&.
nothing beautiful can last
We were told that outside things were going down, and the televisions kept showing alert messages and instructions to stay inside. It’s not like we had a choice, the doors and windows were locked – it was as though they’d always had the option to lock them in case of a worldwide emergency. It surprised me. It did not surprise my sister. Anyone who knew her less than I did would have thought the was a conspiracy theorist. They would be wrong, mostly. She was an odd person, and not even I can say that she is not somewhat disconnected from the material reality around her.
That morning something seemed to have clicked in her head, like suddenly the world made sense and she didn’t like it. She blocked the doors and windows regardless of how blocked they were. She told me to not make noise, and to knock the door of her bedroom in a specific rythm if I needed her. After an hour the internet went out. After some more time, the water started smelling and tasting weird. We only had food. I knocked her door and told her I was thirsty. She opened the door and slid a jug of water from the one’s she’s been collecting over the years.
I looked through the windows. There were figures in the front door.