This is what was playing out in my head last night:

I’m spending the day at Lucy’s house, with her and her parents. An alert sounds on all of our phones, that a ballistic missile is inbound. I hold Lucy. I’m sure she already knew the answer, but she asks if we’re going to die. I don’t sugar coat it. “Most likely,” I said as tears started running down all of our cheeks. “Lucille, I love you so much. You’re my best friend and soulmate. You’re the girl I’ve always dreamed of spending the rest of my life with. I just didn’t realize it was going to be this short. Will you marry me?”

Her eyes widen, and she starts sobbing and wraps her arms around me. “Yes, yes Katie, I’ll marry you.” I pouted my lips and she planted a passionate kiss on me. I looked at her parents, and with only a few minutes until midnight, they didn’t seem to mind. Lucy’s mom was even smiling a bit.

Lucy and I held each other tight as we awaited our certain fate. At the stroke of midnight, in a flash with the radiance of a thousand suns, we ended our journey on this earth… together. <3