The Disaster Diaries: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse (8 page)

My eyes fell upon the painting on a stand in the
middle of the room.

I moved towards it.

‘That one is still wet,’ said Brendan. ‘I have
literally just finished it.’

‘I dreamt this last night,’ I muttered a reply. It
was the image of a man sitting in a chair with a smoking gun in his hand. The
face had been completely destroyed from where the person had shot himself. ‘How
did you know I dreamt this?’

‘I dreamt it, too. I dreamt all of these. I never
understood why I dreamt them all, but the images are so clear and vivid. It
helps me to remember them when I paint them.’ I walked around the edges of the
room and glanced from one picture to the other. I was starting to notice a sort
of order, or timeline. There was a picture of a man smiling. It was Brendan. He
is sitting in a cafe with a woman. In the next painting the woman is then
wearing a wedding dress. Next she has a baby bump. Brendan is holding a baby.
The baby is a little boy. The little boy, Brendan and the mother are on
holiday. The mother has a second baby bump. A second child is added to the
family. The timeline depicts the children growing up, going to school, making
friends, birthday parties, Christmas, and playing all sorts of different sports.
The final picture is of the mother and the two boys in a bloody car crash.

‘I dreamt that the night Pam was driving back from
her parent’s house. I woke up and called her. I wanted to warn her to stay
where she was. I would drive up and pick them up, but she was already on the
road.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Yeah...’

‘When did you start dreaming of me?’ I had to know.

‘I don’t really know when it began. I just started
seeing this man. I never really understood why I would dream of you because
most of your dreams are boring.’ That sums me up pretty well. ‘Let me explain.
I would dream of my life with my wife and family. I would dream major life
events before they happened, but once they died my dreams turned towards you. I
just started dreaming about your life events. I dreamt of you writing, selling
books, meeting women, your family moving away, losing your baby...’ I clenched
my jaw at the very mention of it. How did he know all of these things? It
wasn’t possible for anyone to know this much about me. ‘I dreamt of us meeting
and the things I would give you. It was like my life was put on hold until the
day I could give you this information.’

‘Your life was on hold? What information?’

‘Yes. I have plans, but I have not moved forward
with them because I have to give you some vital information. I don’t know why
you are important. It isn’t like I see into the future. I see stuff that is
going to happen in the near future. To be honest, half of it doesn’t even make
sense to me, but I have faith that it has some meaning for you.’

‘It is the same for me,’ I confessed. ‘I sometimes
don’t understand the meaning of a dream until the events have already gone by.’

‘That is generally the case with psychics like us.’

‘What information do you have for me?’

‘I cannot tell you, yet.’

No. I needed answers. I had waited too long to learn
what all this meant.

‘Please, I need to know what this means. My dreams
have been counting down the days until the apocalypse since I was a teenager.
The world is going to end in three days. I don’t understand why I am seeing
these things. Lately, my dreams have become darker and scarier. Am I getting
these dreams for a reason? Is there something I am supposed to be doing? I
don’t know what any of this means.’

‘Have faith in your dreams,’ said Brendan. ‘You are
shown what you need to see.’

‘But why do I get them?’

‘I don’t know. This could be the work of God. It
might be the work of the Devil. It might be some strange energy thing that
makes people in this town dream strange things. I cannot tell you the source. I
can only tell you what I know. I am like a beacon of light in the night. I am
just here to guide you further along your path. This is my destiny. There is
something I have to give you, but I don’t know what it is.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I have dreamt of giving you something that is
important of you, but I think it is a prediction that I haven’t predicted yet.’

‘So, in the near future you will dream something
that will help me?’

‘Yes. That is my role. I don’t know why, but I
believe this is important.’

‘I don’t understand any of this.’

‘I know, but you are important. I don’t know why,
but I have dreamt of you for years. You are important, Logan.’

Chapter
Thirty-Three: Uninvited Visitor

***

I locked the car door and looked up at the heavens
above. The stars were starting to come out. I had spent the better part of the
day with Brendan. He had seen so much. It was a waiting game now. It can’t be a
coincidence that I meet him three days before the end of the world. There has
to be a higher meaning to all this.

‘Hi, Logan...’

The flames of anger roared within the depths of my
stomach.

I was shocked by how angry I was at the sound of her
voice.

‘What are you doing here, Samantha?’ My
ex-girlfriend was sitting in the shadows by the front door of my house.

‘I wanted to talk to you.’

‘I have nothing to say.’

‘You can’t hate me forever,’ replied Samantha. ‘We
need to talk about our baby.’

‘YOU KILLED OUR BABY!’ My voice echoed off into the
silent night.

‘I’m sorry for what I did. I wish I could go back
and change it. I miss you.’

I released a long breath and tried to control my
temper. ‘Go away, Samantha. I have nothing more to say to you. What you did was
beyond forgiveness. Just leave me alone.’

‘I love you.’

‘I hate you.’

‘I-I was scared.’

‘You should have spoken to me when you had the
chance.’ I walked by her and slipped my key into the lock. I could hear Lucy
yapping in the living room. ‘This wasn’t an accident. We wanted this baby. You
killed it.’ The front door opened and I went to step inside, but then she said
something. She said something that awoke a part of me I didn’t know existed.

‘I did it for you.’

