Alone

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

SOMETIMES, I wonder what exactly happened to all the people. I figure: if I am here, there must have been more people on Earth at some point, right?

         I remember, when I was about nine, I found one house with a journal in one of the drawers. It had actual writing on it, with a few numbers at the top: 4-15-56. The journal had told a story about a girl that was upset because she was jealous of another girl in school, who was better than she was. I wondered, at the time, why she never finished her story and it simply ended with: “I recomme” when “recomme” is not a word. I thought she must have meant to spell recommend, but that she had just spelled it wrong.

         Now that I’m about thirteen, I know better.

         When I was twelve, I searched more houses. I traveled across the country to try to find the answer to my mystery: why weren’t there any people besides me on the whole planet?

         In one building, I found a recording of weather patterns. Apparently, some time thirteen years ago, odd weather patterns were seen. One day, it was sunny, like it is today, the next, it was cloudy, and then the next day, the whole sky was blanketed with black clouds. The next day, well, the weather wasn’t reported that day.

         But I am never lonely. Even if there are no other humans on the entire planet, it means that everything is mine and I don’t have to share with anyone (except Mars). Not that I’m selfish – it’s only an advantage. I’ve never known what it was like to live with people. It must have been noisy. And dirty. And messy. And crowded. Well, those were the days, I suppose. The days before some sort of apocalypse occurred and ended life of the human race.

         Just one thing.

         They forgot me.

         Who “they” is, I’m not sure. But if the people were all taken away, but not the animals or the houses or anything, it must have been on purpose. In each house, there is no sign of struggle, no notes or writings about any hardship. That eliminates any diseases or epidemics of any sort. Or an attack. Or kidnapping.

         Right. Who could pull off the kidnapping of an entire planet?

         I’m not sure how I was raised. I don’t remember any of it, only being hungry. I remember not having enough to eat, and I remember going into the woods outside the house I had at the time and just eating whatever kinds of berries I found.

         I know better than to do that now.

         Nowadays, to get food, I simply walk into an abandoned grocery store, pick something that isn’t moldy, spoiled, or rotten, and am on my way. Things like cookies, crackers, and nuts. Sometimes, I’ll try to salvage some ice cream.

         You might think I have an unhealthy diet. Wrong. I may eat a little clumsily, but what do you think I do all day?

         Being the only human on the planet, it’s really easy. Sometimes, I’ll run around a lot when I find a stretch of land without hills. Sometimes, I go to a baseball stadium, stand in the middle, and belt out a song. I like to sing, not because I think I’m good, but because since there’s no one to say I’m bad, it just feels like a release.

         Sometimes, I’ll drive out of town. I learned how to drive the hard way by myself when I was eight. I’ve gotten pretty good at it since then. Parallel parking and all.

         And sometimes, I’ll teach myself something new.

         By now, I can cook like an expert, drive like a college student, fix things like a master, and hold my own easily.

         Next to me, Mars mews again before he starts to scamper off. I laugh and follow him back home.

         When we get to my five-story house that takes up about six acres of land – the biggest house I could find – Mars scampers into the small area of woods outside the house and runs off. I open the door and walk to the elevator, my combat boots clacking against the tile ground.

         With a house five stories tall, I decided to get an elevator.

         In the elevator, I select the fifth story and then press a few buttons on a control panel to the right of the one that directs to floors. This control panel does something entirely different.

         Hmmm, I think before selecting my choice. With a few taps of buttons, a familiar voice sounds around the elevator.

         “You’re so hypnotizing. Could you be the devil, could you be an angel? Your touch magnetizing. Feels like I am floating, leaves my body glowing. They say be afraid. You’re not like the others, futuristic lover. Different DNA. They don’t understand you. You’re from a whole other world, a different dimension. You open my eyes, and I’m ready to go, lead me into the light.”

         “Kiss me, k-k-kiss me,” I sing, my voice echoing around the elevator. When it dings up to the fifth floor, I exit, singing as loudly as I want: “infect me with your love and fill me with your poison. Take me, t-t-take me, wanna be a victim, ready for abduction.”

         Being the only person on the world has its perks.

         My sound system is wired all throughout my house, in every room, high quality. I have every song I know on there – it’s like my Youtube for music.

         In the hallway, which has glass walls, a glass floor, and a glass ceiling, I look down. Through the floor at the other end of the hallway, I see the pool I have. It’s long and rectangular and I found a way to make it get deeper a while ago, which I’m glad about because otherwise it would be boring.

         I climb the stairs, which are on the opposite end of the hallway from the elevator. I should make my elevator glass, too. That would be cool.

         At the top of the stairs is the roof. It’s an awesome roof – some parts of it are flat, some are angular. I stand at the tallest point – a kind of pyramid in the middle with a pole sticking out of the top to hold onto, and sing as loud as I can.

         “Kiss me, k-k-kiss me, infect me with your love and fill me with your poison. Take me, t-t-take me, wanna be a victim, ready for abduction. But you’re an alien, your touch so foreign. It’s supernatural, extra terrestrial.”

         The wind blows through my shirt and I close my eyes, breathing in the spring air.

         Although I don’t know what the woman singing this song sings about, I just love the way her voice rings with power when she sings it. What is a kiss? Why would you want to be infected?

         What is love?