“Do something,” they said when the thoughts and prayers just wouldn’t cut it anymore. They had re-election to think about. In the summer of 2073 congress reinstated the draft.
Every able-bodied citizen aged eighteen to twenty-five would serve, fighting wildfires and drought on the West coast or hurricanes and flooding down South. We used children to clean up our mess again. Our enemy this time was the Earth itself.
The battle lines were finally crossed when the wealthy had to pay. They could have made peace, but it wasn’t profitable. Extinction was inevitable when progress was built on human suffering.
About the Creator
Leslie Writes
Another struggling millennial. Writing is my creative outlet and stress reliever.
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FPS: The Last Flame Challenge Winners
Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.
By Vocal Curation Team5 days ago in Resources
Comments (7)
Yikes! So well written.... Hope we can change direction in time.
They could have made peace, but it wasn’t profitable. Extinction was inevitable when progress was built on human suffering. There's just so much truth in these lines! This was such a powerful story!
So powerfully done; I know everyone already said it, but - this feels so real! "Our enemy this time was the Earth itself." That really got me. We are (have already) pushed her too far :( Amazing work
Unfortunately so much truth in a fictional story! Well done. Especially loved the line that the children will clean up the mess 😢
Nice story😉❤️
😩. Ugh I hate that it feels so real!! Really well written, Leslie!! 👏
This is meant to be Fiction, not current events 😣