To H. The last day on earth I I remember my last day on earth pretty well.

Actually, I knew something strange was about to happen the moment I woke up: as I stood up in my bed my heartbeat was going bananas, I was sweating although the room was quite chilly since the window was open all night long. The panic lasted maybe two minutes, and then I heard the most enormous bang Id surely ever heard in my life, coming from the outside. The strange premonitory sensation I had reached its peak; I put the covers on my head and waited for a while in the bed until it finally faded away. Then I went to the window to see what it was that made this horrendous noise. I saw the car park down my flat; some people out there were looking all around them, surely as astonished as me, trying to find out where the sound came from. I took a pair of jeans, a shirt, put on my chucks without socks, and quickly went outside to see whats what. As soon as I opened my flats entrance door the cold winter breeze surprised me, so I went back up to get a coat. Then, I went down again, and asked my neighbors on the streets what it was all about. They all heard the bang, but none of them knew where it came from. I got back home, slightly disappointed, and went on with my daily routine. II At work no one could tell what happened, even if once again everyone heard the crazy noise that scared the hell out of me this very morning. We discussed the possibility of a plane crash, a meteorite collision or even the explosion of a nuclear plant, but still the mystery remained. During the day I forgot about all this, focusing on my tasks as a sales manager. I spent the afternoon on the phone with a customer who wanted to end his contract sooner than expected; he finally got away with it on a technicality. I basically lost a business, so I spent one extra, unpaid hour at the office with my director, trying to find a reasonable excuse for my failure. The boss didnt want to hear a thing, so I ended just nodding my head here and there in approval of his belittling criticisms. So here I was, walking out of the office feeling like shit, with the inner knowledge that I will not stay long in this company. Damn right I wasnt, but lets get not ahead of our account of my last day on earth. So, I went out of the office, and headed for the nearest subway station. Once inside the train, I chose to sit in the back, next to a window, in order not to have to confront with people; I just didnt feel like it, my job depressed me. I told myself: Ok, tonight Ill get completely hammered with my friends. That surely will do me some good. However, one event has seriously put in jeopardy my initial plan to sink into my own sorrow. A girl came in, sat on a bench a few meters in front of me. She had a fierce body, long blonde hair, and when she noticed me I instantly knew I was going to go and talk to her; she had those intense, light-green responsive eyes, and a huge smile that means come on, Im available. I instantly forgot about all my troubles at work, and fearlessly stood up and went towards the girl. I talked the regular talk, and when we arrived at her station I pretended I had to stop here too. We walked for a bit, conversation flowed, things felt right; I suggested we went for a drink. We took a beer in the nearest pub, spent some quality time together, then she told me she had to leave, because she was having dinner with her family. Before we parted, I gave her my phone number, and told her Id really want to see her again. She answered with a

shimmering beam, looked down to her feet in embarrassment, then quickly looked up at me again, which was her way of telling me ok well see each other again. She left; as watched her walk away I thought Jesus she really is good looking. At this instant I didnt know yet that, as a matter of fact, we shall never see each other again. III When I got home this evening, I heard a pounding sound quite similar to the dreadful bang of the morning. I went outside, like did most of my neighbors, and I think we all shared the exact same feeling at the exact same time, like Hell. Thats precisely what it was indeed, hell. I retrieved the feeling of pure anguish I had this morning, only multiplied by 10. This time the fear wasnt irrational but logical; it was all like in the old books, the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, the Necronomicon as well, what do I know. First sky went black, all black, like the blackest black there is, birds went down, all dead, damn it was raining birds. Then other animals fell down too, pigs flew, it was raining cats and dogs, but then I just couldnt get the irony of it. I took shelter in my flat, waiting for the whole process to stop. Only it rained, and rained again, people were smashed by cows, tigers, giraffes, elephants. And when it stopped, if it ever stopped, I couldnt even tell since I lived on the top floor of my flat, and animals covered the whole fucking building. I felt the walls, the roof and the floor were crackling. I told myself geez it would be stupid to die like that. I tried to get out of the flat before its collapse. It was difficult, I had to crawl between dead carcasses, and I had to be careful not to be smashed by the stack of dead animals. The stench of blood was horrible, almost unbearable. Dont ask me how, but I miraculously found a way out of this impossible pile, and reached for a wide, clear area apparently secure. It was weird, being here, in the middle of nowhere, with dead animals all around me, sort of stacked to unattainable heights. Some beasts were still falling down here and there, so I figured it might still be raining animals. The situation seemed hopeless. To make it worse, something even weirder happened. Out of the sky, dark, blurry entities flew down to reach the ground. They all looked the same, like big, round, black mouths with nothing but void in it. The entities seemed to look for something; it didnt take me too long to understand they were looking for me, apparently the last living thing in the area, maybe even in the world. I remembered the lyrics of Marylin Mansons The last day on Earth, which I muttered in my head in order to relax and have some kind of grip on the circumstances; it went on like: I know its the last day on earth/ well be together while the planet dies. Well, not so much, I really wonder where the hell I can still find the slightest feeling of togetherness in the position Im in. So thats it, the end of the line, one of these shadowy entities seems to have spotted me. As the dark, deadly mouth closes in; as death itself draws alarmingly nearer, I, poor human, think of one thing and one thing only: the blonde girl I met on the subway and didnt had the time to kiss, the blonde girl with those intense, light-green responsive eyes. DW - 2012