Soot

The year is 2036, and my husband and I sit in our front yard. I am trying to sketch the cloudy sky, and my husband is making an axolotl out of clay. There is a calm conversation we are having, and the music plays quietly in the background.

“Do you think we’ll have a day left to live? If we stay here in all this dust?” I ask, he looks at me and smiles fondly. “I don’t think we will have that long.” He says quietly. I look back up to the clouds and continue drawing. We both watch as the clouds get closer, and watch the soot cover the ground in its path. I could feel myself breathing it in.

“Do you ever think about our future? I’m sure it will be lovely.” He began “I think you’ll finish college, and become a lawyer, and I can continue working as a teacher.” He mentioned. “Then we can have a kid” He finished. I smiled and looked over to him, “That will be so much fun”

My sketch became more disorganized as the clouds started to envelope more of the sky. My breathing became more labored as more of the soot clogged my lungs. “Do you think I’ll be a good lawyer?” My voice came out raspy, and it hurt to speak.

“I think you’ll be a brilliant lawyer” his voice came out just as raspy and pained. The soot started to fall on us as most of our naibours were already dead or running down the street to make it to safety. While my husband and I sit and take it all in.

We watched as more people ran down the sidewalk, coughing up a storm and stumbling over their feet. Some people held children, while others ran solo.

“Do you wonder what this will feel like?” I question, he smooths out some parts of his clay while he responds “I don’t think it will hurt that bad. It’ll probably just feel like a sore throat.” He coughs a little. “Are you scared?” My voice shakes a little. “Not at all; I have you here don’t I?” He giggles. I smile and nod.

As we continue our crafts, I think about something to say. Something to lighten the atmosphere. Anything. I suddenly let out a small laugh, and he looks over at me with a smile. “We never went to the grocery store yesterday” I giggle, though it’s not exactly funny, he still laughs with me.

“Why do we always forget?” He laughs more, and coughs a little, I cough too. “You know, it took us too long to get together.” He mentions. “Whys that?” “We knew each other for so long, and yet we never told each other. We could’ve done so much more if we weren’t so shy.” He laughs. I giggle as well. “That is true-” I get interrupted with a cough, and that’s when I realize how close the soot and clouds have gotten. But I pay no mind to it.

“I think we were basically already dating then too. I don’t think we’ve wasted anything.” I giggle, he nods “Yeah, I guess you’re right” he coughs again. One might get annoyed with the coughing, but it totally goes over my head at this point.

I look up to see the clouds are right above us. The soot covering our yard and us.

I look at my husband and interlock my fingers with his. We look at each other fondly before moving over to hug one another. I press my forehead against his and smile. “I love you so much.” My voice comes out in a whisper, I hold the heart-shaped locket in my hands that he gave me on our first date, ready to cry. “I love you too” He reciprocates as he rubs comforting circles on my back.

I tilt my head down a bit, opening the locket to see us together drinking some coffee. Just a regular old selfie that means so much. I tilt my head back up, and we hug more. My throat starts to feel drier, and it gets harder to breathe until there is no breath left.

But I don’t mind, as long as my last moments are with him.