The Last Good Day

Jason was alone. The days were getting colder and the nights longer. Mr. Reynolds car was still smashed into the fire hydrant down the road but the water had been solid ice now for more than a month. Mr. Reynolds was still inside the flooded icy coffin. Now he was a 250 pound corpsicle.

Jason still missed Jenny.

Less than six months, that was all which separated the best day of Jason’s life and today.

The sun was warm and shone on them as they ate sandwiches and drank wine in the bank of the river. It was shorts and sandals weather and Jenny had never looked so lovely to Jason. He knew there would be love and heat latter on but in that moment he was happy to let the time run slow and bask in shared happiness.

It was summer and the less clothes they wore the happier they were.

Jason carried the little velvet box in his pockets foe more than a month waiting for the perfect moment. He’d almost done it a dozen times before now but none of them felt right.

Now was the time.

She cried when he dropped to one knee and asked the question. After she’d choked out a yes she covered him in kisses. Then clothes were removed and it didn’t matter that at any moment they could be found despite the seclusion. They weren’t discovered and the lovemaking was magical.

That was when she became pregnant.

For four months Jason, Jenny, and their unborn child lived in a world of bliss. Perfect happiness flowed like water from the tap which was that one good day, the last good day.

The government and scientists said they never saw the indications that the volcano was going to blow, that the bomb under Yellowstone was going to let loose and suck punch the world. They said that but Jason didn’t believe them.

The ash created the cold which plunged the world into a new ice age. Within weeks the governments were gone and the people were alone, then the sickness came.

Jenny still lay ice and still in the bed upstairs. There child forever resting within here preserved form. Jason stopped going upstairs to be with them. He wanted to remember them when the sun was war and river flowed.

Jason stood and walked toward the stairs, the glow from the fireplace dimly lighting the room. Off came the coat, gloves, and hat. As he reached the steps he kicked off the boots and stripped the socks from his feet.

He winced at the nearly sub zero temperatures of the second floor.

Shirts, pants, and long underwear flowed until he stood naked and numb in front of the door he’d not opened for weeks. His hand touched the handle and the cold burned his skin.

Jason forced the frozen door open.

Inside Jenny and their baby were tucked under the massive frozen comforter. Ice crystals coated its surface. Taking pains to be quiet and not wake them Jason slipped beneath the stiff blankets and spooned his fiancée. He just needed a little rest … as he closed his eyes he could feel the warmth of the sun and hear the running of the river.

It would be a good day.