15 Minutes

I had to move now. If the world was going to end, I had to do it now.

I ran through the streets at a quarter to midnight. I saw others, too, running to do what they would regret not doing in the next life. If there was such a thing.

No. No time for existentialism. Thinking would slow me down. Anything but thinking of finding him would slow me down.

My chest burned, reminding me of the dust. The dust that glowed with the sun, despite the hour. The sun hadn't set in the last twenty-three and three-quarter's hours. Or, at least, the light hadn't gone away. Scientists said it would be the end. The sun was beginning to supernova. It would reach us, conveniently, at midnight.

Sam. Where was he? Was he running just like I was? Would he disappear before I could find him? I had already been by his house, his work, his school, and he seemed to be nowhere. There was only one other place I could imagine he was. The park on the other side of town.

Well, one could hardly call it a park. It was one of the little patches of grass left in the city. It was maybe five feet square with a large, dead oak in the middle. No one bothered to take the tree out and the grass was genetically modified generations ago to grow without water. It was Sam's favorite place. He was quite old fashioned. Something I loved about him.

No, no, no. Find. That's all. Just find Sam. Think later. If there's time.

There Sam was under the great tree. He sat in the folds of the roots, his eyes closed. He was unusually relaxed for the circumstances and opened one eye as I approached.

"Hey, Eli," he said, closing the eye again and patting the area beside him. "Have a seat. We can watch the world end together."

"How can you be so calm? We're going to die."

Sam smiled at that, looking to me. "There's nothing we can do. I'm not going out screaming like the rest of them. Besides, I'm waiting for the drugs to take effect."

"What drugs? What did you take?"

"Heroin and mushrooms. I'll be relaxed and high and probably dead before the supernova reaches us."

"But-"

"You're too late, Eli. It's done."

I sighed. It figured he'd do something experimental at the last minute to not lose his cool. "I've got something to tell you."

"Tell me over a smoke." He handed me a cigarette and lit it with his lighter when I took it.

"Since the world is ending, I figured it was only right I set the record straight."

"Which one?"

"The one about you."

"Hey, look. The sun's rising again. It's coming."

"Focus!" I was afraid he was dying already. I looked at my watch. 11:57. "Sam-"

He broke into hysterical laughter. It took him a moment to compose himself. "Sorry, man. I'm seeing some crazy shit. What was that?"

"Why did you have to be high? This is important." He suddenly got very serious.

"Then spit it out, kid. We haven't got much time left."

I decided to forget trying to get through to him. Even if there was an afterlife, he'd never remember. Better to save my breath.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" I said.

"Are you going to say it or do I have to do it for you?"

"I'd love to hear what you think I have to say."

"You weren't going to say it." He drew near. "Because I'm high, remember? You were going to do this."

He grabbed my collar and pulled me into a kiss, the cigarettes forgotten. For being so dangerously high, his aim was excellent, as was his technique. I didn't know how long I had waited for that or even why. I couldn't think at all - just feel.

He unbuttoned my shirt and peeled it away from my sweat-damp skin. I trembled as I removed his clothes, revealing the body I had longed for. His hands traveled my back as his lips ran across my chest. He suckled for a moment, pulling away the rest of my clothes, then returned to my ear.

"By the way, you should know something, too."

"What's that?" I asked, panting with longing, hardly caring what he had to say.

"I'm not high."

He kissed me as the clock in the distant square struck midnight. I clung to him as the sky went dark.