Starlit Void

It was the middle of the day, the same as any other. I wandered around my neighborhood on my way to a familiar department store. All seemed well, but something just felt slightly off. Ever so slightly unsettling, like something so dreadfully awful was just about to happen. But I shrugged it off and continued on. I reached the parking lot of the store, and then-

*POP*

Suddenly everything was dark. My ears were ringing. I couldn't breathe. My skin was burning and freezing at the same time.

What just happened?

After what felt like an agonizingly long minute, my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. I looked up and my heart sank.

The sky was gone. The atmosphere had popped.

There was nothing but pitch black, with the exception of hundreds of tiny stars that pierced the seemingly endless void. Our nearest star burned it's fiery wrath, no longer held back by the atmosphere's restraints. It was beautiful, yet extremely horrifying.

Even gazing ever so slightly in the direction of the sun pained me. I could feel it's rays searing my skin. Yet my shadow was like ice. The air was so thin, even the largest of breaths were of no use. I realized there would soon be no oxygen left.

I looked around the parking lot of the store, trying to find anyone else in the same situation as me. I quickly realized that panic had already ensued. People everywhere, stealing from the stores. Setting fires. Fighting. Yelling. Drinking. Crying. Laughing. They knew it was too late to be saved. They knew it was all over.

I noticed my family was nearby, hiding inside their car. I'm not sure when they got there, but I felt it was necessary to spend my final moments with them.

I get in the car, hoping for some sort of explanation, or even the standard parent reassurance that everything would be okay. Instead, my parents simply hugged my sister and I tight. I started tearing up, because that gesture told me that they too could do nothing to help. All they had to say was:

"Well, kids, it looks like our time is up."