Doomsday Diary - Waves of Orange

Doomsday Diary - Waves of Orange

Doomsday Diary

Waves of Orange

It was now eight months after the annihilation of the major six continents. Costa Rica was one of the few countries spared the worst of the radiation that was making its way south from Mexico and north from Columbia and Venezuela. For reasons unknown, the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean were keeping Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama safe from the ongoing and lingering winds that were wiping out most of the populations that remained north and south. Unbeknownst to those lucky enough to have remained in Central America, the rest of the world as they knew it, was gone forever.

David, a 52-year-old, third grade teacher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was on his summer break, where he planned to meet whom he believed to be the love of his life, Nati, a beautiful Tica from Pozos, Costa Rica who lived just fifteen minutes from San Jose where David first arrived eight months earlier. It was an OKCupid, online match made in heaven, so he thought, but a month before leaving, Nati ghosted David and he never heard from her again. Heartbroken, but not defeated David’s two children helped him plan a two-month solo retreat in Costa Rica to heal his wounds and search for the emotional healing that his heart needed. Milwaukee was unfortunately wiped from the map, included with the leveling from nukes in and around the Chicagoland area. It was the last he would ever see their smiling faces and experience the love, laughs and joy they shared as a family.

Ironically at the time he arrived, it was just three months from the launch of his recently completed manuscript, Moments - Love and Relationships. A book where David poured out his heart and soul to help all couples find deeper connections through small moments in their relationships. He had longed for those connections with Nati, but was never to find those moments with her a part of his life. The day before the nukes impacted, David had just spoken to Doris McIntosh his publishing manager, receiving the good news that the book was ready to go to press. David was elated. It was the first book he had ever written and was on his mind for as long as he could remember. Sadly, it would never meet the eyes, hearts and souls of those he hoped to inspire.

Apinya, a 42-year-old single mother of two, and a fashion boutique owner from Bangkok, Thailand was on vacation with her three sisters in Playa Hermosa, a small surf town south of Jaco, Costa Rica. Apinya had never left Thailand and the trip was a life-long dream of she and her sisters that had finally come to fruition after years of patience and devotion to family and her children. The passing of their mother the year prior was the sad, but freeing opportunity that the sisters could finally feel the peace and humble desire to travel together as they had talked and dreamed of for countless years.

Ironically, of the three sisters, Apinya was the most hesitant to go, only due to the love and devotion she had to her two children. For years Apinya had longed to find love again that could share in her daily life and love her and her children as a family once again. Despite her loneliness, she was a wonderful mother who adored and treasured the lives and activities of her teenage daughter and son, who had just turned twenty-one the day before she left for Costa Rica. The day the nukes impacted Bangkok, Apinya was on the beach with her sisters and missed a video call from her two children. The missed call is a regret she would painfully live with for the rest of her life. Sadly, their faces would never again see her eyes, feel the love for them in her heart, or know the depth of commitment her soul held for them.

David’s travels had taken him to his most recent stay, an Airbnb in the small surf town of Playa Hermosa. When the announcement of the nukes came to Costa Ricans, David’s only logical realization was that he would remain in Playa Hermosa, as the cataclysmic events were unfolding in a world that would be changed forever. Nico and Shari, the young surfing couple and his hosts, were more than understanding and accommodating as David had been one of their nicest and best renters as long as they could remember. Their empathy and sadness for David’s loss was more than enough to open their home to him for an indefinite period of time.

The hotels in Playa Hermosa were equally as accommodating to the foreign guests who were displaced from their catastrophic losses, and whom could potentially become permanent residents of Costa Rica. Apinya and her sisters had been guests at the Surf Inn Hermosa for just a week and the sporadic news that did come out, left only warnings and word of desolation from around the world.

Talk of an apocalyptic world had always been just that, talk. Found only in movies, books and short stories. But it happened. It actually happened and those whom remained were tasked with the reality of starting over in grand vacuity. Few to no loved ones, no possessions, nowhere to go and a future so ambiguous that each new day was manifesting a new life.

David’s solace was found in journal writing and the two-hour, morning walks he would take along Playa Hermosa. Even after eight months, it was hard for him to comprehend the uninterrupted, majesty of the ocean, the waves and how nature continued to live its life as if anything apocalyptic had ever come to pass. He was humbled by its beauty and peacefulness, and it brought a sense of security and normalcy that he desperately needed.

