John sat at the edge of his window. He stared at a stream of water washing across the street. Lightening drew across the sky, momentarily drawing his attention from the piece of leaf, he had been watching float with the rapids of drainage bound waters.

He gave a yawn and stared at the pouring black grey sky. He should be asleep and he knows, his aching eyes told him so. He had tried during the early hours of the night, but he couldn’t stay put. He even tried push ups, to burn his excess energy, but it only made him more restless.

The yapping of the neighbour’s dog had brought him to the window. Mr Greg had come out to grab the dripping dog. John watched him drag his feet and shout every profane word he wouldn’t say Infront of his kids, as he ran into the house and slammed the door.

He would miss this neighbourhood. In a few hours, he would be in a flight to his dream college. He gave a sigh and walked over to his wall to stare at the poster of the flash that had hung there since he had first moved in.

“Dad, what do you think.”

“Isn’t it a bit crooked”

“Nuh-huh” John said patting his dad’s head. “I like it that way”.

“If you say so” Jackson said moving the picture a bit and flashing john who sat on his shoulder a smile.

“You just have to be a hero.” he said ripping the poster and tossing it into the bin that sat not too far from the bedside drawer, he now sat on.

Beep, beep, stand up solider, time to fight the world.

“Great its 5’oclock” he said with a sigh “let’s just get this day over with.” He rolled his eyes, tossed the solider themed alarm clock into the dustbin and walked out of the room.

____

“An eleven-hour trip and I get no shut eye.” Ben said laying on the bed, his leg hung on the wall. “I bet everyone is asleep by now.” He sighed picking up his phone. “Crap!” he said shooting off the wall and sitting upright, “it’s 5am, I better start packing.”. he shot off the bed and began pulling out shirts from his closet and tossing them into an open box that laid at the foot of the bed.

“I could have sworn, I set an alarm for 5am.” He wondered. He rummaged through his closet, past oversized cloths and shirts so small they would turn his arm purple from lack of blood.

Out of the pocket of a pair of black jeans. A folded-up flyer fell out and caught his attention. It read:

Bake sale

Pablo’s bakery’s grand opening:

Come one, come all,

Bring your friends and family,

All sales are half priced,

Date: 29th September 2021.

Venue:22nd Prisinct road, Business district, Elmwood.

Ben broke a smile as he put the flyer in his pocket, “John loves the city.”

-------

Towel hung over his shoulder; John dragged his feet across the hall towards the bathroom. He stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact with the family photos that lined the family hall. “I’ll see you before you go” John said clenching his teeth. “you’re always full of bull, aren’t you?” he said staring at a photo of a navy seal smiling happily with his wife. “You are crooked!” he said slapping the photo to an angle.

“You promised to be here before he goes” said someone from a room a few feet from the photo. John crept up to the door. it stood slightly ajar, letting little light into the darkened room.

“He hasn’t seen you in 7 years! James a boy needs his dad.”

“don’t give me that crap about serving your country! Make it here today or don’t bother coming back!”

The speaker slammed her hands against a table that outlooked the pouring rain. John sighed and returned to his shuffling. The last time his mum had been this pissed was his 10th birthday. His dad was recalled to the war and didn’t even have the courtesy of looking twice at his son before tossing the spatula and leaving the patties to burn. “As usual” he said running his hand through his hair, “no one else drives her mad”.

-----

Ben stood before a mirror admiring the knocks and crannies of his build. “Watch out college, this shark is about to bite” he said flexing his arms a bit. His gaze wandered down his body, eventually falling on the photo of a man and woman smiling in front of a field. “I’ll make you proud.” He said as he smiles straightened. He made a sign of the cross, before putting on a shirt, packing the picture into his box and zipping it.

“Aiit, time to get john.” he said with a renewed smile. He took a glance at the time on his phone. “Great,7:45 I still have some time left before my flight.” He sat on his bed and sent john a text. “Fingers crossed.” He whispered, standing up and leaving the room.

----

“The world mourns today, as more than 90 percent of the world leaders, were found mysteriously dead. Investigations revealed a virus to be the cause of the sudden death. Little is known about this virus except that it struck within a 24 hours window. Countries whose leaders show no sign of infection are being moved into quarantine along with anyone who has in anyway had contact with them in the past 7 days.

The president would be addressing us from his quarantine site later this evening to address the growing concern on the issue.”

