The Milestone

They lived in this town for a good part of their lives. They loved all, laughed a lot, spoke words of courage and vitality, right in this very town. And then they died here. 

It started off normal enough. She arose in a haze of harsh sunlight that slithered in through dusty, tapered, off white blinds. Her hair was unkempt in the nicest of terms and her eyes were dull and all too glassy. However, she stretched and yawned and then took the crystal clear glass in her powder pink manicured hand and took a sip. Dry, dusty tap water. 

She then threw back the covers of an awfully dated mustard yellow comforter and stepped onto a burgundy carpet of equal stature. She padded into the bathroom where she brushed her teeth with a worn lilac toothbrush and then proceeded to look at herself by staring into a brick wall. There was no mirror in this bathroom, nor was there one in the entire room. She pulled out a slim pocket mirror, burnished copper, smooth and round, and started to apply an aged rose lipstick. She absently picked at the marks and lines around her mouth before putting the mirror away and picking up some jeans that seemed to fit better the day before. She threw on a tshirt and some shoes and then slowly walked toward the door. 

He awoke in equal fashion. He sneezed as the dust settled and sunlight broke through the open weave of the dreadful tangerine, coffee, and taupe zig-zag print curtains. He shook his head and picked up his reading glasses from the side table, and put them on. He also picked up the heavy glass and took a drink. Dry, dusty tap water. 

He stepped on a weary taupe carpet and trudged towards the bathroom and decided to skip the shave, considering there was no mirror. He then brushed his teeth with an old red toothbrush and went to put on jeans that fit better yesterday and a tshirt. He put on shoes and hobbled toward the door.

They were out and about on regular errands when at exactly noon, they collapsed clutching their hearts. Only a few feet away from each other, they looked up into each others faces, seeing that of an elderly woman and an elderly man. They smiled in the grips of pain and then collapsed all the way to the sidewalk. When they hit the sidewalk, they both smashed into the ground and erupted into a spray of pulverized taupe powder. 

Only little piles of the elders lay on the ground, and pretty soon these were taken with wind until there was nothing. 

When questioned, no one in the town knew of the pair. No elderly travelers had passed by; only two young people two days previous. A man and a woman. 

Of course they couldn't be found, and the townspeople couldn't remember where each had decided to hole up at, but what they did agree on was a slight warning: don't drink the water.