Apocalypse Please

"It's going to end tomorrow, you know." Julian says, casually as if he's talking about the weather. And he might be talking about the weather for all I know.

"What is?" It's a mandatory question, and barely escapes my lips before he answers.

"The world." He says, with such an air of confidence that he can't be wrong. The rusty chains of my swing stop screeching as I plant my feet firmly into the rain soaked ground. All the better to stare at the crazy boy sitting next to me. He stares back with unblinking cerulean eyes.

"You're telling me the world's going to end tomorrow?" I give him a very skeptical look and he nods, somber as Julian can get, though the way his eyes glitter in the pale moonlight tells me he thinks I'm a complete idiot and he's trying hard not to laugh. I figure it won't help stating the obvious, but I do anyway. "You're insane!"

"Well," He's grinning now, which makes me think he's playing with me and couldn't be happier I'm falling for his clever ruse. Which I'm not. "There is that. But the world really is going to end. Tomorrow night, at midnight."

"How do you know?" He's so sure of himself I can't even argue that it's not going to happen. His grin widens and he leans back in his swing a little. It squeaks with water and age, and for a moment I think it might break. But it doesn't. And he's pointing at the moon. "So?"

"So?" He snorts. "So, have you ever seen the moon that color?"

The moon is an odd color tonight. It's red. I mean, really red. A chemical red, like a drop of fresh blood or a newly painted fire truck. Not to mention, it's twice as big as normal.

"I have to admit," Very grudgingly mind you. "It looks kinda funny."

"Kind of?" He laughs, his half sarcastic, half insane laugh. "The moon's huge and disgustingly red and you think it's 'kinda strange'." He tries to mimic my voice when he says "kinda strange" and sounds nothing like me. My cheeks burn the moon's chemical red anyway.

"Shut up," I growl. "Either way, it's nothing to get worked up about."

"Do I look worked up?" He gives me an innocent look. "I just thought I should tell you the world is going to end, that's all."

"It's not going to end." I'm convinced it's not now.

"This isn't the first time it's happened, you know." He's back to sounding casual, as he places a lock of strayed black hair behind his ear. Too short to put into a ponytail and too long to keep out of his face.

"Oh yeah?" I quirk an eyebrow. "When was the last time?"

"How would I know?"

"How do you know it happened before?" I ask. He shrugs.

"Nothing new ever happens now. Plagues are variations of others and so's art and thinking and philosophy and everything else that's cool. We take ideas from others, and morph them enough that they seem like our own. Why should the world be any different?"

"So what, was it the end of the world when the dinosaurs died?" I feel quizzmatic. He obviously thinks I'm stupid.

"Don't be silly Ivy." He half laughs, half snorts. Nothing's ever whole with him. Just bits and pieces of things weaved together. "Dinosaurs never existed." I don't question his logic. Instead,

"Okay, so, like, was it when all the unicorns and fairies and dragons died?" I think I'm starting to believe him. Then again, he could tell me he's my grandfather and after a while I'd believe him.

"Something like that." He more or less agrees with a nod. "They used to sacrifice kids like you and me to some very dead gods to keep this from happening."

"Who did?" I'm a little bothered by this. He shrugs again.

"Dunno..."

"Gods can't die you know." I helpfully point out.

"Of course they can." He flashes a grin at me. "Everything dies, you just need to know how to kill it."

"How very dreary of you." I smile a little, despite myself. "If you're so smart, how do you kill a god?"

"That information's been disclosed for obvious reasons." He pauses for what seems like forever. And then, "Do you want to watch the world end with me? We can meet here tomorrow night, before it happens." He's not looking at me anymore. His question throws me off and I hesitate longer then I mean to.

Julian is crazy. He wants me to see the end of the world with him. Does it make me crazy to agree to it?

"Sure," I smile at him. "I'd love to. Even if it doesn't happen."

He smirks his demented grin and looks intently at the cherry moon. "Believe me, it'll happen."

My swing's moving again and I look up at the sky, speckled with crimson stardust. Just a pendulum in a doomed night.

A/N: Just a little something I wrote for a contest not too long ago. Of course, I never really used it for the contest...so it was pretty much just rotting away in my "Short Stories" folder, so I decided to post it. Not all that great but whatever. R and R please.