nothing 2

A man sat in a chair positioned in the corner of a dark room illuminated only by the glowing orange dial of a radio in the corner opposite him. The one door to the room was closed and gave no indication of light on the other side, one window with blinds shut teased a dim cold overcast world. The man hummed a tune he had long forgot as it had no cadence nor rhythm but was the product of an old mind lost in thought.

The man was old, the kind of old that didn't need a numeric value to quantify what his body had experienced. He looked worn and tired. The clothes he wore in various colors of beige and brown hung off his wrinkled frame like drapes over an unknown shape in a museum. He was skin and bone yet had a round gut that showed his love for the sweets that he was given each night after dinner. Large glasses perched on his nose thick as the base of a glass soda bottles and still yielding little help to the man's deteriorated eyesight.

Suddenly the idle low buzz of static emitting from the radio rose to a volume the man could hear and words came slowly from a much younger man's voice. The grim low yet clean voice immediately was recognized as one about to give grim news. The man's humming stopped as he listened.

"The UN have confirmed multiple large explosions of what is assumed to be atomic in nature across the heavily contested region of the South Pacific. Fallout is expected to reach Australia by morning and due to irregular shifts in" static overcame the broadcast for a moment followed by, "can not be determined. World leaders have disbanded council due to fears of attack and will resume remote efforts. The president has been reported to ask all to stay calm and in place, she will update," static erupts louder this time and held for longer this time. During this time the man looked to his door. No light showed from underneath still.

Here and there a word or two slipped into the loud static from the young man's cold dark voice saying, "expected," and, "by way of," which out of context meant next to nothing to the man. He rubbed his left thigh absentmindedly with his hand, feeling the knot of scar tissue that was underneath his thin beige pleated pants. He didn't feel the pain, he hadn't in decades there, but he would do this when worried. His breathing kept calm and steady but his heart thumped hard and loud. So loud that he was surprised he was able to hear it above the static. The static dropped and the voice resumed for a moment, slower and more grave now. "There, well ... There are reports that negotiations with Russia have failed. Anti-air protection systems are down but have detected multiple launches from the North. Automatic retaliation has been triggered. I... within the hour large targeted cities are expected to... I can't do this Carl the fuck we on air for."

The radio went silent. The orange glow of the dial stayed true, shedding a small glowing reflection on the old man's glasses. His eyes were closed tight. Arms grabbing each side of the chairs arms in a tight embrace. Then, he released them. Breathing returned to normal and his heart slowed to a calm speed and became inaudible to the man.  He started to hum again. Now a bit more quiet than before. He felt that his hands were cold and clammy and slowly wiped them on the sides of the chair. He didn't know why they were so sweaty. He realized he was tired as well.

Without a second thought about it, he reached his right arm to the side of the chair and with some effort pulled a lever releasing the chair into a recline. With a small shuffle and removal of his glasses into a pocket in his brown collared shirt, he closed his eyes and let a deep breath out. He fell asleep. He was thrust into a dream.

He was young and energetic. He was running on a track with hundreds of people all around cheering him and the competition on. Suddenly he realized he wasn't touching the ground but was flying. With each step, his movement was not made faster. He was gliding at a slower pace than he had expected and watched as all runners ran by paying no attention to the fact that he was floating now stationary a few inches off of the ground. He was angry, he was in the lead and now he was held up as if a child by a parent and wants nothing more than to run away in any direction but is being stopped.

He looked up, frustrated into borderline hysterics and saw he was being held up in the air by someone. Or was it something? It was too bright to tell. Slowly the light dimmed to a glow and he saw a woman of unimaginable beauty holding him up. She was easily five times larger than himself yet he was unafraid. She was hovering in place above, smiling down at him. He was bathed in warmth and light as he felt himself being pulled upwards.

