whatever those people wanted her to know.
So many years ago and yet I can still see my hands trembling while I held the tract.
A voice snaps her out of her reverie. “It can’t be happening. Not now. Not like this.”
It’s not the words that scare Allison but rather Beverly’s tone. She doesn’t sound surprised that they’re watching some freak-show hailstorm outside producing massive ice balls coming down from the sky. Beverly just sounds surprised that it’s happening today, as if she had it penciled on her calendar for next Friday.
“What do you mean?” Allison asks, looking away from the window and back into the darkened room.
“All this time I thought I was prepared.”
“You’ve been preparing? For this?”
Beverly is still looking outside with a hypnotic fascination. “Unfortunately . . . yes.”
“But I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying . . .” The older woman moves and faces Allison. “I’m saying I should be home. That’s where I planned to be when the end came. We have a basement that has a shelter in it.”
“Oh.”
“Now, don’t give me that.”
“What?” Allison asks.
“One of them oh s like I’m some kinda crazy woman or something. I’m not. You see what’s happening. Earthquakes. Trumpet sounds blasting from the sky. Hail the size of human heads. I knew that sooner or later the end was gonna come. I just expected to be home to help my family when it did.”
“And I thought I was having a bad day,” Allison says, then lets out a nervous laugh that feels good.
“Why are you here, anyway? You runnin’ from something?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Allison thinks about finding that tract in their mailbox when she was just a young girl. She never showed her parents but hid it. Every now and then she’d pull it out and see the comic-book characters all terrified with no hope in sight. The words on the tract talked about wars and people disappearing and Israel and quoted lots of Bible verses too.
Why am I thinking about that?
“Wanna tell me?” Beverly asks.
“Boys.”
That’s enough of an answer. Beverly just nods and says, “Uh-huh.” She pauses a moment. “You know, I’d normally say most things are the fault of men. But this here —I’m not sure.”
“I need to get outside,” Allison says.
“What? Didn’t you see that sky? It turned the color of blood.”
That’s very comforting. Thank you for sharing.
“I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon,” Beverly continues.
Allison wants to put some jeans and flat shoes on. To wash the makeup off her face. To find herself closing her eyes under a showerhead and feeling the hot water against her face.
She wonders if the shower she took this morning was the last shower she’ll ever take.
Stop it, Allie.
“So, your friends. . . . Tell me about them.” Beverly is sitting on a cushioned bench in the foyer of the church.
Allison sighs and sits down next to her. “We’re all college buddies. My best friend, Skylar, married a guy named Dan. They’re so sweet together, so perfect.”
It stings a bit saying their names. Allison knows they might be like some of the people she has seen, suddenly dropping dead for no reason.
“I was the maid of honor,” Allison continues.
“And you escaped to a church. I’m assuming during the reception?”
She nods. “My boyfriend —Jack —he doesn’t quite have the same romantic view of marriage that people like Skylar and Dan do. We’ve been dating for —for a long time.”
“My husband was the same way. He didn’t have a particularly fond view of marriage. Of course, I didn’t know it until it was too late.”
“Did he . . . Did you lose him?”
Beverly notices her serious tone. “Oh, yes, but not today. Not now. He left me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me too. He went to bed my husband and then woke up someone else. Like a light switch was turned off. It took me years to realize there was no
So many years ago and yet I can still see my hands trembling while I held the tract.
A voice snaps her out of her reverie. “It can’t be happening. Not now. Not like this.”
It’s not the words that scare Allison but rather Beverly’s tone. She doesn’t sound surprised that they’re watching some freak-show hailstorm outside producing massive ice balls coming down from the sky. Beverly just sounds surprised that it’s happening today, as if she had it penciled on her calendar for next Friday.
“What do you mean?” Allison asks, looking away from the window and back into the darkened room.
“All this time I thought I was prepared.”
“You’ve been preparing? For this?”
Beverly is still looking outside with a hypnotic fascination. “Unfortunately . . . yes.”
“But I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying . . .” The older woman moves and faces Allison. “I’m saying I should be home. That’s where I planned to be when the end came. We have a basement that has a shelter in it.”
“Oh.”
“Now, don’t give me that.”
“What?” Allison asks.
“One of them oh s like I’m some kinda crazy woman or something. I’m not. You see what’s happening. Earthquakes. Trumpet sounds blasting from the sky. Hail the size of human heads. I knew that sooner or later the end was gonna come. I just expected to be home to help my family when it did.”
“And I thought I was having a bad day,” Allison says, then lets out a nervous laugh that feels good.
“Why are you here, anyway? You runnin’ from something?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Allison thinks about finding that tract in their mailbox when she was just a young girl. She never showed her parents but hid it. Every now and then she’d pull it out and see the comic-book characters all terrified with no hope in sight. The words on the tract talked about wars and people disappearing and Israel and quoted lots of Bible verses too.
Why am I thinking about that?
“Wanna tell me?” Beverly asks.
“Boys.”
That’s enough of an answer. Beverly just nods and says, “Uh-huh.” She pauses a moment. “You know, I’d normally say most things are the fault of men. But this here —I’m not sure.”
“I need to get outside,” Allison says.
“What? Didn’t you see that sky? It turned the color of blood.”
That’s very comforting. Thank you for sharing.
“I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon,” Beverly continues.
Allison wants to put some jeans and flat shoes on. To wash the makeup off her face. To find herself closing her eyes under a showerhead and feeling the hot water against her face.
She wonders if the shower she took this morning was the last shower she’ll ever take.
Stop it, Allie.
“So, your friends. . . . Tell me about them.” Beverly is sitting on a cushioned bench in the foyer of the church.
Allison sighs and sits down next to her. “We’re all college buddies. My best friend, Skylar, married a guy named Dan. They’re so sweet together, so perfect.”
It stings a bit saying their names. Allison knows they might be like some of the people she has seen, suddenly dropping dead for no reason.
“I was the maid of honor,” Allison continues.
“And you escaped to a church. I’m assuming during the reception?”
She nods. “My boyfriend —Jack —he doesn’t quite have the same romantic view of marriage that people like Skylar and Dan do. We’ve been dating for —for a long time.”
“My husband was the same way. He didn’t have a particularly fond view of marriage. Of course, I didn’t know it until it was too late.”
“Did he . . . Did you lose him?”
Beverly notices her serious tone. “Oh, yes, but not today. Not now. He left me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me too. He went to bed my husband and then woke up someone else. Like a light switch was turned off. It took me years to realize there was no
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