Day 1
I’m all alone; I’m not sure why or how, but when I woke up this morning, it looked like everyone on the globe had vanished. Now, as the sun sets for the day, I discovered this empty book in my dark and neglected attic. I may write my sufferings, bewilderment, discrepancies, and endeavors in my journal. My name is Matt Collins, and I awoke today completely alone.
Journal writing isn’t my forte. Nothing exciting ever occurs to me. I work as an electronic salesperson in Burgaw, a little town on the west coast, five days a week. I typically assist the elderly in grasping the latest devices that they use for only one time and then pass on to their grandkids. The only thing I do at home is eat and sleep, and occasionally have a drink with the boys while playing video games from the 2000s. I’ve always wanted my life to be more exciting than that, yet curiously, it appears to have grown more intriguing all of a sudden.
I awakened this morning ready to go to work. It didn’t take long for me to notice that something was wrong; everything was far too quiet. Nobody was outside when I looked out my window. It seemed weird because the street is usually bustling with traffic. However, it didn’t shock me all too much.
My phone was the next oddity. Nothing was wrong with it, but my mother would normally call about this time to tell me about her previous day. Mom is in a nursing home a few hours away. She often feels lonely now that dad isn’t around anymore and calls me regularly, but this morning she remained silent.
Nobody passed me on my way to work. No one, not my neighbor and his dog, not the mailman on his route, not a single person. There were only a few empty cars parked in the center of the street, some even blocking the road. For a moment I just came to a complete stop and opened the car’s window. I heard nothing and saw no one. The town had been abandoned. That was the moment when I realized something was seriously wrong.
As I approached the electronics store, I discovered it was still closed. Normally, Lenny would have unlocked it by now, and if he couldn’t, he would have contacted me. For a brief period, I began yanking on the door handle, expecting it would simply open and that I was hallucinating everything, but it remained closed. I walked to other stores and found the same thing: no one. So I dialed my mother’s number. I dialed her number once, twice, five times, maybe twenty times. I continued leaving messages on her answering machine begging that she call me back. I’m trying to call her right now as I write this, but the phone keeps going to voicemail.
I stood there, probably looking like an idiot, simply staring at the empty town as if it were from another universe. This dreadful sensation came over me, which felt like an overwhelming combination of anxiety, excitement, dread, and tension. I was at a loss for words and drove back home.
I’ve written this not to keep a journal, but in the hope that by the time I wake up the next morning, all of these words will have disappeared. That this long day had been a dream, although a very realistic feeling one, but nevertheless a dream. Everything will go back to normal tomorrow, and I will have a typical dull working day.
Goodbye,
M. Collins
August 13, 2021 (22:32)