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For most of her life, Anathema would never have dared lose track of anything, least of all the calendar date. But she’s a lot more relaxed about things these days, and it’s currently term break at Norton Polytechnic, where she teaches. So it’s already nearly lunchtime when she happens to glance down at the lock screen of her phone and realizes suddenly what day it is.
The 23rd of August.
It’s funny. She’s known since she can remember — thanks to Agnes — that August 23rd would be an important day in her life. Her family has been marking the anniversary for generations, counting down the decades and eventually the years, since Anathema was nothing but a bit of ink on a prophetic page.
Prophecy #3492. Mark ye well, Anathema, that ye shalt ne’er forget alle that hangeth upon the Twenty and Third Day of August.
Putting two and two together (or, technically, putting twenty and three together) was straightforward enough, or at least as straightforward as anything to do with the Nice and Accurate Prophecies, given context clues from the other information in the book. The timeline wasn’t at all difficult to work out. And so every August 23rd, for the entirety of her life, Anathema has felt the clock ticking closer to the End.
But this time around…
“Happy anniversary,” she says, pecking a kiss to her boyfriend’s cheek, and Newt beams at her for a split second before looking suddenly stricken.
“I forgot!” he rasps, eyes wide with horror. “I mean, thank you! Happy anniversary! I love you! I’m so sorry, I—”
“It’s all right,” she assures him, laughing. “Calm down, Newt. I forgot, too. Until just now.”
“...Oh.” He does calm down. “Okay. Well, we can still do something nice…” He pauses. “Thai food for dinner, maybe?”
“You’re on.” Anathema grins.
Take that, Agnes. We both forgot, and everything’s fine.
She wonders which version of the anniversary the prophet really had in mind, when she wrote #3492… or if it was both. Maybe Agnes was just concerned about the impact that forgetting an anniversary could have on her great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter’s relationship. Who knows?
Luckily, it doesn’t really make a difference.
Anathema has known all her life August 23rd would be an important day. And she was right about that.
It’s just that, instead of being the anniversary of the end of the world, the date now marks a beginning.