Everywhere in London
“W hat the hell is that?” the Cheshire asked the Pillar. Mr. Jay, standing in the shadows, didn’t show signs of surprise. “Do you know what this is, Pillar?”
The Pillar said nothing. His eyes were fixed on the shadow Mr. Jay hides behind. The earth kept vibrating. The Cheshire realized the Pillar didn’t look surprised as well.
“What the hell is this, Pillar?”
The Pillar’s smile widens, directed toward Mr. Jay. “It’s happening,” he said.
“What is happening?” the Cheshire shrieked, holding on to a chair so that he wouldn’t fall.
“The end,” the Pillar said. “The beginning,” he added. “And all the nonsense in between.”
Outside the Kew Garden, Tom hung onto the side of the bus. “Earthquake!” He swung to the vibration and laughed hysterically.
Humpty was busy licking his candy when the earth shook. He hadn’t enough time to hang onto something, so he ended up rolling like a ball all over the place with nothing to hang onto.
“All these things we fight over can just be gone in a second,” Tom couldn’t stop laughing. “Hail Darwin and nature. Nature can just wipe us out whenever it likes. We’re nothing but stardust and stupid cells with imagination.”
The Reds up the hill held tight to each other. They seemed to know too what’s going on, but they weren’t strong enough not to shake.
One of them announced to the others, “It’s happening, boys. Hold on tight.”
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People all over London had to stop their fighting and killing. When the earth shook, everyone had to listen.
“What is this?” someone asked.
“The end, of course.”
“Dust to dust, mate.”
“I think my wife just farted.”
The kids in an elementary school in London shook violently to the earth’s madness. They held onto each other in the class. The teacher, a young blond woman with freckles, assured them it was going to pass. She wasn’t sure herself, but a teacher had to pretend she knew everything.
She held onto her chair and shouted at them. ‘Hold on. It’s going to pass. Just don’t lose your books.”
The kids held tighter to their books.
“Bravo, kids,” she rewarded them. “Soon it will happen.”
“Does it have to?” a child asked, worried.
“It has to, but you will be brave enough to save the world, right?”
He nodded feebly. Neither he or his friends wanted to save the world. Classes at school sucked. He prayed for the weekend to come. Why couldn’t the older folks save the world? Why did it always have to be them? He thought elders read too much Harry Potter these days.
“That’s good,” she said. “Now who’s got Alice in Wonderland and who has Through the Looking Glass?
Mother Bird stopped tapping her feet in the phone booth. For a moment she wondered if her tapping did that, but then she realized what it was. She took a look at the paper in her hand then at the phone set.
“This is actually happening,” she mumbled.
She shifted her gaze between the sky and the earth, looking for it. She couldn’t see it. Not yet. This must be a prelude. The rest is coming.
When Dormouse had first shown her the ‘event’ on the note, she had laughed. Now she feared for her life. Not her children. She’d taken care of them. The money guaranteed a good ‘after-apocalypse’ for them.
She gripped the handset but didn't pick up. She just wanted to be ready to make the phone call once it’s all done.
“Ashes to ashes,” she prayed, hanging on the phone set. “Dust to dust,” she closed her eyes. “And mushrooms to mushrooms.”