Parable to the Scattered Stars - Verse 3

Verse 3 of 6

iii. Invocation to Whomever Dares Listen

You still haven't moved.

I guess I haven't either.

Sitting here in the snow and ash

numb, but not from the cold

At least there's no one here to find us like this.

There's no one else at all.

We were the last survivors,

the final cinders of hope

in a land that had steadily grown colder.

Until an uninhabitable wasteland was all we shared.

The world ended just like that.

Spires destroyed and walls collapsed

charred remains returned to the soil,

buried beneath a mound of porcelain dust.

All that's left are memories I wish I didn't have.

Without the fire, I can't help but miss the glow.

There was a fragile peace in the devastation,

watching everything I ever knew come to an end,

entirely powerless to do more than observe.

Why concern yourself with what you cannot control?

But here, in the aftermath of it all.

The serenity that has usurped the land

sews only chaos in my heart.

For even the tranquility of the wind is meaningless

to a forlorn soul swept away in it's embrace.

Maybe I don't want to feel.

Maybe I don't want to start over again.

Did you ever think about that

before you decided to burn my world to the ground?

What exactly do you expect from me?

I am no God.

Hell, I'd barely admit to being a man.

Not a strong one, by any means, but you know that.

And yet you test me, over and over again.

Haven't I suffered enough?

Just tell me what you want.

I'll do whatever you ask. Anything.

Tell me what it's gonna take to make this go away.

Not for me, my sliver of fate is well-deserved.

But we both know she doesn't deserve this.

I'll stay away.

Never again will I inflict myself upon her

or anyone else for that matter.

End this miserable existence now if need be.

What the hell does it matter to me anymore?

… Please?

…

I swear, I'll do anything.

Just… do something…

…

I'm not sure what I expected.

Obviously you're not going to just stand back up,

shake the snow from your clothes and walk off

as if you had only tripped and fallen

while on an errand, merely passing through.

Why? Why did you have to come here?

I shouldn't have let you in the door.

I knew better, I really did.

But you overpowered the faint struggle I put up,

brandishing a brazen courage I'd known only my wildest dreams.

Something moves on the horizon, little more than shadows,

through a divide in the trees, once a road now buried in white.

Distant forms grow distinct, though I only recognize a few

Faces I recall from the world beyond, the land of your origin.

Dressed for mourning as if they'd already known.

They stop as they near our half-submerged bodies,

exchanging looks of disappointment rather than sorrow.

They had warned you about this day, with little subtlety.

But then, I had warned you too.

You were nothing if not a dreamer.

Without a word, they take you from me,

forsaking my body for the elements to claim

before heading further into the ruins.

Just like that, we are torn forever apart

And all that's left is to wait on eternity.

Author's Note

Verse 1: http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Sazaku/1785295/

Verse 2 : http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Sazaku/1824857/