End of the World

A new pair of shoes, a moment of happiness, and the end of the world.

Friday, August 27^th 2014

Kofi’s birthday was today, but he was unaware of this. He was however aware that today was the end of the world. And he knew he needed shoes. Nice new shoes.

The soles of his sneakers had worn through so that the rubber bottoms flip-flopped as he walked, getting caught sometimes on cracks in the pavement, pebbles, or even just thin air it seemed. He wore a shirt with Hawaiian patterns too dirty to discern and a pair of too-large shorts tied to his waist with a length of twine. His dark hair was cut short to keep cool, but still the sun beat down harshly making everyone in town sweat in the heat.

The market was today, and Kofi knew he had to move fast if he wanted to eat today. He walked down the edge of Instin Street which was busy and bustling with peddle taxis and carts packed high with various goods. Kofi ran to catch up with a cart that was carrying goats, and jumped onto the back, hanging onto the corner post until they reached the market, hopping off and stumbling over his broken soles again. He couldn’t have this happening when he went to his new home later today.

The market was bustling today, a good sign Kofi thought. He easily weaved through the crowd looking for the shoe vender and keeping a lookout for officers and anyone who looked like a tourist. The shoe peddler was to the left, just behind a large crowd of people, so Kofi wound his way behind the stall and crawled underneath the neighboring jewelry stand, which was covered in a draped tapestry blanket. He could hear people talking above him and the owner of the shoe stand was storing the extra shoes beneath the stall. Closest to him, Kofi could see a pair of black sneakers that looked too big, but he knew his feet would outgrow them so that was good enough. Peeking out from underneath the covering he looked up to see the owner of the stall chatting with a woman who seemed to be buying a pair of sandals. Good, a distraction. Kofi nimbly slipped his hand out, grabbed the sneakers, and was back under the cover of the other table within seconds. He quickly pulled on the shoes, grinning at his success. They were very nice despite being three sizes too big.

Then suddenly the noise of the market lulled, bringing him back to his situation. Was it time yet? Thinking someone had seen him and getting worried he peeked out from under the blanket that was covering the stall. But, no one was looking at him. They were all looking up at the sky. It was bright, so bright you couldn’t see any blue in it, as if the whole world had been engulfed by light. White, brilliant light. It burned Kofi’s eyes, but he couldn’t resist looking. He stepped out from under the blanketed booth.

It was the light from his dream. It felt warm, and everyone was silent, waiting for something, anything to happen. Maybe they thought that the Gods were taking them. But as quickly as the light had appeared, the entire Earth went black. People screamed, but Kofi knew there was no reason to be afraid. He had seen this coming. He simply sat down on the ground and carefully tied his new pair of sneakers.