Sunshine

“What... the... Hell... happened?”, Jeanine thought, as she stared blankly off into the abyss of what was once her hometown. She stood amongst the rubble of her childhood home; now just a scattering of debris. Snapping out of her trance-like state, Jeanine realized she was standing where her bedroom had once been. Tears streamed down her dust covered cheeks, leaving winding lines of white in their wake.

She remembered looking out the window on sunny days from her perch atop the pink four poster bed she had so coveted. Back when things were simple and happy go lucky. Back before... Something shiny caught her eye from amongst the rubble of her memories. She crept closer with the stealth of her once favorite fictional character, Nancy Drew, to see what it was.

As she kneeled down to get a closer look, she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the gold heart-shaped locket her parents had given her on her seventh birthday. Eyes filled with wonder, she reached for it, and saw it had somehow remained untouched.

She turned it around to see the inscription on the back: To Jeanine Happy Birthday Love, Mom and Dad. Slowly and gently, she opened the little clasp, and sure enough, “You Are My Sunshine” started to play. She laughed and cried through a huge smile. Inside, perfectly preserved, was a picture of six-and-a-half-year-old Jeanine with her parents. It was Christmas and they were all smiling in front of the Christmas tree. Who knew that ten years later they would be gone and Jeanine would be entering adulthood alone?

This has to be a sign, Jeanine thought. Since the car accident, she had always felt as though her parents had been watching over her, and she felt it now more than ever. She could almost hear them saying, “We love you. You are not alone.”

She sure felt alone in this moment, though. It had all happened so fast. The emergency warnings that had only ever served as annoyances with their obnoxiously ear-splitting tones that interrupted your regularly scheduled programming. Jeanine’s brows furrowed at the recollection.

But this time the warnings had been real: surreal, actually. She had called her best friend Natalie in disbelief; almost laughing as she asked, “A huge meteor is actually going to hit Earth? Just like in the movies? So, this is it, huh?” They had said teary goodbyes from two states away over phone lines that no longer work, or even exist, for that matter. Would they ever be rebuilt? She would hang onto her iPhone just in case. Would she ever talk to Natalie again? Was Natalie even... she couldn’t deal with that thought right now.

Jeanine made her way down to the sub-basement for the first time since it happened. That time she was crying, wondering if she would survive or end up buried and forgotten. Wondering if anyone or anything would survive. Thinking of course she would have to be single when an apocalyptic event occurred. World War 2 air raid style sirens were blaring in the distance like they did in those end of days style movies that were always so cool to watch. Not so cool to live, she had thought, as she locked the door and made her way to the corner to wait out the inevitable.

When the meteor struck, it had been like a combination of the worst earthquake imaginable and ascending to the top of the Empire State Building on a windy night. She just sat there praying with her eyes squeezed shut. At least if I make it, there’s some food and water down here, she had thought. All is not lost. And here she was. She made it.

Jeanine lifted the necklace up to put it on, then paused, bringing the heart up to her lips. She closed her eyes and felt at peace with her new reality. A wisp of a smile danced across her face as she raised her gaze to the sky and whispered “I love you too, Mom and Dad.” She brought the chain back up to her neckline, clasped it, then slowly stood up. She could hear the faint sound of voices in the distance and started walking toward them.