Day 365: The End

Ava:

The morning we woke up I felt a little tired, more tired than usual at least. It was odd since we didn’t sleep too late. Unless we woke up a lot earlier than we were supposed to. I looked over to Leo and noticed that he was still sound asleep.

How can you sleep with the sun shining that brightly?

I ran my hands through his hair as he slept. It was oddly satisfying and fun so I just kept on doing it. Until he suddenly woke up. He sat up but his eyes were still closed.

“Morning.” I said.

He let out a yawn before saying, “Morning.”

“How’d you sleep?”

“Not good.” he said while still having his eyes closed. “Felt like I barely got any sleep.”

“Yeah, same. But the sun is telling us to get up.”

“I wish the world was ending so I could get five more minutes.”

“I feel like your five more minutes will turn into an hour.”

“Maybe.”

“You can lay there for five more minutes while I clean myself up. I’ll wake you up once I’m done.”

Leo flopped onto the ground and stuck his thumbs up, “You’re the best.”

I chuckled before saying, “Yeah, I know.”

I unzipped the tent and stepped outside, expecting another bright blue sky with fluffy clouds and warm sun. But what I saw made my knees give out. I stared in silence, overwhelmed. I couldn’t tell what I was feeling—a mix of fear, awe, excitement, and shock.

“Hey, you good?” Leo asked, voice laced with concern. I couldn’t answer. I was too focused on the sky. He rushed over, wrapping his arms around me, trying to lift me. But my body was limp. “You’re scaring me, Ava. Are you okay?” Before I could respond, he saw it too. He went still, then dropped beside me. The meteor hung in the sky—our end made visible. It was enormous—so bright it looked like a second sun, with a blazing white glow and a long, fiery orange tail that split the sky. The sky which surrounded it was black and still filled with stars. It was a beautiful sight; despite knowing that this meteor was going to be the end of us, I just couldn’t help but stare at it in awe. Then I realized that we only felt tired because the meteor acted like another sun in the night sky.

Eventually, I snapped out of it and turned to Leo. Our eyes met at the same moment. Tears streamed down his cheeks, his mouth slightly open in disbelief. Without a word, he pulled me into a tight embrace. It was strong but gentle. It didn’t hurt.

I slowly wrapped my arms around his body then said, “Yeah, I’m okay. What about you?”

Still hugging me he said, “Y-yeah I’ll be okay.”

…

“You don't have to lie to me.”

Leo buried his face into my shoulder and said, “I’m sorry I lied. I'm just scared of losing you.”

Suddenly my vision became blurry and I started stumbling on my words. “I-I’m scared of losing you too.”

Even knowing the end was near, seeing the meteor like that still felt surreal. Until now, death had always been something distant—easy to ignore. But now that it was here, the fear returned in full. There was nothing left to worry about but this. And yet, despite the fear, I felt satisfied. I looked at Leo, and the fear weakened. I didn’t want to lose him, that thought frightened me. But at the same time, I’ll die with him, we can—no we will be happy up till the end. All my worries started to fade into excitement, I was going to spend the last day of my life with someone I had truly loved. It didn’t matter that I was going to die because without this meteor, I would not have gotten this close to Leo. Even though our death was certain, I was grateful. At that moment, everything just felt right. For the first time, I had truly lived. Death didn’t terrify me anymore. Was it still unknown and a little scary? Yes—but now, I could face it. I could face it knowing I had no regrets. I could face it with the one I love. I could face it knowing that I was ready.

We cried in each other’s arms for a while before finally finding the strength to get up. When we stood up we stumbled around a bit and accidentally bumped heads. Both of us fell flat on our bottoms, I guess we were still a bit shaken by the meteor. Still, I couldn’t help but laugh at what happened. Leo didn’t find it as amusing as me though, he kept a straight face and apologized. His look was serious and intense, his eyes were wide and his hands shook with fear.

“No need to apologize” I chuckled, “It’s not your fault you have a big head.” He didn’t laugh. Leo just stared at the ground with a miserable look. “Not funny, huh? I’ll try better next time.”

He gripped the bottom of his shirt and mumbled, “How can you be joking at a time like this? We’re going to die. I’m going to lose you.”

“I don’t know actually.” To be honest, I would have never expected me to be this calm about dying. A few months ago, I would’ve been sobbing uncontrollably. But now… now I felt different. Calmer. Like I’d made peace with it. Leo continued to stare at me—-waiting for an acceptable answer. I matched his gaze until I finally found an answer, “It’s because someone told me to have as much fun as possible with the remaining time I have left. So sulking around wouldn't really be a good use would it?”

