When the Sky Burns

His eyes burned. The sun would never shine on him again. The sky would never show its gentle blue hues. Calm, grey clouds would never float across the horizon. Only blazing fires remained to rain down from space.

His eyes burned. Tears slid down his dusty cheeks. Was it from the tragic scene around him or the brightness of the chaos above? Was it from the loss of his family or the betrayal of his country’s leaders?

The man tore his eyes away from the sky. Riots raged in the streets. Broken bodies littered the ground. Breaking glass and gunshots thundered their blaring crescendos.

How did it come to this? Where did it all go wrong? Why did They take away humanity’s freedom? Why couldn’t They have just passed Earth by all those years ago?

He looked to his left. A little girl sat slumped on the ground, no parent in sight. Half of a small, heart shaped locket rested in her limp hand. The man wondered where the other half could have gone.

He looked to his right. A crashed ship lay on the ground. A soldier was stuck under the debris, reaching for help. The man turned away and started walking. He could hear the soldier behind him. His throat gurgled as he tried to scream for help. The man kept walking.

He stumbled through his childhood city, walking familiar streets that would never be the same. So many landmarks were destroyed in the first battle. It felt like only yesterday he was on his way to his graduation ceremony. The day the sky lit up.

Arriving at the city’s western park, the man looked at the toppled statue of the prime minister's peace signing with Them. He had struggled for so many years to survive and for what?

The sky was still blazing and there was no sign that the fighting would end. Cable television no longer worked and the little news he did hear was just rumours. Any lawfulness left in this city had disappeared 4 days ago. There was no hope.

A body lay against the ruined statue. It had already rotted beyond recognition. The man slumped down beside it. The sickly-sweet smell of rotting flesh did not faze him. His glassy eyes turned up to the sky. A low-altitude dreadnought was under heavy fire. It would likely crash soon.

Returning his gaze to his corpse companion, the man noticed a glint around its neck. It was the other half of the locket the young girl had. He pulled it from the body’s neck and rose from the ground. Shoving the necklace into his pocket, he began tracking his way back to the body of the young girl.

Why was he returning the other half of the locket? Both owners were already dead so what was the point? He didn’t know.

Turning through the streets, his pace quickened. A small bounce crept its way into his step. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was his yearning to be reunited with his loved ones? Or the satisfaction of reuniting others in the chaos? The man could only guess.

He rounded the last corner onto the main city street. His glassy eyes slowly cleared as he scanned the area for the young girl. Spotting her, he half ran to her side pulling the necklace out of his pocket as he did so. He knelt and his heart sank as he looked at what lay in his hand.

They didn’t match. The two necklaces couldn’t have been more different. What the man thought was a heart locket on the corpse in the park was a piece of a soldier's dog tag. The bottom half appeared to have been melted away.

The man leaned back against the wall beside the girl. There was no way he’d ever actually find the other half. It was stupid to even think he had. There was nothing to be gained in this hellscape. Nothing to live for. He was foolish to think otherwise. Sleep was the only thing left that he could bear so he closed his eyes and let the darkness creep in.