For the second time, my world is gone, taken from me when I had finally found the light in an otherwise dim existence. As I walk across the wasteland, I see the towering remains of a life that took mine many years earlier, hollow and lifeless. A reminder to those who remained: the consequences of overconfidence; overreliance on the luxuries of convenience that saturated every waking moment of their life. Industry, they believed, would thrive indefinitely. In their eyes, they were the closest thing to God, achieving the unachievable, making the impossible possible. But they were imperfect, overzealous, and ignorant to the inevitability of what occurred. Like Icarus, they soared into the heavens, oblivious to the ramifications of their ascent. And now, like burnt and broken wings, the towers of lost cities are all that remain, standing like monuments to the fall.
Unlike the masses, I embraced nature, in all its flaws, and enjoyed the simplicity it evoked. Others refused it, wanted to defy the flow of life. Make the world in their image. Make the world. Slowly, the forests shrank, withered and died; in their place stood pillars of a new era. To them it was an era of technology, of prosperity, of perfection. They truly believed they were making things better, easier. They took more and more of the land I loved, and erected their new Paradise. As the new world grew, I watched the world I love die. There was nothing I could do. I was helpless, at the mercy of their will, unable to evoke any change in their minds.
She was the last good thing that remained in my world. Without her I may have never made it through. She understood me and my fears. I couldn’t love her any more than I did. She was the glimmer of hope that good could exist in such a cold, sterile world. She helped me be less cynical about things, kept me grounded. She told me one day I would see the beautiful side of this life. She made me believe it wholeheartedly. I would do anything and everything for her. I was happy. I was home.
The luxury of convenience had been spread too thin. They consumed more than they replaced, taking whatever came by until there was nothing left to take. Resources became scarce, and the illusion of safety crumbled. They panicked. Demanded more, became frenzied when they learned there was nothing to give. Their providers abandoned them, left in the night, leaving the people to fend for themselves. It was chaos. People starved, stole, killed and pillaged whatever remained. I was one of the lucky ones. I survived. I had to. I had to make sure she was safe. I had to remain strong in the face of the overwhelming odds that I wouldn’t make it out alive.
Cruel does not begin to describe how I felt when she passed. Despite all my efforts, illness struck and took her from me. The light that burned so brightly in her had been extinguished all too soon, and there was nothing I could do. Like the multitude of events before, I was at the will of the world, unable to change the immovable fates. I can at least find some solace in the fact that she died peacefully—happy. She told me in her last breath to live on, and not to feel remorse. She said that I was the one man who could see through the end and find rebirth on the other side. She told me I would be the one to find salvation again. I’d never felt more compulsion to be alive than on the day she died. I have lived with that sole thought in mind. That sole thought is the very same one that keeps me alive to this day, searching for new life; searching for rebirth.
I was witness to the extinction unforeseen in the history of humanity, brought about by our own hand. Five long years have passed. Five long years of searching, wandering—hoping. The longer I go the fewer traces of life I encounter. I am alone. The deserts and wastelands stretch out indefinitely, covered by the ghosts of the old world, testaments to the fall. I cannot stop now. For her, I must continue on, searching for that which has been lost. I have hope that I will find life again. I know that nature will survive somewhere. For her, I will find it. I will search every corner of the earth until it is found. I will remain a wanderer in purgatory; I will find the light.
I just had to get this out there and see what you people think. I attempted to write this short to go with a concept for a drawing I've had floating in my head for a while. Finally got around to sketching out my picture today. I feel pretty happy with what I've come up with, but hopefully if there's any glaring flaws in either you can point them out to me. Let me know what you think, if you bother to read the story.
