Short Stories

The Earth Moves. (Maybe).

(Btw this is based on a real "event" from the time this is set in. You'll se what I mean)

I
The year is 2011. The world has been thrown into utter chaos. Streets are burning. People are burning things. Life is great.
Or at least it was before Harold Camping predicted the earthquakes. May twenty-first. Six o'clock PM. That's when they're supposed to happen. That's what the 89-year-old televangelist and president of the Family Radio Network said.
This Camping guy got in his little radio booth and told the world of his predictions. Thousands of world-wide earthquakes. At the same. Time. Also he said they will be caused by God to end the world, as if he knows what I want to do. The nerve. Also, why would I do that? His whole belief system is based on God's love of the world, so why would I wipe it out?
It would be an understatement to say people were terrified.
Now, don't get me wrong, this is entirely possible. There very well could be massive world-wide earthquakes that could wipe out humanity. It's just that you gotta be a real dolt to believe a person is predicting earthquakes. Come on people, that's literally impossible. I like to be unpredictable like that.
There's scientists all over the world just rolling their eyes, while everyone else runs rampant in the streets causing pure chaos, thinking they won't be alive to face consequences for their actions. I'm pretty sure there's a guy in Paris planning multiple murders. But he's not important. The worst place for chaos is the U.S. Are we surprised? NO. That country is a total trainwreck.
II
It's really disappointing to see people throwing away their lives at the first inkling of danger. There's a religious family in North Dakota, the Petersons, who are genuinely afraid, and not just of the earthquakes, but of the people around them. What absolutely breaks my heart is that their son, James, was kidnapped a few days after they heard of the news of impending doom. Some previously innocent guy who didn't think there would be consequences took an innocent young boy away from his family.
The guy just did it for fun, too. He didn't have any other motive except this outrageous bucket list of illegal acts he wants to do before the bitter end. His name is Thomas Price. Mr. Price has had quite a reckless history, but he has always known how disappointed his family would be if he actually committed a mortal sin, like kidnapping or murder, so now, he's taking this chance to do whatever he wants, without repercussions.
His list consists of theft, kidnapping, and ultimately, murder. The one thing his family never wanted him to do is his dying achievement. He's already got the first two down, and he plans to kill the kidnapped James at exactly 5:55, just enough time to get it done before he dies.
Around noon on the fateful day, Thomas lies in his bed in his apartment, with his face to the ceiling, thinking to himself.
The child will die anyway. I'm saving him from the pain and fear of the earthquakes, he rationalizes. Yeah, this is a good thing. He won't face the horrible fate the rest of us will. His family won't have to see their son die.
Thomas nods to himself and rises off his bed. He dresses himself then peers into the mirror. His eyes are red, and he wears a defeated expression on his face. Thomas averts his eyes and heads to the kitchen to make lunch for himself and James. He grabs his chest when he hears the child calling for his mother from the locked bathroom.
Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, he wonders. No, I can't go back on it now. I'll look like a wimp.
Thomas eats his sandwich, then he takes another to the bathroom. He unlocks and cracks open the door to set the paper plate on the countertop. He doesn't have the heart to open it all the way and look at the boy, let alone say a word to him other than, "Here."
He hears a faint, nervous, "Thank you," from inside before he closes and locks the door again.
Thomas feels another pang in his chest, doubting the ethics of the sleeping drug he hid in the child's food. He doesn't want him to feel pain in his death.
How can a person do something like this? Thomas was a relatively good person before the news of the world's end. He went to church on Sundays. He respected his parents. He did everything he was supposed to and never did anything he wasn't. Even though he thinks James will die any way, why do this? He just wants to be with his family when he dies, but Thomas took that security away from him.
III
Thomas looks to the clock on his nightstand. 5:49. His stomach drops. I'm going to die
soon... He'll die even sooner. On the verge of tears, he walks toward the bathroom and put
his ear to the door. He listens to the faint snoring on the other side. It somewhat relieves his soul.
5:51
Thomas makes his way to the kitchen and carefully pulls out a knife that he had sharpened a few days prior from its place in a drawer. He holds it in his trembling hands and stares at his timid reflection.
5:54
He returns to the bathroom and unlock the door. For the first time in the few days James has been in there (Thomas has been using the small half-bath near the door to the apartment.) he fully opens the door. He finally breaks when he sees the sleeping child on the floor.
He seems so peaceful yet fearful in his sleep all at once.
5:55
Thomas kneels down and holds the knife pointed at James's chest. He holds his hand there for a moment, frozen in hesitation.
Just do it, the voice in his mind says. Get it over with. Go on, do it.
5:56
Thomas slowly closes his eyes. He steadies his breath, and before he can hesitate further, plunges the knife into the heart of the innocent. He removes hands from the bloody knife as he watches the boy release his final breath.
The living man cries. And cries. He cries until there are no tears left.
6:01
Thomas eventually leaves the bathroom and closes the door again. He goes to sit in his closet and prepare himself for his impending doom. He checks his watch.
6:02
Maybe the time was a few minutes off. I'm sure he wasn't being exact with six o'clock, the
man thinks with his hand trembling over his mouth.
After a few more minutes, the doubt starts to set in. A sense of panic settles in his chest. I'm not going to die today, am i? the little voice is his head says, already sure of the statement.
IV
By seven o'clock that evening, the news reports are already being shown, exposing Harold Camping for lying to the world about their deaths. Rightfully so. The man was a liar, looking for attention. I would never do the things he'd said.
Thomas has finished crying in his closet, and is on his way to the local police station to turn himself in for the murder of James Peterson.
Thomas Price is sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and first degree murder.
He sits alone in his prison cell, pondering on his decision. In the three years he's been there, he has only received two letters: one from his family, expressing their disappointment in their son; and one from a woman named Mary Peterson, that he rereads once each day:
July 1, 2011
Dear Thomas Price,
My name is Mary Peterson. A month ago, we both thought we were going to die. The difference, however, between us, is that I wanted to spend what would've been my final days alongside my family, and you wanted to spend yours taking that away from us. My son died, and for what? A bucket list? How disturbed does a person have to be to have a bucket list of crimes? My James died to fulfill a fantasy. A final wish of an estranged man trying to test his fate. The Lord calls us to forgive our enemies, so I'm sorry, but this is one thing I could never forgive.
Signed, a grieving mother.