I placed a hand under my chin, and when I looked outside, the sun was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was blocked by a massive rock that almost covered the entirety of the sky during the month of December. So, everything looked dull and sad.

As it slowly came down, clouds were being pushed out of its way as if creating a grand path. And for the onlookers who were present such as myself, it was obvious that the entire planet—Earth, would be destroyed.

To be honest, I didn’t care that the world would end soon. Rather, what troubled me was whether my death would be painless or not. Chances are it's the former and if so, then I had no problem. But, when I thought about it, would the shockwave kill me instantly or would shards of glass pierce all over my skin and I proceed to die a slow death? I cringed at the thought of it.

Then, a realization hit me, and I grew annoyed. I placed both my hands behind my head and rocked my chair back to the point I almost fell down.

“I should’ve slept first!” I shouted to no one in particular. 

For a while, I remained frustrated at myself, then something brought me back to reality. My phone vibrated on the desk, so I pressed the screen and it lit up. 

“Reminder: 10 minutes before rogue planet collides with Earth.”

I paused. I looked at the window again and saw the said planet that was about to end everything in sight.

…Everything was really going to end today, huh? I thought.

Did I live a good life at all? Was I satisfied with the way I lived? 

Looking at the classroom, empty chairs and desks filled the room. The blackboard was filled with numerous scribbles; I couldn’t really understand most of them. Some were simply incomprehensible, and some forebode dark meanings. I was the only student present inside and since I never communicated with my classmates, I didn’t know where they were right now.

Suddenly, I felt a chill throughout my body...Cold. 

I brought a hand to my chin, faced forward and began contemplating. “Hmm, what should I do with the rest of the 10 minutes? Sleep?” 

Obviously, if I wanted to die peacefully, then sleep was the answer but at the same time, I just didn’t want to do it. Instead, my head began to pile up with thoughts and it grew heavy.

I wonder what it's like to have a friend. I wonder what it would be like to go out with someone. I wonder what it's like to laugh with someone. I wonder what it's like to—

Why was I thinking of these thoughts? The more I pondered on it, I could feel my chest tighten, to the point where I could feel pain that wasn’t supposed to exist. Then my body suddenly felt weak, and my chest felt…empty?

What was this feeling?

For as long as I could remember, I always had a hard time communicating with people. Everywhere I went—well, I never really went anywhere that was not my house or school—they always seemed to ignore me. If I could describe it, it’s like being a ghost. Some would notice my non-existent presence and shoot their shot with me, but it never really worked out in the end. Then, the next time I saw them, they’d already made a friend.

I briefly remembered my mother telling me that I wasn’t like this before and that I was like a different person—That I was a complete 180 at some point—before turning to who I am right now. But I couldn’t understand what she was going on about. The memories of myself that I knew about were the same as I had right now, so I didn’t get what she meant by me being a different person.

Me, socially active? Did something happen to me? I don't think so. 

Again. I paused for a while. Then, I laid my bare face on the desk and watched the planet slowly fall towards Earth. 

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

When you think of it in another perspective, everything that could be seen can be described as beautiful to some. I believe that message would be similar to if God wanted to destroy Earth. A biblical message. But, since it was actually happening, the real message was much more vastly different.

For some reason, I just thought of space right now. Stars were a rarity since I lived in the city, and I never got the chance to travel to the countryside; My parents didn’t have any relatives that lived there. So, I was left with searching images of the night sky on the internet. Whenever I saw a lone star at night, it always made me feel comfortable. Like the way it was isolated by the atmosphere, I was the same.

However, no matter how much I found space to be interesting, if someone were to tell me to become a scientist, I’d reject them immediately. I liked space, that's all. 

Something garnered my attention; I lifted my face up and touched my right cheek. It was cold to the touch. At a distance, I could see people who looked fairly young gathering in a single spot at the entrance below the school. When I looked closely, I realized they were a bunch of students from the same school as I was. Why were they here, when the world would soon end? One of them took out a cell phone and raised it high up like they were about to take a selfie. Hmm…I see, they must’ve wanted to make a final memory or something. If so, they must’ve accepted their fate and were going to die together. The world was ending…yet they looked so happy. Must be nice, huh?

Was it nice? What about me? Will I die alone? The answer to that was too clear. It was so painfully clear to me; And I could do nothing about it.

Very soon, the inevitable would happen, then there would be nothing left of me. That’s right, at this moment, I would die all alone. 

“Ha…ha…ha.” I wonder what’s so funny. At some point, my eyesight started to get blurry, and breathing became harder to do.

I thought I was used to being alone, wasn’t I? Even so, why did my chest feel like it would implode on itself? Was it the idea of dying alone that’s making me act silly all of a sudden?

…I should just probably sleep right now. After all, when I checked my phone, it said that 4 minutes remained before everything ended. I didn't want to feel the pain, so I laid my head and my arms on the desk and tried to sleep. Okay, as long as I sleep quickly, everything would be over. Just sleep… sleep—

Obviously, I could not sleep.

Before I realized, tears rolled down my face and I started to sob. I never knew I could make such an ugly noise, but I did. I wondered if they could hear me from down there and was embarrassed at the thought of it. When I tried to control myself, however, it only made it worse, and it made me look uglier. I thought I was already used to it, but I ended up crying anyway.

I think I really wanted someone to talk to about this feeling but because of my communication problem, it simply was too impossible for me. 

I continued to gasp for air, trying to calm myself, but to no avail.

I would die alone. That was for sure. The world would end, and I would die. Everything won’t matter anymore very soon. Actually, shouldn't I be glad that I’d die soon? If the rogue planet never came, who knew how much suffering I’d have in the future? When I thought of it that way, I began to calm down and breathing became easier. Slowly, I raised my head and looked at the group of students.

Oh, it looked like they were done taking selfies. They sat in a circle and seemed to be talking with each other. No matter how much I tried, I could never be part of that “world” anyway. Good for them, I guess.

Ugh. I couldn’t believe I cried like that just now, but at least, I think it made me feel a bit…better.

I realized I’d been crying for three minutes straight because when I looked at my phone again, only a minute remained. Great, looks like sleeping won’t be possible anymore.

For the last time, I found myself looking at the window again. 

“Wow...” 

The rogue planet was much bigger now since it was closer; To the point I couldn’t even see the sky anymore. Everything was so dark that the only thing that lit the sky was the said planet’s face which glowed like melted glass. Like a lightbulb in a dark, empty room, it illuminated the buildings and roads that were hidden under its veil. 

And when it collides with Earth, it would create a scene I’d never seen before, and I wanted to witness it before I died.

As it came down, my body began to feel the strong vibrations of the falling planet. I took a quick glance at my phone. 10 seconds left.

And during those 10 seconds, I just looked at the rogue planet going on its way. After all, that was all I could do.

No sound was made when it collided with earth. I wondered if this is what it would be like if an explosion occurred in space instead. A huge wave of rubbles was sent flying towards the atmosphere, then once they reached a certain height, they would fall down and rain upon the Earth, causing more damage on this planet.

However, before that could happen, in a blink of an eye, my ears ruptured and following that, the last thing I saw was a huge piece of rock that flew at me.

What happened after that, I didn’t know.

I definitely died. Or so, I’d thought.