It still matters

It still matters
By Jourdan Cameron
Dedicated to the 22nd wedding anniversary of Krystol and Deirdre Cameron


“The year was a dismal one. I’d tell you what it was, but I can’t quite remember properly what year it is now. Ever since, well, the reversal incident, we haven’t had time to focus on much years, or dates. Time has become relative, as our dying world lies enshrouded in frost. The few surviving plants and animals sustain us, but other than that, all is bleak.
The incident, you would like to know? It was a perfect, perfect day it occurred, that much I’ll let you know. The day it occurred, we humans, were at our zenith. All our technology, our pride, our joy and our love, everything was perfect. Until the incident. Suddenly, with the power- or perhaps without, our main source of energy just gone, in such a random, cataclysmic celestial event. I will never forget the sky that day, the beautiful colors I saw, but it was all gone.”
The traveler turned his wind burned face to his children, as he went on.
“But, we weren’t at a true zenith. We were destroying, sending so many things extinct. And yet, on the day of that reversal, I committed to a certain someone. Your mother. Now, every year, that fateful day is marked by a flare, in the sky. Who launches it, nobody knows. Yet, it marks something special; our anniversary.”
The traveler walked out of his tent into the coldness to see his wife stooped over, collecting the dull little plants that sustained their life. “My love” he said, instantly perking up her ears, as if by magic. “M-m-my love? I haven’t heard you say that since-” “Since our wedding day” he finished. She turned around to kiss him. Her face was as afflicted as his. The energy reversal had reversed all polarity, destroying technology left, right and center. It also triggered a massive global cooling, affecting people in ways they weren’t expecting to be affected!
The traveler spoke again.
“I want you to remember that no matter what happens, you’ll always be my wife”
“And you my husband” she said, giggling at their inside joke.
“These last years have been difficult” he went on “and I just wanted you to know that I’ll never stop loving you, though it may seem that way. No matter how few our crops yield, I shall be your husband forever. I promise, I shall protect and cherish you until I die.”
“Well, I should hope so! And I promise that I’ll try and understand when the hunt runs low, alright?” replied his wife.
For a moment, they started babbling incoherently about food. Then, they looked into each others eyes. The world stopped. The food didn’t matter. The power didn’t matter. They had each other. That was all that mattered.
“No, that’s mine!” came a small voice from the tent.
And of course, the children mattered as well!