The Last

story by: Tony Anderson
Written on Jul 27, 2016

Bare bone scattered across the land
The sun has the heat of a billion atomic bombs
This is a desert
This is a waste
This is his hell

He was once part tof a great civilization
A civilization of free thinkers
A civilization of the free spirited
A civilization where all could be
A civilization where dreams did come true

Mighty warriors lived fought and died
To keep this society going
To keep the freedoms they loved
The last battle was the worst
He is 
The last warrior
The last of his civilization
The last 

Once a member of That great team of warriors
The people called them
Killers 
Assasins
Sure there were those who took side jobs
Jobs given by underhanded people
However most were true to the cause
Ready at a moments notice
To defend what mattered most to them
Friends
Family
Or even those who they did not know

The only reason he survived the last big battle
Is because
Someone at the last moment
Shoved him into a giant hole
Before the big blast came
After crawling out of the hole
He found
All that he knew
All that he loved
Was no more
Gone
Never to love or be loved again

He walks through the wasteland
Trying to survive the best he can
Finding supplies in abandoned building
or where else he can
He hunts
using a makeshift bow
He carved using a pocket knife he found
As well as the arrows for that bow
He has a pistol but very little ammo
When he finds a biulding and hunts for supplies
The ammo is almost always gone

He walks in hopes to find another survivor
Somewhere
He walks in hope
Yet
Has found no one
Only lonliness

A forest looms in the distance
From this far
It looks lush and green
Also looks as if it may have just had a good rain
That is from this distance
He will know more
When he gets there

The closer he gets
The more he can tell that it indeed is a forest
Lush
Green
and seems to be full of life
At least animal life
That is
He is careful
Still thinking it is a trick of the desert heat
Still it would be a nice change
If it were true

Finally after what seemed like forever
He reaches the forest edge
He reaches out one hand toward a tree
Finding it 
Solid
Strong
Not a trick of the desert heat
There before him is a true forest
In the distance he hears 
The sound of rushing water
Comming from a mighty river
He also hears the sound of a waterfall
Crashing upon the rocks

He enters the forest
Leaving the desert wasteland behind him
The sound of birds echoes in the tree
The sound of other animals running through the bushes
Hunting will be good here

Still he finds buildings here and there
Gathering what supplies he can
In the trees he finds
Vegetation worth eating
He has made a net with sticks and leaves
He hopes to catch fish in the river with

When he reaches the river
He takes his first shower in a long time
Under the waterfall 

After the shower
He looks up and sees a cave
Something compells him to the cave
Something call to him from the cave
He climbs the slippery rocks
To the entrance

At the cave he senses the calling even stronger
He enters the cave and sees
At the other end is a glowing light
He stays close to the wall
Walking carefully he approaches
Upon reaching the glow
He sees that it is a mirror
Not one made of glass
Though one made of liquid

He feels compelled to step through the mirror
He does so slowly
As he reaches for the mirror
His hand shakes and trembles
As soon as his hand is through the mirror
He feels a tug
He is pulled in
Yanked by a force unknown
He passes out

When he comes to
He is back in his hometown
Before the war that destroyed everything
Though he is in a crowd
No one seems to notice him
Like he is nothing more than a shadow
Or maybe he is solid
and they are the shadows

Why he has been brought here
He does not know
He moves among the crowd
He sees a man standing on a street corner
Holding a sign that says "The end is near"
It takes a moment
He relizes this is the young man who 
Shoved him into the giant hole
Before the blast that destroyed everything
In the war

Just then he hears a voice he remembers
He turns to see
A  younger version of himself
He is dressed in his warrior uniform
Black slacks
Whites t-shirt
Amared jacket
Black combat boots
Utility belt

The voice came from his wife
Seeing her brings a tear to his eyes
For he knows this is the day
The day he left for war
He's wife joins up with him
Just the beauty of her
brings a smile to his face

His wife begins to talk
She tells him to be careful
and if at all possible to return alive
Then she speaks the words
That floods his soul
She says to him
That no matter what happens
She loves him
She will Always be with him

The vision fades as he passes out once more
When he comes to again
He is back in the cave
Though this time
Instead of the liquid mirror
There is an opening
A way out

He goes through the hole 
Onto a clift
In the side of the mountain
The veiw before him is the 
Lush
Green
Forest he remembered entering earlier

He starts climbing down the side of the mountain
When he reaches the bottom
He hears singing
It sounds like a female voice
He starts out in the derection of the singing

He comes to the river
Through the bushes he sees a woman
Sitting at the riverside
He comes from behind the bushes
She sees him and smiles
He cuts a vine and swings to her side of the river

They begin to talk
They learn from each other
That niether has seen anyone else
Though they have just met
They both feel as if
They have known each other for years
They look deep nto each others eyes
They know it is love

 

Tags: happy, love,

 

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