The Locket

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“At last!” Roared Ivan, holding the precious piece of heart-shaped jewellery triumphantly above his head, clutching it tightly in his enormous grip. He glowered in the rays of pure adoration flooding from his audience, faces of all ages beamed up at him and oh how they cheered, the thunderous applause shook the very foundations they were standing on. Finally, the locket had been restored. As Ivan waved his mighty fist high above the crowd, he felt the coliseum walls shake around him, he thought he had known power, this, this was true power. Ivan threw his head back, allowing his booming, terrible war cry to carry his people’s cheers to new heights, the pillars continued to shake and splinter around the chaos. Feet stamped, hunters roared, family’s cheered - the atmosphere was nothing short of electric, and Ivan could feel it all, it surged through him like a bolt of lightning, splintering into every fibre of his body. It was better than anything he’d felt before, he never wanted it to end, he revelled greedily in the applause, as the dead Earth continued to shake and tremble beneath them.

31.12.2060

Daniel ordered a coffee, the same coffee he ordered every day, from the same Starbucks on his corner. He waited patiently, took his cappuccino to a nearby table and took a sip. He scrolled through his phone absent-mindedly and waited for the number 46 bus to arrive, the stop sitting just outside the window. As he raised his to-go cup to his lips, he noticed the coffee inside trembling subtly. He looked around the coffee shop, nothing out of the ordinary. When Daniel returned his attention to his coffee, the ground began to rumble, like a ravenous stomach. Then, right in the middle of Starbucks, the tiled floor beneath them, split.

Daniel stared at the growing hole, a horrified expression on his pale face as others vacated their seats and ran screaming to the doors, Daniel sat petrified and watched as the rapidly widening edge approached him. Eventually, instinct kicked in and adrenaline filled his veins as he fled into the street. He began to run but the hole’s movement was now increasing in speed, inching closer and closer as he sprinted away. Turning his head, he saw others running alongside him, the crack was spreading rapidly, pulling innocents into it’s gaping mouth. Panting and terrified, he continued to run towards home, praying for his only son’s safety. He held the locket secured around his neck tightly as he ran, his good luck charm.

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“It’s been six years my lord, and we still have yet to see any change since retrieving the locket, the people are beginning to doubt your strength, Sir”.

Ivan peered at the small man coldly. “are you suggesting the same, Pickett?”

Pickett stared at his feet intently, not daring to meet his King’s gaze. “No Sire” he stuttered, “of course I would never question your, tremendous power.” He quivered. Pulling in a large breath of air, Pickett continued carefully, “however, as your advisor, I feel I must bring this news to your attention, such is my duty”.

Ivan detested Pickett, he was weak and puny. The perfect choice for an advisor, a weasel who would quake under his glare and eavesdrop on conversations in order to bring Ivan new intelligence. Still, it didn’t mean Ivan had to like the snivelling toad.

Pickett had been useful while the hunt for the locket was active, setting up excavation teams in the uncharted areas, ensuring every effort was taken to locate the all-important necklace, a feat Ivan’s forefathers had not been strong enough to finish.

They sat in the dining hall, seated far apart around a large piece of plastic that had been converted to a table many years ago. “So what exactly do you suggest I do?” Ivan replied curtly. “Why should I care if the townsfolk doubt me, I have the locket!” He chucked, “I have single-handedly achieved what my fathers before failed to do, their fathers and grandfathers wasted years toiling, depleting our resources.” Ivan began to ramble, his age showing in the hollows of his eyes, tiny bloodshot marbles peering out from deep, purple caves as his incessant mouth hole continued madly. Pickett rolled his own marbles, exasperated by the king’s continuous droning voice, he simply couldn’t understand what he was failing to see? They had been promised life once the locket was returned, grass, crops and rainfall, he looked past Ivan’s trembling, sweaty face out to the world before him, a desolate wasteland. The half of the planet they clung to was desolate, the sky was a permanent shade of blood orange. He dared to interrupt, “Sir. You are mighty and powerful, knees tremble at the sight of your almighty…ness” it was always best to cut in with an ego boost, Ivan would actually listen then, “but we must do something to pull back the people’s trust, perhaps if you’d let us try burying the locket..”

“ENOUGH” Ivan bellowed, silencing the worm. “The locket is mine. It will not be buried, melted or crushed in a futile attempt to refill our resources.”

Pickett hung his head in defeat, again. He had tried to reason with the king on many an occasion, but he was blind with power, obsessed with the trinket he wore around his red, pulsing neck. The trinket Pickett had devoted his life to finding, like his father and grandfathers. After 6 years of living in the same squalor he had since his birth, Pickett had had enough.

