Revelation

I remember the first explosion. It was nighttime and I was standing on my porch. I watched as fire rose from the ground like a seed sprouting. When it reached the heavens, the head blossomed like a flower, opening and spreading wide. Its heat evaporated everything above it except for one lone cloud. I can still see it so clearly. The pressure wave pushed it away, the fire couldn’t keep pace. Then the earth heaved beneath my feet and the world went black.

That was years ago. Since that time the planet has taken its revenge upon us. Burning rain dissolves any flesh it touches. The grey clouds lay thick over the world blocking out both sun and moon. Most plantlife that flourished was poisonous. It only took five years for much of humanity to perish. In its darkest hour, mankind turned on itself as it always did. We all became beasts then.

But something has changed. The rain comes less frequently but still brings death with its touch. Word has come through town that somewhere north, the ash clouds have thinned enough that someone presumably saw a star shining in the night sky. I laugh, but deep down there is a painful yearning for it to be true.

I stood by during the twilight of Man’s destruction. I pray I will still be here to witness the dawn of his resurrection as well. We must survive.