Supernova

Jake Messier.1

His name is by itself in the sentence because that is how he is himself; alone. For the past 19 months, Jake has kept to himself and lived inside of his daily routine. Had he visited a professional, Jake’s problem would have been diagnosed as a severe depression. At school, he constantly fell asleep due to his restless nights, and he stayed up late at night because he slept so much during the day.2

In the late hours of the night, Jake would pass the time by staring at the starry sky. He stared at the twinkling lights and thought how much he felt like another lost random star. He thought about how a star could die, but you wouldn’t really know for another hundred thousand years. Jake waited each night to see the light from a long dead star finally burn out. He knew it was a pointless task, but he had a feeling that one day he would see it, and that was good enough for him.3

During the day Jake tried to carry out his normal life. After school he would go to his job as a receptionist in a dental office. He did his job flawlessly aside from one detail. Because he did not associate with the patients in a happy manner, the head dentist wasn’t thrilled with keeping him around. However, Jake did keep wonderful records, his workstation was the cleanest, and he never made a mistake, so he was kept on the staff.4

Just like at school, at work he mostly kept to himself. He was partial to one girl at his work, Charlotte. She was another receptionist, but their schedules never really matched so he had only exchanged a few ‘hello’s and ‘goodbye’s with her.5

One night Jake felt that the burning star would come soon, so he stayed outside until the sun started to rise and the blanket of night was pulled away. When he went upstairs to get ready for school, a sudden wave of sleepiness consumed him, so he shuffled to his bed and passed out.6

Jake tossed and turned in his sleep and his forehead was covered in sweat. He awoke suddenly and noticed the time; he had to be at work in less then half an hour. He decided that, however tired he was, he shouldn’t miss school and work on the same day.7

He threw on his clothes for work and speed all the way to the office. Charlotte had been scheduled to work the same time as him today so she pointed out his tardiness upon arrival. He was still feeling a bit under the weather so he shrugged her comment off and began to organize the patients’ files that were placed on his desk.8

After work Jake headed home and went straight to his porch. He sat in his lawn chair and watched the night sky again. As the moon crept further into the sky, he started to get excited. He was sure that he would see a star burn out tonight. With no luck however, dawn came so he retreated into the house. As he brushed his teeth for school, he started to feel dizzy. He made his way out of the bathroom and onto his bed and passed out like he had the morning before.9

Jake awoke in a cool sweat to his telephone ringing.10

“Hello”11

“Hi Jake?”12

“Yes, who is this?”13

“It’s Charlotte. You were supposed to be at work an hour ago. Dr. Bonham is wondering if you were planning on making it today?”14

“Oh wow, I’m so sorry, Ill try and…” Jake swung his legs to the floor and became light headed at once.15

“Jake, are you there?”16

“Yeah, I hope you guys don’t mind if I take the day off today do you?”17

“Actually, Dr. Bonham already called Cindy in. I just figured I would check up on you.”18

“Oh, well thanks. If you work tomorrow then I’ll see you then.”19

“Yes I do. I’ll see you tomorrow.”20

Jake hung up the phone and went back to bed. He awoke later that night and went down stairs. On his back porch he watched as some stars shot across the sky and others twinkled in their spot, but no star ceased to exist. The night was cooler than in the previous nights so he pulled a blanket around himself and sat until dawn. When the sun began to rise he realized that he was too weak and began to fall asleep where he sat.21

Jake awoke to a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was dusk and Charlotte was standing before him.22

“When you didn’t answer your phone today, I decided to come by your house. You didn’t sound too well on the phone yesterday and you looked horrible the day before.”23

“How did you get back here?”24

“You didn’t answer the door, but your car was in the driveway, so I came around back.”25

“Oh, well thanks for noticing that I haven’t been well lately. My throat is kind of dry, would you mind going inside and getting me some water?”26

“Sure, no problem.”27

Charlotte walked inside the house and closed the door behind her. Jake looked to the sky and thought about his star. Suddenly he saw a flash in the sky. A supernova erupted before his eyes and as he watched the bright sparks, his site began to fail him. His entire vision had shut down and he was blind. As he sat in his chair he began to feel a burning pain in his chest.28

Jake held onto his chair tightly and pressed his lips together. His chest burst into flames. His entire body caught fire soon after and he burnt away into floating pieces of ash.29

Charlotte came outside to see a remaining pile of soot and dropped the glass of water she carried for Jake. The tears that she shed for her coworker weren’t necessary. Jake had died long ago; it just took a little while for someone to notice.30