//------------------------------//
// May 24 
// Story: The Last Phoenician 
// by Razzle Dazzle 
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Sunday, May 24

Dear Journal,

Yesterday I thought about going to see my parents; more specifically, how I couldn’t. It was too far and too hot to walk, and I couldn’t drive because I am a horse. Yeah, that’s right. A horse. Yesterday morning I woke up and instead of a normal human I was a unicorn mare. And that didn’t change when I woke up today, either. I had fallen asleep on the couch, and I just sat there for a while until I remembered the things I planned to do. After eating my final apple, I went out to my car to see what I’d need to do in order to safely drive it as a quadruped.

After poking around for a bit, I had an idea of what to fix in order to drive the car. I was too short to see above the steering wheel, shift gears, or reach the pedals. That was easy enough. I put some pillows on the seat to see the road and stuck some ski poles I found in Mike’s apartment through the pedals. Yes, ski poles. In Phoenix. He could have gone up north to ski, I guess, but it’s still weird. After a couple minutes, I was on the road! The windows were down, the sunroof was open, and the stereo was blasting music. I was making good time on my way east to Mesa. It was probably because there weren’t any cars on the road and I was running every light.

I stopped by my mom’s place first. It’s the house she raised me and my brother in, a nice house in a quiet, gated neighborhood. Surprisingly, the gates still worked. Guess the grid hasn’t collapsed in Mesa yet either. I used the key she gave me years ago to get in, and was greeted by her two dogs: Marv and Dakota, a Lab and a German Shepherd. When they saw me they were apprehensive at first, but seemed at ease after I talked to them. I went through both floors of the house and didn’t find her. Her car was still in the garage and her phone was on the table, my calls unread. So she disappeared with the rest of the city too. I’ll admit that I cried a little when I realized that. Okay, I collapsed on the floor. But eventually, I calmed down. I put the dogs in the back of my car and grabbed a few sketchbooks and things that were up in my old room. I also took some pictures of family. I’ll probably never go back there.

Anyways, after I left her place I drove a block east out to Dad’s house. It’s much smaller, out on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t there. Same story, his car was in the driveway and his phone was on the counter. I took some stuff from his place, too. A couple of books and pictures, but that’s not why I went there. The thing about my dad is that he’s a doomsday prepper. Kinda ironic, considering that all the stuff he told me that I brushed off and forgot would be really useful about right now. I took some canned food and bottled water, along with a backup generator, water purifier, first aid kit, camping gear, seeds, gun, CB radio, and some other stuff. I also filled up three of those big orange buckets from The Home Depot with water from the tap. You can never have too much water in the desert.

One thing I did see was a couple of coyotes. They were pretty far from the city, near Dad’s house in the sticks, but they’re usually only around during the night. I guess they’re breaking into houses to beat the heat? That was a joke. I hope that’s not actually happening. It did seem like all the animals were out, though. Bobcats, those coyotes, I think I even saw a damn mountain lion on top of a hill by Dad’s place.

When I got home I unloaded all of the crap that I took from there. Surprisingly, the dogs didn’t run away as soon as I opened the door. They followed me back to the apartment and, after sniffing around a bit, made themselves at home.

After all the stuff was put away I took the dogs on a walk. I went into downtown again, but I didn’t just pass through. I poked in office buildings and hotels and meandered around like I never had the time for as a human. I guess I felt kinda embarrassed that, even though I lived in this apartment for three years, I never really explored the area around it. When the sun started to set, I made my way back to my apartment. I fed the dogs with some dog food I got from the store a ways down and ate a granola bar while mulling over all the random thoughts I had while walking. Tomorrow I’ll go and properly raid the Safeway. Yesterday nothing seemed real to me, so I didn’t prepare for anything. Because of that, I’m a day behind, and that could be the biggest mistake I’ve made so far. Time is of the essence right now. The grid will probably fail in the next few days. It’s still running only because of all the solar farms south of the city. Water? It maybe has another day. I need to fill up my bathtub with water. I’ll do that when I’m done recording this.

After I made plans for tomorrow, I laid down on the couch and thought some more. I’ve seen Life After People; I know what’ll happen to Phoenix. And it’s not good. After I’ve gotten all the supplies I need and maybe found some other people, I might leave the city. I’m conflicted on that. It might be stupid to stay in Phoenix, but it’s my hometown. I might be the last person to ever see it.

-Scott