Final

Wanting to argue my side, but repeatedly cut off by more taunts of discouragement, I flung myself around to face them. Met with not one, but a chorus of voices pleading for me to just accept it as truth. They revealed to me that hope was a misconception that I had conjured up to find a sense of tranquility.

“Enough!” I yelled. Blinded by rage, I Grabbed whatever was heavy at my feet and tossed it at her. “Just because you’ve given up doesn’t mean I have!” I shouted with all my might, watching as her face shattered into millions of pieces. Breathing heavily, a slow smile crossed her dirty cracked lips through the broken pieces that now littered the floor. Realizing what I had thrown, the smile I had adorn instantaneously fading into a frown. I rushed up towards my baby cuddling and cooing away her cries.

“I’m sorry!” I yelled, my heart sinking at what I had just done. Checking every inch of her to make sure she was okay. I sighed out in relief knowing that she wasn’t hurt. Placing her carefully onto my shoulder, I rocked her “It’s okay, mommy’s sorry.” Pressing my lips onto her cold, hard forehead, I looked down at her unblinking hazel eyes. She stared back into mine, smiling at me with her permanent and carefully crafted pink lips. She had no cracks or injuries to her and that made me happy seeing that everything checked out okay. Slinging her back onto my shoulder, I patted her back as I carried her away from the room. Sliding on my gas mask, I walked out into a world of swirling sand that seemed to replace the air. The familiar scene of decaying trees and grass filled my line of sight with its deadly beauty.

Walking over to the nearest rocking chair that was closest to the door, I plopped down with a sigh and began rocking back and forth while patting my babies back. I stared into the world, lost in thought when I found myself staring up at the depressing brown sky, that would no longer bless me with its crisp, clear face. Thinking about how the world once was, I closed my eyes, trying to Imagine how the sun use to shine brightly in all its glory, When it would welcome me inside it’s warm felt hugs and cast its bright beauty over the darkened earth, chasing away the evil of every night. I smiled at the memory, feeling my skin tingle as if it too remembered.

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, bringing my sight back down to the underworld below this now dreadfully dead sky. Only to stare at the never ending smog, the never ending smoke and the never ending waste land. I was so sick and tired of it all. My gaze shifted off towards the distance, squinting my eyes I tried to get a better look as I studied what was in the sky. As it drew near, I could see thick brown clouds hurtling towards me.

Lighting flashed abnormal vines, like veins throughout the clouds inner body. It danced about, pulsating in unnatural rhythms, as if it were alive. The thunder boomed in-tune with the lightning, It sounded like a heart beat but not quite. It’s slow baritone vibrations made the earth beneath my feet vibrate with it. Holding my baby tighter in my arms, I patted her back, reassuring her that everything was just fine.

“They’re wrong…” I said to my baby as I peered out at the storm before us. I had a strong feeling in my gut that everything was going to be okay as I repeated those four simple words “I am not alone.”