We Dreamt of a Future for Her That She Will Never See

Kureha held up her water glass to return the toast as Kai and Arata stood from their booth seats and bowed to their donors.

“Enjoy yourselves, please,” said the man.

“We will!” said Kai as he stood at attention and gave the young couple a dramatic salute.

Enjoy themselves they did. Food came in abundance. Plates stacked on top of one another as nearly a dozen appetizers were brought out. Every possible beverage was tried. After nearly an hour of setting the stage for the full course, dinner was served. Curry Udon. Pork and chicken katsu curry. Shrimp and vegetable tempura curry. Fukujinzuke and rakkyo toppings were tossed across dishes. Sauces were mixed into new flavor concoctions. Everyone tried each other’s dishes until they were all slouched in their seats and ready to fall asleep.

“Delicious. Delicious,” murmured Shiona.

“Aaaaaand, good night,” sighed Kai.

“What a day!” moaned Rin to which Arata nodded and kissed her head.

Down at the booth behind them, the baby let out a cheerful laugh. Kureha glanced back and saw the couple making silly faces towards their child. The man’s hand was on his wife’s shoulder as they laughed in genuine happiness. Lines of newly defined wrinkles lined the man’s eyes as his mouth pushed his skin upwards in joy. Kureha felt it necessary to thank them in person. Riku and Rin seemed to understand her without a word and stood to join her. The other friends realized what was happening and followed suit.

They made their way to the table as the young woman began blowing ticklish bursts of air onto the baby’s face, to which the baby was letting out rapturous laughs.

“Awwww,” said Riku.

The young couple saw the friends approaching.

“Did you enjoy yourselves?” he asked.

“We did. Thank you so much,” said Kureha as she bowed.

“Thank you very much,” said the friends in unison.

“Glad you had a good night. Heading home?” asked the woman.

“Well, we’re actually going on a road trip so we need to find a hotel or hostel nearby,” said Kureha.

The young couple raised their eyebrows in happy curiosity.

“Oh really?! That sounds fun. Where are you going?” the woman asked.

The friends all shuffled their feet in slight embarrassment. Aside from their parents, they had not had to discuss their doomsday travel itinerary with anyone else, and now that the moment had arrived, they all realized how morbid it could be perceived.

The young man seemed to figure it out on his own.

“You’re going to see it?” he asked in a neutral tone.

The friends nodded. The woman seemed to lose some of her joy and absentmindedly pulled the baby to her chest.

“We all just graduated high school, and since there’s no point in college, we didn’t know what to do. So we’re taking a bucket list trip across Japan, and that’s our final destination,” elaborated Arata.

“I guess it’s all of our final destination,” said the woman in a quiet voice as she bounced the baby on her leg.

“That’s very brave of you all to do that. To go see it with your own eyes is admirable.”

“Have you all seen it?” asked Kureha.

The woman looked away and the man’s hand moved to rest on her leg out of habit.

“We were there when it happened. When the sky tore open.”

“God,” said Shiona.

“It was the most terrifying feeling. People fell to the ground and wept. Cars crashed into one another. The screams. God, the screams,” said the woman.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to seem like we were making light of it,” apologized Kai.

“Oh, no, please do not feel bad. It’s a noble idea, and like Jack said, something you should do if you wish,” answered the woman.

The baby let out a slight whimper.

“Oh I know, you’re hungry,” replied the woman.

She looked at the friends.

“Do you mind if I…?” she asked.

“Not at all,” said the girls.

The boys bashfully looked away as the woman removed her breast from her blouse and began to feed her daughter.

“There you go. There you go sweetie,” said the woman.

The woman’s voice had changed, and it stirred a childlike vulnerability in Kureha, as though she was also Kureha’s mother at that moment. It must have been felt by the other girls as well because Kureha noticed them both silently watching the woman in feminine wonder. Shiona took a soft step forward without realizing it.

“What is their name?” asked Shiona.

“Akane, for her hair,” answered the woman.

“Awwww. Little girl,” said Rin.

“I’m Jack by the way. And this is Laura. And Akane, of course,” said the man, pointing to his family.

The friends all introduced themselves.

“Please, feel free to sit with us if you’d like some dessert. We’ve taken to eating here for a whole night once a week,” said Laura.

The friends all agreed and sat with the interesting young couple.

“How old is she?” asked Arata.

“Seven months,” said Laura.

Sorrow was in her voice. Basic math told the friends why.

“God, so she was only like a month old when it happened…” said Riku.

Jack nodded solemnly.

“We had tried for over three years to have a baby. We took meds, timed our intercourse around ovulation cycles, and finally did IVF. After half a year of that, Laura finally got pregnant, and we were blessed with Akane,” explained Jack.

“Then it all happened. She was forty-one days old, and we were vacationing down south to recover. And then the world began to end,” said Laura as her voice trembled.

Tears formed in her eyes and she blinked them away.

“Forgive me,” she said as she dabbed her eyes.

“Nothing to apologize for,” replied Rin, and all the friends agreed.

“We tried for so long to bring a soul into this world, and when we finally did, the world decided it would cease to exist,” Jack sighed.

“So there we were with a newborn, facing the end of all things. If we had known what was to come, I don’t think we would have followed through with bringing a child into this. If given the choice. But we did. We brought the most beautiful little girl into this beautiful doomed world,” said Laura as tears ran down her cheeks.

Jack blinked his eyes clear and looked away. The friends felt their faces warming as their eyes watered as well.

“Holy hell,” whispered Kai.

“She’s too young to understand any of it, so we decided we would give her a life full of love. We don’t have much time, so we want to fill her heart as fully as possible. So even if everything collapses around us and on us, we can shelter and nurture her. And each other,” said Jack.

