Pompeii ~ Short Story

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It was like any other ordinary day; people were gathered around the town square; the festival was bustling with the townsfolk.

I was sitting on my front porch, enjoying myself as I sipped softly on some water in a little porcelain mug.

"You enjoying that nice cold water?"

I looked up and folded my hands into my lap with the mug, "Yes, indeed. How are you, Artemise?" I smiled up at him.

"Well, I'm doing fine. Although Sidney won't shut up about cleaning up after myself. Ugh. Such nerve that woman has."

I tilted my head, "Why don't you just sell her? That's the easiest thing to do. Men are everywhere in need of a female servant, if you know what I mean." I winked to Artemise.

He just shrugged and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I need one too! No way am I giving it away! Unless you can find one better than her and more obedient then I'll think about it. But until then, no. I'm keeping it."

I sighed and shook my head, "There you go again, calling your wife an 'it'. Tch. Very upsetting." I got up and walked back into my condo.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Inside." I replied blankly without turning around. I knew he was staring daggers into the back of my head and if looks could kill, I'd be dead.

I placed my mug onto the marble countertop, looking over my shoulder to make sure he hadn't followed me inside. He didn't. I exhaled a sigh of a relief, knowing I was nowhere near Artemise. That man gets me all worked up even though he's never done anything to me. My best friend, on the other hand, can't stand him. He's very sexist towards her and expects everything be given to him on a silver platter.

I sat down in a little straw woven chair, losing myself to my thoughts and mentally escaping reality. I felt a hand on my left shoulder and I already knew who it was; Artemise. "Don't walk away when I'm talking to you!"

I sprung off the little woven chair, "How the hell did you get in my house?!" I snipped.

"You left your door open. Now listen to me," he paused. Underneath us, we felt the ground shake tremendously, like a herd of wild bulls stampeding through the town. People screamed and children were crying. "What's going on?" He looked around with terror.

I looked around and walked outside, people running past my home in a hurry for something, though I couldn't pinpoint what. "What's happeni- HEY!" A man shoved me aside, throwing me to the ground. "What's happening?" I shouted as dozens of feet trampled me.

"Mount Vesuvius!" A man called as he ran past me.

I grabbed Artemise's arm and pulled myself up. "What? What does he mean?" I questioned loudly, trying to make my words clear over the crowd of people and their screaming.

"Mount Vesuvius! Turn around, Lenyle!" Artemise pointed behind me, behind my house. I walked out into the raging storm of people and looked to where he was pointing. The ground shook, harder this time, and everybody as close as five miles dropped to the ground like flies in acid rain. The ones to get up and collect themselves first trampled over everybody else still on the ground.

It was barbaric. As I met my eyes upon Mount Vesuvius, I saw smoke and soot slowly fill the air around the entrance. The smoke mixed with the soot and turned into a cloud of darkness which covered the atmosphere, blanketing the sky with gray. The cloud allowed no sunlight to pass through so everything ended up becoming swallowed by darkness.

I yelled, "We need to run. NOW!" I grabbed Artmise and dragged him with me through the crowd of mortified people. Rocks flew in the air around us and one large boulder from the mountain glided through the air, landing only a few feet away.

I stumbled over what felt like a stiff log. Problem is, we have no nearby trees surrounding Pompeii. I looked behind me to see it as a skinny, stiff body of a man who was once one of my neighbors. I gasped in terror and yanked harder on Artmise's arm. "Ow! Fucking-gah! That hurt, Lenyle!"

My blood was rushing with adrenaline, I was dedicated to getting out of there. I heard the sounds of distant screams, warning us of another upcoming hazardous threat. "Lenyle! It's a cloud! A cloud of ash!" Yelled Artmise.

I jerked my head around to be face to face with something that looked like it came directly out of a child's nightmare. The cloud was a faint orange, more of a brown, as it came out from the mountains peak.

The cloud shifted over head and covered the whole town, hiding the sun behind it. Soon everything became cold. Without the warmth of the sun, we'd be nothing but ice. I began to shiver, but I was dedicated to escape this hell.

I yanked onto Artmise's arm again, the force causing him to fall over with me stumbling backwards on top of him. I stood up and tried pulling up my friend, screaming loudly, "C'mon, Artmise! We have to keep going."

He gasped and struggled under the weight of nothingness, "I can't! Just go, Lenyle! Forget about me! Save yourself!" He coughed and turned around to watch the cloud of ash dive down into the town square only several meters away. "Go! It's too late for me! You still have a chance!"

My vision began to blur, noticing the rivers of tears blanketing my cheeks as my voice trembled, "I won't leave my best friend."

"Lenyle..." Artmise sighed, his dark brown hair falling in front of his eyes. I looked up and stared at the cloud, speeding and spreading through the town, engulfing everyone. No matter how fast somebody was, the cloud was faster and they disappeared into the darkness.

Crowds of people became victims of the dark cloud, being swallowed whole. As it came closer and closer to myself and Artmise, I accepted my fate. My fate was to die in a black cloud.

The cloud swept towards us, and too engulfed ourselves. I opened my mouth to make sure it'd be but a fast death. The black mist entered my mouth and down my throat, filling my lungs. I coughed, my body attempting to get rid of the foreign substance. I coughed harder and harder, clutching onto my chest in pain.

I felt like I was drowning but on land. I felt as though I was going to suffer in any way but a fast death.  A slow, painful death where you know it's the end and you could've never done anything to prevent it.

I saw black spots before my vision became nothing but black. I could still hear the sound of people screaming and the sound of the wind surrounding my now-limp body. I thought of one last goodbye before everything stopped. Everything stopped existing. Including my own life.