Savier D’Arsie-Marquez, Marcie Di Bartolomeo (writers), Ben Perlmutter (graphics)
How it all ends
By Savier D’Arsie-Marquez
content warning: collective death, apathy
We thought the end of humanity would be cataclysmic. Instead, it started when the final author sat down and realised there were no stories left, nothing unwritten, no tragedy left untold. People rewatched the same stories, now hollow in their repeated arcs. People stopped having kids, not because they couldn’t, but because they couldn’t see the point. There was no more need for science, with the complete knowledge of the universe available to everyone at the click of a button. Eventually, with nothing left to give or strive for, people stopped breathing. They sat down and each quietly had their last breath, leaving an empty Earth with a finished story.
Just like the Folktales
By Marcie Di Bartolomeo (They/Them)
content warning: suggestions of medical procedure, climate crisis
00:60:00. They type in numbers I don’t recognise. Soon I will be in paradise. 00:30:00. They strap me into a chair. The room lights up. 00:15:00. They attach wires to my body. They reassure me that it will be all over soon. 00:10:00. I realise the numbers are coordinates. They press a button. Red to Green. 00:01:00. A bright light consumes my vision. 00:00:01. Everything goes dark.
-00:00:01. Everything is bright again. The light reveals trees, green plains everywhere. Birds flying, dogs running, humans gathering to greet me. Just like the folktales told me it would be.