Nineseventeenpm

It was two hours and forty-three minutes before midnight.* Normally, one second beyond midnight and a whole new day begin. Wherever it's midnight, most working people are in bed and asleep. But long before midnight on this night, all living creatures are extinct. And I'm saying to myself, "No warning was given about everything stopping at 917PM. Yes, when clocks struck 917 PM, every sign of life vanished forever. At no time did I hear, "This is a test of The Emergency Broadcasting System. Had this been a real emergency you ......This concludes our test". No sounds, no seers nor doomsday prophets, no nukes, no blasts, no bombs. But no one told me, not even by text or the internet because no one knew. No one!!!! How could it be! This reminds me of the seven-day countdown to deluge given by God to Biblical Noah**. Long before the countdown, it was already decided that only 8 people would survive. This time, no one survived. But now it's 9 PM, and I am unaware that my time is just about up and only 17 minutes of life remain. I was thirty-something and had lived more than 15 million minutes. I and my wife had planned a great vacation to Hawaii, and our plane was to depart at 917 PM. But now, it's over. No chirping birds nor butterfly beauties; no summer rains nor rolling trains; no Dodge Rams in traffic jams nor sunset views and early morning news..... 06202018PoetrySoupContest, (A Poem NA'D in a July Contest, Broken Wings, Judged7/14/18) First contest-NineseventeenPM, John Lawless *Fiction, **Genesis 7:1,4