Last Walk

He stood in silence as the glow in the sky became brighter and brighter.

Eventually it would become as bright as the sun, and then, shortly thereafter, his world would end.

Snow and ice blew around him in all directions.

The way the light glinted off it gave the appearance that he stood amidst a swirling maelstrom of tiny diamonds.

He thought it very beautiful and for a moment his spirits lifted.

It would soon be gone. The snow, the ice, his friends, his family, his world, obliterated by the massive solar flare moving at the speed of light directly toward him and everything he knew.

There was nothing to be done about it now, so he pulled his parka hood up over his cold ears, bowed his head down low as a shield against the blowing snow and freezing winds, and began to walk.

Slowly, one step at a time, watching the snow collapse below each boot and seeing the deep impressions he left behind. It was already beginning to melt.

Each footprint began to fill with water, the frozen tundra upon which he walked was becoming a lake.

He would soon drown, or freeze, or perhaps boil to death depending on how quickly events transpired after the flare hit the outer atmosphere.

The snow had turned to rain.

The last thing he felt was a tear fall from his eye, or was it a raindrop.