The Better Nature of our Angels
Flowers have always reminded me of Algernon. Of how something so meaningless and seemingly insignificant grows into brilliance and beauty which lasts but for a small piece of time before withering away and becoming less than what it was at its conception. This in turn reminds me of us, of the world.
No one expected this to happen so…unexpectedly. I woke up that morning running the numbers through my head. What was our monthly turnover? Did we grow as a company in the past year and if so does it clearly reflect on the statements. There wasn’t time to think about the orders that needed to go out or the staff that wanted to take leave on the least plausible moments. It was make or break month for the restaurant and even though we have been seeing much more feet coming and out over the past few months, it wasn’t enough to keep the silent partners interested. They needed numbers and they needed big ones. While all this was crashing around inside my head in an almost painful struggle to find sense and harmony, I was in the shower scrubbing away the nightmares I had the night before.
Everything in my life was clockwork. At 5 am my alarm would go off and the coffee machine would go on. After about five minutes of sitting on my bed and wandering through the haze of sleep that still fogged around me I would get up, open the curtains and head to kitchen for a fresh cup of Columbia’s finest. I would have my coffee and a cigarette on the balcony while bearing witness to the world waking up. The cigarette would usually be done before the coffee in which case I usually have another, depending on how much I smoked the night before. Once the coffee was done I would jump in the shower where I would get rid of any unwanted frustration, regardless of what I did the night before, and once I’m all fresh and clean it is out of the shower and on to the shaving, brushing and mouthwash routine. I would throw on some clothes and then I’m out of the house, simple and easy.
This particular morning I didn’t open the curtains. Heck, I didn’t even have my coffee or my cigarette. My head was a mess. I needed to clear it and thus went straight for the shower. I needed to relax. For at least moment I simply needed to forget about everything. With the towel wrapped around my waist I entered the darkness of the living room on my way to the kitchen. In the pitch black cupboard I fumbled for a mug. Walked over to the coffee machine and filled the cup about three quarters, added three spoons of organic brown sugar, whatever that means nowadays, and poured in a dash of cream. I grabbed my smokes off the coffee table and started to feel somewhat normal. The whiskey from the previous night finally started to forget about my body and my thoughts briefly forgot about the statements and the restaurant. As I pulled away the curtain it drove into me like bull into a matador.
Bright, unforgiving blindness.
It speared me off my feet. I stumbled backwards, so much for the coffee, and repressed the vomit that jerked into my throat. Migraines are a bitch but this was the mother ship straight from the pits of hell.
“F-U-U-C-K-!!” was all I could get out. At that moment it had to be the whiskey. Nothing else would’ve made sense.
When I came to a few moments later, lying on my back with a throbbing pain almost right behind my ear, I realised I must have knocked myself out on the coffee table. To this moment I’m still not too sure, but what I am sure of is that it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my head. Not exactly the kind of experience that you would have on your bucket list. The light streaming into the living room told me that it had to be at least past midday. It rattled me and suddenly a wave of anxiety began to suffocate me. How could I have been out this long!? The partners will be furious with me. At that point I looked at the clock on the wall in order to gain some perspective on this day. What I saw was physically impossible. The clock displayed 06:20, my little black out had scarcely lasted a minute.
Outside the streets were empty. Mind you I had to put on my sunglasses just make it onto the balcony. In my mind there were three possibilities; the rapture had finally happened meaning that all those apocalypse priest throughout the centuries were finally right, an Alien invasion was in progress meaning the sci-fi apocalypse priest were finally right or this was simply a normal weekday morning with its quiet streets and we were experiencing one of the greatest scientific phenomenon in the history of the world.
Why hasn’t there been anything in the news about this? Ah! The news! There is bound to be some kind of explanation on the news, even if it is just quasi attempt at calming the population.
It didn’t surprise me at all to see Julian with a pair of sunglasses and a microphone standing amidst a crowd of sun gazers.
“As you see behind me, a crowd has started to gather here in Heritage Park all with the same question in mind, what exactly is happening to our sun?”
He has been with the Science Report for over three years now and being an expert in the field of cosmology and astrology has been suffering the misfortune of reporting on the most trivial of matters. His biggest stories usually had something to do with solar flares and not even when the Mars Rover got launched did he get the one hour special he’d been sweating and bleeding for.
“What were they thinking?! This is my field, none of those demented breeders at the station know more about this than me. I’m sorry Jules, but this story has a tech focus and our viewers want to hear this from our Su-Lyn.”
Su-Lyn, also being a friend of ours, was sympathetic even when she took a few bullets in the crossfire. At the end of it she managed to get him involved. They needed someone to comment on the atmosphere of Mars and how that might affect the Rover. At least one comment is better than no comment.
