It’s been a really long and boring day in the shop where I worked. It was a little store that sold beach-themed trinkets and souvenirs. It wasn’t usually busy so, like every other day, I sat at the register playing on my phone. I wish we were busier than this, but since it wasn’t tourist season, we were lucky to get five sales a day. Today, it’s been only one.

We also were in Florida, so we were used to bad weather. This is why I wasn’t too concerned when the sky was black with rain clouds. I was, however, concerned when a fish flopped onto the sidewalk outside the store. I stared at it in disbelief. Why were fish falling from the sky?

Befuddled, I walked outside to look up at the sky. The clouds were swirling in a way I’ve never seen them do before. A few feet away from where I was standing, another fish fell and began flopping on the ground. I stared at it.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked the air.

I broke my gaze from the fish when I heard ambulance sirens on the main highway across from our parking lot. I watched as an ambulance, firetruck, and two police cars whizzed by. This made me worry that this storm was a bad one.

Curious, I went back inside, which was lucky because it began to pour. I pulled out my phone to check the weather app. When I clocked on the radar, my jaw dropped. The whole area, which this morning had been completely clear, was a bright red. I thought this was impossible. The forecast earlier showed no rain until next week. Now it was showing the entire south covered in one massive severe storm.

“How is this possible” I muttered. After all, it isn’t even this bad during a Category 5 hurricane.

As I stared at the screen, a loud clap of thunder shook the doors of the store. I jumped. There was no way I was staying in the store during a storm like this. I called my boss.

“Meggy, have you seen this weather?” I asked her when she answered. “It’s insane!”

“Oh my gosh, I know! Even my sister in North Carolina says it’s bad there.”

“I saw that on the radar,” I replied. “Do they know what’s causing it?”

“They have no clue. It just appeared out of nowhere. You should probably close the store and go home. It’s getting really winduy outside.”

I sighed in relief. “I was hoping you would say that. Thanks Meg. You stay safe.”

“You too,” she replied.

I hung up and looked out at the torrential downpour outside. I figured it could only get worse, so I hurried to close the store. It only took ten minutes, but it seemed much longer.

By the time I was locking the door, the wind was blowing the rain sideways. I ran to my car as fast as I could and struggled to open the car door.

“Come on, dammit!” I yelled, pulling at the door against the wind. Finally, I managed to get the door open and climbed inside. I was completely soaked from head to foot. I checked my weather app again, and across the top was ten alerts, from a severe thunderstorm warning to a tornado warning. I turned on my radio to the local news station.

“Meteorologists are baffled as to how this storm formed so quickly and covered so much of the southern United States. Meanwhile, in the north, they are experiencing near-freezing temperatures. In October. The western states are experiencing a catastrophic drought, leading to dozens of wildfires. Scientists are struggling to explain these phenomena, let along the similar tragedies around the world.”

I shook my head and began the trek home. I went slow, like every other poor soul trying to drive in this weather. All of a sudden, a fish fell onto the hood of my car, making me scream. I proceeded more slowly, trembling. I couldn’t wait to get home.

The brake lights on the car in front of me came on, and I slowly stopped to avoid hydroplaning into it. After a few seconds, they still hadn’t moved. I saw a police car go slowly past us on the shoulder, lights on. I looked up at the sky and saw a bright light, like the sun.

Finally, I thought. The storm is over.

And then, in an instant, the world ended.