The Day Everything Changed

Six hours before the world changed.

It was 4 am.

Adam had just woken up.

Although he was only 12, he had many things to do.

He had to go to the store on the other side of the street from his home to help them restock the different products that were sold out during the weekend. While he didn't officially work there he helped, hoping that whoever was working that day would pity him and give him some change or food. Generally, only the owner had any compassion for him while the workers accepted his help, halfheartedly thanked him and told him to go away.

As the owner was rarely present, Adam would go back home empty-handed most of the time. Nevertheless, he always got up and always went to help.

He felt that anything in his power that could help his family's situation was worth doing. He didn't mind sacrificing some sleep for that.

That day, Alice was the one working in the store. She arrived at 4.30 am and started taking the products out of the warehouse and into the main store right away, while Adam put them on the correct shelves. Unlike the other workers, she was always happy to see Adam and would ask about how he was doing.

Alice was amazed that a kid would always be ready to work at that age, sometimes arriving before she did. Not only was he always there during her shifts, but her coworkers told her that he would come at that exact time every day. Even she only did it 2-3 times a week to earn some extra cash.

She wanted to ask him about many thing things, where his parents were, why he worked even though he wasn't paid, what school he went to and how he balanced everything at such a young age.

She never asked, but always wondered about it. It was a mystery she liked thinking about when bored.

It was now 5.45 am, they had restocked everything, the shelves were full and ready to welcome customers. The store opens at 6 am so Adam usually leaves at that time. He was standing outside, ready to go. Alice looked at him:

He stood at about 155 centimeters tall. He was taller than kids his age. He had short brown hair. There wasn't anything special about him physically. Other than the fact that he was relatively paler than others and skinnier than average.

"Adam!" Alice shouted.

"Yes?" He replied, a bit startled by the sudden shout.

"Here take these, am paying for them. Thank you for your help! I hope I will see you next time too." She said, while handing him a plastic bag with 10 eggs and a carton of milk inside.

Adam looked at her, at the beautiful smile she was showing him and couldn't help but tear up. He wiped the one tear that was slowly going down his right cheek.

"Thank you, Alice".

She waved him goodbye, feeling proud of herself.

'Maybe this is what it feels like being a big sister, I should be more generous next time.' she thought. She didn't know that but, that day was the last time she would see Adam in a very very long time.

It was 6 am when Adam got back home. His family's home was pretty small. 2 bedrooms, one for his parents, the other for him and his siblings, a tiny kitchen and a very small bathroom. No sitting area or tv.

After storing the eggs and the milk in the fridge, he went into his siblings' room to wake them up. His siblings were twins. Mika was his younger brother, he was still sleepy and did not want to get out of his bed. Mina, his younger sister, was already up. She had made her bed and was now brushing her hair with an old brush.

Mika and Mina were 8 years old. They had both inherited the beautiful blond hair of their mother, while Adam had inherited his brown hair from his father. The three of them were paler than average and while that made Adam look a bit sickly, the twins looked like angels sent from heaven. As far as Adam was concerned, that is exactly what they were, angels.

To him, this was the second most beautiful scene he got to see every day. Seeing his siblings in their room like this, without a care in the world, made him as happy as one can be. It also made his heart ache a bit.

"Good morning!!"Mina shouted happily after noticing her big brother, giving him a big hug.

"I...I was awake too!" said Mika, getting up fast, trying to open his eyes fully.

"Mmm, sure you were hahaha," Adam chuckled at his brother's obvious lie while hugging back his sister."Alright, Mika go wash your face and teeth since you obviously just woke up. Mina wanna help me cook breakfast?"

"Sure let's!" Mina said, playfully sticking her tongue at Mika.

Who got up first and who got to help Adam prepare breakfast was an everyday competition between the twins. Mina usually won, but that only made Mika prouder of his rare victories. These little moments meant the world to Adam .

"I was awake though..." Mika was still yawning, dragging his feet towards the small bathroom.

Adam and Mina went to the kitchen. The younger sister was cutting pieces of bread to toast while the bigger brother took the eggs he just got from Alice out of the fridge.

"We're having eggs today??Wow, ten eggs and a carton of milk? This is a feast! When have we become aristocrats?" Her eyes were shining.

"Hahhaha a friend..mmm well not really a friend, anyway Alice bought them for us, isn't she nice? We have milk too," the older brother said proudly. His work today and lack of sleep weren't for nothing.

"Mm well, we have ten eggs and a whole carton of milk. Do you think we should eat it all?"He added.

Mina thought for a second then answered " Of course not, we should have one egg each today. That's one for me of course, one for you, one for mom and maybe one for Mika. Tomorrow and the day after Mika will have to do without breakfast. I guess he should eat slowly today." She had a big mischievous smile on her face.

"But why? Wouldn't it be nice to eat all of it today?" asked Adam rubbing his chin with a wonderous expression.

Mina crossed her arms "Adam am not 5! I know we should think about tomorrow and stuff. Your temptation will not work!"

"Alright, alright, sorry for testing you."They both laughed.

Mika joined them shortly after and Mina explained to him her "food plan" for the next few days. The young brother was outraged while the others laughed. The twins ate while their big brother looked at them with a lovely smile, teasing them, siding with Mina, then betraying her and siding with Mika, taking turns like that.

Adam then walked them to school and went back home. As the oldest child of the family, he didn't go to school, he couldn't.

He started cooking another breakfast.

At 8 am, the breakfast was cooked and someone came into the house. It was his mother, Lea.

