The End of all Beginnings

They faced the sky. The growing light kept on expanding, filling the universe with a very warm glow. He felt the sunspots dance before his eyes, making his mind fuzzy. All the light seemed to penetrate right through his head, making him feel warm and light-headed. He couldn't turn away from the giant sun, because it was simply everywhere. Not long now.

He spun round and faced Rosanna, her sunburnt cheeks glowing warmly like the sky. Her blue eyes sparkled with awe and her blonde hair seemed to have gotten a lot lighter, giving her an unearthly appearance. He stepped towards her, longing desperately for one last touch, one last kiss, one last moment of intimacy before it was too late. But their last moment may have already passed.

She wove her fingers into his, urgently attempting to catch his eye. But he refused to look at her. Because if he did, he would feel too guilty for not doing more to stop what could come. Because if he let himself drown in love and forget about the world, he would surely die before it ended.

"Richie," she whispered softly into his ear, and he recognised her tone immediately. Fear. Despite everything he had done, everything he had told her, she had not managed to fight away the fear, and there she stood, a figure of light battling with darkness. How he wished she could live to see another day.

Finally, he could no longer resist the temptation. He tore his eyes away from the meaningless view, and focused on her, contained in a bubble of light like the angel she was. She smiled in relief, her piercing eyes glowing with diamonds. And one look from her was enough to turn his world inside out. Tears streamed down his face, both regret and lost love spinning through him on the inside. "Soon it will be over," he thought to himself. "Soon this pain will end and death will rule the earth once more." He wanted to live, if only for Rosanna, but at the same time, he knew his wish could never be and he wanted to escape this twisted reality of life, a mere joke death decided to play. Rosanna was his world, not earth, but if there was no future with her, there was no future at all.

The earth began to shake as the light disappeared. Panicked, thoughtless and completely oblivious to his previous concerns, he bent down and kissed her, with all the passion he could muster. He realised he had done it wrong. Rather than spending his precious time left loving her, he had distanced himself from her, preparing for the pain. "I'm sorry," He whispered in her ear, pushing his nose against her temple. "I love you," he whimpered, the tears like a waterfall - he couldn't hold it back.

She looked up at him and whispered the same, and kissed him one more time.

Then the sky exploded.

And he knew that if there was life after this, without Rosanna, that it wasn't worth living.