According to his report, as I understood it, the sun went through some kind of abrupt change in composition. Not only did it cause our burning globe in the sky to give off more light but it is also a different kind of light, a wavelength that we don’t yet know all that much about. They suspect that the sun’s core has something to do with it. The only thing that they are definitely certain of is that no such occurrence has ever been recorded in the entire history of the known universe. Yeah for us.
The next few days were not all that exciting. Life on earth changed in matter of seconds and in a manner that was quite unexpected. Religious groups, both spiritual and scientific, all over the world went into prayer and fasting mode while the rest of us just carried on living as much of a life as we possibly could. There weren’t any riots to write home about or severe looting, thank God. Most people were too scared because for the first time the presence of an all present higher being seemed highly likely. You can always trust humanity to look for a god in a time of absolute crisis. Like I mentioned, most of us carried on with our day to day lives as much as we could. During the day everyone is wearing sunglasses and hats while at night the restaurant has become a bustle of mixed communities having philosophical conversations and treating argument like the paedophile in the neighbourhood of rhetoric. This usually carries on well into the early morning hours due to the sky being a daylight shade of twilight. The stars shine brighter and the moon has become a sun of silver brilliance. These, of course, aren’t the only major changes in the natural world. When you walk past a body of water you can hear the waves of light bounce of the surface in a most melodious hum of harmony, almost less than a whisper. Plants have opened up even more, there is simply no other way to put this, and their colours are livid and pulsing. The only things left unchanged are the animals, humanity included and it took us less than two days to adjust to our new environment. I guess we’ve become so used to an ever changing world of progress and technological advances that this was simply one more rung in our evolutionary ladder to be climbed.
“They would find you. If they have a sensory ability to find any form of life, you will have no way of hiding yourself except if you commit suicide.
“That completely defies our nature of survival.”
“You both have a point but does it really?”
Both Su-Lyn and I look at Julian as if he had just woken from a sunstroke induced coma.
“If you really think about it you’d be destroying life but the legacy of humanity would carry on untainted.”
Ever since the Big Event the three of us have spent every night eating good food, drinking wine and debating topics from the now bigger crisis in the Middle East to Iggy Azalea’s alleged implants, a ritual which used to be reserved for Friday nights at the restaurant. Currently we are on the topic of an Alien invasion with the intent to eliminate all life on earth. Julian and I love each other more than we love our parents, but we tend to disagree, a lot. This was why we dated for such a long period of time but also why things simply couldn’t work out in the end – a conclusion which dawned on us after a month of finally moving in together.
“No, a legacy needs someone or at least something to be alive. That is by definition what constitutes a legacy; something needs to be passed on.”
“Sorry Jules, but I agree with Alex. If we kill ourselves, that which is a great part of what it means to be human, hash tag survival, will be killed off with us.”
“Then how do you two geniuses suggest we defeat our nemeses? None of our weapons work against them, they have rendered all of our technologies obsolete and they kill us with a touch. How on God’s earth would we destroy them AND save the planet along with ourselves?”
“Simple, we survive. We outsmart them with Teflon or some trivial invention. It might even be Velcro, who knows?”
Su laughs at my little jab of nonsense but Jules gives me look which I have come to learn is an indication of him being highly unappreciative of me not taking him serious. A light tremor makes ripples in our wine glasses. It is never serious and the only damaged it caused thus far was a guy who, in a fit of hysteria threw himself out of his fourth story apartment killing the dog he ‘landed’ on. That was during the first week. By now, it is just another thing we have grown accustomed to, like the girl on the seven o’clock news who got raped by her uncle and stuffed under a bed or the mindless killing and abduction of hundreds of children in Africa. Just another day, another Dorothy clicking her heels to realise her ruby slippers were mass produced by child labour and the miracle was lost in blood and sweat. Just another thing we have grown accustomed to.
“If aliens are invading us, I hope you’ll be the first one to be probed.”
“Aah Jules, you really do know me. Ever so thoughtful.”
“Hahaha, I forgot how much you like a good probing.”
“Okay, I am parental guiding my fabulous ass out of here before this amazing wine intoxicates me to a point where I am forced to bear witness to the Gay Agenda. My conservative upbringing would be in shambles.”
“I always thought you dropped those with your panties back in high school.”
“Thank you darlings for a delightful evening and FIY, I’ve been holding on to that very dearly.”
“You are still talking about your upbringing here? Just want to make sure.”
“Good night. And don’t stay up too late, it is a school night.”
“Yes mommy. Drive safe.”
“Bye luv, thanks for stopping by.”
Su closes the door behind her while I pour us another Scotch. Jules has apparently decided that two is a party and pulls a bottle of honey tequila from the mini freezer.
We carry on talking while the tequila keeps on flowing until the bottle is half empty and I, without a second’s thought of what I’m doing, place my hand on Jules’ and squeeze – lovingly.
