Keith Emery
Stories (1/0)
The Ziggurat
I woke to the sound of a hard rain taping on the old tin roof. As I opened my weary eyes, I could barely make out the hazy light coming from the window it was as if the entire room were a brown, orange blur. I reached for my glasses on the nightstand and placed them on my aged face. Perhaps the blur was better I thought as I could now see all that the eerie brown, orange light did reveal. I should by now be used to my dank and dilapidated surroundings still each day the sight fills me with a new sense of despair. As I rose to my feet and walked to the window, I saw the yellow rain running down the pain and seeping through the cracks the sulfurous reek assailed my nostrils. As I peered out the weathered glass, I could see the rain was lifting the sky was clearing somewhat though the heavy rust-colored clouds remained. As I continued to look out, I observed the bleak landscape dotted with many small shacks like my own each containing a mournful soul or perhaps an entire brood in anguish. What the hell happened it was not supposed to be this way. All the technology and machines were supposed to bring us into a perfect state of existence. It was all intended to give us harmony with nature and free us to pursue intellectual greatness how did it go so wrong? I turned from the window and made my way to the small kitchen and living space (one of three rooms in each tiny abode) and there I sat at the small table pondering what was meant to be asking myself why? It was supposed to bring peace and prosperity and it lead us to war It was going to be a world of good health and longevity and that damn thing brought us plague and misery why? I must be careful it can sense our thoughts if it wants to. I reached for an old jewelry box in the center of the table opened it and took out the last thing I truly cherished in this lost world I held the memento in my hand a heart-shaped locket of gold. As I opened it and gazed upon the photo of my beloved wife Sarah the words, I must be careful echoed in my mind. I closed my eyes and searched deep in my soul for the memory of a happy time.
By Keith Emery3 years ago in Fiction