One Hour [Original Short Story]

~One Hour~

After enduring a long, strenuous day at work, you finally stepped foot into your apartment unit. Shutting the door behind you, you breathed out a sigh of relief. Memories of work and knowing that you had to go back tomorrow haunted you, but you shoved those thoughts aside as you tried to just be happy that the day was over.

If it weren't for the fact that you had bills to pay, you would have quit your job a long time ago. You've thought about pursuing things you actually want to do, but you were lucky to have the energy to stay awake for more than two hours after returning home. 

One of these days you'll gather every ounce of energy you need to pursue the steps you need for a better life. That's what you told yourself, at least, every single day. But regardless, right now, you were going to relax until you had to go to bed.

You heard your text notifications coming from your phone. They were probably from friends and family. You decided to put it aside until you had a chance to decompress. 

However, the one thing you couldn't put off was giving attention to your dog, Rufus, who immediately ran up to you. 

"Hey boy!" You cheerfully greeted your furry, canine companion. He was a beautiful yellow labrador retriever. His vibrant eyes, one brown and the other blue, brightened with excitement as he witnessed the return of his favorite human. With a smile on your face, you gave him scratches behind the ears. Rufus then rushed to where his bed was and snatched his favorite toy and brought it to you. He wanted to play. Knowing that with all of that energy he had, it was unlikely he would let you sleep tonight.

"Want to go for a walk, boy!?" You asked Rufus, immediately earning a bark of eagerness and approval. Impatient whining escaped from his throat as you searched through your kitchen drawer for the leash and collar. 

Other than trying to hold Rufus back from running off to chase after a raccoon, the walk was serene. You had to admit, it was refreshing to feel the gentle breeze and cool night air. As you and Rufus trudged on your usual route, you passed by the park where there was a stream. The chirping of the crickets combined with the croaking of the frogs.

Sometimes, you wished that you could just sit by the river and indulge in this peaceful atmosphere forever. You knew Rufus wouldn't object either. However, it was getting late and you had to wake up early the next morning.

After you and Rufus went back home, you wolfed down a quick meal before spending the rest of the evening watching TV. Rufus was curled up by your side. Eventually, your eyelids got heavy until you couldn’t keep them open anymore. 

Unfortunately, your slumber only lasted a few hours when you were abruptly woken up by deafening sirens coming from outside.

“What’s going on…?” You wondered, disoriented and confused. There has never been an instance in your life where you heard sirens like this, not even for a drill. There obviously is some kind of emergency going on. Suddenly, the TV in your living room blared a long, jarring, ear-piercing screech that forced you to sit upright and instinctively press your palms against your ears. It wasn’t the first time you had heard this noise when tests were occasionally. But you couldn’t recall when the screech was this loud. The show that was previously playing on the screen was replaced with a black background. In the center of the screen was a white message in large letters: EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM

The screech was followed by a scattered beep that seemed to draw out for an eternity. An automated male voice began to speak, confirming exactly what you expected.

“This isn’t a test. I repeat, this isn’t a test.”

A cloud of confusion and anxiety swirled in your mind like a raging twister. All you could do was sit there on the couch, frozen as you tried to listen to the rest of the message. You didn’t know what was going on yet, but it had to be horrific and serious.