Sunsets and Cigarettes

She was outside taking a smoke break when the sun began to set. Raising the cigarette to her lips, Charlotte arched her spine and tilted her head back in a long stretch. As cotton candy pink stripes began to merge with a brilliant dreamsicle orange, Charlotte sighed. It was almost time for the mealtime rush to begin. A couple of cars had already entered the drive thru line. The manager would be calling out the back door for her in a few minutes. Charlotte wondered how much time she had. She fished her phone out of her uniform’s pocket.

Almost noon.

She hated to go back inside. The sky was so pretty, too.

Wait a minute.

Her head shot up to stare at what would be a peaceful, beautiful sunset. Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat. The cigarette slipped from her fingers. She looked down at her phone again. She was not seeing things. The digital numbers counting the hours on the screen couldn’t be wrong. They never had been before.

And yet the sun was setting.

She had to tell the manager. She had to let everyone know. Whirling around, Charlotte moved to go back inside the back entrance. Her hand brushed the handle. The door didn’t budge. Charlotte tried again, with no luck. She pounded on the door, she screamed her manager’s name. No one came for her.

She noticed too late that the drive thru was full and the cars wrapped around the building. Was everyone missing something here? Did they not know that the sun was going down and it was only lunchtime? Was she going insane? Charlotte dropped to her knees and squeezed her eyes closed.

Was this the end of the world?

“You see it too, huh?”

Charlotte’s head shot up and her eyes flew open. Standing before her was a boy who couldn’t have been older than twelve. She blinked. Where had he come from? She hadn’t heard his footsteps. “Who—?”

“My name is Max Donovan. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to shake.

Charlotte only stared back in disbelief. How had this kid found her and why was he wanting to shake her hand? When had children become so polite?

“Well?” The boy’s head tilted to the side. He was waiting for her answer.

“Charlotte,” she murmured, gingerly taking Max’s hand and shaking it gently. “Nice to meet ya, I guess.”

Max smiled. It was a radiant grin that could have lit up a neighborhood. “C’mon,” he said, tugging on Charlotte’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Charlotte didn’t move. “But it’s rush. I have to go inside. And I don’t know you.”

The kid tugged more firmly. “Do you really want to spend this beautiful sunset next to a dumpster?”

“I guess not.” Charlotte slowly stood up and dusted her off her uniform. Max nodded and began to lead her away from the restaurant. “Where are we going?”

“I know a place,” he replied mysteriously.

Charlotte huffed through her nose impatiently. Kids these days. Sheesh.

As the pair passed the cars in the drive through line, Charlotte glanced at them out of the corner of her eye. The scenes beyond those tinted windows were all the same. Drivers and passengers alike were all staring at phones and tablets, their faces illuminated by their screens.

“Nobody is really noticing this.” Charlotte muttered.

“Nope. They were like this when I found you.”

“Hey kid–”

“Max.”

Charlotte huffed again. “Okay, Max. Who are you and how did you find me? Why aren’t you playing video games or something?”

“Who can play video games on a beautiful day like today?” The boy replied.

The two walked in silence. Charlotte decided to humor the kid and let him lead her. What was her manager going to do? Fire her? What was the point of keeping a fast food joint running if the world was ending?

Charlotte and Max rounded a corner and came to a gate. Charlotte recognized this gate. She came to the park beyond it all the time as a little girl. She smiled slightly as a feeling of nostalgia flooded her heart. It had been a while.

Max said nothing as he lead her into the park. As they walked side by side along the path through a patch of forest, Charlotte took in the empty playground equipment. Usually this place was swarming with children. Years ago, she was among them.

The boy next to her paused, tugging her hand to get her attention. “Where are the birds?”

“Birds?”

“Listen!”

Charlotte pressed her lips together, straining her ears. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly,” Max frowned. “I usually hear birds on days like today. Where are they?”

A pinprick of terror poked Charlotte’s heart. “I-I don’t know.”

The pair moved forward without speaking for a while. Max’s grip on Charlotte’s hand was firm, but she could feel his palms start to get clammy. She didn’t have to feel his heartbeat to know that he was scared. “How weird,” she thought, “he was so calm earlier.” Charlotte felt a knot growing in the pit of her stomach. Why was this happening?

Max suddenly stopped at the base of a steep hill, but didn’t say a word. He squeezed Charlotte’s hand to get her attention.

“Is this the place you were talking about?” Charlotte turned to her companion.

He nodded.

As Max lead her up the hill, Charlotte asked, “Why did you bring me here? You don’t even know me. I’m just some grown-up you found by a dumpster.”

Without stopping or turning around, Max said, “You looked scared. I didn’t want you to be alone. I didn’t want to be alone either.”

Charlotte could feel her heart melting, like a popsicle on a warm summer day. “You’re a really sweet kid, you know that?” Max didn’t reply until they reached the top of the hill. Both were huffing and puffing from the climb at that point, but as Charlotte took in the view, what she saw took her breath away.

The sky was a brilliant smoothie of pinks, oranges, purples, and blues. The colors bled together like watercolors on paper. The sun was reaching out its soft golden fingers, stroking the rooftops of the suburb that Charlotte called home. The clouds looked soft and friendly, chasing each other around in the sligh breeze. The air was crisp and breathing it in made her feel strong and alive.

Alive. The sun was setting and she guessed it was almost one o’clock. Would they still be alive in the next hour? Charlotte didn’t know the answer. Without thinking, she pulled another cigarette from her pocket and lit it, bringing it to her lips.

As she watched the smoke curl from the other end of the cigarette, Charlotte heard a small sniffle next to her. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw Max rubbing his eyes.

“You good, kid?”

He didn’t even correct her this time. “I’m scared too, Charlotte.”

She took the boy’s hand again. Charlotte hadn’t realized that she had let go. “Hey.”

Max looked up.

“Have you ever seen a more beautiful sunset?”

“No.” Max shook his head.

“Then let’s take the time to enjoy this one.”

Suddenly, Max bolted forward, slamming into Charlotte and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. Surprised, she stumbled backwards a little, but managed to catch her balance. “Can you promise me you’ll be on the other side of this sunset?”

“I-”

“Promise me, Charlotte.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “Why me?”

“I don’t know,” Max’s voice was muffled by her shirt, “Idon’tknowIdon’tknowIdontknow.”

“Max.”

“Please don’t go. Please!” The boy’s voice cracked and he started to sob.

“Max.” Charlotte dropped her cigarette onto the ground, putting it out with her shoe. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, holding onto him as if he was her only lifeline in the center of a hurricane.

In that moment, there were only two people in the world. An exhausted fast food worker and a precocious twelve year old.

“Max.” Charlotte ran her fingers through silky blond curls. “I promise. I’m not going anywhere.” She had never meant something so firmly in her life.

She looked over at the sky. The sun had almost completely dropped below the horizon. Street lamps were turning on all over town. It was so peaceful.

“Are we going to die?” Max was looking at the view too, his arms still wrapped around Charlotte.

“I don’t know that.” The knots in her stomach suddenly came undone and a sense of peace filled her soul. “But I do know this. That was the most beautiful sunset that I have ever seen. Let’s watch the end of it together.”