Final War - Moments - Honeymoon

We stood there on the cliff and we overlooked the red skies over the horizon. The clouds were as black as coal and the wind burned our faces like the scorch of hell itself. All of this didn’t matter to me because we were together. Her hand in mine and mine in hers, this was paradise even in the final moments of our life on Earth I knew it was meant to be.

I remember this moment like it was my last. Ironically, this was my last moments but those few last seconds were the longest time of my life. Time seemed to stand still and as the crows burned and incinerated, screaming in terror and pain there was a moment where everything was perfect and simple. I didn’t notice when the house in the horizon shattered like building made of match sticks falling apart from the winds of a hurricane.

Her sundress was as radiant as the red hanging sky and more brilliant than the wall of fire blazing the horizon quickly moving our direction. She was so strong and though I could tell we were both afraid, we were comforted by each other.

In the end of all things, I never had expected it to end this way. I vowed to protect her and to be with her, in sickness and in health. We would always be together. I had plans. I was about to get a promotion and we were about to move out of the trailer on Fifth and Main street.

She found out she was pregnant only days before we got received the news. My unborn child growing in her womb was the most beautiful thing but now I will always be left wondering what the baby would look like. Would I have been a good father?

The sky didn’t turn dark until hours before it came and we had already made our peace with God. Sure, we spoke of trying to save ourselves but the thought of living in a cave for the rest of our lives would have been just as certain of a death as the initial cremation. We weren’t rich and certainly those hideouts in the mountains would have been crowded with thousands others just like us. Traffic was terrible in the last hours. We never would have made it out of town anyways.

Not a word was said between either of us as she packed her picnic basket. It was a gift from her mother. You know the kind, the hay strung and laced basket with the two lids set on simple hinges to tuck food inside. The handle was long and laced with pink ribbons. I remember a tiny plastic flower was sewn on the side of the basket to give some color. I don’t even remember the color anymore.

She looked at me and I looked at her as she finished packing the basket with sandwiches. We never did get to eat them. I’m nearly certain it was ham and cheese. She always made ham and cheese when we had picnics. This was a special occasion but I would venture to guess that she wouldn’t change her ways now.

When we looked at one another we exchanged a smile and she came to me and held my hands. Her body was chill to the touch and I knew she was afraid. There was nothing I could do for her but hold her. Words were unimportant now. I held her and cherished her with all of my heart.

Our house wasn’t anything to look at but it wasn’t terrible either. It could have been better. We needed new furniture but all of that was going to change when I got my job. A new life with a new house, a new car and new leather furniture would have been nice. It was almost a reality. None of that matters now.

I led her out of our home and before I closed the door I took one final look into the living room. The smiling photos from our wedding day reminded me of better times. Our wedding was outside and in the back of the photo was the arch we had been married under. It was wrapped in flowers and beyond that there were blue skies and white clouds. I must have gained thirty pounds since that photo. She fed me well. That photo is almost a year old now.

I closed the door and I’m not sure but I think I had locked it. Why I did that I didn’t know. We both knew that this was the last time we would be stepping over the threshold. I put the keys into my pocket and we both headed down from the porch. The wood was old and rotting and I had always meant to replace that two by four that creaked every time we stepped on it. None of that really matters now though, dry rotted wood burns easier anyways.

It wouldn’t take long to get to our picnic area. It was past town heading the opposite direction of the traffic. There was a line of cars and bright headlights as far as the eye could see on the other side of the high way. Even as our last moments ticked closer I had to find excitement in the moment. Where else would I be able to drive as fast as I could without fear of police or other cars getting in my way? I exploited this a moment. She didn’t seem to mind. We both had our seatbelts on and I always drove safely anyways. I think she almost enjoyed it as much as I did.

Twelve miles later we stopped and took the turn off into the woods and drove on to an old trail that winds up on the mountain ridge that overlooked the city we lived in. I parked the car and for whatever reason I turned the car alarm on. I don’t know why I did it, maybe it was habit.

The snow began to fall but it wasn’t snow. It was dead summer and the snow had melted. The black clouds were not for rain and the snow was ash. As it fell on me I couldn’t help but think that this would be our final demise. As we walked to our picnic spot I would be covered in grey suet, some of it was probably charred flesh from other people. I wondered if I would need to wash the shirt to remove the stains. As if any of that mattered. I wasn’t thinking. I was still stuck in my old habits.

I followed behind her and we climbed up the steep trail. The sky was dark and red and it made the trail dim as though we were walking it at dusk. It almost would have been romantic if we could ignore the fact that we were about to die.

She still looked as beautiful as the day that I met her and I was more in love with her now than when we first got together so many months ago. Her raven black hair shined brilliant and it always smelled like some sort of fruit. Her skin was flawless and pale; perfect to me and even though she felt she could always look prettier she was everything I had always looked for in a companion. No doubt it was destined for us to be together and I was happy I could be with her in these final moments.

We made it to the final destination on top of the cliff where the grass weeds were blowing wildly from the brooding wind that would creep out our final breath. The grass was covered in the white ash but we pretended it was only snow and I think she giggled saying something about Christmas in July. I don’t remember anymore.

The blanket she threw down was her Mother’s. It was stitched for my wife when she was a baby. Every year there was another patch sewn on and every year there was something else on the blanket that would symbolize a milestone. I personally hated the rag at first because it looked so awful but she loved it and so by default I grew to love it as well. She always brought it to picnics but those outings became less and far between because of my job and her own.

I kissed her neck and she shivered and she turns over and looks me in the eyes with her brilliant blue eyes. She grinned and kissed my chin and asked me if I loved her. I said that there was nothing more than I loved than being with her right here, right now. My heart plummeted into my gut much the same as the day I proposed to her. I was as scared as I was then but I was also more excited and never was I more overwhelmed in love than I was right there with her when I said those words. I might have cried a tear but I don’t recall.

We spoke about our childhoods and we laughed about the things I screwed up when I was trying to be romantic. She spoke about the tiniest bits that I had forgotten and I was all over swelling with admiration. The more she spoke the more drawn I became.

A thundering cry struck the moment and the bellow of thunder roared like a marching army pounding to sack a city. The whistle of something massive screamed through the red skies and shifted the snow from the grass. It all happened so quickly. The black clouds that hung over our heads turned into wakes like a speeding boat on calm water in a lake. The giant object racing in the heavens went unseen beyond those thick clouds and from the wake of its movement the red sky had hints of blue before it bled over.

The ground shook like I had never felt before and the city became as bright as a welding torch. Neither of us screamed but she clutched to me so tight I was barely able to breathe. She shivered and cried lightly and I held her and tried to comfort her. What is a man supposed to say when the world was ending? I might have said that everything was going to be okay. I don’t recall, it was a moment of tragedy and I think many things were said. Either said or thought in my head. It doesn’t matter now.