May Day of Doom

John sprinted out of the classroom and down the hall then made a sharp turn at the school exit. He hopped onto his bike and raced home. As he energetically burst through the front door, the fourteen year old greeted his mother Irene.

“Hi mom! Did you the cake for tomorrow?”

“Don’t worry son, I know it’s the special day,” she said. “Your friends Terra and Mark will be at the usual place.”

“Cool.” John said.

He sat on a cushy, grey couch in front of the TV then clicked it on with the remote. The news was on. He was about to change the channel but something the anchorman said caught Irene’s ear.

“Hold on honey, don’t change it,” she said as she listened to the anchorman’s words.

Scientists at NASA have discovered an asteroid in our solar system. They have reported it to be roughly the size of three city blocks and have calculated its trajectory to miss Earth by about four-hundred miles. They will continue to monitor it in the coming weeks. It does continue to accelerate at a rapid speed but we are told there is no worry about.

“Hmm…that’s very interesting but a little unnerving,” Irene said to herself.

“Oh, neat, has an asteroid ever been in our solar system before mom?”

“Yes, never on such a close path with Earth though, in modern times that is.”

Then, John’s dad Rick came in the door. “Hello sweetie, hi son,” he said. “I heard on the radio that an asteroid is going to come pretty close to Earth.”

“I just heard it on the news,” Irene said.

“Is that so? Well, it’s nothing to worry about,” said Rick. “Ready, for the big day tomorrow John?” he finished.

“May Day! Yeah,” John answered.

“Irene I’ve asked the Thompsons next door what they will be bringing to the celebration at the park, guess what they’re bringing…fruit cake!” Rick said as he laughed.

“Ah, the infamous fruit cake,” Irene responded.

“Oh, I didn’t know if you bought the cheesecake so I picked one up after work. The one we usually buy went up in price.”

“I did, but one more won’t hurt.”

Rick sat down with his wife and son to watch TV for a few hours. Afterwards the three had a spaghetti dinner followed by a bit more TV before John went to bed with excitement.

In the morning John woke up at 6am eager to start the May Day preparations and ran downstairs where his parents had packed everything into their sedan. They arrived at the park with large groups of people setting up paper tassels, colorful bench table coverings and tents. It was a brisk and sunny day as food was being placed on them. Soon a band began to play and the celebration officially started. There was laughter and eating along with games for everyone. There was some talk of the asteroid but nothing of worry. But the enjoyment came to a horrific end as a man exploded out of a tent holding a radio.

“Everyone! Listen! They’re talking about the asteroid. It’s headed right for Earth!” said the man hysterically.

The crowd of people looked at each other in chock and mumbled fearfully.

“But the news said it would miss Earth,” said an elderly lady.

The man turned the sound on high and the newsman spoke.

NASA has reported a miss calculation and the asteroid has increased in speed twenty times. The trajectory will not go past Earth at its current velocity.

People started to panic and speak grimly to one another.

“It’s the end of the world! We’re doomed! said the man who was echoed by the people.

The crowd was going into an uproar and began to run and scream. Soon the authorities were dispatched to control the pandemonium. A voice rang out on a megaphone.

“Please remain calm. Please remain calm,” the voice cried with the people’s yelling overpowering the voice.

People were running over and pushing each other. Police were forced to restrain the growing violence. Children were crying fearfully as many of them got separated from their parents. Then John’s dad Rick grabbed the karaoke mike and blasted it to full volume. His voice was heard over the megaphone.

“Stop! Every one look at yourselves! You’re acting like animals!”

Convictoin was in his voice and the people silenced.

“I say if this is the end of the world, then we accept it with bravery and contentment. No bad occurrence has ever gotten in the way of May Day. Remember the tornedo a week before? We did not let it stop us from our special day, or what about when the bank was robbed? We always recovered and never let anything change it. If this is our last day on Earth, I say we spend it laughing and enjoying life to its fullest! I say we look death straight in the face and give a big smile.”

Irene was overwhelmed along with everyone else at Rick’s charisma and power in his voice.

Little by little, the crowd was filled with a spirit of bravery and life. Individuals began to speak out.

“He’s right, let’s defy fate. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said an elderly man.

Everyone was repeating the old man’s words. Soon all broke out in cheer as then returned to celebrating.

Something else unexpected came from the radio.

NASA is confirming that the immense asteroid is burning up in the atmosphere. We are told to stand by. There was quietness for thirty minutes and then the voice spoke again. The asteroid has burned up!”

The applause was loud and the men and women hugged with some in tears.

“Our planet is not dead meat! Yeah!” yelled John.