31.12.2060

Daniel burst through his front door, the world behind him had descended into chaos in the 10 minutes it took to run home. He needed a moment to catch his breath, he had grown far too comfortable in his easy lifestyle and never exercised, but he knew time was short. He called out loudly for James, running around the house searching as he avoided large chunks of plaster and brick crashing around him. Running upstairs, desperately crying out for him, he found his son cowering in the cupboard, crying quietly into his tiny 10-year-old hands as his world fell apart around him. Letting out a sob of relief, Daniel crouched down and held his son close, feeling the tiny arms cling around his neck.

“Son, keep this safe” Daniel whispered quickly, attaching the already tarnished locket around James’s thin neck as the room around them trembled, threatening to collapse at any moment. “It’s very important.” James stared into his father’s sad eyes, not understanding what was happening or why. Daniel stood with a lump in his throat, holding the boy tightly to his chest. “I love you” he whispered into James’ ear. Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, savouring his last moments, his last tiny hug, and hurled James out of the open window staring into his confused, scared eyes as the ceiling finally collapsed, the ground opened beneath him, and he was swallowed with their home into the gigantic fire filled hole below.

2070

James sat stoic atop the rubble of a long-destroyed building, staring out at the enormous cliff before him, where the other half of the Earth could be seen floating far away in the distance, like looking at a super-waning-gibbous moon. Fingering the locket gingerly between his dirty fingers, he debated attempting to open it again. He dismissed the idea, knowing after 10 years of trying that it was pointless, and began his descent to the parched Earth below. There were surviving reservoir’s all over the place, he had set up camp about 50 yards from one so he could have easy access to water – surviving animals were easy to capture for food here too as they sought out the closest supply. James had grown strong, needing to fend for himself since the age of ten, he remembered his dad, he was pretty sure he’d been a good one as James only had happy memories. All he had to cling to from his former life was the locket, the very important locket. He couldn’t bring himself to smash it open, it was too precious to him.

James approached the large rock that doubled as a door to his pitiful home and stopped short, seeing that it had already opened a crack – he pushed it the rest of the way and raised his fists ready to defend his dwelling from trespassers, when he saw the woman with long black hair huddled on the floor, protecting a wailing lump. Stunned, James lowered his fists and stared, he had not seen another living person since the split. He stepped forward warily and the stranger immediately leapt to their feet, brandishing a piece of metal already stained with blood, clutching the wailing child closely. “Don’t come any closer” she warned, but her eyes and trembling voice betrayed her as no killer, a survivor. James raised his hands slowly to the air and asked if he could speak. Still shaking with energy and fear, the woman nodded sharply.

James explained that she was welcome to stay if she would help gather food so they came to an arrangement. After living peacefully together for a few months, their relationship changed into a loving, romantic arrangement and together they raised many children. James grew old and was happy when he died, he had stumbled across and come to love a good woman in this desolate existence, sired many children and they had sired their own, creating their own little village, living humbly on the remains of the land.

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Ivan thought of his father as he fingered the locket around his neck, he had been raised on the fable of it’s power, how their ancestors had buried it on their land so it could never be stolen, how as the years went on and they spread across the land their resources dwindled. It was the only answer, the locket was gone and suddenly the reservoirs are empty, the animals disappear. Thus began the hunt, centuries spent foraging and searching for the locket, believing that once it was hung around a descendant’s neck again the animals would return and the rain would once again fall, saving them from certain death. But the locket had been found 7 years ago, Ivan had never removed it from his person and still nothing changed. He didn’t care. He had his own personal water supply and enough food to last him until his dying day, such was the benefits of being a direct descendant. As he stretched out in his chambers, Ivan began to doze into a slumber, not hearing the footsteps creeping up behind him, as a slimy weasel-like hand reached towards the chain around his neck.

Pickett hid in his hovel, knowing it was only a matter of time before the king’s suffocated body was found, locketless. He held the gold necklace tight in his hand and felt… angry. Burning anger consumed him as he recalled the wasted years, spent hunting for a useless, worthless trinket. He hurled the tainted jewellery to the ground and it bust open suddenly, a bright white beam shot from the open heart into the sky. Pickett stared dumbfounded, fearful of what was to happen next…

*****

Billions of humans died following the events that occurred on the 31st December 2060, the news had informed them for years that their planet was not safe, that they had successfully poisoned mother Earth so badly during their existence, there was no coming back. But people don’t want to listen to the things they’ve done wrong, paper straws in restaurants, increasing congestion charges, introducing electric cars – it meant nothing. The Earth was dying, no one could tell you what the straw that finally broke that poor camel’s back was, only that it did break, it snapped in two.