I even remember the sandwich I was eating; turkey on rye with extra horseradish. It was my lunch break, and I sat in the back of a sandwich shop while allowing my aching feet to rest. That was when he walked in. I didn't take any notice of him until I realized that he was walking in my direction. He was a tall man with a trim goatee and large eyes. His black hair was combed back neatly in line with the gray colored suit that he wore. I lowered my gaze to a current text I had been reading upon my cell phone, pretending not to notice that the man was now standing directly in front of me. I let out a silent sigh while pushing back hair from my face and hooking it around an ear.
“Can I help you, sir?”
I tried to be polite, but my irritation at this person interrupting my allotted relaxing time showed through. He merely grinned at my response, his face instantly aging with wrinkles.
“May I have a seat here?” he replied with a jovial manner.
I merely stared at him with a mixture of irritation and disbelief.
“Um, why do you want to sit here?” I answered back, “There's plenty of other empty seats. You can take this if you want.”
I gestured to the open chair across from me. The man sighed, but didn't lose that captivating smile.
“I thought you'd be interested to know that,” he stated while sitting in the empty space and placing his elbows upon the small table, “The world is going to end.”
“Excuse me?” I answered back, the half-eaten sandwich cradled between my hands forgotten.
“Well, not tomorrow, mind you,” he went on to say while settling himself within his seat, “About twenty years to the day, actually.”
I placed the food upon the large plastic wrapping it was served in. I messaged my temples while looking to my watch, taking note of my very short break.
“Your name is Katherine Vaughn. You currently work at a dead end job with no hope for promotion. You are single, dated two times. Your favorite food is Italian.”
My mouth hung open at the grinning man, scarcely believing my ears.
“I needed to pry a bit to get some leverage for you to believe me,” he stated, “Did it work?”
“You can't be for real-”
“Please, you need to listen to me,” the man muttered, his long-standing grin swiftly dispelled, “I can only tell you this.”
“Me?” I asked, “Why do I need to know such a thing?”
“There will be a new president appointed in the year 2016,” the man went on to say, now excessively seriously, “You will be in politics then. I can't remember which position.”
I blinked several times, the scenery around the two of us appearing to slow to a painful degree.
“Politics?” I managed to stammer at the gravity of this man's statements.
“Yes,” came his strict reply, “And you will be the one person who will have the power to stop what happens next. All I can say is that watch for what happens at that time. You will know what to do.”
He stood, startling me somewhat. I immediately jumped to my feet at seeing him turn from me.
“What a goddamn second!” I called out, grabbing at his arm, “Who the hell do you think you are that you can say these things to me and expect me to believe you? I am just a crappy cashier at a crappy grocery store!”
He turned back to face me, his kind eyes lit with a persecuting flame. He grabbed at my shoulders suddenly.
“I cannot stay any longer before they find out I'm gone!” he said, those eyes burrowing into my own, “I don't know much else about it than you do! Just rise up! Others need to fight alongside you!”
He was yelling the final words, causing the area to silence. I felt eyes upon my collar.
“Goodbye, Katherine,” he said while taking a step away from me, “You will know what to do when you come to it.”
He left instantly. I watched the faces upon me for a few moments before my eyes went back to my watch. Time to go back to work.
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