Laura wiped her eyes and took Jack’s hand in the tight clasp of solidarity between two unified souls. Jack kissed her hand without a word then kissed Akane’s head.

“I just hope it doesn’t hurt. When the day comes...” whispered Jack.

“The most helpless feeling for a parent is not being able to protect your child from harm, and this one is fully out of our control. I just hope it’s like slipping into a warm bath. Or like nothing at all…”

The friends all agreed.

“It’s… it’s supposed to happen on my birthday…” said Kureha.

“Oh, dear, oh you poor thing that’s terrible. I’m sorry,” said Laura as she extended a hand.

Again, Kureha felt herself being drawn to the feminine strength of the woman before her. Thoughts of how she would have looked in fifteen years or so when she was closer to Laura’s age danced in her mind. She would never see true womanhood, or know the process of conceiving and carrying a child. At that moment, she envied Laura and mourned another piece of life she would never know.

“You’re a beautiful woman,” blurted Kureha in sincerity without thinking about it.

“Thank you,” laughed Laura.

“One boob out, bloated from curry, makeup smeared from tears. I am woman!” she laughed and the girls laughed too.

“Hell yeah, that’s quite a woman in my book,” said Shiona.

“Yep! You’re a goddess,” cheered Rin.

“I agree,” said Jack with a sincere grin.

“Can I… can I take a picture of you as a family? For my photos?” asked Kureha.

“Sure!” Laura agreed instantly.

“Do you post them online? We’ll follow you,” said Jack.

“She does but she should post more!” said Kai as he patted Kureha on her back as she began to unpack her camera.

“You’d be okay with that?” asked Kureha in surprise.

“Sure! We’re a lot more carefree about things these days,” joked Laura.

“Again, another benefit of the world collapsing! Just like my cheap luxury brands,” chimed Shiona.

“I know, right?” laughed Jack as he flashed an expensive watch.

“This was like ninety-nine percent off,” he said proudly.

“I should get a watch somewhere!” smiled Riku.

“Tokyo. Lots of stores still open and lots of flagships,” said Jack.

“Ready!” said Kureha as she snapped her lens into place.

“How would you like to be?” she asked the couple.

Laura glanced down at Akane who was still feeding. A feeling of calm maternal love radiated from her as she looked at her child.

“Like this,” she said.

Kureha nodded in quiet agreement and put the viewfinder to her eye. Light and shadow danced on her subjects as she positioned them in an ideal composition. Soon she began to snap away, capturing the simple joy and support that was visible between the young family. Shiona and Rin reviewed the photos with her in awe before showing the young couple the results.

“Oh woooooow,” said Jack.

“Holy crap Kureha!” said Kai.

“Amazing,” whispered Riku.

“Laura, you really look like a goddess!” cheered Rin.

Laura didn’t speak.

In the photo, empty plates filled the foreground and caught the low light from above. Jack’s broad shoulders provided a barrier against the dark behind them as his right arm wrapped around Laura like a veil. Laura’s head rested on Jack’s cheek. He was looking up and ahead with a tired smirk. Laura’s gaze burned through the frame and straight towards the viewer in resolute softness. The light from above cascaded along her exposed chest and cast a halo over Akane’s head.

“It’s perfect,” she whispered.

Kureha shared her social media accounts with them and they immediately followed her. They even gave her their blessing to use their story in the caption.

“You really are a photojournalist,” said Jack as he shook her hand.

Laura dialed a number on her cell phone and stepped away to have a brief conversation. Jack held Akane as he approached the friends to shake their hands before removing his wallet.

“What is your budget for your trip? Do you have any money for the places that still use it?” he asked.

“We’ve got about ten thousand yen, which with cost collapse should cover us pretty well. But we’re going to try to find places that are post-currency,” said Shiona.

“Well here, take this just in case,” said Jack as he removed his wallet from his back pocket.

Jack opened his wallet and then removed a large group of folded bills. At quick glance, it was visible that every bill was a ten-thousand yen note.

“Should be about one hundred and forty thousand yen,” said Jack.

“What?...” blurted Riku.

“No. No way.” said Arata.

“We couldn’t possibly do that,” said Rin.

“We have no use for it. We emptied our investments right as the market collapse started, so we saved it from being wiped out. We have plenty. Please take it, and enjoy yourselves,” said Jack as Kai and Shiona accepted the money in shock.

Laura returned and put her phone back in her bag. She gave Jack a thumbs-up and smiled at the friend group.

“So, I made a phone call. Before the collapse, I worked in hospitality portfolio management for a few different groups. I’ve added your name to a preferred guest list at these hotels,” she said as she handed them a note with several large hotel groups and boutique lines written out.

“If you go to any of these, they will have you a guaranteed room at any point. If you have any issues, call me. That’s my cell at the bottom,” she said as she pointed to the note.

Kureha felt herself tearing up in gratitude from the tidal waves of kindness these near strangers were showing them.

“Why are you doing this for us?” asked Shiona.

“Why not?” was all Laura replied.

“In life, always choose to make the world better, even here at the end,” said Jack.

That was the last of their time with the young family. They all piled back into their van, their hearts as full as their stomachs. Riku selected a nearby hotel from their new list, and the group set off to their new resting place. Once at the hotel, true to Laura’s word, their names were on a priority list, and within two minutes they were given keys to a premier suite on the top floor with three beds and a jacuzzi bathtub. As the girls began the bathwater for some relaxation and a friendly debrief, Kureha uploaded the selected photo to her socials and typed up the story of Jack, Laura, and Akane.