Happy's Nest
An End of the World Story By Ben Blanchette
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PUBLISHED BY
Happy's Nest
Copyright © 2012 by Ben Blanchette
Cover Art and Design
Photograph by Joe and Joy Bartolome, used by permission
Cover design by Ben Blanchette
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
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To my good friend, Warren.
You taught me about life.
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Happy's Nest
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In the unusually hot September sun, Jim Sullivan sat comfortably on his fifth floor balcony, sipping his strawberry lemonade through a red twisty straw. The world below him was a madhouse. The city street was filled with looters, mobs, and panicked neighbors. Jim fought the impulse to join them. If the world was ending, he was going to enjoy it.
Jim put his feet up on the metal railing, reclining in the poolside chair he had stolen from a hotel down the street, and took another sip. An explosion a block away sent harsh vibrations through his old building and caused him to spill the beverage. He shot to his feet and patted fiercely at the red stain on his favorite shirt, dumping even more lemonade. He cursed in disbelief at this unfortunate incident. With his glass lifted, ready to meet its doom upon a looter below, Jim paused. He lowered the glass, looking between it and the red-stained shirt. He looked up to the sky where the sun was beginning to disappear behind the building across the street.
Suddenly he threw the glass towards the sun and yelled in defiance, “You couldn’t last another billion years or something?”
The glass and its refreshing contents fell quickly to the ground and shattered on the pavement, somehow missing all the unprotected skulls below. Quickly, Jim ripped off his favorite shirt and tossed it over the edge. His shoes and pants followed. He paused briefly and stood in his underwear, deciding that no one wanted to see the wrinkly and flabby naked body of a decrepit seventy-year-old man before they died. It was cruel. But the sun deserved it.
Reclining once more, Jim took a breath to relax and began listening to the ambient sounds of the city: screaming pedestrians, sporadic gun-fire. There was a sharp scent of something burning. Only the random explosions seemed out of place. Everything was normal, just exaggerated. It was relaxing. If only he had something to drink.
"Hearken, O ye people of sin! Hearken to the voice of God!" a voice erupted from below. Jim’s head shot around, looking up and down the street. The sudden yelling was certainly out of place. “You are all doomed because of your sins!” the voice continued. “Repent now and join the Rapture!” Jim shot to his feet and looked over the railing. He saw a man directly beneath him holding a large sign and waving it at the uninterested crowd. “Repent, heathens! Only Jesus can save you! Join the Rapture!”
Intrigued, Jim continued to watch and listen. He was unsure of the sign’s contents, and the voice rising from below was muffled by the noise of chaos. But Jim was fascinated. With the electricity out, this was the closest thing to television he had. Though it had not been long, Jim missed his television.
Suddenly, three loud knocks carried through the small apartment to the open balcony. Jim's heart almost stopped as fear gripped his imagination. Who could be knocking on his door? He had no friends - except his television – and no one cared enough to check on him. Whoever it was had only bad intentions.
Leaving his happy little nest and entering the apartment, Jim heard three more knocks. He cleared his throat.
“Who is it?” His voice cracked as he spoke.
“It's your neighbor,” the voice said, “David Kiristian.”
Jim did not remember having a neighbor.
“Oh, David,” he said, pretending to know his neighbor, “can I help you or something?”
“My wife told me to come over and ask you if you could put your clothes back on,” the voice said.
“Sorry,” Jim replied, “I didn't know anyone was watching.”
“We weren't watching, exactly, but your balcony is all we can see out our window. You’re hard to miss.”
“Sorry,” Jim apologized, “I'll put some pants on.”
“And a shirt please.”
“Shirt too, no problem.” Jim’s heart was slowing now as he realized his panic was unwarranted.
“Thanks,” was the final word as David presumably walked away.
Jim stood, looking around the apartment for another piece of clothing when suddenly a question suddenly came to his mind, and he rushed to the door and pulled it open. David, about to open his door, screamed and fell to the floor.