"All of this time, the world has spun with you. You have been constantly in her embrace." He looked around and saw he was now a mile above the ground, people looked the size of ants, buildings and cars looked like toys. "The world now spins free of you," she continued in a happy calm voice. The Earth below in an instant started to spin at such a speed that it was completely blurred. It was so blurred it appeared smooth and perfectly round. Light blueish green. "She has told me of your time together. Remember her "

The man felt tears fall from his eyes. He remembered who he was, who he had been. He remembered what he had done and what he had not done. He remembered love and loss. Beauty and pain. His family that he had outlived. He remembered their faces and names. He felt the surge of happiness and love that filled his heart when he first laid eyes on his partner in life and the immense grief and onset loneliness when he said goodbye. Every tragedy was relieved anew, every accomplishment felt as if it were the first time.

"Yes, breathe now and look up," the woman said in a warm loving tone. The man looked up and saw the face of his daughter, frozen in time. She was always this way to him, early thirties and full of hope. She had been taken by a tragedy he did not want to dwell on, he just wanted to see her smile a bit longer. "All is light now and is within you. Feel it, hold it."

The old man opened his eyes. The room was dark, illuminated only by the glowing orange dial of a radio in the corner opposite him. The one door to the room was closed and gave no indication of light on the other side, one window with blinds shut teased a dim cold overcast world.

He remembered his name. He remembered it all. He held his hands to his chest and he slowly sat up after placing his glasses on his face. He had felt the dampness of his tears that fell in his sleep and they continued to fall, being diverted by his glasses to either side of his cheeks.

A slight rumble shook the ground, the radios orange light turned off. The only source of light was dim from the window. Grey cold light of an overcast winter day. He slowly stood, feeling every part of his spine tell in protest and his knees bone on bone grind with defiance. He didn't care, his mind was back. A few steps shuffled later and he slowly drew back the curtains. He was high up in a building overlooking a small suburb that gave way to distant hills. All was grey and lit uniformly with an unseen sun.

He knew he was alone. The city was quiet and so was the building. All were either asleep or elsewhere in the city. He remembered the radio had said doom was but moments away and wondered if that had been real. He had no fear for others as all his family, all his friends were gone and he had experienced this loss for the second time in his life just moments before. He was curious.

He thought, "Was that real? Is this it?" He looked to the distant grey sky. He had no recollection of what town this was or what year it was. How long had he been lost? He looked behind at the dark empty room. "Why is this room so empty? Is this really happening?" He had just regained his consciousness and was now wondering if the world he returned to was real. How could it be?

The world outside the window stayed still. The man stared at it for a long time. "My eyesight is back?" He removed his glasses and tried to look out and was met by flat grey blur. He replaced his glasses and everything came to focus. With a small "huh" he turned to his chair.

In an instant many things happened in sequence. A bright flash illuminated his room from behind for a second then went away. His door flew open and a woman ran in. The radio sprang to life with a loud alarm type sound. The hallway behind the woman became illuminated at the same time by fluorescent lighting. This all in a heartbeat.

As time caught up the woman was shocked to see the man standing and said, "Earl what are you... Oh..." Her eyes shifted to the window behind the man and she spun and ran out of the room without hesitation. The man stood in shock. So much happened in the span of a few seconds that even with his newfound ability to think, he needed time to figure it out.

He slowly turned around and saw in the distance an orange and black cloud rise from behind a hill. It pushed the overcast clouds away slowly. The distance from the cloud must be more than twenty miles or so.

It was real. He held his hands in front of his round stomach, clasped lightly together. A shockwave was visibly getting closer and closer yet showing signs of diminished strength. As it approached he saw trees down the street move in a strong breeze before he heard a rumbling thump of a bass heavy noise and wind blew past the building as if a strong wind was blowing. Cars below started out from their respective houses and he could see cars pulling away from the buildings lot as well. Two white vehicles below, one quite new and one a bit worse for wear collided as they both turned into a street at the same time. Both did not stop and instead fell into sequence and sped towards the interstate.

The man turned slowly and sat on his chair. He rubbed his glasses with his shirt and placed them up on his face again. The radio had again fallen silent though the orange dial stayed lit. The room was a bit brighter with the blinds open now. The man took a deep breath and exhaled. He started to hum a tuneless melody.