An Unplanned Future

She passed him the bar of soap laughing and splashing as they enjoyed the large bathtub. Afterwards, the young newlyweds lay entwined together in their bed, talking of dreams, the children they would have, the places they would see. A life full of potential lay ahead and they intended to go after it together.

Jarred woke up with a start. The memory of his dream still floated about him like a cloud, somehow lacking clarity and substance. He knew he had been dreaming about her again. He could almost smell her scent and feel the touch of her skin.

He had last seen her in August as he had driven off for a weekend fishing trip with Bob Patterson. He could still see her, waving at his rear view mirror, pajamas, furry slippers and bedroom hair making him miss her before he was a block away.

That had been over seven months ago.

Mushroom clouds blooming over the horizon had changed everything.

They had pulled over and stared as the Los Angeles Basin was nuked down to bedrock. Bob had simply walked back to his camping gear, pulled out a gun, and joined the rest of the Southern California population.

Jarred chose life. He had spent the next week living underground in an old cave, hoping to outlive the worst of the fallout. When his supplies ran out, he emerged to find himself alone. Weeks and months of searching had not changed that.

Now, atop the highest peak in the San Bernardino Mountains, he set down his backpack and pulled out his 2-way radio, hoping today would be different, hoping today he would hear a voice or sound that would indicate he was not alone.

“Can anyone hear me?”

Faintly … “Hello … this is Juno, Alaska … over.”

Word count 299