Apinya’s solace was found in the comfort and conversation of her sisters and the two-hour evening walks they would take along Playa Hermosa. Even after eight months, it was hard for her to comprehend the loss of her children, and how nature and the ocean continued to live its life as if anything cataclysmic had ever come to pass. She was humbled by its beauty and peacefulness, and it brought a sense of peace and hope that she desperately needed.

One morning, Apinya’s older sister Achara suggested a means of prayer in hopes for a brighter future albeit, was possible at all. A recent trip to the supermarket provided beautiful, succulent oranges. Achara recommended that she and her sisters write down prayers, hopes, dreams and wishes for the future, and place them inside an orange to be surrendered to the ocean and the God they still believed in, and hoped had not forsaken them. Apinya and her younger sister Aom both agreed that it was a lovely and beautiful idea in spite of the darkness that surrounded their thoughts and future.

Each sat down with the slip of paper Achara had torn and measured to fit into the orange, and wrote what they hoped would bring some semblance of peace, hope and reassurance to their lives. A hole was bore into each orange, enough to securely hold each note and protect it from the thrashing and dominance of the ocean waves. The notes were rolled, kissed and after a reassuring smile was shared by the sisters, were placed into each of the oranges.

However, for Apinya, the note was not enough. Her prayers were deep, detailed and woven with intent. She believed that if God was still a part of this earth, that he would show his love in miraculous ways, even through the simplicity of an orange in the limitlessness of the ocean. She gently removed a necklace holding a small, heart-shaped locket. She opened the necklace and inside was a picture of her on one side and her two children on the other. She wept quietly and sealed the locket with a kiss. Slowly, she wrapped the chain around the locket and softly pushed it deep into the orange, alongside her note. She kissed the orange and held it to her heart.

Later that evening, on their walk along the beach, Achara, Apinya and Aom shared a final prayer and to the best of their abilities launched the oranges into the ocean. Their prayers, hopes, dreams and wishes disappeared into the crashing waves and they were now left to fate and a world that was recreating itself in a future unknown. The sisters hugged, cried and smiled with simple hope and faith.

David’s next fateful morning began as it always had with a glass of orange juice and three, egg tortillas. His walk to the beach was hopeful, but without expectation as each day was simply one of hope, faith and the unknown.

And then it appeared. An orange object that pounded on the shore with a high-tide, breaking wave. It rolled and rolled until it was drawn back into the new waves and appeared again. It was an orange. He picked it up, examined it and there was something unusual about it. There was a small hole bore into the top.

David gently pulled the orange into two halves and a note revealed itself within the orange. He was bewildered and amazed. The note was clearly saturated and he placed it carefully into his pocket with excitement. David’s walk took him further down the beach and with no words to describe his wonder, a second orange appeared rolling upon the shore with the newest waves. It couldn’t be, but it was. He made his way, cooperated with the crashing waves and grabbed a second orange. Inside, another note. What were the odds?

If there were still such a thing as luck in an apocalyptic world, David had found a small fragment that was reaching out to anyone and anything. The next half-hour of David’s walk was filled with contentment and peace. He needed it. He needed something to look forward to. His return walk was quiet until the unthinkable appeared. On the beach, resting peacefully, no waves harassing it, sat a third orange. With great trepidation and disbelief, he reached down and picked up the orange.

This orange was different. It appeared more damaged and the hole at the top was slightly larger and weathered. David thought it couldn’t possibly be a third note. He was wrong. Within the orange was a note, but it was complemented with a beautiful, gold, heart-shaped locket. With the utmost tenderness, he opened the locket. Inside was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and a second picture of two very beautiful children, that without hesitation he knew had to be her own. Suddenly, the apocalypse was gone, the world stopped, the waves became silent and David was lost in the beauty of the woman who smiled at him through the heart-shaped photo.

A wave crashed and David was brought back to a lucid state of mind. He placed the waterlogged note into his pocked with the others and secured the locket around his neck. He softly touched it to his chest, and smiled with a contentment that could not be put into words. David once again had hope and faith for a better world.

Apinya needed some time to herself that fateful morning. She walked down and sat on the beach just out of reach of the morning waves. With her legs comfortably pulled to her chest, she pondered the note she had written and sent to the ocean with her locket. Her secret prayers and dreams to find love and happiness once again, in an annihilated and austere world were in the hands of God and the vastness of the ocean in front of her.

A man slowly approached her from the shoreline. He stopped near to her and stared with awe and a contentedness that could not be described. Tears delicately rolled from her eyes. A heart-shaped locket hung from his neck.