as a face, some an eye, and for others something even more incomprehensible. The results were always the same. Hundreds sometimes and in rare cases thousands of people dead everywhere from bustling cities to island resorts leaving dead silence in areas once banging with life. Places with centralized populations seemed to be the main target of whatever terror lurked above. Adam, thinking quickly, had packed everything up and begun a 4 hour drive to the couple’s vacation house located in the small town of Munster. A rural community just west of Kingsport. During the trip he spent so much time desperately trying to phone his wife. From news reports and flight tracking websties he knew she landed in Chicago but he never got a single call from her upon landing. Across the highway Adam carried on with many other vehicles all escaping both from and to something. An unthinkable future snapping at their heels.

Less than a week later Adam and Kim finally got into back-and-forth phone conversations. Short and of poor quality yes but they happened nonetheless. In that lonely cabin away from a disturbed society Adam managed to avoid cripplingly isolation due to these conversations with his beloved.They expressed the needed affection and reassurance in each call. After all this is all they had left. All the other’s loved ones were either unaccounted for or dead. This was not all they spoke of as they also shared news information about the global attakcs. An imperfect painting of what is happening globally were painted by them.They put together that the federal government has declared martial law with wealth and resources seized and shelters established across the country.Reports of conditions in the housing units ranging from acceptable to nightmarish. Luckily for mankind more rural communities across the globe have established their own networks that have kept mankind tumbling on despite the mass death.Both Adam and Kim agreed, without even speaking of it, that this beacon of hope would not last forever. Adam took a deep breath “Stay safe I lov-”.Phone line went dead. It will never return.

For Adam television was the next to go out. Now there was only Radio and the occasional print publication. Electricity was still there but always hanging by a thread. Only time he left the house was for manual labor and the rations he received as a paycheck for it. While conversations with the locals were far from nonexistent generally most people stayed away from each other. Too many murders have happened already. Public executions by the sheriff department almost weekly.Most knew a good chunk were innocenet of the accused crimes but did nothing to stop it. Very few trusted each other. It seemed like everyone was catering on an edge to which violence lay below. Despite the immense love for Kim Adam found himself soliciting women with portions of his food. Day by day he continued to be alive but barely living. It was not until he checked his mailbox one day that his very soul was restored. A letter from Kim greeted him. She was in Colorado and making her way to Munster. For the first time he felt an ink of Happiness within him.

Romantic letters were exchanged for a few weeks between the two. Fears dissipated and spirits raised in every word that was received. One day he went out to check his mail box. Nothing was there but a news bulletin and personal ads. Usually there was a letter from Kim that day. He thought nothing of it for surely it would arrive tomorrow.

The next day there was nothing.

Ten more days passed. The mailman arrived and gave him his mail. Nothing from Kim. The radio gave another update. Hundreds dead in the appalachia. The phenomenon finally came to rural areas. After this he stopped listening to the news station.

In the present day night time has come. A full moon lighting up the wooded landscape. Crickets keeping him company. He curled up on his lawn as a cold breeze sends a shutter down his spine. He is going to remain there unlikely to ever move for even the simplest of things. With months gone by with not a word from his love he finally accepted the reality that shattered his very core. She will never reply.