A Dark Roast

[Originally posted in 2019, on an old account]

Miriam Donovan woke up on Tuesday morning the same way she always did. Stretch, coffee, feed the dog, social media. After a short while of scrolling, she noticed a status update from her sister, Serena, that was written in all capitalized and bolded lettering.

“THE END IS NEAR”

Several comments followed, full of their family and Serena’s coworkers and friends laughing, calling her crazy, and otherwise mocking her cryptic message. It was always the same story with Serena, and Miriam began to break out in a cold sweat.

“The end is near?” Miriam mumbled, hunched over her laptop reading the various comments.

“Serena I know you work at a coffee shop but I think it’s time to lay off the espresso,” one of her friends commented twenty minutes ago.

Miriam was on the fence about the situation and whether she should brush this off as truly too much caffeine or pursue her sisters eerie message. Serena considered herself a seer. She claimed since they were in the seventh grade that she ‘just knew’ what was going to happen and, sure enough, her tellings always showed themselves to be true.

Serena had predicted world events, she had predicted deaths, she predicted the weather, she just seemed to know everything that there was to know in the Earths timeline. However, she had also been known to make mountains out of molehills. Miriam recalled when they were in their sophomore year of high school and Serena had already shown just how accurately she could see into the future. Serena had told her that she was going to die in the next week and, four days later, her boyfriend broke up with her.

Miriam let out a quiet, breathy laugh as she closed her laptop and rolled her eyes. After taking a boiling shower and getting dressed for the day, she called her mother on the phone. The dial tone rang a few times before she answered.

“Hello?” Miriam's mother, Judy, sang into the phone.

“Mom, are we still on for brunch? I haven’t eaten so we can really get our moneys worth,” Miriam chucked. Judy was always on a budget and, if they would go out to eat, always made sure her kids were good and hungry so that nothing would turn into leftovers and be wasted.

“Oh! Yes, yes, let me brush my teeth and grab my purse and I’ll meet you there. No need to wait, just order me a cappuccino!” Judy frantically yelled a bit too loud into the phone and Miriam could hear her shoes thudding against the tile floor.

“Mom please don’t rush yourself, you’ll get hurt that way. Take as much time as you need. Oh, and did you see what sis posted online this morning?” Miriam paced around her kitchen alternating from looking at her dog, Jackson, to out her window. Her mother was still frantic it seemed, though thankfully she had slowed her pace.

“I did! I wanted to ask you about that, but I’m going to get ready and we can talk about it when we get there. Love you, Mimi!” Judy spoke fast, almost so fast that Miriam wondered if she could breathe.

“Love you too mom, see you in a bit. No rushing! I want you there in one piece!” She laughed and the two of them hung up.

“Alright, Jackson, be a good boy. Mama will be back later!” She called to the husky as she finished getting ready, grabbing her purse and heading to the car.

__________________________________________

Judy rushed into the restaurant, quickly found her daughter, and went to sit down on the opposite side of her in the booth.

“Had you forgotten?” Miriam laughed, sipping her glass of lemon water.

“I just got so distracted with the laundry and feeding your father, honey, I just lost track of time. I hope you haven’t been waiting long!” Judy swept her gray hair from her face and took a long swig of her coffee, breathing deeply.

“I see. I just got here almost ten minutes ago. I did want to ask you about Serena before I forget, though,” Miriam skimmed the menu, flipping each page over and back, deciding what to order.

“Oh yes, I was hoping you would know what’s going on,” Judy said, concerned. She hadn’t began to even look at the menu yet.

“No. I know you don’t believe in the supernatural, but what if something is actually going to happen and she knows something that we all don’t?” Miriam looked up to meet her mothers gaze.

“Sweetheart, your sister has made some rather shocking predictions and maybe gotten lucky a few times, yes. I think if she won’t elaborate on it, she’s just having a bad day. Not everything she posts is all that serious, Mimi. I personally think that she’s doing this to get attention, but who’s to say?” Judy dug her reading glasses from her purse and began flipping through the menu as well, leaving Miriam no less puzzled as she had been when she first saw the message.

"Should I call her? I mean the only way to know what her motives are is really just to ask her. On one hand I feel like she’s just overreacted about something like she did in high school when Joseph broke up with her. On the other hand, though, what if something sinister is going to happen and we never find out because she won’t publicly say anything?” Miriam dug her phone out of her bag and began dialing her sisters number.

“You can do whatever you want. I do think talking to her is a wise idea. Not sure if she’ll be able to hear you with all of this commotion, though. Step outside if you need. I’ll wait for you before I order,” Judy placed her napkin in her lap and took another small sip of her coffee. With a nod, Miriam hit talk and walked outside, plugging one of her ears to shield from the speakers. She heard a sound like the line had been answered, but no one spoke on the other end.

