Chapter 22: The World Is Ending

Waking up in the morning, nothing seemed strange at all. I sat down in front of the television and watched the news. Then I made my children sausage, eggs, and toast before they had to leave for school. Hearing the school bus honk outside, I glanced over at the clock on the kitchen wall and realized that they were late for the bus. That was just the first thing that went wrong today but not the last, I promise. After the kids barely made it on to the bus, with no time to spare, I sat down with a cup of coffee and realized that in the bottom of the cup is a dead fly. Once I took a shower, I went about my daily business of cleaning the house, making the beds, and doing the laundry. Not at any time during this daily ritual, did I ever once think that things would go so horribly wrong before I would close my eyes and go to sleep at the end of the night. But now, it is 4 p.m. and for some unknown reason, the world has gone crazy. I sit here in my house waiting for the children's bus to arrive when I hear the warning sirens go off from the township hall and start seriously wondering what is going on. Running over to the television, I notice that there is just a warning sign plastered across the screen and it says, 'Please stay in your homes, the military will be coming to help you go to a secure location in an orderly fashion." Darting around the room, I keep an eye on the window as I wait for the children's bus to show up and it doesn't. 'What is going on?" I murmur to myself before I hear the tell-tale sign of the bus horn in the distance. Hoping that they get here, and the bus doesn't decide to stop along the road, I run out the door and wait patiently by the side of the road as I stare at it slowly driving down towards home. Shaking my head, I wrench my shirt between my closed fists into a knot and say repeatedly, 'Please hurry, before anything else bad happens." Finally, the bus stops and the driver stares at me with a scared look on her face before I turn around and watch a Hummer roll down the road in the opposite direction. Several other military vehicles roll past the bus before she lets the children off and they cautiously cross the road. 'What was that?" They chime in as they stare at me all questioning. 'Come on, let's get inside. It's a military troop and the emergency sirens are telling us to go inside and wait for them to arrive." I demand as I usher them inside with my hand on their backs in a hurry. Marissa turns around and asks with concern in her voice, 'Mom. What has happened? Is there a bomb or are we at war?" She frowns and looks worried but not as much as I am because before we step foot in the door, I hear a loud crash and a bang. We all run inside and close the door behind us. 'Why don't you both go sit down and I will make you some food. I don't know what is going on, but I am sure they will let us know soon enough." 'Mom. My phone doesn't work." Peter says to me while pointing at his phone before pouting. 'You can do without your phone for a couple of hours. I am sure once we know what is going on, it will be alright, and everything will start working again." I fake a smile, before turning towards the kitchen and going to make them something to eat while we wait. Hopefully, it will calm their nerves, because I am sure not at ease with the recent situation. Let alone them. What if someone blew up a chemical plant or worse shot a bomb at us and the radiation will hit us before we know it. Perhaps, it may even be foreign intervention. When I return from the kitchen, Marissa has a startled look on her face and Peter is sitting, staring out the window with a frown spreading across his lips. 'Mom, look." Marissa points to the sky and then I see it, at first something small but then once it begins, it is too late, and everything starts to float. I feel something strange, as if the world has been turned upside down and then I watch the neighbor's vehicle start to lift and then float up into the air. Then up and up away. It keeps going, until we hear something break and then the house starts to move. It creaks and groans before it breaks free from several pipes. I suddenly smell gas and before I hear the explosion, I watch the neighbor open his front door and then disappear into the air without a trace. Hearing the boom, I see the fireball come our way. Just before it hits, I grab my children and sort of float to the floor as I hold on tight to the coffee table that is still in place miraculously. I close my eyes after looking at my children one last time and kissing them goodbye. The next time I open them, I am lying in my bed. The alarm goes off and instead of getting up, I lie there and refuse to move for fear that this is all a dream or part of some strange alternate reality. Maybe if I don't get up, everything will be fine. My children will still be alive, and the world won't end today. Hearing them come down the hall, I pull the covers over my head and murmur to myself, 'Please, please, please, let this be real and not a dream." When they open the door to my bedroom, I glance over at them and watch as they seem so real that I reach over and take them in my arms before hugging and kissing them both. Marissa cries out, 'Mom, what are you doing?" Peter looks up at my face and states, 'Mom is going nuts again. She looks like she didn't sleep a wink." He laughs at Marissa and they both wriggle free from my arms before they look back at me and Marissa says, 'Mom, we are going to be late for school if you don't get up and make us breakfast." Refusing to repeat the day over again, I stay in bed and say, 'No worries, I will simply call you in. How about we play hooky and then we can go out to eat for breakfast before spending the day shopping." 