New story time. I wrote this one when I woke up this morning. It's like 4 pages long, so... yeah. Not real long, but not as short as The Heartbeat. And... yeah. No title yet, so I'm open to suggestions. Enjoy.

Looking calmly around his room, Jeff realized how little he’d miss. He’d brought with him what he thought he’d need to get him through this week, but now with so little time left he realized it was all superfluous. The pictures that only hours ago rested on his dresser now lay broken face down on the floor, and he made no attempt to rectify their situation. He simply walked into the closet and grabbed the nicest pair of clothes he’d brought. These had been meant to be for ballroom dancing, but there would be no dances tonight and he wore them anyway, since tonight would be the last night and they hadn’t been worn yet. Plus, he thought, if you’re going to go out, go out in style. He wondered if he still had time for a short nap, as all the excitement of late had tired him out some. Deciding that it didn’t really matter, he was going to take one either way, he laid down on the bed and closed his eyes.
He had a dream that the world was burning. The entire thing, red and orange and beautiful like a sun. A flaming ball hurtling through the air, the immense speed not even enough to put out the flames. Seen from space the sight would have brought a tear to the eye of even the most hardened viewer. Amid the vast blackness, one bright shining ball, a reminder that even in the darkest blackness there is a ball of light, of hope. And all the while, down on the earth itself, all living things run around screaming and burning, or suffocating because of the lack of oxygen. No one on Earth would have called the planet beautiful, but anyone floating above it would take as many pictures as they could of the most amazing thing they’d ever seen.
A loud noise, and Jeff awoke. Not with a start – he’d been getting more and more used to loud noises recently – but calmly, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He wondered where his wife was briefly, then decided it didn’t really matter. He would either be seeing her again soon, or he would never see her again, and in truth, either option would suit Jeff just fine. Suddenly a pang of guilt shot through him as he thought about their two children, and he picked up the pictures from the ground and placed them back on the dresser. They had stayed at home with their grandparents. Thank God for that, Jeff found himself thinking. With considerable difficulty he got out of bed and trudged upwards to the bathroom.
You look like shit, he thought to himself. Too much to drink last night. Tonight. Whenever that was. Time on a trip like this tends to get distorted. Time always gets distorted on vacation, but on one such as this, things can really get messed up. He stared at his bloodshot eyes and realized he was not as calm as he’d thought, and this worried him. He began to shake, put his head down in his hands and cried. When he’d done enough, he dried his eyes and resolved to go find his wife, just in case he’d never see her again. The view out the window told him he didn’t have a ton of time left. She’d need comforting, he told himself, and if a husband can’t comfort his wife in a time of need, what good is he at all?
He got dressed in his nicest clothes, the ones he’d laid out before his nap, and he combed his hair. He thought about trying to get the red out of his eyes, and he thought about shaving, but he decided the effort wouldn’t be worth it. It’d just mean more lost time, time he fully expected to spend enjoying the view with his wife. Looking marginally better than before, he walked out onto the deck to search for his wife.
Immediately screams filled the air and people could be seen running to and fro. Jeff resolved not to let any of this faze him, and he looked around to find anyone else who was taking things calmly. He found no one, which meant his wife was not in his immediate vicinity. She was a strong woman, Liza, and she would be somewhere sitting calmly reading a magazine or playing a game of some type. This he was sure of, so he walked down through the crowd, blocking out the movement and the noise and searching for the one person staying still. He couldn’t help but feeling like he had a book held in front of him, trying to find Waldo. The only difference... well, there were many differences, but the main one was this was timed, and it meant something.
Sure, Jeff and Liza had had a spat when they’d heard what was going on. Liza thought they should call home and say bye to their children while Jeff thought the kids would be better off not knowing what had happened to them until they were older. Liza kept trying to pick up the phone and Jeff kept ripping it from her hands, slamming it down. Eventually Jeff got upset with Liza and ripped the phone cord from the wall. Liza thought about saying something about destroying other people’s property, but realized how little that mattered, and stamped off in a huff to go find someone else’s phone. She hadn’t returned to the room. Jeff spent a few minutes being angry, calmed himself, grabbed his nice clothes out of the closet, took a nap, and here he was, searching for her.
Suddenly it occurred to him that she would probably be down by the pool relaxing. No one in their right mind would be by water at a time like this, which meant she was definitely there. He walked across the plaza to the pool and found her in her bra and underwear reading a magazine on a lawn chair. He sat down next to her.
“Nice bathing suit,” he said.
“I knew you’d like it,” she smirked back, and pulled him down to kiss her.
“Where’d you get the magazine?”
“It fell out of some businessman’s suitcase when he ran by here,” she said, holding up this month’s copy of Playboy. “You know, the articles in here are actually pretty interesting."
“See? That’s what I always said. But you said nobody reads the articles.”
“Yeah, well I’ve been wrong once or twice. The naked women kind of throw me off, though. Nobody looks like that.”
