It was early one morning when I got a call on my smartphone. It was my soulmate's sister Mary.
"Bruce, Did you feel the earthquake last night?"
"Yes, I did." I yawned. "It was pretty big. Is everything all right at your place?"
"Well, no. . ." I heard Mary sobbing in the background. "Your girlfriend Denise has just died. We woke up to see that the ceiling to her bedroom had collapsed. A giant tree near the house fell on our roof."
"Oh--- no!" I started to cry.
"We rushed over to where she was. . . She was barely breathing. She was holding her jewelry box in her hand. She said, 'Please give this to Bruce.' Then I think she passed out. We called 911. The paramedics came and rushed her to the hospital. She was pronounced 'dead on arrival'"
I heard weeping and wailing on the other end. I weeped and wailed too. It was a very sad moment.
"Well---now what?" I managed to say.
...