The blaring radio yanked me sharply out of my dreaming. There were dozens of cars honking loudly outside of my bedroom window. I turned over in bed, rubbed my eyes, and looked at the time.

“7:47? On a Saturday?” I know I set my alarm for later than that. But in looking at the clock, I realized it wasn’t on the ‘Smooth Jazz’ station. The blue letters on the screen read ‘EMERGENCY BROADCAST’

I frantically reached for my radio and turned the volume dial up. I clutched my flannel sheets closer as I listened to the bass voice of our President.

“—would ask the citizens of New York City to systematically and orderly evacuate the city. The things you have heard thus far may not necessarily be true, but what we know for a fact is that the Ozone Layer has indeed been fractured. This tear in the Ozone Layer is located directly above New York. It is at this time an extremely dangerous place to be. Take only what you can carry. But for your safety, and the safety of those around you, I must ask you please, do not panic.”

“Don’t panic?!” I shrieked at the radio as I shot out of my bed and stripped off my pajamas. As I pulled on gym shorts and a tank top, I peaked through the blinds and out my window. Bumper-to-bumper traffic ran from as far back as I could see to as far forward as I could see. Some people were abandoning their cars and sprinting along the sidewalk, holding suitcases and the like. Many people were sitting in their cars, fingers twitching about, or biting their finger nails and looking nervously at the sky.

As I was putting my hair up into a ponytail, I looked up to the sky as well.

My heart stopped beating.

The sky had an enormous section sliced out. It looked like a bloody, gory gash. Right above my hometown was a jagged, crimson break in our light blue morning sky.

I couldn’t move. My knees felt like they were made of solid rock. My mind was telling my legs to move, but they wouldn’t obey. The sounds of the cars outside and the droning evacuation strategies of the President faded out of my mind as I realized two terrible truths.

I’m not going to make it out of New York.

I’m going to die today.

My little brother burst into my room, asking what was going on, but I could hardly hear him. He was pulling on my shirt, trying to get my attention. I slowly looked down at his face. He was scared, he was actually scared. Terrified. He is never scared of anything. He was yelling something desperately about dad.

Dad would know what to do. “I thought numbly. Sam is right…. But why bother? We are all goners. Wow… he really looks scared…. like he needs me….

He needs me.

Knowing what I had to do, I summoned all of my strength to lift my right arm. I clenched a fist as tight as I could. Then I punched myself in the chest, extremely hard. I barely felt it. I punched again. I could start hearing the sound around me again. My little brother yelling, the cars and the radio. I punched myself one more time to get my heart started again.

“We have to call dad at work now!” I managed to say. Sam smiled proudly at me. Big sister taking control in an emergency? There’s a first time for everything.

I scrambled for the cordless phone and shakily punched in the numbers that would connect me directly to his office phone.

The phone began ringing. But he wasn’t answering.

“C’mon c’mon…” I said as I looked outside again. The dark red rip in the sky was steadily getting bigger.

On the telephone’s 4th ring, my dad picked up. I could hear people yelling orders in the background and a bunch of beeping machinery.

“Hello?” he answered the phone shakily.

“Hey dad! What the hell is going on?”

He began mumbling to himself, saying things like: “completely unpredictable” or “there’s no way we could have known” or “what are supposed to do now?”

“Dad!! You’ve got to tell me what’s going on with the sky!”

But he didn’t answer; he continued to mutter ominously to himself.

“DAD!! YOU HAVE TO TELL US WHAT TO DO!!”

He stopped mumbling.

“Pray.”

Then the phone cut off. Wonderful advice dad thanks, I thought as I heard silence on the other line. I flipped the light switch on the wall, but it didn’t come on. I looked at the radio, but it was off also.

“Great! The power’s out!” I chucked the phone into the wall and it smashed to pieces, it brought me little satisfaction.

Then I heard screams coming from outside. I looked out my window and saw everyone leave their cars and start running down the street.

“C’mon Sam, we’re leaving.” I grabbed his hand and headed towards the front door. I don’t know what it is that is making these people scream and run, but I know I don’t want to stick around here anymore.

I exited my house just in time to witness the solar winds streaking through the blood-red gap in the atmosphere. A scarlet, misty substance was flying down erratically from the heavens.

Everything started going in slow-motion for me at that point. The solar winds flew through the sky and ran through a news helicopter that was hovering overhead. The pilot, reporter, and the cameraman all cried out in pain as they were burned out of existence. There was nothing left of the helicopter after the winds passed.

Then the fiery winds swiftly changed direction and began setting ablaze other parts of the city. Everything was still in slow motion as I nearly pulled my brother’s arm out of its socket to move him along. He was sobbing because of what he had just seen. I was too.

As we were running on the street I stumbled and fell to the ground, scrapping my bare legs on the asphalt. While I was picking myself up I heard a rumbling sound behind me. I whirled around and saw cars being thrown into the air. I smelled the sickening smell of smoldering leather and burnt flesh lingering around me. It was sickening.

At this point, death would be welcome. I felt the solar winds coming closer and I saw the asphalt around me catch flame. The hair on my arms was being singed and I felt my body get lifted roughly off the ground.

Then I woke up.

I pulled my sheets off of me. I was sweating like a pig.

Oh my God, it was just a bad dream…

Everything is fine. Looking back at it, how could I have even thought for a second that it was real?

I sat up in bed and wiped my face. I looked over to check the alarm clock that woke me up, and, after reading the screen, the last two words that I spoke in this world lingered on the air like a venomous fog:

“Emergency….Broadcast….”