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Consequence
Contributed by
AaronAVP
on
Tuesday, 5th April 2011 @ 07:13:24 PM in AEST
Topic:
war
|
Consequence.
Staring into the water, the image of a man haunts my thoughts. Ashes cloak his flesh, staining his body with fear. Debris crumbles beneath his feet, burying the remnants of his past. He’s abandoned his life, his family, his love. As he stumbles down the street, the faces of his children remain still. Grasping their hands, he regrets the promises he’s made. He apologizes for his mistakes, and for the consequence they must pay. Pushing forward, the melodies of whom he’s lost echo through silence in his head. The man falls to his knees, and cries in remorse for the generations yet unborn; for defiling the innocence of man.
...........................................................................................................................
An outcast amongst himself, the man seeks hope between exile. He’s lost the memories he shared, along with those who shared them. Now his eyes scan the horizon, searching for what remains of his past. Fixed upon the rubble of a shattered building, he follows the trail of damage into the remnants of an elementary school. Wandering the hallways, his eyes gaze upon the abandoned classrooms, the shattered windows, and the carnage of youth. He remembers the laughter of his children. He can imagine the expressions of their faces; the beauty of their innocence. He’s reminded of his own childhood; his own memories, and his own passion. However, this brief moment of righteousness is abruptly cut short, as reality sinks in. The faces of his youth, of his descendents, have been scarred by the decisions he’s made. They no longer express love, instead, wear the face of betrayal. With this epiphany, the man says his farewell, and continues on the trail of his traumatized conscious.
...........................................................................................................................
Strolling along the cracks of a broken road, the man stops to examine the carcass of a shattered tree. Severed limbs lay tangled around its core, showcasing the destructive wrath of mankind. Painted in ashes of the leaves it once held, the remains of this tree no longer hold Mother Nature’s love. It no longer sways in the wind on a cool breezy day, or provides shade against the merciless sunlight. The man notices the scraps of a maintained leaf, and cautiously examines the foliage within his palm. The man envisions life before he ruined it, and is overcome with regret. He misses the smell of freshly mown lawns, and the feeling of sand between his toes. No longer will birds chirp in the morning, or flowers blossom in the spring. No longer will nature flourish in the beauty of life, and mankind will cease to exist.
..........................................................................................................................
At last, the man converges to the intent of his travels. Hidden by wreckage, the man hardly recognizes what’s left. His knees now trembling, the man enters the house of his past, and prepares himself for what was to come. The man approaches his kitchen, and finds only rubble mixed with pieces of wall torn from the explosion. Trudging through the debris, he works his way to the living room. Again, the man finds only devastation. The man then approaches the last hallway in his house. He takes a deep breath, and opens the door to his master bedroom. The image revealed brought the man into a state of panic, knocking him mercilessly to the floor with angst. Mangled upon his bed, lay the clotted body of his dearly beloved, holding in her hands the memories they shared together. Advancing to her empty frame, he apologizes for the mistakes he’s made. He takes the book from her hands, and opens to a random page. Wiping the tears off his face, the man stashes the picture into his pocket. As he leaves the house, memories of the life they lived pass by, and he resumes his travels.
..........................................................................................................................
As his final destination grows near, the man can feel his mistakes follow. Around every corner death lurches, waiting to be noticed. The sky, dark and bleak, cries harder than ever before, as if it were attempting to cleanse the surface of humanity. Facing the seacoast, the man recite’s his vows to the woman he loves. To the children he’s lost. To the lives he took away. He reaches into his pocket, and stares into the eyes of his beloved. After saying his goodbye, he flips the picture over. The man then stares into the water, and he begins to write…
Copyright ©
AaronAVP
... [
2011-04-05 19:13:24]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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