Shattered Horizon

2022: Liam

Before the Apocalypse: Liam 2022

It's that time of year again when everything is covered in white and shopping becomes expensive. "Liam!" My mom called me from the next aisle. I ignored her and kept reading the new Space Titan ship book I found on the shelf. It's about a kid born in space who comes to Earth to fight evil. My mom called my name again, but I continued reading, knowing I would get in trouble and my older sister would have to come get me.

I knew my mom would get frustrated, and I was sure she would tell me that I would be on the naughty list once again this year.

"There you are!" she exclaimed as she grabbed my arm. "Put that down! We have to go, Mom..." Her sentence was interrupted by an encounter with an older man. He was big, bulky, and seemed disoriented. She looked at him and apologized, but he left without acknowledging her. She looked at me and said, "Let's go, Mom is waiting."

"Liam, there you are! How many times do I have to tell you to stay close? Now we're late, and your father will be home any minute now!" she rushed towards the car.

Before hopping into the backseat of the car, I stopped because there was a strange-looking animal staring at me with a blank expression, just like the guy from the grocery store. "Come on Liam, we need to go," Liz said. I stopped looking and my sister helped buckle my seat belt before assisting our mother with loading groceries into the car. My mom was in a hurry because my father was returning home after 16 months; he got permission to spend Christmas with us. My dad works for the government; although I'm not sure what he does exactly, he spends a lot of time away from home helping people in other countries.

"Hey, are you okay?" Liz asked. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, and everyone says she's going to achieve great things in life. She's very intelligent and gets excellent grades in school. "Yeah, I'm okay," I replied. Then my mom got into the car, looked around, and made sure everyone had their seat belts fastened.

She starts the car, and backs out of the parking spot, everyone sat in silent silence.

"Mom, can Henry come over for Christmas this year?" Liz asked.

"Oh, sure! He's always welcome! Is his dad out of town again?" Mom responded.

"Yeah, his dad left at the beginning of the month. Henry isn't sure if he'll make it home in time for Christmas, and you always say 'the more, the merrier'," Liz explained.
Henry is Liz's boyfriend; he's the star quarterback of our high school football team. Liz says he has received multiple scholarship offers. As we drove down the street, my sister talked about something happening at school and how this year's homecoming might not happen. However, my mother cut her off abruptly because traffic came to a standstill.

"Can you please call your father and let him know we're stuck in some kind of car accident traffic?" Mom requested just as ambulance sirens were heard from another direction. Some cars attempted to pull over and clear the way, but it was challenging due to the heavy traffic surrounding us. Since the ambulance couldn't pass through, we witnessed the medics rushing towards the car accident.

Eventually, the police started allowing traffic to move again, and we passed by the accident. The scene was mostly cleaned up but there was glass and some smoke burning. During this time, my sister kept talking about homecoming and how it was unfair that it was canceled because of parents' concerns about the virus.

"Have you called dad yet?" mom asked.

"I have, but he's not answering," Liz replied.

"But mom are you listening to me" Liz said in frustration

"Yes, honey" she said. Off In the distance we heard screaming I see my mom face in the mirror she looks very confused.

"Mom" I say.