LAST DAY ON EARTH EP1
1550 Words
*Episode 1*
The alarm screamed at 6:30 AM.
Lumi Okoye groaned and smacked it with the precision of someone who’d been doing it for 10 years. The sound died. Silence rushed back in.
“One more minute,” she mumbled to the ceiling. “Just sixty seconds. That’s a full business deal.”
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand anyway. A notification: _“Rise and shine, future Pulitzer winner!”_ — her own reminder. She was nothing if not aggressively optimistic before coffee.
She rolled out of bed and immediately stepped on something soft and judgmental.
“Rico!”
Her cat, Rico, a fat orange menace with zero respect for personal space, stared up at her from the floor. He blinked slowly, like, _you did this to yourself_.
“Good morning to you too, your majesty,” Lumi said, scooping him up. Rico purred like a broken engine and tried to bite her elbow. Affection.
The bathroom light flickered on. Lumi squinted at herself in the mirror. Hair in 12 directions. One sock on. Dark circles that could qualify as luggage.
“Today we look like a professional,” she told her reflection. “Today we pretend.”
She brushed her teeth with dramatic opera noises because Rico liked it. She took a shower that was 90% singing off-key and 10% actual washing. By the time she got out, the mirror was fogged and she’d written “SEND HELP” in the steam. Just for vibes.
Kitchen time.
She made toast. Burned it. Scraped the black off and called it “charcoal artisan.” Poured cereal. Realized she was out of milk. Poured orange juice on it instead.
“Protein,” she said firmly, crunching. “And vitamin C. I’m basically a nutritionist.”
She fed Rico next. He turned his nose up at the expensive cat food, walked to her plate, and stole a piece of her “artisan” toast.
“Traitor,” Lumi accused, pointing a spoon at him. “I pay your rent.”
Rico responded by sitting directly on her camera bag.
Her camera. Her lifeline. A beat-up Canon with duct tape on the side and a lens that had seen more sunrises than most people. She was a photographer for the city paper. “Lumi Okoye: Capturing Joy in a Tired World.” That was the bio she wrote and immediately regretted.
She slung the camera over her shoulder, grabbed her keys, and was halfway out the door when her phone rang.
*MOM*
Lumi grinned and answered on speaker so she could put her shoes on.
“Lumi, baby!” Her mom’s voice burst through like sunshine and too much energy. “Are you awake? Are you eating? Did you remember your jacket? It’s supposed to rain.”
“Good morning to you too, Chief,” Lumi laughed. “Yes, I’m awake. No, I’m not eating. Yes, I’m wearing a jacket. Also I had cereal with orange juice. Don’t judge me.”
There was a horrified pause. “Orange... juice? On cereal?”
“It’s fusion cuisine, Ma. Very expensive. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand that you’re going to give yourself a stomachache. Eat a real breakfast.”
“I did. Rico and I split a piece of toast. He got the better half.”
Her mom laughed, that warm, loud laugh Lumi had grown up with. It made the small apartment feel less quiet.
“How’s work?” her mom asked. “Any good pictures today?”
“Just the usual. City council meeting, a dog adoption event, and some guy trying to sell ‘miracle’ energy drinks outside the hotel.” Lumi paused. “I might take a picture of the sunrise from the roof after. It’s been pretty lately.”
“You and your sunrises,” her mom said fondly. “Always looking for light.”
“Someone has to,” Lumi joked. “The world’s a mess. Might as well get a good photo of it.”
Another pause. Softer this time.
“You’re doing good, baby. I’m proud of you. Working hard, chasing that dream.”
Lumi stopped tying her shoe. Something in her chest got tight in a good way.
“Thanks, Ma.”
“And don’t work too late, okay? Come home. I made jollof. Your favorite.”
Lumi smiled so wide it hurt. “Bribery. I see you.”
“It’s not bribery if it’s love and rice.”
“Fair point. I’ll try to make it.”
They talked for five more minutes. About Rico’s attitude. About the neighbor’s new baby. About nothing and everything. When Lumi hung up, the apartment felt warmer.
She looked at Rico. He was asleep on her camera bag again.
“Alright, team,” she said, grabbing her keys and her camera. “Let’s go capture some light.”
---
Lumi stepped out into the city and immediately regretted everything.
The train station was already packed.
People pressed shoulder to shoulder, coffee in one hand, phones in the other, all of them moving like they were late to save the world.
“Excuse me, sorry, pardon me,” Lumi muttered, wedging herself into a train that was definitely not built for this many humans. The doors dinged shut right on the edge of her jacket.
“Filled up,” she sighed to no one. “As usual.”
The ride was 20 minutes of elbows, announcements, and someone’s podcast playing too loud. Lumi just held her camera bag close and people-watched. That was her job, after all.
When she got off, the street was alive.
Outside the station, a line of beggars sat along the wall. Old men, young mothers, a guy with a dog. Lumi slowed. She didn’t have much, but she had a few coins from yesterday’s tips.
She crouched down and dropped some into a chipped cup. “For coffee,” she said to the old woman with tired eyes.
The woman smiled and touched Lumi’s hand. “God bless you, dear.”
Lumi smiled back and stood up. “You too.”
Two blocks later, she passed a big electronics store. The wall of TVs was on, all of them playing the same news channel.
A reporter in a suit was talking fast, with a ticker scrolling underneath: *BREAKING: SCIENTISTS ANNOUNCE MAJOR ENERGY PROJECT*
Lumi stopped.
“...in a press conference this morning, lead scientists revealed plans to begin testing a new energy resource next month,” the anchor said. “The project, called _Helios_, is designed to provide unlimited clean energy to cities worldwide. Officials say it could end blackouts, lower costs, and change the way we live. Testing will begin in a secure facility outside the city. No risks to the public have been reported.”
A scientist appeared on screen, smiling. “This is the future,” he said. “Safe, clean, and limitless.”
Lumi tilted her head. “Limitless energy, huh?” she said to Rico, even though Rico was at home. “Sounds expensive.”
She kept walking.
Her stomach growled. She ducked into a corner fruit stand and bought a banana. Two dollars. She peeled it as she walked, eating in quick bites because she was already late for the city council meeting.
She passed one of the famous hotels downtown. Glass doors, gold trim, valet guys in red jackets. It was the kind of place people took engagement photos in.
Lumi stopped. Pulled out her camera.
The morning light hit the building just right. The sky was still gray, but there was a break in the clouds over the rooftop. The fountain out front was throwing up water that caught the light.
“Okay, okay, I see you,” Lumi whispered, already framing shots. “Elegant. Timeless. Very rich-people-energy.”
Click. Click. Click.
She got a shot of the doors. A shot of the flowers. A shot of a businessman tripping over his own briefcase and pretending he meant to do that.
She was laughing to herself when the banana slipped from her hand.
It hit the pavement with a sad little splat.
Lumi stared at it. “No. Not like this.” She looked around. No trash can close. The meeting started in 10.
“RIP, banana,” she said solemnly, and left it there for the pigeons.
She tucked her camera away and passed through the hotel gates, already thinking about captions.
- Writer
