F
Fox of Spades
Guest
The Moon-Touched
Elian HartNovember 8, 2020
On the night the world ended, Elian had missed his usual Thursday night graveyard shift at the 7-11 across the neighborhood. He had been down with the flu - and that little, insignificant change in routine ended up saving his life. When the NASA alert was sent at 3:00 in the morning, he was curled up in bed like in sad little cocoon, and when the texts from unknown numbers came flooding in, he switched off his phone in annoyance and tossed and turned until he fell asleep.
His alarm clock rang at exactly 7:45 in the morning, and Elian, unaware, opened his eyes to a brand new world.
Bleary-eyed and still half-asleep, he poked his hand out from under the covers and reached for the phone on his night stand. He switched it on, and instantly, the sleep was knocked out of his system: 21 new text messages and 5 missed calls. His initial thoughts went to common fears - the death of a family member or friend, or a calamity of some sort in his hometown. He spent a moment merely staring, the miss calls were from his mom and Valerie. The texts were from random numbers, each one talking about the moon and how he'd be missing out if he didn't just open the blinds and stare the beauty of the night sky above him. Weird, but a lot less terrifying than he initially thought.
Elian called his mom to see what was going on, but she didn't pick up the phone.
He called Valerie next. Elian had met Val two years ago when he started working as a part-time cashier at 7-11. She'd always struck him as a little intense, but ever since then, they'd been partners in crime. Well, she got them into trouble and he was more or less the voice of reason. She picked up the phone immediately. "Hey, Val. You're my hero," he laughed. "Thanks for covering for me. I feel a LOT better today, still got this stupid cold, but I don't think I'll be dying anytime soon." There was no answer. "Lemme take your shift later this afternoon, and when Royce comes in for the night shift, we can hang out or something - Val, you there?"
There was a heavy silence before Valerie finally responded.
"Elian, something fucked up is happening. I don't know what, but people are going bonkers out there."
"What?"
"Jane has been walking into the glass door for five minutes now."
"Is Mrs. Hughs okay?"
The line went dead. Something was wrong, he didn't know what but he felt it bone-deep. What Elian didn't know, was that all across town, people had been changed by the light of the moon. And as he sat in bed dazed, others were wandering around, stuck in endless routines and endless conversations about the moon and how beautiful it was. The world had ended overnight, and now, those that remained who have to carry the weight of the consequences on their shoulders.