Leo looked and chuckled, “Wow, no wonder you thought I was crazy back then.” Leo stares off at the meteor for a second before standing up. He reached his hand out to me and said, “Alright then, let’s have as much fun as possible.”

A smile filled my face as I grabbed onto Leo’s hand and said, “Okay! But this time we better not do something lame like go shopping for your clothes.”

“Can’t make any promises!”

Leo:

The moment Ava grabbed my hand, I ran. I didn’t just want to make the most of our time, I needed to. As I ran, my mind started filling up on things we could do. What Ava enjoyed, what could be fun, what was the best thing to do on our final day. I came to the conclusion that going to the waterfall would be our best bet.

When we made it to the waterfall Ava started to splash me with water. Trying to have fun, I splashed her back. We continued to do this but something felt off.

Why does this feel so weird? We did something similar to this last time, why isn’t it as fun now? I have to have fun. I have to use what remaining time we have left.

While being lost in thought Ava tackled me into the water. As Ava hovered over me I looked up at her face, she carried a worried look. “Are you okay?”

I let out a sigh before saying, “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

“Not at all.”

“Then yes, I’m okay.”

She stood up and squinted her eyes, “I know you’re not.”

“I’m just worried you’re not having a good time. You know, with the time we have remaining.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m doing fine.” she said with a smile.

She can’t be serious right? How can she be so calm right now? Doesn’t she want to use our remaining time wisely? Shouldn’t she worry about what to do with our final moments?

As my mind wanders off, I look to the sky. Hoping the meteor wouldn’t be there, hoping this was all some nightmare. Maybe I would wake up with Ava beside me asking why I looked so worried. But what I saw shut down all of those thoughts. The meteor seems to be bigger, it seems to have gotten closer. After seeing this, I immediately grab Ava’s hand.

“Where are we going?” Ava asked.

“Uh, there’s an amazing view at the top of the waterfall. I’m pretty sure I haven’t shown you it yet so let’s go there.”

As we frantically ran through the forest Ava asked, “But the trail to the top of the waterfall is close to the tents. Let’s go back so we don’t get lost.”

“We don’t have time. Plus I know a shortcut. Trust me.” I quickly answered.

“Okay but don’t blame me when we get lost.” Ava said, still smiling.

As we continued to run I started to panic. The end was coming and I wasn’t sure that this would be a good spot for us. I wasn’t sure if she would be happy with this, I wasn’t sure if this would be a good use of our time, I wasn’t sure about anything. Until I became unsure of where we were at. The trees kept repeating itself and it seemed like we were making no progress. We’d finally gotten lost. Still, I was persistent and kept on running with Ava in my hand. I couldn’t let her down. I couldn’t waste what little time we had left. These thoughts circled me until I lost sight of where I was going and tripped.

Ava burst out in laughter and said, “We’re lost, aren’t we.”

I snapped at her, “How can you be laughing right now? We haven’t done anything special, there’s nothing to be happy about right now.” A tense silence filled the air. The only thing we could hear were the crumpling of leaves as I anxiously gripped onto them. “Sorry, didn’t mean to yell.”

Ava reached out her hand to me. Her face seemed indifferent. Was she mad at me? I was kind of scared to reach out but I did anyways. Before I could grab her hand she quickly flicked my forehead. It slightly stung but didn’t hurt much. Then Ava put out her hand again. “I accept your apology.” I was hesitant at first, in case she tried the same thing again. But I shouldn’t have screamed at her to begin with, maybe another forehead flick was something I deserved. I grabbed onto her hand and she pulled me up and into a hug. “Leo,” she whispered, “what are you getting all worked up about?”

I gripped onto her, “I just don’t want to waste what little time we have together.”

…

“Any moment with you isn’t a waste of time.” Ava placed her hand on my head and started to brush through my hair. “No matter what we do, no matter what happens; as long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”

“But—”

“Let’s just enjoy the moment and not worry about anything else okay?” Her hand slowly moved away from my head and she loosened her grip on me. Ava took a step back and said, “After all, this is our last day alive so let’s not waste it worrying.”

