At the beginning of the end, the mannequins stopped playing dead.

At the beginning of the end, words cracked in two and Hell poured out of them.

At the beginning of the end, all the lights went out and we heard a crowd shouting and laughing. The singing started later.

At the beginning of the end, planes fell from the sky. Some were mistaken for avenging angels.

At the beginning of the end, water gushed from our taps. We couldn’t stop it. Soon, the flood waters erased the cities.

At the beginning of the end, the mirrors gave back diminished images. We shuffled, emaciated, in the dark glass.

At the beginning of the end, our dogs found their wolfishness. Cats paraded triumphally through the screaming streets.

At the beginning of the end, the dead rose and we were shocked that they could speak, that words wormed from their ruined mouths.

At the beginning of the end, day and night swapped clothing. The sun and moon clashed during the exchange.

At the beginning of the end, mathematics murdered the masses.

At the beginning of the end, the clocks laughed and gave up their secrets.

At the beginning of the end, Barbie and Ken toyed with us, placed us in compromising poses.

At the beginning of the end, our beliefs poured from our eyes, our ears, our noses, our mouths, leaving us empty, dried up, still.

At the beginning of the end, snow monsters set fire to the fractured palaces of trade.

At the beginning of the end, we found solace in eating. Everything was fair game. Cannibalism was the mildest of our crimes.

At the beginning of the end, we got caught in the mechanisms of desire and bled over our smartphones.

At the beginning of the end, we found real piranhas in the stream of images.

At the beginning of the end, money burned in the labyrinth.

At the beginning of the end, grinning men with big ideas lit napalm cigars.

At the beginning of the end, the trees clasped us to them, cooed over us, nursed us, gathered us into them, became our coffins.