Atomic Romance
“Chloe, hurry! It’s gonna be too late!”
Chloe scratched her head. Doing quantum physics under pressure never ends well.
“How much Uranium should I inject?” Julian pressed.
Chloe crumbled under pressure. She was never good at math. But now if the universe depended on it…
“The U-235 is getting unstable! If we don’t disable this bomb, all of Miami will go ka-boom!”
The complexities of the 21st Century. Disabling a bomb means disabling an atomic bomb. And the bomb technicians now need to know nuclear physics.
The Japanese always held a grudge against the Americans for Hiroshima. But now this atomic bomb that fell astray in downtown Miami during a test offshore. This was karma coming back to America – and revenge for having invented the atomic bomb.
“Julian, I think this is it. Our lives are over. We’ll never see our families again. Your face will be the last I ever see. This bomb can’t be disabled. There’s no sense in running: we’ll only die from radiation poisoning. So let’s stay here and we’ll die together. A quick and painless end is the best we can hope for.”
“Chloe, I love you.”
“What?”
“I’ve always had a crush on you, but now it seems we’ll breathe our last. And I can’t leave this world without telling you that.”
Chloe was stunned. “I – I – I was going to give a confession, too. I stole your donut from the break room. It’s not quite as deep as yours, but I don’t want to leave the earth with that on my conscience either.”
“Chloe, your face is the last face I will ever see. Soon my life will be complete. But I would rather die with you in my eyes than with anyone else. So what do you say? Do you love me?”
“I, I – I – ”
Suddenly, Julian’s cell phone rang. The goofy ringtone interrupted the solemn occasion.
“Should I even pick up?” he wondered, “What will answering this phone call do to improve the quality of my last few moments on earth?”
“It could be the bomb squad bunker,” Chloe burst out and picked up Julian’s cell phone.
“Hello. You have been selected to take a brief survey – ”
Chloe hung up the phone. By her calculations, they had between 45 and 60 seconds before the uranium becomes unstable and their lives go ka-boom.
What would you do if you only had 45 seconds to live? Certainly not waste time on telemarketers. What would be most meaningful to fill your remaining time? Some will fill the entire 45 seconds worrying and trying to think of how to use it without actually using it. What would you choose to do as your last action on this earth? With limited time, your time becomes more valuable.
Julian gazed at Chloe’s beautiful eyes and smiled. If she was the last face he would ever see, at least he would die happy. And Chloe reminisced about the delicious donut she had savored yesterday from Julian’s lunch box in the break room. Their time was up. Ka-boom.
“Chloe, hurry! It’s gonna be too late!”
Chloe scratched her head. Doing quantum physics under pressure never ends well.
“How much Uranium should I inject?” Julian pressed.
Chloe crumbled under pressure. She was never good at math. But now if the universe depended on it…
“The U-235 is getting unstable! If we don’t disable this bomb, all of Miami will go ka-boom!”
The complexities of the 21st Century. Disabling a bomb means disabling an atomic bomb. And the bomb technicians now need to know nuclear physics.
The Japanese always held a grudge against the Americans for Hiroshima. But now this atomic bomb that fell astray in downtown Miami during a test offshore. This was karma coming back to America – and revenge for having invented the atomic bomb.
“Julian, I think this is it. Our lives are over. We’ll never see our families again. Your face will be the last I ever see. This bomb can’t be disabled. There’s no sense in running: we’ll only die from radiation poisoning. So let’s stay here and we’ll die together. A quick and painless end is the best we can hope for.”
“Chloe, I love you.”
“What?”
“I’ve always had a crush on you, but now it seems we’ll breathe our last. And I can’t leave this world without telling you that.”
Chloe was stunned. “I – I – I was going to give a confession, too. I stole your donut from the break room. It’s not quite as deep as yours, but I don’t want to leave the earth with that on my conscience either.”
“Chloe, your face is the last face I will ever see. Soon my life will be complete. But I would rather die with you in my eyes than with anyone else. So what do you say? Do you love me?”
“I, I – I – ”
Suddenly, Julian’s cell phone rang. The goofy ringtone interrupted the solemn occasion.
“Should I even pick up?” he wondered, “What will answering this phone call do to improve the quality of my last few moments on earth?”
“It could be the bomb squad bunker,” Chloe burst out and picked up Julian’s cell phone.
“Hello. You have been selected to take a brief survey – ”
Chloe hung up the phone. By her calculations, they had between 45 and 60 seconds before the uranium becomes unstable and their lives go ka-boom.
What would you do if you only had 45 seconds to live? Certainly not waste time on telemarketers. What would be most meaningful to fill your remaining time? Some will fill the entire 45 seconds worrying and trying to think of how to use it without actually using it. What would you choose to do as your last action on this earth? With limited time, your time becomes more valuable.
Julian gazed at Chloe’s beautiful eyes and smiled. If she was the last face he would ever see, at least he would die happy. And Chloe reminisced about the delicious donut she had savored yesterday from Julian’s lunch box in the break room. Their time was up. Ka-boom.
