Heat

by Titanium Mars


‎"When it gets that hot, we will all die."

Seal made a dismissive gesture. "Surely not all. The old. The ill. The vulnerable. Those who can't afford air conditioning. It's not the end of the world."

Her companion pointed upward, at the glaring mosaic of the sun's disc filtered through leaves. "The corona has already engulfed Mercury. By Friday, it will touch Venus. This is the end."

She searched for words of comfort and denial. But the leaves above them had begun to smoke. In the field beyond their shade, a lone deer glided, its body a mass of flame.

Seal understood then that it was already spirit. And that she and her companion were already dead.

(reprinted with permission)