She grew up in an era of instability, a few decades after the turn of the century. After she couldn’t pay back her student loans, her parents filed for bankruptcy. And once that happened, they just couldn’t take care of her.
She became an adult. She used her anger and became an activist.
Climate was a real issue, and her generation was the one who took it head on. They solved some real global issues, but I guess having a daughter who worked for the tabloids never really interested her.
But she loved me. I do know that.
I don’t care what she says. I’ll pack her bags for her. She’s coming with me.
I run to my room, toss open every single drawer. I place my clothes in a pile, stuffing them into a small suitcase. Anything of real value, I take.
My cell phone rings in the living room. “Mom, I’ll be packed and ready to leave in two minutes. Can you pick up the phone?”
When she doesn’t answer, I run and grab it myself. It’s Ryan.
Great…
Mother is nowhere to be found. “Mom, where are you?” I ask.
No response.
She must have heeded my warnings and started to pack.
I shrug and answer the phone. “Ryan, is that you?” I ask.
His speech is hurried. I can hear his feet hitting the pavement. Wherever he is, he’s running hard. “Emma. Dear, God. What is happening?”
“I… don’t know,” I say.
He gulps and chokes, coughing. “Scrap the Avalon story. None of that matters anymore. I need you to draft something else for me,” he says.
Is he for real? I’m not working today.
I groan and nearly throw my phone at my dresser. “Ryan, we’re being attacked, and you’re still putting me on assignments?”
“This is important,” he yells.
I turn, ready t
o leave, but all is not right in my apartment. My mother is nowhere in sight, and the mothership is still drilling into the Earth’s core.
As I grab my suitcase, I feel a presence.
I freeze.
There are two alien beasts standing inside my room.
Ryan speaks, but I can barely hear him. “Emma? Are you with me on this?”
I take a step back. A chill runs through my veins.
I can’t speak. I can’t even open my mouth to breathe. I try to suck in oxygen through my nose, but it just makes me feel faint.
“No...” I whisper, tears forming in the crevices of my eyelids.
The beasts are wild and untamed. Unabashedly naked, they stand like tribal warlords from the future.
I choke on my saliva and try not to look at the meaty, hard flesh that rises between their rounded, muscular thighs. I try not to analyze their rippling abdomens and biceps, covered in steel armor plating.