Henry padded into the kitchen eager to see what was in store for him that day. When he made his wish two years ago to have his day prepared, he had no idea how fun it would be. He didn’t have to worry about anything at all. Most mornings the small round table in the kitchen was loaded. He had fresh groceries, clean clothes, and pocket change for the rest of the day, every day. He was a free man without all those daily worries.
One of the better aspects of the magic was that it did not hesitate to give Henry things he already owned. He was confused the first time he saw his car keys on the table until he remembered the exact wording of the wish.
“I wish that no matter where I live, as long as I’m alive, everything I need each day will be ready and organized on my kitchen table.” That phrasing turned inconvenient the couple of times he stayed away overnight, but he adapted quickly. Once he got used to it, he trusted the table’s preparations. If his keys were on the table in the morning, he’d get ready to leave the house. If they weren’t he got to stay home all day and play video games.
He flipped on the switch in the dim kitchen. He stopped and stared at the table. Even if he was going out, the table usually had breakfast ready for him. There were no groceries, no clothes, no car keys. The only thing on the table was a black revolver and his phone.
A wave of panic washed over him and he dashed to the table to get the gun. Henry raised an eyebrow at the phone because it was charging when he left his room, but he didn’t question it. No breakfast meant he probably didn’t have time to eat. He focused his attention on the door expecting an intruder to crash through it, but nothing happened. After a moment of silently waiting, the phone buzzed in his hand. His eyes widened at the government alert.
“EMERGENCY – LOCK ALL DOORS AND STAY INSIDE. DO NOT PANIC.” Henry instinctively clutched the gun closer.
“What the hell is going on?” he wondered. It was a casual thought along the lines of, “What the hell am I doing for dinner?” It’d been a long time since he had to worry about dinner or anything. Whatever emergency the government was concerned about, Henry felt safe. The table gave him a gun and the table was never wrong.
He sat down at the table keeping the door in view, then began to browse his phone. He did not mean to search up the emergency, he didn’t care. But there it was at the top of every page.
“IT’S RAINING SKELETONS!!!” was the top message, but there were plenty of confirmations below it. He found a picture taken in Australia. A black hole about the size of a football field hovered in the sky pouring skeletons out. A video from Germany showed skeletons shattering on the sidewalk when they landed. In a few seconds, they pulled themselves back together and began attacking the nearest bystanders; the ones still recording. Henry eyed the gun.
“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about more than six of them,” he chuckled to himself. At that moment his door shattered off its hinges. Henry looked up to see a white skeleton approaching him with another couple behind it. By that point, he was expecting the intrusion. He calmly rose from his seat while taking steps backward. He raised the gun and fired at the first skeleton, and hit its head. The skull and the animated bones supporting it fell to the ground. Without missing a beat he aimed at the next one and pulled the trigger.
*CLICK* It was empty. *CLICK. CLICK. CLICK* he tried three more times. Henry did not do well with unexpected situations before he made his wish. After he made it, he never had anything unexpected happen again and he got comfortable. Blinding rage blossomed in his gut and he flung the gun at the second skeleton. He also caught sight of four more skeletons filing into his kitchen, with plenty more behind those.
“STUPID GENIE!” he yelled at no one as he fled to his living room. “WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO WITH ONE BULLET!!??” he threw his front door open to find an escape. He saw dozens of skeletons walking the street entering his neighbor’s houses. He picked a direction and started running. One of his neighbors was being torn apart by the skeletons and shuddered.
“God, I wouldn’t want to go out like that,” he mumbled to himself as he sprinted. He looked back several times but none of the skeletons were chasing him. He slowed to catch his breath and pain in his side subside.
He looked up and noticed a steady stream of skeletons pouring out of a black hole over his block. Henry had an idea why they weren’t chasing him; he had nowhere to go. There was no escape. Whatever was happening, he doubted humanity could even survive it. He sighed heavily when somewhere in the back of his mind, he suddenly had a use for one bullet.
