A Vanishing Universe
Natalie stared out into the dark, night sky. Living out in the country, and the fact that there was no moon that night, the stars above shown brilliantly against the black backdrop. There were millions of twinkling, sparkling stars she could see as she took in the sight from the roof of her house. Part of the Milky Way was even visible, stretching along a large portion of the sky in beautiful blue, pink, and purple colors. Some parts of the sky shown brighter than others, while large dark patches could be seen all around as well. The galaxy, and the whole universe itself, was utterly amazing to Natalie; it blew her mind away at how gorgeous it all was.
She was currently sitting in a lawn chair on top of her house, sipping on a Long Island Iced Tea as she enjoyed the view while she could. She decided to come up and look into the sky, while she had a drink, after watching the late night news.
The biggest thing, and really, the only thing, on the news lately was how the universe was disappearing. It started two weeks ago when a group of scientists claimed several distant galaxies had vanished from sight. No one paid attention, at first, because the galaxies were so far away and there could have been any number of reasonable explanations for them to disappear from Earth’s sight. It wasn’t until a few days later when astronomers all over the world began to witness distant galaxies blink out of existence, and they never stopped. It was a mystery; no one knew why this was happening, and people were freaking out.
Millions across the world were frightened, thinking the universe was coming to an end. If that were true, then there was nothing the little speck of dust we call our planet could do to stop it. People knew this, so they were panicking. Natalie was surprised the world wasn’t rioting yet, but perhaps the true extent of the whole situation hadn’t gotten ahold of many people.
“Hey babe, I brought you a refresher,” said her husband, Jimmy, as he popped his head out of the window they use for access to the roof. He held both his drink and hers, and she grabbed them both so he could safely climb out to join her. She set them both on the ground as she helped make sure he didn’t stumble to his death below. “It’s a beautiful night tonight.”
“It sure is.”
She handed him back his drink when he settled down in the chair beside her. She finished the last sip of her first drink, and then picked up the one her husband brought her and started drinking the new beverage.
“Too bad it might not last long,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.
“Don’t ruin the moment Mr. Negativity, just sit back in silence and enjoy it for a while.” This moment was perfect, drinking and appreciating the view with the person she loved most in her life, and she wanted to relish the moment.
Feeling a sight buzz, Natalie continued to stare into space, thinking that at any moment everything could all be gone. The thought of all existence ending at once scared her; she was only thirty years old and didn’t want to disappear into nothingness. The galaxies that were vanishing were only the farthest from their own, but at the rate they were disappearing, people were worried it could be any day before everyone, and everything, was gone. She looked up and half expected to see stars blink out in front of her eyes, but she knew that wouldn’t happen because everything she could see with her naked eye was too close and not as distant as the parts of the universe that were receding.
Even though Natalie was worried life would end, she was also content with the fact that she might die; she was ready. She might have felt different if she had cancer or some horrible disease, something would claim only her life, but the fact that everything was being affected meant something to her. Since everything was being affected, she felt like the universe had its own plan it was carrying out for certain reason, like what was happening was meant to be; she kind of believed it was fate, and that it was eventually going to happen.
“You know,” said Jimmy, breaking the silence, “you seem pretty calm about all of this.”
“Yeah, maybe a little. I mean, sure what’s happening is scary, but there isn’t anything we can do.”
“That’s true,” he replied, with a sad, depressed look forming on his face. “Do you really think the universe is collapsing, or disappearing, or whatever the hell is happening?”
“I suppose. Can you think of any other reasonable explanation for what’s going on?”
“No, I guess not.” A look of disappointment took over his saddened face, like he was waiting for Natalie to have the right answers only to be let down.
“The truth of it is this, Jimmy. This whole thing is terrifying. Everything around us could be gone in the blink of an eye at any second. It could happen a minute from now, a day from now, or years in the future. We don’t even know what exactly is happening; no one knows a thing about what’s going on. And, to me, that’s the scariest thing, the fact that we could all vanish at any given moment.”
She paused for a minute while she looked up into the sky. It was beautiful, yet it gave a sense of dread at the same time. Although it all seemed so horrifying to think of, Natalie liked to try and stay as hopeful as she could in a situation like this; it was all she, or anyone, could do to keep from going crazy.
“But,” she continued talking to Jimmy, “there’s nothing we can do about any of it. We have no control over when it’s going to happen, or what’s going to happen; it’s bigger than us, so the only thing we can do is hope that in the end everything will be okay. I mean, do you think there’s anything we can do to stop this?”
“Not at all. But then, what do you think is going to happen?”
“I have no idea, but I’d like to think that if we disappear, or die, or whatever happens, that we will somehow live on.”
“You mean like heaven?”
She knew Jimmy was raised Catholic and still practiced it, going to mass every weekend, but she didn’t share his beliefs. She also didn’t want to hurt his feelings, either, by telling him she didn’t exactly believe in heaven. He knew she wasn’t Catholic and that she didn’t share his same views, but she didn’t want to get him any more down than how he looked right now.
“If that’s what you believe, then yeah, I guess that’s what I think will happen. I think that whatever you think happens after you die will indeed happen.”
She truly believed what she said just then, too. Everyone in the world thought different things happened when you died. Some people would go to heaven, some would go to hell, and some people believe you would get reincarnated as an animal or part of nature; everyone had their own opinions on life after death.
Natalie didn’t believe in heaven, like her husband, but she believed that there was something after death. She believed everyone exerted an energy, and that energy is what remained when the physical body died. Even if the universe was disappearing, she felt some part of her would remain in some parallel plane or a different universe. This is what she hoped would happen when she died, and since that is what she wanted, that is what she believed would happen. She wanted everyone’s death to be what they had hoped and wished for their entire lives; it’s the only thing people have that keeps them from going insane, that their wishes will be fulfilled upon their deaths.
She looked at her husband, who still seemed down and lost at what to think. “I love you so much, sweetie.”
“I love you too,” he replied, smiling at her loving and kind face.
She scooted her chair closer to him, and wrapped her arms around him as she rested her head against his shoulder. She held him close like that for a couple minutes, like the vanishing galaxies had caught up and they would disappear in the next second.
Grabbing her drink, but leaving her other hand on Jimmy’s leg for reassurance, Natalie continued to sip her beverage as she stared into the night sky. She felt serene as she stared into the radiant, twinkling stars, planets, and galaxies. As she looked up into space, she thought she saw one of the stars go out, but she was probably just imagining things.
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