The Last

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 of 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 loneliness

 

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

Coming 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 compels him to the cave

Something calls 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

Armored 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 view 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 direction 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 into each others eyes

They know it is love