This was a short story commission for the delicious trea...I mean, my spidery friend  Aevsivs I think most of you know by now that I don't like giving stuff away in my stories, but I really enjoyed writing this one and I hope you all enjoy it!

I am currently open for commissions at $5 a page, if you are interested feel free to send me a note!


White Light

It was a week ago, at least I think it was, when my friend came over to my house. His name is Kyle, I’d never admit it to him, but he is a very handsome feline. Of course I have a special thing for cheetahs so I guess i’m a bit bias, but I’m fairly certain I’d consider him handsome anyway. His hair is black and hangs just past his eyes. He’s always brushing it out of the way so he can see, it’s the cutest thing. Sorry, I often think of what people look like and it can get me off track. So, it was about a week ago, I invited my friend over to come play video games with me, one of our favorite activities.

I had went for a jog that morning, as I often did, nothing too far just around the neighborhood, through the streets I grew up in. When I started my run in the early morning it was always so quiet, nothing but the music coming through my earbuds to keep me company, but on my way back everyone started to come outside. It was really the highlight of my mornings, getting to see everyone come out, collecting their newspapers and getting their kids off to school. I waved at everyone I saw, the music keeping me from hearing any voices, but I could always tell they were either saying “Hello!” or “Good Morning!” and I always spoke up with a friendly “Good Morning!” right back at them.

When I made it back home the first thing I did was hop in the shower, I didn’t want to be all sweaty when Kyle came over. I always wanted to look good around him, so I spent some time in front of the mirror before he came over. I’m feline as well, but I didn’t have those spots, born a panther instead of a cheetah. I couldn’t complain though, I liked the way my dark fur looked and I kept my hair short and out of my eyes unlike Kyle. It was my secret to winning when we played fighting games together, being able to see is a big advantage.

Kyle made it over faster than I had thought he would, I was still standing in front of the mirror when the doorbell rang. I answered the door and we greeted each other with this silly little handshake we had come up with a couple years before. Without a word he took off his shoes and set down his jacket before we moved into the next room and started up the console.

“Ready to lose?” I always enjoyed a little talk before we played, nothing serious, just playful things. “Cause I’ve gotten waaa-a-a-a-ay better.”

“No way!” Kyle looked to me as he rolled his eyes. “The only thing you’re good at is dropping combos!”

He always had something like that to say, I didn’t mind, I always giggled. We played a few rounds of our favorite game and as always we went back and forth with beating each other. As I remember it I won more than he had, but i’m sure he would tell you different. I remember he paused the game in the middle of a match and stood up.

“Hey man! I was winning!” I lied.

“Just a sec Arthur, I forgot my phone in my jacket, i’m gonna go grab it!”

“Fine fine, just hurry so I can get back to kickin’ butt!”

I remember starting up the menu with his controller and switching around the buttons for kicks and punches, you know just to give myself an unneeded edge. Once the deed was done I sat back and waited for my friend to return, which I didn’t think would take very long since his coat was just in the next room. After a few minutes passed by I figured he must have went to the restroom, but another ten minutes went by and I didn’t head a thing, no footsteps, no closing door, nothing. So I figured it was time to figure out what was going on and stood up, quickly heading for the restroom, but on my way there I noticed Kyle’s things were gone. At first I thought he had been called away, but I would of heard the door shut, so I went to check the restroom anyway. I knew he wasn’t in there the moment I saw that the door was open and the light was off.

My last thought had been that he must be outside on the phone, I didn’t want to interrupt, but I was beginning to worry so I put on my coat and headed out the door. I lived on a pretty busy street, cars went by all the time and it was a very common thing to see both children and adults outside, playing around or tending to their lawns. You could imagine my surprise when I went out and there was no one around, no grownups talking, no cars driving by, no kids playing and no Kyle. I could feel the silence creeping up on me, quiet at first, but it quickly grew too loud and I had to start humming to keep it away. My heart was racing and I felt like I needed to catch my breath as I walked into the middle of the street and desperately looked for anyone, any sign of life.

