Dustin Willis

Shattered

“Sixty years ago, the world went to war for the final time. Billions of people lost their lives, homes and the beauty of this once magnificent place, where everywhere you looked there were new majesties to behold. My wife and I had been married for five years when the government ordered a nuclear war and for the citizens of our country to get into hiding, but by this time, they have been saying this for years. So, no one really took them seriously. We had all become complacent with our thoughts that a nuclear world war would ever transpire. Oh, how horribly wrong we were. On that fateful day, my wife and I were out enjoying a picnic looking out over the ocean. We had ourselves a nice pasta salad with our special homemade vinaigrette, some grilled ham and cheeses that we made on a portable hot plate and some quite refreshing blush champagne. We were talking about how we wanted to start a family but we needed to find a better home that would be suitable for more than just two people. We were dining and talking, smiling and laughing, having ourselves an amazing and unforgettable afternoon when our phones had beeped at us, telling us that we needed to get into hiding, that a war to end all wars, and civilizations was imminent. My wife and I looked at each other, held each other and kissed. We stood to our feet, my anxiety and fear causing my body to shiver like I was in the arctic and my wife, her beautiful blue eyes weeping because she knew we had nowhere to go. We were unfortunate and nowhere near well off to afford such a place like a bomb shelter, let alone one meant for nuclear fallout. So, we went to the only place we knew, our home. We sat there in waiting for what seemed an eternity. A bright flash radiated out on the horizon and I reached into my pocket and pulled out a gift I had forgotten to give her earlier. She opened the small velveteen box and with tears in her eyes, she took out the locket, opened it and saw a picture of the two of us. The locket was a rose gold heart, with a blue sapphire setting. As she was weeping, I helped her put it on. We kissed what would be our final kiss and goodbye. The shockwave of the blast had made our home shake like it was in the middle of an earthquake. We stumbled around trying to get to the bathroom, we didn’t have any better ideas. We grabbed a mattress and covered up in the tub. Our home, that we spent the last five years making our own, crumbling down all around us. Then everything went black.”