“Sorry,” Jim said, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just have a question.”
“Uh, sure,” David said, rising to his feet.
“With a name like, Kir-ist-ian, you must be a religious man, right?” Jim asked.
David paused. “The two are actually very unrelated, but I am.”
“So,” Jim began, “What do Dinosaurs have to do with Jesus?”
“Excuse me?” David replied, confused.
“Jesus and dinosaurs, what's the connection?”
David did not say a word but held on to his doorknob, waiting for the right moment to run into his apartment.
“There's this guy down on the street yelling something about Jesus and raptors. The sun is about to explode and the world is ending and this guy’s yelling about Jesus and dinosaurs. Why?”
Jim stood halfway inside his doorway in his underwear, and waited out the silence that followed. David nervously grasped his door-knob as his mind began to connect. A small smile came to his face.
“He's not talking about raptors,” he chuckled,” I think he means the Rapture.”
“What's a rapture? Is it bigger or something?” Jim asked.
“No, it's not a dinosaur at all. It's an event. Some Christians believe that when Jesus comes again, all the righteous will suddenly disappear and be saved from the destruction.”
“Well, this is the end, my friend,” Jim said, “Why aren’t people disappearing? Why haven't you disappeared?”
“I'm not that kind of Christian.”
“Fair enough,” Jim said, “So-no dinosaurs?”
“No dinosaurs.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm very sure.” David assured him. “Do you have a Bible? You can read about the Rapture yourself.”
A Bible? Jim had never owned a Bible.
“No, I'm a nothin-arian. I don't believe in nothin'. I saw a Bible once. The Salvation Army's got a ton of them. But if you have one, I could take a look. Might help save my soul or something.”
“Okay, hold on a minute. I'll be right back.” David opened his door but stopped when he noticed that Jim was not moving. “Do you mind putting clothes on, please?”
“Oh, sure,” Jim said, who had forgotten he was still in his briefs.
Both men returned to their apartments. Jim found a pair of Hawaiian shorts, which he had stolen from the same Salvation Army where he had seen the Bible, lying by his bedroom door, and he put them on. There was a knock on the door. Jim answered it quickly. David stood, holding a large blue book.
“Wow,” Jim said, “the Bibles I saw weren’t that big.”
“It's a deluxe edition, of sorts. It has a lot of other things in it. You're free to read those too.”
“No, I just want to skip to the part about the dinosaurs. Where's that at?” Jim asked.
“It's right here.” David opened the book and showed him. “It talks about the Rapture in Revelations. It's at the end of the
Bible. You'll like it. There aren’t any dinosaurs, but it does have dragons.”
“Intriguing,” Jim said, taking the book. “I'll get it back to you tomorrow.”
David stared blankly at him. “Oh, that was a joke” he finally said, “If you do have any questions just come knock. I’m not going anywhere.”
“One more question,” Jim said before David could open the door. “My last science class was 50 years ago. What’s really going to happen when the sun explodes?”
“You mean if you’re not caught up in the Rapture?” David joked. But realizing his mistake, he continued before Jim could talk more about dinosaurs. “My guess is that the shockwave will destroy the earth completely or everything will just freeze and die.”
“But the President on TV said they built caves to save people,” Jim said.
“That won’t matter if the shockwave kills us,” David continued, “but no matter what happens, life won’t exist without the sun. Any more questions? I really have to get back inside.”
“No,” Jim said, “thank you neighbor.”
David finally entered his apartment and Jim did the same.
Forgetting that he had to finish dressing for the mental health of his neighbors, Jim returned to the balcony, flipping through the pages of the giant Bible as he walked. Out on the balcony again, he noticed that the sun had begun to set over the building across the street. A light shadow covered his building. The street seemed quieter in the shade, unnaturally quiet.
Jim looked around and noticed the reason for the silence. The street was empty. No looters, no mobs, no crying babies, just light whimpers of