Forever Ending: Today, Tomorrow, Whatever

This is the first story in a series called "Forever Ending", in which the world is periodically destroyed.
Sein spoke slowly, articulating every word. "May I help you?" she said to the customer entering his camera shop.

"I would like a camera. Nothing fancy. Just a camera."

"Yes ma'am. Just a minute."

Sein walked to the shelves behind the table and picked out one of the nicer cameras. It was almost that time of year, and she could afford to be nice. She handed the lady the camera. "That's twenty-five coins."

The lady pulled out a leather bag and produced twenty-five coins, each a different color, made of a different metal, and with a different imprint. Sein slipped the coins into the wooden box underneath the table. "Thank you," the lady said, and disappeared through the doorway.

Sein tucked the box underneath her arm and walked to the door. She stepped outside and with her free hand, she pulled the door shut. She did not bother to lock it. After all, it was almost that time of year.
She walked down the street. Most of the stored were closed now, for lack of business. People weren't buying things. After all, it was almost that time of year.
She turned and walked up the dirt road that led to her house. A group of kids was playing in the road, and as always, she invited them in for dinner. She set the coin box down on the dining table and looked around the house. There wasn't much food left -- enough for maybe two more days. She pulled out some potatoes, beans, and dried meat. She lit the stove, and went outside to fill a pot of water.

When she returned, the kids were sitting on the floor of the big, one room house playing and laughing. When the cooking food was brought to a boil on the wood-burning stove, Sein walked to the dining table where she'd put the box of coins. She opened it, and rummaged through the assortment of different pieces with her fingers, pulling out the unique ones and putting them in her pocket.

"It's coming again, isn't it?"
One child said it, and the rest looked up at Sein.
"Yes, it comes every year."
None of the kids asked any more questions, but they didn't start playing again. They just looked at each other, and back up at Sein.
"It's not bad," she told them. "Have fun. Nothing you do matters." The kids smiled suddenly and all at once got up and ran outside.
That was the advice she always gave the children before it happened, although she'd never followed it. She walked back to the stove and started to dish the food out onto plates. She counted the kids -- one, two, three, four, five. She got out a sixth plate for herself. She dipped her fingers quickly into the hot water to pull out each potato and put it on a plate, and then picked up the pot to pour the beans out onto the plates. Careful not to spill anything, she carried the plates two at a time across the room to the dining table. She always liked a good meal before it happened.

As she walked outside to where the kids were driving each other to tantrums, the wind began to blow. It got stronger and stronger until people could barely stand up. When it grew strong enough, the walls of the wooden house collapsed and flew off into the wind. The dining table tipped and was carried away, taking the six plates with it. The coin box also flew off with the table, leaving a trail of glittering coins blowing around behind it.

She couldn't let herself go. Others up and down the street were letting themselves fly off into the wind. One by one the children were carried off. But she planted her feet in the ground and held to the flagpole in the ground outside where her door had been. As time went on, the landscape became bare, except for the stream of debris.

After a while, the flagpole came loose from the ground. It slid out of her hands and hit her on the head as she and it flew off into the wind.

When she came to, the sun was rising, so she must have been out through the night. She looked around. She was as dazed as the other people that littered the ground. They were in some kind of forest. Getting up, she walked over to a much older woman sitting up on the ground near her. She held out her hand. "Sein," she introduced herself.

The old woman reached out and pulled herself up by Sein's hand. "Josina."

Sein tried to make small talk. "That wasn't bad."
Josina spoke back. "I can't believe it happened again."
"It happens every year."
"Not every year. There was one year when it didn't. I just wish it would stop."
"I don't think it ever stops."
"You're probably right. Good fate is hard to come by."

The conversation stopped, and Sein walked off to the group that was forming off in the distance. The sunrise turned into noon, and eventually into sunset as they argued over how to build their town.

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