Last

On the day the world ended, Oscar was tending his roses, singing songs in French from his childhood (grateful for the sun); Denise was frantically buying shapewear online for Saturday's wedding (determined to have a snatched waist); Liu made tea and sat on the porch under a blanket (walking herself through the pros and cons of rescuing a pair of elderly cats); Pete pulled himself off of the couch just long enough to call his dealer (obsessed with not feeling sick for more than 30 seconds); Yvonne set her grandmother's handwritten recipe for sweet potato pie out on the counter proudly (having found it in a box and feeling brave enough to try). As the ground swelled and gravity failed, Atul was ignoring his bedridden father's cries for help (anxious to get to the ATM as soon as possible); Miriam was dozing in her favorite chair (dreaming of being down by the lake with her first love while the news played in the background); Snake gunned it through a red light (hating everyone [no exception] and causing a young mother to panic stop, shaking); Margot and Shem Bodi rode out together, greeting the dawn on horseback (mountains in the distance, green grass waving them on). When the rock was no more, the stars shared a moment of silence for all that had been and then turned their attention to the new place - that sparkly new thing born of the void, teeming with life.