“This is the end of the world”
I sold people property that didn’t really exist. I sold people on ides that could never work, but I was a hell of a salesman so people ate it all up. For years I did this even though I could have and most certainly should have stopped. I had made enough to live out a comfortable life and if I had been smart I would have gotten out while the getting was good.
I had a beautiful wife, but I know she was only with me for the money. There are women you can only get if your tax bracket speaks for itself. I never felt bad about this- its part of the reason I made the money in the first place. When I think back on it, I don’t know why I made the leap to marriage to begin with. It was entirely too easy to score top shelf trim after I cleared my first million. At first, I tried to keep t a secret from my wife but eventually I began to flaunt my infidelity. It didn’t matter because there was nothing she could do. My prenuptial agreement was iron clad.
I used to buy $40,000 suits and wear them only once. I could have but a healthy American child through law school with what my shoe collection cost, and yet, I’d never do that. Lawyers were the enemy.
The sky was the limit. My only goal in life was making more. I couldn’t stop if wanted to. I became addicted to the power and to the perceived respect. I was addicted to the hate. People couldn’t stand me, but they all wanted something from me so they pretended to love me.
None of that matters now. Six days ago, we were told that earth would be destroyed. In the movies, there would be some sort of top secret shuttle or some plucky group of survivors that I could hok up with. But this isn’t a movie. Life is over. For the last forty years I tried consistently t break ever one of the seven deadly sins and I was good at it. And now I’m going to be disintegrated. I guess that makes sense.
***
We begged them to left us out, but they wouldn’t. All we wanted was a brief taste of freedom before some Martians blew up the world. At first we all thought it was a joke. They said that they were aliens and they were going to blow up the world in seven days. It had to be bullshit, we thought. But then the guards started whispering and acting funny. Soon, they stopped letting us out of the cells. Slowly, we all started to realize that this might be real and that if it was, they were just going to leave us here to die. This was how it would end: wit us locked in our cells screaming to be let free as w waited to burn alive.
***
“We have observed your destruction of your own world for long enough. You must be stopped before you contaminate the rest of the universe. You have seven days.”
That was the message that was broadcast to Earth six days ago.
The matter teleporter has been aimed at the Northern most point of the planet’s magnetic signature. I was deployed with a crew of five on Doom-Vessel 11 of eleven separate Doom Vessels to serve as an observational force. The teleporter will be activated from very far away, extracting any remaining resources and redistributing them amonst the people of the sector that live in harmony with their respective worlds. After this, then the teleporter will fill the Earths atmosphere with a gas that will quickly and efficiently end the human problem on planet Earth. Easy Peasy.
***
It all makes sense to me and I’m ready to go. I’ve made my peace and now I’m waiting for it to go down. It makes sense that after the way we’ve taken this beautiful planet for granted someone or something would step in and put us in our place.
I took my lovely wife and my kids and we got into a car. Lots of people were driving and crashing and acting insane — I don’t know where they thought they were going. They were going to destroy ALL of it. There was nowhere to run. Me? I was taking my family to my father’s cabin. It was a beautiful time of year and it would make for a beautiful place to spend the last few days of life on earth.
The Earths so called leaders were all trying to figure out how to handle the situation but I didn’t see any hope for them. The ensuing worldwide riots only went to prove that the aliens were right- we were hopeless. We could never come together and make this work.
My family and I sat at that cabin, enjoying the last view of our lives and taking shots at any suspicious people that wandered onto the property.
***
Six days ago we realized that we weren’t alone in the universe. Then we were promptly told that we were all going to die. Everything went bat-shit insane after that. All I could do was laugh- laugh and riot.
This was the end of the world.
Stories by J’Mel Davidson appear in every issue of Birmingham Weekly. Write to jmel@bhamweekly.com.
I sold people property that didn’t really exist. I sold people on ides that could never work, but I was a hell of a salesman so people ate it all up. For years I did this even though I could have and most certainly should have stopped. I had made enough to live out a comfortable life and if I had been smart I would have gotten out while the getting was good.
I had a beautiful wife, but I know she was only with me for the money. There are women you can only get if your tax bracket speaks for itself. I never felt bad about this- its part of the reason I made the money in the first place. When I think back on it, I don’t know why I made the leap to marriage to begin with. It was entirely too easy to score top shelf trim after I cleared my first million. At first, I tried to keep t a secret from my wife but eventually I began to flaunt my infidelity. It didn’t matter because there was nothing she could do. My prenuptial agreement was iron clad.
I used to buy $40,000 suits and wear them only once. I could have but a healthy American child through law school with what my shoe collection cost, and yet, I’d never do that. Lawyers were the enemy.
The sky was the limit. My only goal in life was making more. I couldn’t stop if wanted to. I became addicted to the power and to the perceived respect. I was addicted to the hate. People couldn’t stand me, but they all wanted something from me so they pretended to love me.
None of that matters now. Six days ago, we were told that earth would be destroyed. In the movies, there would be some sort of top secret shuttle or some plucky group of survivors that I could hok up with. But this isn’t a movie. Life is over. For the last forty years I tried consistently t break ever one of the seven deadly sins and I was good at it. And now I’m going to be disintegrated. I guess that makes sense.
***
We begged them to left us out, but they wouldn’t. All we wanted was a brief taste of freedom before some Martians blew up the world. At first we all thought it was a joke. They said that they were aliens and they were going to blow up the world in seven days. It had to be bullshit, we thought. But then the guards started whispering and acting funny. Soon, they stopped letting us out of the cells. Slowly, we all started to realize that this might be real and that if it was, they were just going to leave us here to die. This was how it would end: wit us locked in our cells screaming to be let free as w waited to burn alive.
***
“We have observed your destruction of your own world for long enough. You must be stopped before you contaminate the rest of the universe. You have seven days.”
That was the message that was broadcast to Earth six days ago.
The matter teleporter has been aimed at the Northern most point of the planet’s magnetic signature. I was deployed with a crew of five on Doom-Vessel 11 of eleven separate Doom Vessels to serve as an observational force. The teleporter will be activated from very far away, extracting any remaining resources and redistributing them amonst the people of the sector that live in harmony with their respective worlds. After this, then the teleporter will fill the Earths atmosphere with a gas that will quickly and efficiently end the human problem on planet Earth. Easy Peasy.
***
It all makes sense to me and I’m ready to go. I’ve made my peace and now I’m waiting for it to go down. It makes sense that after the way we’ve taken this beautiful planet for granted someone or something would step in and put us in our place.
I took my lovely wife and my kids and we got into a car. Lots of people were driving and crashing and acting insane — I don’t know where they thought they were going. They were going to destroy ALL of it. There was nowhere to run. Me? I was taking my family to my father’s cabin. It was a beautiful time of year and it would make for a beautiful place to spend the last few days of life on earth.
The Earths so called leaders were all trying to figure out how to handle the situation but I didn’t see any hope for them. The ensuing worldwide riots only went to prove that the aliens were right- we were hopeless. We could never come together and make this work.
My family and I sat at that cabin, enjoying the last view of our lives and taking shots at any suspicious people that wandered onto the property.
***
Six days ago we realized that we weren’t alone in the universe. Then we were promptly told that we were all going to die. Everything went bat-shit insane after that. All I could do was laugh- laugh and riot.
This was the end of the world.
Stories by J’Mel Davidson appear in every issue of Birmingham Weekly. Write to jmel@bhamweekly.com.
party dresses cheap evening dresses cheap cocktail dresses inexpensive cocktail dresses party dress Doom Vessel 11 Holding Steady