“Thank the gods of the airbrush, eh?”
“And don’t forget the plastic surgeons.”
“Yeah... Sorry about that fight earlier.”
“I’d be more forgiving if you weren’t staring at my breasts.”
“You are in your bra, you know. What do you say, one last go at it?”
“Right here? In public? Now?”
“Why not?” Jeff pleaded.
“I can think of a million reasons why not,” Liza said, standing up, throwing the magazine in the pool, and putting on her evening dress. “I see you dressed up for the occasion.”
“And so did you. Walk with me?”
They walked slowly and deliberately so as to not lose their footing. By now the area was clearing out, though there were still plenty of people running around yelling, trying to find loved ones or save anyone who walked by. Soft music still came fluttering out of the ballroom and Jeff asked Liza to dance. They stopped where they were outside and began swaying, holding each other closer and closer with each passing second. Jeff kissed Liza on the forehead and told her he loved her, and she turned her face away, trying not to shed a tear and failing. She slumped in his arms and he held her tighter, determined not to let her fall to the ground and risk getting trampled, but more trying not to let her slip away from him now. Not this close to the end. He ran his hands through her hair and told her everything would be okay soon.
“How can you say that?” she asked in disbelief.
“Well, there’s nothing we can really do now. Might as well enjoy it. This is something not everyone gets to go through.”
“GETS to?” she asked incredulously, and punched his chest playfully. “Gets to,” she repeated again, softly, to herself. She closed her eyes and felt the cool, calming breeze dry the tears on her face. When she opened them again, Jeff was staring into them.
“Let’s go up to the top,” he said, and they began what was becoming a steep ascent to the peak.
The stars were beautiful from out here. They flickered with light sent long ago. “You know,” said Jeff, “Everyone on those planets is dead now. Take comfort in that.”
“Those are stars,” said Liza, “and that’s not comforting anyway.”
“It is beautiful, though,” she added moments later. The sky was a dark blue, which meant the sun would be coming up on the world soon. Another day, their children at their grandparents’ playing in the yard. Another day, their children growing up, getting married, having children of their own. Another day, the world still turning, not on fire but burning with life and hope and passion. Another day, and so on.
“We’re going to miss so much,” Liza said, and looked wistfully at her husband who was staring quietly up at the sky, trying to take in the majesty of the universe one last time. He didn’t hear her, he was wrapped up in his own thoughts.
“I’d say,” he said after a few moments of an undetermined amount of time, “that if we make it to see the sunrise, we should consider that a victory, and be happy.”
“I’m trying to be happy. I’m trying but it’s not... I’ve never been in this situation before.”
“They say,” said Jeff, “That people who drown and are then brought back to life describe an amazing euphoria. Same of people whose hearts stop and then start again. This amazing pleasure, unlike anything they ever experienced in life. This feeling that, no matter what happens to them, everything will be okay in the end. They don’t fear death anymore after that. That’s comforting. To me, anyway. You know me, I don’t believe in an afterlife or anything like that, though times like these make me hope there is one. I still feel like I could do some more living. I don’t feel like I’m ready to stop. But then, I also know that if this is really going to be it, I’m going to feel better than I’ve ever felt before soon. That’s enough for me. Tomorrow will be another day. Our children will be cared for. Your parents are lovely people and they’ll raise our kids right. We’ve done everything we could to make sure they have what they need growing up. Insurance will pay for their schooling. The world keeps turning, Liza. We’re just two people on it. Everything will be okay in the end.”
Jeff had been staring at the horizon, and as he’d been speaking the tip of the sun had peeked over, bathing the sky in flames. The stars began to fade from view. The sky was pink in spots, orange in others, bright yellow in others. It was as if God himself had come down for this last moment on Earth and painted the most beautiful sky he’d ever painted. Both Jeff and Liza sat transfixed, Liza wiping away the tears that had flown during Jeff’s speech.
“God,” she said, “I never noticed how beautiful life is until now. That’s such a shame. I wish I would have done more.”
“You did all you could,” Jeff said, not wanting to look down, but finding himself curious as to how much time they had left. He looked, and it turned out not much. Liza felt the water touch her toes. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Don’t look down,” Jeff said, knowing soon the ship would be pulled beneath the water, and them with it. They were now the only people left on board. The others had already drowned or had sailed off into the open sea in a lifeboat. “I love you, Liza,” Jeff managed to croak out through a clenched throat, and his face exploded with tears.
Liza simply turned to him and pulled his face into hers. They stood there in embrace until the ship gave completely beneath them and they felt themselves rocketing beneath the water. In her last breath, Liza yelled “I’ll see you soon,” and Jeff hoped beyond all hope that she was right.
The sun continued to rise. The water rippled violently for a moment before calming into a gentle waving pattern again. Children played in yards that day, grandparents got news that a ship had gone down, tears were shed, and another day sunk into the darkness of time.