Good Morning

He entered the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs fills the air, two empty plates sit on the table as a woman sways to a song as she cooks. He approaches her from behind and wraps his arms around her waist. She lets out a tiny scream in shock but quickly settles into his embrace.

“Good morning.” He says in a soft voice the last vestiges of sleep exit with his voice.

“Good morning, love.” She replies, her fingers twirling a heart locket around her neck.

She twists around in his hold so that they are face to face and leans up so that their lips meet in a soft kiss. They separate from the kiss, and he pulls her into a tight hug tears burning at the edge of his eyes. She feels a tear run down his cheek and asks, “What’s wrong.”

“Huh, oh” he exclaims rubbing the tear from his face. “I don’t know. Something about this moment just felt nice, familiar you know?” he asks though it comes out as more of a statement.

“Whatever you say weirdo.” She says with a smile and pulls his head down for another kiss. A sizzling breaks the kiss this time as she jumps and turns back to the stove. “Oh no can’t let the bacon burn.” She says moving the bacon to a plate. “Well time for breakfast.”

They sit across from each other just enjoying the other’s company. He leans back in his chair running his hand through his dark hair before asking “Why don’t we just stay home today? I don’t feel like going in today I’d rather stay here with you.”

“That’d be nice.” She replies. “But first you have to wake up.” She says flatly a tear rolling down her face.

“What do you mean? I am awake” he asks confused not noticing he had begun crying, worry creeping through his body.

“I’m sorry but we both know you can’t stay.” She says calmly.

“But why?” he asks through a sob as the tears fall heavily from his eyes cascading down his face.

She opens her mouth to respond but it is interrupted as light breaches through the house everything to loud to make sense. “NOOO!!!” He yells sitting up his hair now long, scraggly, and white. His face is tear stained and his eyes are red. He lets out a sigh as he takes in his surroundings. He had been asleep next to fire made from rubble the sky still dark the dust clouds had blocked most light for years now letting just enough through that life can somehow still survive though not much did.

He scratches his head looking down at his hand as he twirls her heart locket in his fingers just as she had done on the day the world ended. It had been 45 years since that day and in that time, he had known three friends but through the journey through the charred and frozen earth they had been lost one to illness, one to exhaustion, the last to go had been only a month before, he had succumbed to his depression saying he couldn’t go on living like this.

Not that he could blame him, he wanted this to be over especially now that from what he could tell he was the last person left, everyone else killed in on that day or having died in the years since then.

“Almost there after all this time” he whispers to himself, his feet weakly carrying him to his destination. He had decided his deathbed long ago and now he was so close. he was close to seeing everyone again, to seeing her again.

He took a hesitant step into the remains of a suburb heading to the collapsed home he had shared with her all those years ago he could feel tears grace his face again as he entered what used to be the kitchen.

“Good morning” he says to no one letting himself fall to the ground. He backs himself up to some rubble to rest his back on as he places the locket around his neck. He opens it to see the picture that brought him back to this place a picture of her.

“I’ll see you soon” he breathes as his breath gets short and his eye lids are too heavy to hold open any longer. He lets his head fall the last words he utters being another solemn “Good morning” and he swears somewhere he can hear a soft “Good morning love” as he finally passes his hand gripped on the heart locket.