#please enjoy Etho being quietly distressed for 9k words

[redwinterroses]

The world had been over for three days by the time Etho noticed it had ended.

In his defense, the shop wasn’t open on Fridays, and the only thing he’d done online over the weekend was order a shipment of redstone kits and an experimental-model communicator Doc had requested. When he’d put in his credit card information, there hadn’t been a pop-up alerting him to potential delays in delivery due to the apocalypse.

And if his drive into town was a little bit quieter than normal… well, it was early. He didn’t usually see that much traffic anyway. The lights were on at the gym, and as always, he remembered that he really ought to set up a membership, and he’d have to remember to do that next weekend. Like he’d been definitely going to remember to do “next weekend” for the last eight months. Every time he ran into Stress at the grocery store she’d tease him about it, and he’d swear he’d do it soon.

He was definitely going to remember this time.

The lights were also on at his store, and that was not correct. He didn’t remember leaving them on—in fact, he very specifically remembered turning them off, because he always turned them off. No one wanted to pay the bill for lights on all weekend.

He parked his truck and turned it off, frowning at the shop in silence while the engine clicked and cooled. Someone was behind the register, their face hidden by the SALE: COMPARATORS 50% OFF sign hanging in the window.

“Huh,” he said. “I think I’m being robbed.”