The Last Day

The cola can was warm in my hands. I had been sat motionless for so long my legs had gone numb. Contemplating. Today would be my final day on this earth. A life so unaccomplished that no-one would mourn, even if anyone were left to mourn at all. The rain had taken everything and everyone. Of course there were many survivors, scattered wherever the rain couldn't reach, but trapped and separate with so little communication since the acid eroded through phone lines and signal towers I might as well be the only human on the planet. And as it turns out, I don't do so well with being alone.

There just didn't seem much left to live for. Humans are 80% water; we need water to live as does everything else on the planet, and when the very thing you need to survive becomes deadly what can you do? There's a finite supply of canned and bottled beverages to live off until the rain becomes neutral again, if it ever does. The damage we had done to our planet to cause it's wrath could be irreversible.

Yes, today would be the final day.

I took a swig of the warm cola and dragged myself to standing. I glanced around my front-room, cluttered with rubbish and little else. A TV sat in the corner that no longer served any purpose. Mostly my days were spent reading books, sleeping, and trying to avoid comfort-eating my rationed supplies. I dug through a pile and found a chocolate bar I had been saving. I might as well eat it now, it wouldn't do me any good soon.

As I let the sweet chocolate melt in my mouth I walked and stood at my door. I could hear the heavy droplets drumming the ground outside. The door itself had done well to stand up to the rain for this long; much better than other areas of the house where the bricks had eroded to dust. And currently this door was the only thing protecting me from being eroded to dust myself.

A thought crossed my mind. Hopeful. Stupid. Perhaps it had been long enough that the rain was rebalancing? Perhaps I could go outside and it would just be regular rain; cool and refreshing on my face. I could open my mouth and fill myself up with fresh, clean water. Gulp it down and laugh and splash in the harmless puddles like I did as a child. Hopeful. Stupid. I knew what awaited on the other side.

I opened the door, and stepped out into the rain.