"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Marion, happy birthday to you"
The office was gathered to celebrate a joyous occasion,
"thanks everyone, this really means a lot"
Marion smiled, and everyone smiled back, it was one of those infectious smiles, the ones you just knew were sincere.
"How old are you turning today Marion?"
"I'm officially 28."
"Age really crept up on you fast didn't it?" said a man laughing boisterously
Marion acted like he got shot in the chest
"You don't have to remind me now do you"
Everyone laughed together, enjoying cake and drinks, it really was rare to see this kind of friendly atmosphere in an office
"I for one think you look great for your age"
Giving him a kiss on the cheek and then holding his hand,
"Happy birthday, honey"
"Thanks Jas"
The couple hugged each other, causing everyone to cheer,
"Man, those two look really good together, as always"
"Hey Marion, when are you gonna pop the question?"
Marion looked up and smiled,
"Soon, soon, don't rush me"
Again everyone cheered, and Jasmine smiled and kissed Marion,
As anticlimactic as it was that was the highlight of the day, that wouldn't be surprising considering this was an auditing firm, still life shouldn't be this mundane,
Yet Marion didn't mind, all was good,
"Hey Marion, could you help me out here please?"
"Sure thing man"
Marion liked it here, he was comfortable,
He knew everyone, everyone knew him, he was well liked, was rising through the ranks steadily, his trajectory was set in stone, he knew how to play the game,
"How are you planning on spending the weekend Marion? Considering it's your birthday and all"
"No idea, Jas told me to leave everything to her, and well how could I say no to that"
"well it sure seems like you're gonna have fun" laughed his coworker
"Give me a moment I'm gonna go to the bathroom"
Life in the office was the same as usual: emails came in, replies went out.
The same people as usual, the same discussions, topics, problems, and solutions, nothing changes nowadays, life is monotone, only kept entertaining by the brief bursts of pleasure in between normalcy
Yet when you're good at something it's hard not to enjoy doing it.
"Did they have to make such a big deal out of it?"
Marion overheard a conversation from his stall in the bathroom,
"I know right? It's not like he's the CEO or something, it you were a stranger, you'd actually think he owned the place"
Marion chuckled in his stall,
"Yeah but at this rate he may as well become the owner, damn it man, he may have everyone fooled but I'm not dumb enough to fall for it, everyone wants to suck up to him since he's together with the ceo's daughter but I'm not going to do that, I still have my pride,"
"Yeah, me too, plus you see the way he constantly has to remind everyone that they're together at every chance he gets, and she also annoys me with that clingy attitude of hers,"
They looked at each other exasperated,
"whatever man, who cares"
Just then, Marion opened the stall's door and came out,
"Hey guys how's it going"
With a friendly smile Marion washed his hands waved at the frozen duo and headed out,
The two looked at each other and cursed internally, not wanting to talk lest someone overhears them again.
"Joe and Michael, noted."
Marion knew some people didn't like him; that was natural, but he always made sure that those people were more intimidated by him than anything else.
It always seemed clear, what needed to be done, the path, the road to the top, it always seemed laid out, he only had to take the correct steps, not everyone could see it, but some could,
Some could see the steps needed to win the board game that was life.
"So Marion, how's work been treating you lately?" A coworker inquired,
"It's been alright i guess, a little tough if anything, right?" Marion added with a slight smile,
"Yeah I know what you mean, it's been unbearable, hey, by the way did you hear what happened to that intern on the third floor..."
And the usual mundane gossip continued, Marion didn't mind entertaining it, in a way he enjoyed it, the more he knew about the people around him, the better, and he was quite liked so most gossip naturally came to him.
Time was ticking soon it would be 5 o'clock, time to go home and shutdown for the week,
Marion was looking out the window, staring at the view, same as usual, from the 7th floor you could see quite a lot,
Rooftops, people, cars, going around like puppets, in order as if controlled, it was funny Marion thought,
Everything seemed so controlled, so mechanical, so predictable, just like Marion liked it, but he knew it wasn't, whenever people were involved nothing could be controlled completely, just influenced, at least that was what Marion thought.
Just like normal, he thought.
He looked to the sky, sparse clouds, the sun on the horizon, and sighed,
Just then, at that exact moment, when the air exited Marion's lungs, signaling the end of life, the last safe breath that man would have in a long time.
The sky rumbled, and bright comets appeared in the sky,
Marion looked out the window at the bright comets, his entire being froze for a moment,
The air shook, the noise grew louder and louder, a deep rumbling filled the atmosphere, and the lights grew brighter and brighter,
Marion watched, didn't move an inch, stood there marveling at the sight, it wasn't something one expected on a random Friday night after all.
Some people around him began running around, scurrying, yet Marion just stared on.
And then,
Impact.
Thousands of shining comets peppered the earth, impacting buildings, roads, cars, people, like heavenly judgment sent from the heavens,
It all happened so fast, between one moment and the other, no one could have acted or predicted anything.
Destruction of the highest order, not one Man was accustomed to.
The building shook, a comet had hit near it,
The entirety of the building trembled, People panicked, screamed and ran around,
Marion stood frozen, staring at the destruction spreading beneath his feet,
It wasn't predictable, not in the slightest, pure chaos, for the first time in his life, he observed pure unadulterated chaos,
And what a sight he thought it was, what a fascinating sight, not a boring sight that was for sure,
People scurrying about, running all over the place screaming, looking for their loved ones, a truly terrible sight,
And in the midst of it all, Marion could see the origin of the chaos, a single meteor,
Under all that dust lay a round white rock,
In all his time alive Marion had never seen such a flawless piece object,
Perfectly round, perfectly white, without a single blemish, it looked out of place, it looked like it defied nature, it disgraced everything around it.
In the wild cacophony of sounds that went on, while more pearls of white were falling from the skies, cratering the earth, people screaming,
the source of all this destruction looked to deform, from the top a circular hole formed.
And out of it something could be seen emerging.