“Well, I believe that is my cue.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I don’t know what has come over me.”
He looks at me and smiles. In our hearts, I believe we both were holding on to one another. Jules grabs his coat from the bar stool next to him and gets up. At the door we lean in for hug which becomes a kiss that should have been dodged. We both start laughing. Jules walks out and I get back to the bar to clean up after our philosopher party.
“Alex, could you come out here for a second.”
Oh God, he’s going to kiss me. We’re going to spend the night together. This is a terrible idea. I’ll just ignore him.
“Be there in a moment.”
As I walk towards the front door I already regret the decision. Something I haven’t mentioned about my restaurant is its location. Situated on the mountain, it is perfectly placed to have a clear view of the harbour and the majestic ocean while at the same time being low enough to be a communal part of suburbia and the collective of its everyday life. Ever since the Brightness the municipal grid lacked the capacity to supply full time electricity leaving the late evening hours pitch black and on nights of tranquil waters the surface would act like a sheet of glass on a mirror surface reflecting the sky above. I have witnessed few things as magical as seeing the cosmos below my feet and few things as romantic. Lord, I am doomed. When I finally get outside my thoughts mumble in confusion and my words disappear. Everything is consumed in a mass of milky fog so thick that I can taste the fresh ocean salt on my lips and feel it in my lungs.
“Oh well, it certainly doesn’t look as if you’re going anywhere tonight,” is all I can say to feign reason into this situation and pretend like this is the most natural occurrence in the world. Surprisingly soon you realise how quickly you have become skilled at this self-deceiving acceptance.
Without another word I go back inside and re-emerge with the rest of the scotch. Quietly we sit pass the bottle between the two of us each holding a cigarette in hand. Somewhere during this exchange Jules ended up sitting in front of me with my arms wrapped around him. There is something about the shared unknown that draws people to each other, into a connection of unspoken trust.
The next morning I wake up with Jules’ head resting on my chest, I would say peacefully but every now and again he suffers tiny fits of snoring. I get out of bed without waking him up and grab each of us a cup of coffee.
“This is a familiar scene.”
Jules looks at me with a boyish grin on his face and his hand in his hair. I look at him and we both start laughing, mostly because what happened last night has been the most absurd thing to happen in the past few weeks. If someone had told me that Jules and I were going to end up back together I would have told them that the world is more likely to end before that happens. The two are apparently non-exclusive. Over the next twelve days the mist does not lift or move, on the contrary, it only grows thicker and more pungent as we assume some sea creatures start to die and possibly people confined to their homes. The limited reports we get informs us that there has been very few human inflicted disturbances mainly because the mist has served as a form of entrapment for most. It has gotten to the point where you can’t see your toes on the ground which is why most unrest has been limited to interiors such as homes and other places where masses have been forced to take refuge in companionship. The majority however has chosen to be beams of support for each other. It is strange, even Jules and I are forced into one another’s company I wouldn’t have chosen any differently had I been given the choice. There is no one else I would rather be holding as the tremors became more frequent and the topics of conversation less.
Day fourteen and the mist is finally thinning out and it has been thirty nine hours since the last tremor. Since the first mists we have played hide and seek, cat and mouse, Marco Polo, watched movies, re-enacted movie scenes and listened to music from every era imaginable. We even built a fort out of linen and ribbon tie backs where we now find ourselves sleeping most nights for the only reason that it gives us the euphoric adventures of imagination. It is a little bit childish; I admit, but what the hell, YOLO right?
“Do you think we’ll be okay, I mean after all of this is over with?”
“Honestly, I have no idea if this will ever be over with. For all we know this is it and we have to start over. Learn everything anew and figure out a different ways of living.”
“It feels like being blindfolded in a pitch black room and you’re waiting for the blindfold to fall away by itself but you know that the darkness is also beyond that blindfold.”
“And you have to find new ways of making light without even knowing what you have at your disposal.”
“Precisely.”
“I’m getting a cup of coffee. You want?”
“Mmm…that would be amazing. I’ll grab the cigarettes.”
Nothing could have prepared me for this. Not a lifetime of make believe in wizards and magic, not even my belief in God. We might have died. We could be dead right now. That would make sense. The only thing that would. Finally the mist has settled.
The sky is a colour turquoise that breathes and moves with depth and dimension. The Ocean is golden green forest of light that dances like the stars in a time-lapse of the northern lights. The mountain is an assembly of crystals and colour with a fire behind it that creates a kaleidoscope of shapes against any willing surface and that same flame swims underneath the sea of glass which was once the ground we stood on. The plants are physically glowing with some kind of electricity and the flowers, they remind me of Algernon. Something once so delicate, fragile and soft has become the very definition of brilliance. I look over at Jules and see the luminance that surrounds him and I know.
“We’ll be more than okay.”