Ava looked so calm. So happy. I didn’t know how she did it, but just seeing her like that made my fear soften. If she could smile through all this, maybe I could too. Maybe I wanted to. She was right, worrying wouldn’t change anything. I couldn’t control the end. But I could choose to be happy with her, all the way to the end. “Okay.”

We ended up deciding to walk back to the campsite. It would be easier to find our way to the trail from there rather than mindlessly wandering around. But we were still lost so we just picked a random direction and walked. Even though we were getting nowhere, we continued to walk. We didn’t run. We just walked. I originally thought running around and trying to do as many things as possible would be a good use of our time, but I was wrong. Just walking with Ava was enough. It was odd, someone who sought death is now desperately clinging onto life. As I thought about this I couldn’t help but to just stare at Ava. Because of her I wanted to live, because of her my life had meaning, because of her I was finally happy.

We continued to walk but made no progress towards the campsite, but luckily we were able to find the trail. As I was filled with hope and excitement I thought to myself, “Maybe we can make it to the top before the meteor hits.” I begin to run up the trail. Not because I was anxious. Not because I was panicking. But because I was happy.

“Are you worried again?” Ava asked.

“No. I’m just happy right now.” I said while smiling, “C'mon, let’s get to the top.”

She smiled back at me and started bolting up the trail. As she passed by me she said, “Last one to make it up loses.”

I chase after her and yell out, “Hey you cheater! You got a head start!”

“Not my fault you’re slow.”

Even with being so happy I still resented the Meteor. For taking Ava’s life, our future, and everything. But at the same time, I was grateful. Without that meteor this experience would never happen. All the happiness, sorrow, worries, and fun wouldn’t have happened. It’s all thanks to the meteor I was able to meet Ava.

When we finally reached the top, we collapsed, breathless.

“I—I win,” Ava said, panting.

“No way. I-I made it up first.” I said, barely able to catch my breath.

We lay there for a while, still bickering over who won. Ava wouldn’t let it go, but in the end, we called it a tie. When we finally stood up, we wandered to the edge of the waterfall. Neither of us said a word. The only sound was the rush of water crashing below. Before us stretched a sea of green, dense forest, alive and endless. Mist floated in the air, and the droplets shimmered as they fell. Above, the meteor’s light reflected off them like a thousand tiny mirrors. It looked like it was raining diamonds.

“At times like this,” Ava whispered, “I’m grateful for the meteor.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “But at the same time… I hate it because it means that this moment will end.”

We stared in silence before I took her hand. She squeezed mine. “Hey, remember our bet?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I want to use my favor now.”

“Don’t tell me you want to do something lewd right here.” she smirked.

“Wow, that's what you think of me.” I joked.

“Maybe.” she teased.

I laughed. “I just want you to stay here, with me. Until the very end.”

Ava hesitated, “I was going to do that anyways. Can’t believe you would waste the favor on something like that.”

“It’ll never be a waste if it means I can guarantee that I’ll be by your side.”

Ava’s face flushed red and turned away. “Don’t say embarrassing stuff like that.” She slowly turned towards me, with her face still red. “B-but thanks, I’m happy to be by your side too.”

I pulled her in for a hug and whispered, “I love you.”

“I l-love you too.” she muttered. “I’m so happy to have met you.”

“I am too. But can I ask for one more thing?”

“How greedy of you. But sure.”

“Can I get one last kiss?”

Before she could answer, the sky split open with a roar. The end had arrived.

The End:

Before the meteor touched Earth, it shattered into seventeen radiant fragments streaked across the sky like divine wrath. Each one carved its own descent, bright and furious, each capable of erasing an entire continent.

Then one of the fragments started to fall straight down, near where Ava and Leo were. As the meteor crashed into the ground Ava and Leo locked eyes. No words, just the same thought: I love you so much. Even with Leo being riddled with fear and Ava being content, they reached the same truth.

Fear gripped Leo’s chest, but he held onto one truth: he would face the end with Ava. No matter how terrifying death was, she was by his side. And Ava, who had once seen her life as hollow and meaningless, felt something else entirely. With Leo, she had known love. That was enough.

The ground trembled. The sky burned white. Then came the boom: deafening and final. A tidal wave of flame, stone, and shattered world surged outward, sweeping up forests, rivers, cities—everything. As it raced toward them, Ava thought about Leo’s request and leaned in. Their lips met one last time. As darkness loomed, all they could do was close their eyes and hold each other. The wave of destruction swallowed them whole. But they died with arms around each other, lips still warm, hearts at peace.