“Hello? Serena? It’s me, your sister?” Miriam waited and eventually, her sister did speak.

“Hey M, I really need you to listen to me okay? I saw something and-”

“I know, I know, the end is near. What did you see? This better not be something blown all out of proportion! You’ve given me quite a scare today!” Miriam scolded. Serena kept speaking then like she hadn’t even said anything.

“I saw something and I really think we’re doomed here. I had just woken up and I know this is going to sound insane, but all I could see was death and destruction and blood. There were helicopters and airplanes flying in the air dropping things to the civilians and it really looked like the end of the world. The end of humanity at the very least. It’s going to happen very soon. Like within a week, soon!” Serena was almost yelling loud enough for her voice to be heard outside of Miriam's cell phone, and Miriam just stood there trying to process the tidal wave of information being shoved to her all at once.

“What are you talking about, Sera?“Miriam asked, dumbfound. She tried desperately to find some way to string the story around into something less horrific.

“Did you not hear? We’re like, all going to die! I saw it! I saw the bodies! I saw the people flying above killing the people on the ground!” Serena shouted with a panic-stricken voice.

“Well just calm down! Could this be something small disguised as something big? I don’t know, like a demotion at work or a family or friends death?” Miriam scoffed, refusing to believe that something more catastrophic was indeed coming for humanity.

“No! I know what I saw. I typically know when I’m being overly dramatic, and I haven’t even really been that way in quite some time! Before you ask either, this was not a nightmare. I was awake. I woke up and sat up in bed when I saw it all. Nobody believes me, which I suppose is understandable. Seeing the end of the world isn’t exactly a thing that happens, y’know? I thought though that at lease you of all people would believe me, M!” Serena was in a full blown meltdown, and Miriam had frozen in her stance in front of the restaurant.

“Well did you see anything else? Surely there has to be more! You’re trying to tell me the world is just doomed and your silly little superpower only thought to warn us a week in advance?” Miriam hollered. Old couples walking into the restaurant stared at her like she was from another planet, but in that moment Miriam felt like the world really was closing in on her. As she sat down on a bench and put her head down, she felt her mother walk up and stop in front of her, her short heels the only thing in sight.

“No, M. I don’t think we’re getting out of this one. This isn’t like a serial killer that we can go to the police about. This is a full on apocalyptic scenario. I don’t think anyone is going to get out of this one. I think we’re done,” Serena said with a certain numbness to her voice. It was as if she had just given up as quickly as she had spiraled into hysterics.

“So you’re telling me now I have to just sit here knowing that we’re all going to die and I can’t even do anything about it? We can’t tell anyone? We just have to sit here and take it?” Miriam was the one who seemed to be going hysterical then, shifting in her seat and bouncing her legs as well. Her mother took a seat beside her and tried desperately to peer into her eyes and get some kind of a clue as to what was happening on the other end of the phone.

“You can try but I’m sure it’ll go just about as well as my vague post this morning. It was still really soon after I saw it all. Should I even bother making a longer post? Would anyone really take it seriously?” Serena sounded defeated and hopeless, like this depression had just swallowed her.

“Anything is better than doing nothing! I mean seriously, why am I out eating breakfast when this is all going to go down? Why am I wasting my time here when we could be trying to do something? If not now then when?” Miriam shouted, taking her mother aback. Judy furrowed her brows, mouth open just as confused as ever and slightly offended at the thought of her daughter blowing her off.

“M, I-” Serena started.

“Sera, seriously. I will drop everything and come over right now. Mom will too I’m sure. We need to think of something and we need to do it fast. There’s absolutely no time to waste!” Miriam shouted, scrambling to get up and grab her purse from her mother.

“M, I saw it again,” Serena said in a hushed tone.

“Well?” Miriam stopped in her tracks and turned toward the restaurant and her mother again.

“The government. The feds. They’re the ones. They’re coming for us. In planes, in helicopters, on the ground, they’re getting rid of us! They’re killing us off and starting a war to end all wars! The next world war, the one to wipe out humanity, it starts with us. With the civilians!” Serena's voice rose and rose until it was back in that familiar scream.

“Oh my god,” Miriam covered her mouth and placed her phone against her chest.

“Are you planning on explaining to me what’s going on? Both of you are scaring me senseless! I need to know what’s going on!” Judy hollered coming up to her daughter and grabbing her shoulders.

“We’re screwed,” Miriam replied with a deadpan tone and a teary eyed smile.

“Excuse me?” Judy asked with a short laugh.

Miriam did not reply and, instead, walked briskly away to her car.