Young Writers Society

This is my first short story.  I would like some help.  I want to see what people think.

Things Happen

The air was frigid, and the streets were abandoned. It looked like a scene from a movie. It felt like I was the only one on earth. I felt like I was abandoned by humanity. I didn’t feel sad though. I was more happy than sad. It gave me more time to reflect.

The orphanage didn’t have the money to move all of the kids to an island with .1% chance of surviving, so they said that we would stay here. It didn’t matter anyways. I had walked to my high school and I sat on the swing set, looking up at the stars. They shone brightly, as if they were giving us a nice view before we went. It was a nice thing to see and it made leaving a little less difficult. I could see the milky way, so beautiful. It looked like a silk cloth, with gold beads all over it. One couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the sight.

While looking up at the beauty, I started to feel smaller, knowing that earth is just one tiny gold bead on the silk cloth to other civilizations on different planets. They would not know that we were here, in need of help. What if they knew that we were here, but chose not to help? I wouldn’t blame them. I’m surprised that we haven’t killed ourselves yet. Why would an advanced race want to help people like us?

People don’t really believe in extraterrestrials. I’ve always been a believer of other worldly beings. When I was little, I used to have dreams where little men with big eyes, would come down and take me to their planet. Now I realise that that was all a fantasy.

In school, we would have a science class, once every week. We learned about other planets and life there. I used to love listening to the lectures. On my free time, I would look at the NASA website, and see what new facts about other planets were posted. I wanted to be the best in my science class. Now all those hours studying seem meeningless.

As I sat on the swingset, I remembered my childhood. It could not have been better. I would always play outside with my friends. We would imagine that we were in a war, fighting for glory and protecting our city, like warriors training for battle.

I had a great many Nerf guns. Many of my friends had them too. We would pretend to shoot each other with futuristic laser guns. We had a huge community yard that we played in, behind our little private yard. Two people would be team captains, and they would choose who they wanted on their “army”. Then, we would go and create our forts. Our forts used to be colossal compared to us back then.

One day, we really got involved with the game. We had made a fort out of big logs. By leaning them against a tree, we made a tipi. Instead of Nerf guns, we were using sticks that we sharpened. While we were building more of the fort, the other “army” waged war on us. All of us started fighting. We used our makeshift swords to wack each other and drive the other army out. I was fighting my friend Henry, when another person came up and stabbed me in the back. Pain was all that I felt. Luckily, the sword was not sharp and only gave me a big scratch, but to me then, it felt like I was getting impaled with the tooth of a tiger. I collapsed onto my hands and knees, crying. Everyone stopped and came to see if I was ok. One of my other good friends decided to avenge me by taking out the other teams fort. By doing so, he failed to notice one of the logs falling. More pain. This time, on the top of my head. I was stund. All of my friends helped me to my house, were my mom took care of me.

It’s funny how getting stabbed by a stick used to make me cry, and now, the definite extinction of the human race made me a little happy. I’ve changed so much. Back when life was good, I didn’t have any worry about school, anything or anyone. Now, life was different. I go to school just because I have to. I don’t have any friends. All of my friends moved or deviated from me. It was mostly my fault though. After my parents died, I pushed everyone away. Now, it haunts me. It crushes me. It’s the feeling of loneliness that devastates me. I never learned to love the small things and not take them for granted. It hurt me. It felt like that wood stick, digging into my heart instead of my back, twisting in order to go deeper. Suddenly, the pain stopped. I realized that they would die along with me, and I felt sadness wash over me. I felt guilty, like somehow the end of the world is my fault. No, I felt guilty because I abandoned them. I was the one that led me to my demise.

I did have one friend. She was the light of my life. She would support me and cheer me on in anything I did. I would do the same for her. We would always hang out together. She was the reason I did anything. I would trust her with my life. I could still remember her melodic voice. She was amazing at singing. She played guitar, and I played the drums or the ukulele. At school, we weren’t in the same band, but we jammed after school. I swear, I could have recorded her voice and sold it as a single. On the weekends, we would go watch a movie or go walk around downtown. She knew what had happened to my parents. She was the one to comfort me when I felt like the world was caving in on me. She would always check on me when school started.

I still remember that night. The night that I was in my room at the orphanage. I was playing a game on my computer just to pass the time, when my phone rang. The voice on the other end sounded like Satin, mocking me. My blood turned cold. I couldn’t really breath for a minute or two. I couldn’t comprehend what I had just heard.

I rode to the hospital and walked through the doors. Everything was a blur. For the second time in my life, I felt the fear of losing someone creep through me. It consumed me. My legs didn’t work right. Soon I was standing next to the bed where she lay. She looked up and smiled at me. We talked for a while, then I went. I wanted to give her time to rest. The next day, I came to see her, but she wasn’t there. The doctors said she went in her sleep. “These things happen to the best.” they said. I was to devastated to hear them say sorry.

I stood at her grave, not knowing what to do now. I felt like a wolf that was separated from its pack. I felt alone in the world. Two months latter, Ardor was sighted.

The meteor was spotted by NASA’s Hubble telescope. They said that it would pass earth and maybe hit Mars. Three months later, the President let out news that the meteor would hit earth. Ardor was as big as Texas and would wipe out the entire human race. “ Things like this happen.” scientists said. It was the next global extinction.

My first impressions were a mixture of fear and anxiety. Those feelings quickly resolved into relaxation, sadness and happiness. Yes, happiness. Knowing that it was the end of the world aloud me to let all of my problems dissolve. All the sorrow that I had, I could give to the wind. I felt relaxed, and a little lonely.

I kept looking at the stars, and I could finally see Ardor. A bright light, glistening in the sky. I used to look at the stars with my family. They got me a telescope for my sixth birthday. Everynight, I would ask to go and look at the stars. Most of the time they said yes, but sometimes, they said that they were to tired.

Ardor looked like a firefly, flying over the pond of the universe. It was oddly beautiful. It was nice to have something beautiful kill us. I was curious about what happens after death. It might be nice. I wasn’t one for religion, but I found myself wondering if there was heaven. I was wondering if I would see Rita and if she would still like me. I was wondering if I would see my parents again. Maby, Ardor might go over earth. It would be a new start for humanity. It would be a new start for me.