"Your broth…" I stammered. For some reason I couldn't speak.
"Yeah. Who did you think he was?" My twin scrutinized me, then sighed, placed a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry it had to come to this man. Really I am." I looked into his eyes and saw what I thought might be compassion. At least he looked the way I look when I mean it.
Despite myself, I smiled back. I couldn't really talk. It seemed I didn't know how. Things were strange here and the way things worked didn't work the way I wanted them to. I was aware that we were walking towards the bus station.
"...all like the bus station so much," my twin was saying with wonder. He was genuinely curious. "It's as if you really want to be going somewhere but don't really know where." he continued. How was there a bus station in the Penthouse I wondered. I also realized that I was incredibly hungry.
"Hungry…" I managed.
"Of course, how silly of me," my twin said, and handed me the bag he had been carrying. It had two sandwiches in it and a pickle in a Ziploc. I looked down at it blankly and got on the bus as they waved goodbye I could only think to myself: "What?"
When the Big Event came, they knew all about it. For years the scientists had told us that there were only this many months and this many days to be ready for it. They had warned us of possible outcomes and circumstances that may occur to us when it came. They had told us all the data, and we were all still afraid for our lives. In AD 2244 when event TG135 flattened the firmament, the impact decimated all life. We were left behind, in the mythosphere, as a remnant. An apology from God for the way things turned out.
The replacement Earth that God had built was much more safe and had every peace of mind ready and available for the humans left behind on the old one. They could feel free to live their lives and do what they needed to do without feeling overwhelmed or burdened, but the sky would be closed to them. Instead, the newer version Earth would be slowly placed down over the old one, until the meld was complete. It would be tricky at first, but He assured us that everything would work out in the end.
The good news is that we all got to ride the bus.