Sanity

SANITY

March 9th, 1:07 p.m.

Summer

I grasp his hand tightly, for fear if I let go, the world would collapse. My heart pounds and my breaths come in uneven whooshes and pants. Who am I kidding, the world is collapsing. Another burst of flame lights the sky and screams and whimpers sound around us. My hand tightens, as if it’s possible for it to be tighter. My classmates stare back at me with equal emotions reflected in their eyes. One question rings through the air, loud and clear: were they right?

January 10th, 11:08 a.m.

“The end is near!”

“We can feel it; see it in our dreams!” the shouts of the students fill the air of the cafeteria. I look over at my boyfriend with a mirthful expression. Sandin looks back with a smile and a shake of his head.

“Load of crap.” He says to me.

“The Double D’s are at it again.” My friend, Liv Larson, adds as she sits down. Our school had taken a liking to calling the protesters the ‘Double D’s’ for Doomsday Dramas.

“Why hasn’t anyone done anything about them?” I ask.

“Since they don’t do it during classes, I don’t think any of the teachers care enough.” Sandin says.  

“You’re not safe!” one of them shouts. “Get out while you can!”

“Would you shut up?” a student from the back of the cafeteria shouts, followed by several sounds of agreement and bursts of laughter.

“At least they’re not touching people.” Liv says while making a face. She loathed people so much as invading her personal space.

“Yet.” I add. We carried on the rest of lunch talking mildly about Spanish class and student government.

February 5th, 2:19 p.m.

“It has started already!”

“You’ve seen it on the news! New York has already succumbed!” It was true that Manhattan had been shut down the past weekend, only because of the mass murders taking place.

“You’re delusional!” a boy shouted from down the hall. He was the first to comment on it in days. Since the constant warning of doomsday, many of the students had taken it silently, disagreement kept quiet. Some of the weaker links began to get nervous. Eye flashing, pencil tapping anxiety.

Tap, tap, tap.

“Would you guys calm down?” Liv snaps. I shake my head, but Liv continues anyway. “There’s nothing to worry about. They’re just making it up.” Nervous eyes snap up to hers and ashamedly down again.

Tap, tap, tap.

February 20th, 8:49 a.m.

The Double D’s had been strangely quiet. If you were brave enough to get close to them, you could hear mutters and whispers of “it’s close,” and “they’re close.”

The amount of nervous students skyrocketed. City after city began to shut down and go silent. The line was only a couple cities away from our residence in Connecticut. Even the teachers had gone as far as to turn the news on the TV in every class. Most classes were spent watching the little screen as another city was reportedly abandoned.

It started in January in every major city in the world, New York to Los Angeles to Tokyo. Mass murders. They said gangs or terrorism. They don’t have time to figure it out. I looked at my classmate’s faces and met Sandin’s eyes.