Short Story / The End of the World
The End of the World
Alex Vermitsky
Sarah wants her boyfriend to call. She feels like crying. It’s the end of the world, but for real this time.
Jack wants his girlfriend to call though he does not tell his friends. They’ve turned the end of the world into a drinking game; the rules of which are unclear and hurried.
Maggie wants to quit her resident assistant’s job. She figures the end of the world is as good of a reason as she’s got.
There’s a parade outside marking the end of the world. Pretty young girls hold colorful banners that read “thank god it’s finally over.” There is a band that is well practiced; too much so for the dismissive crowd.
On the second floor Tommy writes “I love you” in the fog that clouds his window. He thanks the end of the world for his nerve,
Tammy reads the words backwards and feels justified in turning down such a narcissist. She writes a song only the end of the world could inspire.
Chrissy continues to plan for the future. She knows no other way to live.
John prays.
In the laundry room Megan and Charlie make love out of spite. They both agree that holding a grudge is silly and wasteful.
Newsmen scramble to understand the implications of “nothing” on the dorms new plasma TV. The room’s furniture sits empty and still.
Marcus takes a nap. He loves naps and can’t think of anything he’d rather do.
Elizabeth remembers how many times she’s ignored her mother’s phone calls. She is distracted by the hunger in her stomach.
Mary sobs in her hands. She wishes she was still a baby, with God in her ears. Mary sees the end. She wonders how forever will feel. How it could take away Shakespeare, Bob Marley, and her father. She refuses to leave her room despite the urgency.
Sam paints a picture of corn, realizing how useless it really is.
Mark works out. He still believes the strong will survive.
Jason wonders what it would be like to kill someone. He figures this is his best chance.
Cassandra takes the news in stride, confident in her righteousness.
Julie wishes there was something she could do.
Gabriel laughs at a joke that recycles itself at times like this.
Billy’s dog barks and is fed.
Jo-Anne’s cat feeds itself.
Marty prays Kaddish:
Yis’ga’dal v’yis’kadash sh’may ra’bbo, b’olmo dee’vro chir’usay v’yamlich malchu’say, b’chayaychon uv’yomay’chon uv’chayay d’chol bais Yisroel, ba’agolo u’viz’man koriv; v’imru Omein.
Y’hay shmay rabbo m’vorach l’olam ul’olmay olmayo.
Yisborach v’yishtabach v’yispoar v’yisromam v’yismasay, v’yishador v’yis’aleh v’yisalal, shmay d’kudsho, brich hu, l’aylo min kl birchoso v’sheeroso, tush’bechoso v’nechemoso, da,ameeran b’olmo; vimru Omein.
Y’hay shlomo rabbo min sh’mayo, v’chayim alaynu v’al kol Yisroel; v’imru Omein.
Oseh sholom bimromov, hu ya’aseh sholom olaynu, v’al kol yisroel; vimru Omein.
His roommate Ian (half Jew) does his best:
May his great name be blessed, forever and ever.
Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, honored elevated and lauded be the Name of the holy one, Blessed is he- above and beyond any blessings and hymns, Praises and consolations which are uttered in the world; and say Amen. May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and life, upon us and upon all Israel; and say, Amen.
May the great Name of God be exalted and sanctified, throughout the world, which he has created according to his will. May his Kingship be established in your lifetime and in your days, and in the lifetime of the entire household of Israel, swiftly and in the near future; and say, Amen.
He who makes peace in his high holy places, may he bring peace upon us, and upon all Israel; and say Amen.
Simon, more “with it” than most, remembers only a few lines himself:
Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on
the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village.
downtown Manhattan, clear winter noon, and I’ve been up all night, talking,
talking, reading the Kaddish aloud, listening to Ray Charles blues
shout blind on the phonograph
the rhythm the rhythm--and your memory in my head three years after--
And read Adonais’ last triumphant stanzas aloud—wept, realizing
how we suffer—
And how Death is that remedy all singers dream of, sing, remember,
prophesy as in the Hebrew Anthem, or the Buddhist Book of An-
swers--and my own imagination of a withered leaf--at dawn—
Dreaming back thru life, Your time--and mine accelerating toward Apoca-
lypse,
And I sit – surrounded by these four walls; marked for demolition. I sit and dream; and wonder how much is truly forgiven
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Alex,
Great piece. I enjoyed it immensily and the images and emotions have stuck with me all day since reading it for the first time this morning.
It has a rhythm which is rare in fiction, in the short story format. It evoking not just Ginsberg but T.S. Eliot and the bible (or Torah…no religious offense meant) It feels like a phone left off the hook-incomplete, not the story itself but the emotion evoked by the characters. I liked how no one character carried us through, but instead there is a myriad of thoughts and reactions. The privileged omnipresent narrator was made for this piece and the author made good use of this technique.
I felt the prayer part was a little too long winded, also since you took the approach of the overall narrator who could jump into the minds of all the characters you may want to let the prayers of different nations, religions balance/bounce off of the Hebrew. How does the atheist take it?
I think the quotes and the prayers were supposed to reflect the universal thoughts at the end of the world which are contrasted with the various individual thoughts. I think you could be a bit more concise with this portion of the story and it would be even more poignant.
Great job! I’d publish it. I look forward to reading more of your work.
-April Galarza
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“There’s a parade outside marking the end of the world. Pretty young girls hold colorful banners that read “thank god it’s finally over.�? There is a band that is well practiced; too much so for the dismissive crowd.
On the second floor Tommy writes “I love you�? in the fog that clouds his window. He thanks the end of the world for his nerve,”—Punctuation: insert the end quotation marks, and change the comma after “nerve” to a full-stop (period).
“Newsmen scramble to understand the implications of “nothing�? on the dorms new plasma TV.”—Punctuation: dorm’s, possessive; insert end quotation mark.
This is a cool thing to read. The end, after the prayers, is like a poem of its own. Very cool.
This is a very interesting one. At first I didn’t enjoy the jumping from character to character as there was no one to focus on as the main.
Then I realized that the feeling of disjointedness added to the ‘end of the world – lost and wandering’ ideas in this and loved it.
I think you did a good job balancing the comedy in this with the serious undertones. -Marcus takes a nap. He loves naps and can’t think of anything he’d rather do. Great line!
The second part finally gives us a single character to focus on and ends with some rather deep questions.
A really unique piece that I quite enjoyed in the end. Thanks for sharing.
I would have givin it a much higher rating if there hadn’t been so much praying. But the premise was awsome, and the things your charactures are doing are great. I love the style you’ve written this in, short and to the point.
nice work
touchograe
I’ve read a few of your writings on Myspace, and it always brings a smile to my face. I enjoyed the curve near the end.
Random thoughts by random strangers, enjoyable, but the story I read of yours in the past was written like this and had a continuous storyline blended within the characters. This one appeared to be more, well, random.
Kind of dark for my taste, but I enjoyed it. It was well written and kept my interest.
Dear Alex,
I loved this. Everything about it fuels what’s good in american writing today. Every character felt so real…i figured they’re probably people you really know. The theme is so prevalant today amidst this whole country being afraid we’re gonna blow up any minute. It made me think about how my friends and i would react to such news…..anyways, I loved it; right down to the Ginsberg at the end.Thanks.
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