I grabbed her by the throat and pinned her up
against the wall of the house. I raised my fist towards her face. ‘HOW DARE YOU
SAY THAT? YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU KILLED MY BABY. YOU DID! DON’T YOU DARE PUT THIS
ON ME! GET THE FUCK OFF MY GARDEN AND IF YOU EVER COME HERE AGAIN I WILL MURDER
YOU.’ I tossed her onto the garden. Samantha landed with a heavy thud and
whimpered. Her knee had clipped a stone. She began to bleed. Instantly, guilt
and shock rushed through the core of my system.

What have I just done?

Our eyes met.

I don’t know who was more shocked.

I turned away and rushed inside.

Chapter
Thirty-Four: Tears of Rage

***

What did I do? What did I do? Did I really raise my
hand to a woman? Did I really throw her to the ground? What have I become? This
isn’t me. This isn’t the person that I am. I don’t know what came over me. I
just feel so angry when she talks about my baby. I just want my baby. Why did
she have to kill my baby?

I buried my head into the palms of my hands and
sobbed.

‘I just want my baby.’

A wet nose was pressed up against my arm. I lifted
my head and looked at Lucy. She had her tail down and ears back. My little
furry friend could see something was wrong. She licked me lovingly on the arm
and gave her tail a little friendly wag. I wiped away the tears with the back
of my hand and pulled her into me. My fingers set to work at stroking the top
of her head.

‘Thank you, Lucy.’

I sat back against the wall, as Lucy climbed onto my
lap. The hallway wasn’t the most comfortable place to sit in the world, but it
was as far as I could get before I broke down. It is strange to see how much I
have changed. Six months ago I was in a happy relationship and I was going to
have a baby. My life was fantastic. Things seemed to be finally moving in the
right direction, but because of one’s persons actions everything had changed. I
lost my baby. I lost my lover. I have turned into this aggressive, hateful
person.

‘I need to get out,’ I told the world. ‘I don’t want
to be here.’

Lucy cocked her head to one side. It was that
are-you-talking-to-me look.

‘Shall we go down the beach?’

Lucy’s tail wagged like never before. Beach was a
word she understood. She yapped a loud yes.

Chapter
Thirty-Five: A friend

***

I love the sound of the waves crashing against the
shore. It always seems to put me at peace. Lucy was off playing chicken with
the breaking waves. I sat back in the sand and sighed. Was life really supposed
to be this hard? If everything happened for a reason, was losing my baby part
of my destiny? What type of god would make that happen? What possible lesson
could I learn from such a cruel and devastating act? It hasn’t made me grow. It
has been a negative that has warped my life. Was it all done to get me to where
I am today? Was it all part of some great plan so I could stop the end of the
world? It didn’t make any sense.

‘Hi.’

I looked up at Clarissa and smiled.

‘Hi.’

I needed a friend and had called her up. Clarissa
put everything on hold and rushed out to meet me. She was a real friend. Lucy
came up, said hello, and rushed off back to the shore. Clarissa sat down on the
sand beside me. I could feel a warm glow fill my soul. She was wearing black
knee high boots, a short skirt and a skin tight t-shirt. The t-shirt left
nothing to the imagination, but then again I didn’t have to imagine. I knew how
stunning her body was. Clarissa cuddled into me and placed her head upon my
chest. Unconsciously, I wrapped an arm around her. It felt like the natural
thing to do.

‘What happened?’

‘It was Samantha.’

‘She gave you a call?’

‘No. She was waiting for me when I got home.’

‘Ah...’

‘I don’t know why she doesn’t leave me alone.’

Clarissa said nothing. Her silence was my cue to
continue.

‘I think she is struggling to handle the break up
and losing the baby, but that is on her and not me. I wish she would just leave
me alone and let me get on with my life. I... I shoved her.’

‘You did?’

‘I didn’t mean to. I was just so angry. I pushed her
over.’

‘You are not a bad person, Logan.’

‘What I did was unforgivable.’

‘What she did was unforgivable. If I had been you I
would have stabbed that bitch in the face by now. You are too kind. She knows
that you are kind, which is why she is coming back. She hopes you will give in
and forgive her.’

We sat in silence for a moment.

We sat on the beach and cuddled.

Clarissa was the one to make the move. She lifted
her head and smiled that sweet loving smile at me. It was the type of smile
that washed away all my sadness. She raised her head from my chest and kissed
me softly upon the lips. It was a sweet and gentle kiss. We exchanged smiles. I
stroked my left hand against the side of her beautiful face. Clarissa leaned
into my touch. This tiny display showed how much we truly loved each other. We
kissed a second time. This kiss was slightly longer and we applied more force.

‘I have something for you,’ said Clarissa.

‘You do?’

‘Yes. It was something you wanted earlier.’

It was something I wanted earlier?

She placed a condom into my palm. Her naughty smile
said it all.

Chapter
Thirty-Six: Making Love

***

There are certain moments in life that you want to
last forever. This was one of them. Clarissa had never looked more perfect than
she did right now. She was like an angel of love that made my life feel so much
better. Her t-shirt and bra had been removed. My hands caressed her large plump
breasts, as she straddled my lap. I was lying down upon the sandy beach, as
this gorgeous woman moved her hips with the elegance and grace of some kind of
exotic dancer. Her small palms stroked the back of my hands, as we played with
her tits together. A look of lust was etched upon her face. I could see the
storm of passion swirling through the windows of her soul. Her breathing was
short and sharp. The way she bit her bottom lip was turning me on like nothing
before.