"The Light is a love you carry on, even after your lover is gone. So, if I don't ever see you again... it's your job to carry The Light until the end."
Bym beamed as bright as the moon in the starry sky above. The lanky young man strolled down the neighborhood sidewalk, holding hands with his date. Although he took on the appearance of a conventional dweeb—suspenders, pocket protector, and thick glasses just above the tip of his nose—he strutted with a gangster's limp. "I thought that movie was just swell!"
The girl, with short wavy brunette hair, shared Bym's smile. In contrast with her nerdy date, she dressed like an 80's break dancer: white parachute pants, blue baseball jacket over a bright-orange tank-top, and matching Adidas shoes. "It was ahhh-ight."
"Camren, are you kidding me? The Light?" Bym's voice heightened in pitch. "They just explained everything I ever thou—"
"Like I said..." Camren rocked her hand slightly in the 'so-so' gesture. "...ah-ight."
Bym stopped and poked out his lower lip.
"Come on!" Camren hooked Bym's arm with her elbow and playfully tugged him along. "No, I like the idea of it, that when 'special' things are united it can create The Light which is strong enough to bring order to the world, heal the biggest universal cataclysms. That's righteous. But..."
"But..."
"Well, I just didn't like the fact that sex between two strangers created The Light which saved the universe. Like, get real."
Bym and Camren came to a fenced-in duplex. He pushed the white gate open and stuck out his arm, inviting her up to the patio. "After you, mah-dam."
Camren winked. "Thank you, daddy-o."
As they ascended the concrete steps to her second story abode, Bym directed the topic back to The Light. "Yeah, I know, but the sex is metaphorical—"
"Yeah, people coming together as one, got that." Camren stopped at her door on the balcony. "But it should be deeper than just two strangers having sex to save the world."
"What do ya mean?"
"I mean—don't get me wrong—random sex is ahh-ight, but I like to believe The Light is created by two souls uniting, emitting a healing energy only true love can create." Camren's eyes drifted up as she relished the idea. She smiled at the thought briefly before her face sunk back to reality. "Or, maybe I'm just a big sap."
"No, no. I can dig it," Bym said. "Love would definitely heal a lot with everything that's going on—"
"...a beginning of a new age." Camren dabbed the tip of Bym's nose.
Bym scrunched his brows.
"Internet age, silly. The world wide web is the wild wild west; frontier justice on the plains of Twitter. Not since monkeys discovered the club has a tool been used to advance—well, don't quote me on that, but you get the idea." Camren rambled on as if she'd just written a thesis on the topic. "News and information are being fed to everyone on a constant basis, ideas are being shared like never before, groups are being aligned, trolls are being pricks, and although it might not seem like it... lessons are being learned. Change is chaotic. Transition can be a storm. But! If they live through it, the oceans will be calmer than ever before."
"They?' Like you're above all of us." Bym puffed his chest, teasing her with a billionaire pose.
Camren rolled her eyes at Bym's impression. "I is."
"I is also, guh." Bym grabbed his suspenders as though lapels on a refined gentleman's blazer. "These peasants are so quick to fight."
"When all most have is rhetoric from their favorite propaganda channel, it's easier to fight," Camren said. "You have to be educated for well thought out discussions, which takes precious time, and it doesn't get as many 'likes."
"Mm-yes, mm-yes..." Bym continued his act with an upturned nose. "...silly summa-ma-bitches."
"Are you being snooty or Bernie Mac?" Camren giggled, accidentally snorted, which caused her to laugh even harder, Bym chuckled along with her.
As the laughter settled, however, the night became awkwardly quiet. Crickets chirped. Wind chimes jingled in the gentle night breeze.
"So, um..." Bym cleared his throat. "I was just—it's such a beautiful night and all, how 'bout we end it with—"
"—you banging my brains out?" Camren eyed him with a seductive smirk.
Bym's head shot up. "I was gonna start with a kiss..." A smile developed on his smooth face. He closed his eyes, leaned forward. "...but if you insist..."
"You know what else I didn't like about that movie? Well, two things actually..."
With his kiss still puckered, Bym opened his eyes to Camren, who was looking out onto the front lawn of her duplex. He pinched lips in embarrassment and squared his shoulders. "Umm... the what—the movie?"
"First off, it just ends." Camren shook her head in disbelief. "One minute, our two 'heroes' are fucking in space and then the screen goes black and says 'The Light ignited' or some shit. That's not a proper ending. What happened?"
"They um—I assume after correcting the universe, they were sent back to their day to day lives before the disaster."
"And that's the other thing..." Camren put her hands on her hip and tapped her foot. "No real tension. No sacrifice either."
"They were separated forever," Bym said, challenging her critique. "The Light saved the universe but in turn sent our heroes in separate directions, never to see one another again."