Lea was in her thirties. Although she looked older than she was, no one could say that she wasn't extremely beautiful. The sort of beauty that you notice in paintings or statues. Like the twins, she had incredible blond hair. Hers was very long, at hip length. She had a wonderful smile and was a caring and playful mother. Lea didn't care much about her appearance, which in a way made her all the more beautiful.

"Hello, Adam! Come give your mother a big hug," Adam was happy to oblige, "did you just wake up?"

"Yep, I just dropped off Mika and Mina to school," He answered, confidently.

"Oh really? So you didn't go to the store today?"

"No, why would I?"

"I did tell you you didn't have to, you should at least sleep as much as you want. You're already working during the day at the restaurant at such a young age because of us. Am telling you really don't have to," She smiled, but her smile had a hint of sadness in it.

"You did tell me already and so I don't go there anymore"

"Aren't you stubborn...Am sorry for troubling you so much" She could always tell when he was lying.

"Okay I did go but am happy to help, look I even got eggs and milk" Adam pointed to the breakfast he made to his mother "go quick before it cools down".

Lea did her best to hold her tears from coming out and smiled "Thank you Adam, you're my savior."She kissed him on the forehead before sitting. "Did you eat?" she asked with an interrogative smile.

"Yes, with Mika and Mina"He hadn't.

"Come, sit next to me, let's eat together. If you're still hungry after I'll cook something for you" She always, always could smell a lie from a mile away if it came from her children.

Adam's mother was a nurse in a public hospital. While the family used to live pretty comfortably in the past, it wasn't the case anymore.Of course, there was a reason for that.But that reason still hadn't woken up. In order to make ends meet, she took extra shifts and worked more than 15hours a day, barely having enough time to spend with her children. She always had bags under her eyes and was rarely full of energy, except when her children were near her.

Adam and his mother sat and talked about many things: Mina's plan not to give food to Mika in order to save, Alice's smile and kindness, Lea's patients at the hospital...

At 9 am, Lea was too tired to stay awake any longer and went to sleep in the twins' room. She slept on Mika's bed. And yes that was a big deal because whenever the twins would come back from school and 4 pm, they would find their mom sleeping and the one whose bed was occupied would brag about it.

One hour later, Adam came to check up on his mother before going out. She was sound asleep. Her beautiful hair was everywhere, it sometimes tickled her nose. This was the most beautiful scene he saw every day. She looked so peaceful. After working all night for the sake of her family. Only for most of her pay to then be used up immediately by him.

"Him" is adam's father. He usually woke up at 2 to 3 pm every day, with a hangover, eating everything that the rest of the family saved or worked for. Using all the money Lea earned to get drunk later at night in a bar.

He wasn't always like that, but these days all he does is drown his sorrows with a bottle. He used to be a well-respected doctor. But that was more than 6 years ago, when Adam was only 5years old. As his father got richer and more respected, he cared less and less about important things. Not only about his family but also about doing his best when practicing. All he cared about was superficial things and saving wealthy or famous people. That made the overall quality of his work go down and destroyed his reputation. More than once, he rejected people who needed his help even when they were willing to pay the money. That wasn't enough for him anymore. This continued for a while, he chose who to save and who no to. Until one day, a client he had rejected died the next day. What Adam's father didn't know was that that random client he rejected was a distant relative of the prime minister. It wasn't even widely know that that person was a relative of his. The prime minister obviously didn't care about his distant relative but this was an excuse to make him look good in front of the whole country. This gave birth to a scandal with Adam's father in the center of it. He lost his job and no hospital wanted to hire him, as testimonies from different older rejected clients were presented to the press. He never picked himself up after that. He had given up on everything and saw the bottle as his salvation.

Adam knew this story well. Whenever his father would mistreat Lea, she would tell Adam that it wasn't his fault. She would tell him that this and that happened, that there was a time when they were happily married.

He wanted to tell his mother that that person had changed. That he isn't who she remembered him to be. That his father was now nothing more than a coward who didn't care about anything, and especially not about his family. He didn't like his father, he hated him really, but somewhere deep in his heart, Adamhoped that he was wrong about him, that when it would count the most, his father would rise to the occasion for his family. Maybe that is why his mother Lea hadn't left. He didn't know much about his father anyways.

Adam didn't say what he thought to his mother. Although she probably knew already as she could usually read him like a book.

Maybe she was just too attached to the past for her own good.

It was about 9.30 am when Adam went out, he still had many things to do.

He was on his way to the restaurant where he usually worked. It was a 1-hour walk. He worked there on most days from 11 am to 3 pm. The owner was a good person, although a bit stingy even with a young boy. He paid Adam less than the other workers but that couldn't be helped. Not only was Adam only 12 but the owner always had a place for him. Whether there were 2 workers in the restaurant or 8, he always welcomed Adam. But then,

It happened.

It happened at 10 am sharp.

The day the world changed.

The day every fundamental belief and concept this world was based on changed completely.

Adam who was on his way, decided to look up at the sky. For no reason at all.

And that's when he saw it, the blue sky he looked at for 1 second became as red as blood.

From east to west, the blue sky was swallowed by a bloody red.

His heart started beating faster and faster, he had trouble breathing. He took two steps back before falling to the ground, staring at the red sky.

People looked up at the sky some moments later, after noticing that there was much less light.

People screamed, people ran, some cried while others started praying.

Adam stared at the sky, before sprinting back towards his home. He was about 20minutes away.

The ground shook. He fell to the ground. Multiple car accidents occurred that instant, fires started basically everywhere around him. He got up and kept running. All he had on his mind were his family members, Mina, Mika, his mother. And somehow, he also thought of his father. He hoped his father would protect his mother.