Last Goodbye

A short story inspired by the Gravity Reversed Challenge . My artwork submission: https://budgetpixel.com/p/59634 Morning light filtered through the curtains. Lin Mei was already up, wearing only pants and a bra as she hurried to get ready. “Wei, get up already,” she said. “My parents are coming at noon. We still need to go to the supermarket and prepare lunch.” Chen Wei groaned from the bed, face half-buried in the pillow. Not long after, they were walking into the supermarket. Inside the supermarket, the argument started near the checkout. Lin Mei’s voice was low but sharp. “I reminded you to bring the reusable bag. Why can’t you do anything right?” Chen Wei’s face tightened. “I forgot, but what’s the big deal? We can just pay for the plastic bags.” Before she could reply, they heard commotion outside - shouting, a strange rumbling, people yelling. They left the cart and rushed out the doors. The sky had bruised into an unnatural gray. Overhead, the clouds were fragmenting and lifting rapidly in chaotic, uneven patches, dark sections breaking apart and rising at different speeds as if the sky itself was coming undone. On the residential street, a few plastic bags and leaves were already drifting upward, slow and dreamlike. Flocks of birds wheeled overhead in tight, panicked groups. A few locals stood frozen, looking up in confusion. Someone’s hat lifted off and kept rising. Then the lightness came - that sickening feeling that their bodies were no longer quite anchored. A woman nearby lifted slightly off her feet and screamed. More objects began to rise. The pull grew stronger, faster. “Grab something!” Chen Wei yelled, lunging for a lamppost and wrapping both arms around the cold metal. Lin Mei was already rising. “Save me!!!” He caught her hand just in time. Above them the sky continued tearing apart in chaotic fragments. The reversing force tore at their bodies. His grip on her hand started to slip. Her eyes were wide with terror, hair and clothes streaming upward. “I love you, darling!” Her fingers slid from his. “No!” Chen Wei reached desperately into the empty air as she was pulled higher, her frantic terrified face the last clear thing he saw — the city lifting into surreal chaos around them. He felt his own feet leave the ground. He knew the end was coming for him too. -End-