I had gripped at my chest for a moment as I felt panic begin to take over, this wasn’t right, I needed to find someone, anyone. I ran to the nearest house and banged on the door for a moment before trying to open it and moving to the next house. Again and again I banged on the door, crying out for anyone.

“Please! Please! Someone! Is anyone in there? Please!”

I remember gripping the handle of the door on the last house on my street and turning it, I was surprised and somewhat relieved when it opened.

“Hello!? Mister and Misses Bell?! Are you home?!”

I listened for a moment, but the silence began to creep into my head again so I had to return to humming that tune. I tried to cheer myself up a bit by humming Guile’s theme from street fighter, managing to make myself chuckle a bit as I thought of how it was suppose to fit every situation. I moved into the house and looked around, going through their house, I felt like a thief, but I wasn’t there to steal, I just wanted to find someone. When I made it to the kitchen I noticed plates set out on the table, pots and pans on the stove as if they were cooking something, but there was no food and the pans were cold.

My ear’s flicked the first time I had heard what I refer to very simply as, The Thunder. It’s not actually thunder and in fact it sounds nothing like thunder, but wasn’t feeling very creative at the time and the name sort of stuck. What it sounded like was plane smashing into the ground and exploding and the first time I heard it, that is exactly what I thought it was, with people missing airplanes would be falling from the sky right? It made a lot of sense at the time and so I ran outside, expecting there to be the burning husk of a plane right at the end of my street, but what I saw was much worse than that.

What I saw was nothing. I don’t mean nothing like there wasn’t what I was expecting, I mean nothing like nothing. Everything from the edge of the house I was in and further had just vanished, leaving nothing but an endless white. I was absolutely terrified when I saw it and I didn’t dare go near it because I had no idea what would happen, so I quickly ran down the street back to the only place where I felt a bit of comfort, my house. I had to collect my thoughts, I had to calm down and I needed to relax. This might sound silly for someone in my situation, but I sat down and unpaused my game, watching as I worked on combos against what had been Kyle’s team of characters. I didn’t finish the match though, I couldn’t. I felt like beating Kyle’s team would somehow erase him entirely and that’s the last thing I wanted, so I set the controller down and walked away, letting the music of the game play through the house.

That’s when my first idea hit, I needed music to keep the silence from getting to me and if I was going to try and stick this out I was going to have to make sure I had plenty of food and water. Luckily electricity didn’t really seem to be an issue, everything was still running in my house. The lights, my games, the T.V. and most importantly the fridge, though I was sad to see how empty my fridge was and I knew my cabinets were just as empty, I was fixing to go to the store today after Kyle had left, but now I couldn’t as the store was part of what had vanished. I decided, quicker than I thought I would have, that the best thing to do would be to go into people's houses and get what I needed from there.

With that in mind I ran to my room and rummaged around for a while until I found my little earbuds that I used for my phone. Once I got a hold of them it didn’t take me much time at all to plug them into my phone and get the music going in my ears. Though I must admit I hesitated for a moment when looking at my playlists, eyeing the one labeled “Apocalypse Playlist”, we’ve all made one of those at one point or another and I just so happen to have mine saved. I hit play and headed out as “It’s All Over But The Crying” began, yeah a Fallout song.

I jogged over to the house across the street and right up to the fake rock that sat by their rose bushes, I had babysat for the Revis’ once before, so I figured this was the easiest place to start. I moved up to the door and slid the key into the lock, turning it with a shaky hand as I heard the click of the door unlocking. I took in a deep breath and turned the knob, walking into another house I hadn’t been invited into, but I needed to do this.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

I didn’t expect a response, so it didn’t come as a surprise when I didn’t get one. I moved further into the house and into the kitchen, opening the fridge with a smile when it was fully stocked, smile only getting wider when I opened the cabinet and saw the same thing. I never really learned how to cook much, so some of the stuff i’d have to learn as I went, but right then, ramen was my choice. It was real easy to make and in only three minutes I had myself a nice bowl of soup, purring softly as it took it outside and ate in the middle of the road.