“7 days huh?” Ray said with a slight smile, “shouldn’t you be more worried about your health than bring your kids to work day.”

“Can It Ray” his sister said from the front seat, shooting her cold eyes at him.

“What I’m just saying is health is wealth, and isn’t wealth what this family is about.”

“This family is a lot more than just wealth” brown said not taking his eyes of the road.

“Yes, yes” Ray chuckled, “we are also about lies and cheating, can’t forget the pillars of the home, can we?”

“Ray!” Ashley yelled from the front. Her eyes fixed on Ray. She gave a slight head shake before sinking into her seat and settling into silence like her dad.

“You are coming to work with me today.” Brown said, stepping on the pedal and zooming through the rain.

“Can I really have the virus?” brown wondered. “I haven’t left town in the past… month or so and my last check-up said I’m fit as a fiddle. I can’t be sick, I just can’t.

He took a glance at the clock. It read 8:00, he still had time to spare. He then glanced at Ashley who beamed him a sorry smile. Behind her, just outside her window stood a man with unkept beards and a dainty jacket. He held up a sign that read: “The wrath of GOD is upon us and the earth shall not withstand it.”

Browns shoulders tensed as he drove past the man. He wasn’t a religious man, but if the wrath of God was anything like his past, he wasn’t ready to face it. Ashley kept her smile, even adding a pat on his shoulder. “She smiles just like her” he thought. “I hope this virus is just a scare” he said as he took another turn into the gate parking lot for The Prisinct’s skyscraper.

-----

“Morning fresher”, Mrs lily said, her head deep in dishes from the night before. “How we feeling about our big day?”

“Not really as exciting as I thought it would be.” John said dragging his feet across the kitchen and counting the tiles as he made his way to the cupboard. He grabbed himself a box of cereal, a bowl and some milk and sat to make himself some breakfast.

“I know, he promised to be here” she said giving a sigh and wiping her hands with a napkin. “But he has a lot on his plate and I know he would be here if he - “

“-Mom could you please drop the issue. It’s not like this is the first time he would disappoint .” John stuffed his mouth with cereal and stared at the bowl, tracing the flowers that lined the side with his mind.

“John, when I married your father,” lily said sitting down beside him. “I made a choice that I would only see him on short days and miss him for long nights,” she gulped and stared at her wedding ring. “Ultimately someday I wouldn’t see him anymore.” Lily’s voice fell into a whisper as she finished her sentence. Her eyes glued to her wedding that she had begun fiddling with.

“Well, you made that choice.” John standing up with his cereal. “I didn’t”. he walked out of the room, with furrowed brows, clenching the bowl, wishing it would break. “I’m going to see ben at Pablo’s.” he yelled.

“Don’t forget your inhaler.” she yelled back, still fiddling with her ring. She blinked tears away from her eyes and nodded as she whispered “you didn’t make that choice.”

------

Brown sat at his desk, in a well-furnished office that overlooked the skyline of the city. A slow-paced classical instrumental played in the background, it helped him concentrate on the design he was putting the finishing touches on. On his desk sat a cup of coffee, a couple of blueprints for a skyscraper and a photo of a red-haired woman smiling in a meadow.

Brown slackened his tie and sighed as he added columns to the base of the design. “Terrible!” he yelled slapping the table and throwing his head backwards. “This is due tomorrow” his mumbled as he rolled up his sleeves and shot back at the laptop.

“So, this is how you spend your days.” Ray said sipping on a soda and watching his dad’s meltdown from the comfort of a black armchair.

“Can it.” Brown hissed shooting him a glare. His brow furrowed as he turned his attention back to his task.

“You know I could be playing Fortnite and be completely out of your hair.” Ray said taking a long, loud slurp from his drink. Watching his dad drown his anger with work, was all the joy he needed from the hum drum of day. “Do you really need me in this room, or are you hoping your work ethics would rub off on me.” He kicked back and sighed as he sunk into the chair.

“Get out!” brown said, his attention undeterred. Ray broke a smile and shuffled to the classical music as he made his way out of the room.

Brown buried his face in his palm and counted his breaths. “You can’t fail her.” He muttered, sneaking a look at the picture of the smiling woman. He patted his head and levelled his head as he went back to work.

The clock on his system read 9:00, as the room brightened and a boom rang through the room.