The End

A young girl in pigtails sat smiling atop her father’s shoulders waving a sign she couldn’t even read. “Save the Earth!” they chanted as she mimicked them with her babble. Supposed “chaos” and “anarchy” brought the happiest of times.

A ten year old girl made a wild grab for the frame as wildfires engulfed her childhood. A kiss on her temple, hacking coughs, and a shove towards fresh air. The singed picture was all she had left of her dad as she sobbed into a fireman’s jacket, the flame’s hot breath still searing her back. 

A young woman watched as her house flooded, as the gods tore up the world. She watched the little girl’s smile drown and fade away. She was angry at the world and tired of being the scared little mouse always scuttling away. Standing her ground, she defiantly watched nature’s destructive revenge. She gasped as the rushing tides and slicing wind ripped apart machines and relieved tortured animals from their lives of pain. Stared as Mother Earth cured herself, purging the land of poisonous humans. The strength, the liberation. As her own destruction throttled towards her, she couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of The End. 


(I wrote this story to the flash fiction prompt "Unexpected Beauty")

 

amaryllis

CA

YWP Alumni

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