'Yay." Peter yells and climbs on the bed with me before giving me a hug and a kiss. Hoping that if I change the way things have gone, that the future won't be the same as the day before. I smile at them as they cheer loudly and then run out of the room before I stand up and go make coffee. After going to the bathroom and washing up, I walk into the kitchen to grab a stale cup of coffee and then begin calling the school. As I look up the number, I notice something odd. Suddenly, my phone just shuts off. The microwave clock stops blinking and then I hear something that I thought I had prevented. The sirens start blaring. This time however it is different. The first thing I notice is that the radio starts blaring information about the poles changing and that the gravitational pole has reversed. The world we know, and love is now completely different. Listening further, I hear the news reporter announce that California is now part of the Pacific Ocean and tidal waves are hitting Texas, Utah, and Nevada. He reports to the listeners that 'The world is in a great upheaval, and we don't know what will happen next, but the scientists have said that they think the poles are reversing again. This may very well bring the end of existence for all of us. Because if they do switch again, it could mean that there will be no gravity to hold us here." Crying out, I say, 'No. Not again. I don't understand why this is happening when I didn't do what I did in the dream." When Marissa and Peter rush in, I stare at them with concern before they scream. Because just outside the window, they watch as the house lifts and floats up into the air and at the same time we all start to float through the house into the living room. 'Hold onto something." I state before Marissa starts screaming again and is cut off because there is no oxygen. Just before I black out, I watch as the house floats up into the air and then I see blackness around us, and we all fade away. With heart pounding, the alarm starts to ring. This time, I don't even open my eyes and go back to sleep. Epilogue Now that I have written several of these stories, I find that my old ghosts have started to haunt my dreams yet again and sometimes even pop up in my peripheral vision at times. It is amazing that once things are written down, they begin to take on a life of their own. Just remember, if you don't want things to go bump in the night, don't tell anyone else about them. Even now the shadows in my room play havoc with my subconscious, so I turn the light on and sleep with one eye open. Also, when my computer starts to go on the fritz just as I write a particularly spooky part of a story, I chuck it up to coincidence and swallow a little hard before checking to make sure that I have only one shadow. It's also amazing that I still get so scared as an adult. You sure would have thought that for someone who makes a living scaring people, I would know better, right? The End To my loving husband, mom, sister and all my family that believed in me enough to push me to make this all possible. Thank you. I love you all. About the Author M.D. LaBelle is an International Best-Selling Author of over 12 novels. The genres include anything from children's books to Erotica. She lives in Michigan with her loving husband and four of the six children that are still at home. Most recently she has started writing on over 40 web novel platforms and selling her novels on Amazon, ###Chapters Indigo, and Kindle Vella. Please feel free to visit her website, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Visit M.D. LaBelle's website at www.mdlabelle0.wixsite.com Instagram Account www.instagram.com/M.D.LaBelle/ Twitter Account www.twitter.com/MDLaBelle1 FaceBook Account www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100062142582314 I hope you enjoyed reading My Nightmares. Please take time to read the others if you haven't already. Review it. Please review this novel and let others know what you liked about this book. If you write a review, please send an email to me at [email protected]. Or if you want, please visit me at www.mdlabelle0.wixsite.com My Nightmares Copyright © 2022 M.D. LaBelle Casper Publishing All Rights Reserved This book is a work of fiction. Characters and names are of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the express prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact the author through her website: www.mdlabelle0.wixsite.com