draliman on life

Here is my contribution to Sunday Photo Fiction. You can view all the 100-200 word stories by clicking on the blue froggy, and why not have a go yourself?

Simon and Shelley sat hand in hand on the hill top, looking out at the rapidly brightening sky.

“Is it true, do you think?” asked Shelley quietly, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face.

“All contact with Australia was lost hours ago. Russia. Eastern Europe. All going quiet, one by one.”

“Maybe there’s some other explanation?”

Simon squeezed her hand. “It’s still half an hour to sunrise,” he said sombrely. “See how light the sky is already.”

Shelley nestled her head against him. He put his arm around her shoulders.

“Of all the scenarios we’ve seen in the movies – floods, global warming, alien invasion, even zombies – why did nobody mention this?” asked Shelley, sobbing.

“Maybe someone did,” replied Simon, eyes glistening with his own tears. “Maybe we didn’t see that film.” He hugged her closer.

“It’ll be one hell of a sunrise, though,” said Shelley.

Simon nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

They were still sitting, holding each other tight when the sun rose. Once the bringer of life, it had turned on its children. The most titanic solar firestorm in Earth’s history accompanied the sunrise this morning, burning the planet clean.