Charcoal Earth

I had done it. I had finally figured out how to truly alter the powers of space and time. It was such a glorious day, the greatest day that I ever had. I cannot explain to you the joys I felt when I first set foot in my machine! It was so glorious! I was about to see what had never been seen in the history of the Earth! I was about to see the future!
But tomorrow I will jump. I will fall to the black waters that lie in wait below the bridge. For I saw the future. I do not despair because all of my efforts were in vain. No, I despair because I succeeded.
I remember the first thing I felt when I stepped into that machine. I felt my world spinning around me. I felt a feeling of euphoria so powerful, that it almost caused me pain. I began to grow sick, and I vomited within the tightly closed contraption. Then the spinning stopped, and the disease was lifted.
It was dark within the machine. The only light was that of my digital watch, which was showing symbols I could not comprehend, due, I assumed, to the effects of my time machine. I switched on the control panel light, and typed in the command to open the door.
I thought for a moment that the machine had malfunctioned, that the door was stuck due to the pressure placed upon it by time travel. But then I saw a star in the distance. The world of the future was cold and dark. I took my first steps outside the machine and turned on a flashlight. I saw the ruins of a building before me, still burning, but with a black, cold flame. I turned my flashlight in other directions, and saw an entire city destroyed by black fire; a bombing site, I presumed.
Sirens sounded in the distance. I saw people running towards me, wearing black clothing. Some had guns, but some were unarmed. I saw explosions in the distance. Huge, colorless explosions. Bombs were falling upon this city.
I ran with the crowd. I ran so fast, that I tripped several times. A blanket of black fire was falling upon the ground behind me. The bombs were dropping quickly. Finally, the crowd of people I had been accompanying stopped and retreated into a bunker. I followed them.
The bunker was lit brightly. People began to huddle around a fire in the center of the room, discussing what they would do after the attack. I could hear the bombs outside. I can recall one of the subjects of the discussion. One of the men said, “This is nothing compared to what they’ll do next. They’ve got the Sun-Bomb.”
I asked about this Sun-Bomb they spoke of. They answered me. They told me that researchers had discovered a way to harness the power of the sun into a weapon of destruction. The power taken to fuel this weapon depleted the sun’s light. I personally found this development incredible, that a civilization could be so advanced as to harness the power of the sun into a massive weapon.
I disbanded from my conversation only hungering for more knowledge. I turned to see a newspaper lying on top of a table. On the front page was an article about an American dictator who was slaughtering millions of innocent people and bombing cities the whole world over. The article claimed that this dictator had access to the Sun-Bomb, and that once launched, the bomb would illuminate the world for a week, and then annihilate it. Then there was a name.
So tomorrow is the last day of human civilization. The skies are already brightly lit, and the gasoline filled water below the bridge can kill a man instantly with a touch. So I will jump from the bridge. I will see the world for the last time in my life, but it will not be the world I want to see. I shall do these things because the name of the dictator in the newspaper was my own.