I stared down at the end of the street, eyeing where the world seemed to end as I slurped up some noodles into my mouth. My tail flicked as I thought about the road behind me, I knew I could follow it into the rest of the neighborhood , but it also led out into the endlessness before me. At least I had more houses to get food from if I needed it, the thought was a bit comforting in this bleak situation.

I finished up my ramen and then walked back to my house, yawning as I put the bowl in the sink before moving to my room. I took the cord to my earbuds out of the phone, letting the music play on the speaker, setting it on the drawer by my bed before plugging the charger in.

“Well…”

I let out a huff as I laid on the bed, rolling onto my back with my hands behind my head, staring at the ceiling as I thought about all the people who had disappeared. I remember thinking about what I needed to do tomorrow as I eventually fell asleep, too worn out emotionally to keep myself awake.

I was startled awake by the sound of The Thunder, almost falling out of my bed as I tried to get up. I ran outside as quick as I could and looked towards the end, but it hadn’t come any closer. With a sigh of relief I turned to walk back to my house, but something caught the corner of my eye. I turned to look down the road that led further into the neighborhood and there it was, an endless white horizon. Not only had it cut off both sides of the street now, but everything behind the houses as well, I was being boxed in.

With the panic settling in, as well as the loud ringing of silence, I ran back to my room, grabbed my phone and went back to the kitchen. I grabbed as many plastic bags as I could and spent the day collecting food from all the houses on my street, I even thought about taking a fridge, but I wasn’t strong enough and didn’t have the proper tools to move one myself.

Once I collected all the food and put it away in my own form of chaotic organization, I locked my door and closed my curtains, deciding it best to just stay home and wait this out.

The next few days were all reruns. I’d wake up to the sound of The Thunder, grab my phone and unplug it from the charger, start some music and make some breakfast. After eating I’d sit on the couch and play a game, making sure it's on a different system so I don’t lose my match with Kyle. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t think about checking the news stations till my fourth day, but when I switched to the dish I would only get static. After playing a few hours of video games I would start cooking lunch and either during or after I’d walk over to the curtains and check outside. Each day there would be less and less houses lining the street, replaced with white. After that, dinner, more games and then back to my bedroom, plugging in my phone for the ‘night’ and eventually falling asleep.

This went on for about a week, which brings me to now. Like I said it has been about a week since i’ve seen my friend and after checking through the curtains today I realized I am in the last house. Every window I look out of there is nothing and I’m pretty sure once I go to sleep that will be it, I won’t be startled awake again. I’m scared, i’m terrified of what is coming, so much so I can’t bring myself to eat. All i’ve been doing since I realized this is sit in the middle of the living room, play music on my phone and go over what has happened, in my head. I keep thinking about it over and over, maybe there was something I missed, maybe something I could have done if I didn’t stay locked up in my house? It didn’t matter much now though.

Now all I can do was wait, staring at my phone to keep track of the time, trying to lose myself in thought about better times, but I always end up back here. I’m scared...i’m terrified... Those words keep running through my head, every time another minute passes by on my phone. Enough time passes that the P.M. on my clock changes to A.M., I feel like i’m about to break, tears filling my eyes.

Just a few more minutes now, is this really it? Am I really just going to sit here and wait? I’ve wasted so much time just sitting here and waiting, I don’t want this to be my last memory. My tail lashes around and my ears flick as I look to the T.V. before I get to my feet and sit on the couch. I grab the remote and hit the input button, switching it to the fighting game I had paused a week ago. I can feel myself smiling for the first time today, looking at the characters in their idle animations and then to the health bar, just one hit away from winning.

With a soft sigh I pick up a controller and unpause it, moving around Kyle’s character instead of my own. I watch the character make his way over to mine and then my ears flick as The Thunder shakes the house. Trying not to think about it I press one of the buttons to punch and end up kicking instead, laughing as I remember now that I had switched the buttons around. Tears run down my face as I laugh, bringing my arm up to my eyes to wipe away the tears and then