Calamity -- Chapter One

Instructions

Everything I know and love dies eventually, right? This is something I have to face every single day. Every night someone new dies. Well, in my dreams, no, my nightmares, they do. The night of my wedding, it was my husband. The night after was his sister. Last night it was me with everyone else. Most nights it's random people I don't know. Sometimes I walk down the streets of Vi’olle and recognize people from my dreams. They all died the same in my dreams. Explosions. I lay up in my bed, my husband still asleep beside me. I kiss his cheek, then get out of bed, get dressed, and walk to the kitchen. I clean the countertops and prepare breakfast. I look through the wooden cabinets, searching for the waffle mix. Ah, there! I grab the bag easily from the high shelf. I chuckle, I put this up here so Levi wouldn’t fix midnight waffles. I grab a cup of water and mix it with the bowl of waffle mix. Humming, I pour the waffle mix into the wafflemaker. I walk over and fix the bacon, grease splattering everywhere. While the waffles and bacon are cooking, I grab the maple syrup and eggs from the fridge. The waffle maker dings, showing it's ready. I get the waffles onto a plate, finishing up the bacon and putting it there, too. I lastly cook the eggs, then put them on the plate. Levi prefers bubble eggs where you cook everything else but don't break the yolk so that when you bite into it, it pops like a bubble. I hear that Levi’s awake because I hear him hit his head on the bedpost from his morning stretch, as usual. I watch my husband, a pale, white-haired Witherian, walk toward me. He’s half-awake, his red eyes trailing around the room. “You fixed us breakfast, Carden?” I grin, “Yeah, I just fixed you some though. I need to get to the woods and chop some trees so I didn’t fix any for myself.” He nods, half-understanding. He shovels the food in, as usual. His white, fluffy hair flows down his head, then separates into different streams from his bright red horns that lay near the top of his forehead. I would jump off the highest ravine for this man. “I’m going to the mines, dear. Be back soon!” Levi says, shoveling food quickly and then sprints out the door. I walk around the kitchen island, scraping my side against the edge. “Ah, Sh-” Levi’s always told me not to swear since the day we started dating. It’s somehow stuck this far and we’ve been married for a couple years now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I dig my axe into the surface of the towering oak tree. Standing there, I then heard a familiar voice I hadn't heard in what felt like ages. "I'm back, Carden!" I jerk my head around to face the caring but exhausted voice. Levi’s trampling through the tall blades of grass, his iron pickaxe sitting in his sore hands.I stand, paralyzed in excitement for his long-awaited return. The sun sets among the treeline as I watch Levi, slightly struggling to weave through the tall grass, run towards me. While watching Levi trample through the tall grass, I hold out my arms for a hug. I can see some struggle when he’s treading through the grass. In what feels like slow motion, Levi, as he tries to run slightly too fast and trips, face-plants into the ground.