Itnaya's Sacrifice at World's End

The ship whirred like a giant bee. It darted above, swishing the trees in town. Itnaya looked up and choked. Tears flowed out from his weary eyes. When the ship vanished in the darkening morning light, Itnaya moved out of the house. He looked back to the house and remembered Shiya and their two sons waving goodbye at him during the days when he would leave for his daily job in the city. He swallowed a lump that had formed in the throat.

The streets in town were full of dead vehicles and scattered thrashes. The whisper of the wind was the only sound that was there. Itnaya passed through abandoned cars. The houses were all open and empty. The town folks had been in the airbase, struggling to board the last ship bound for Mars. Itnaya knew he could never go with them. They agreed it upon. At the very least, he would save his wife and two sons.

Itnaya crossed the outskirts of the town. He trailed a clearing that leads to the highest mountain. He pictured himself staying in the peak, waiting for the world to end.

After an hour of climbing, he got tired and fell asleep at the foot of a locust tree. He dreamed of what had happened.

The town folks were in front of the Minister of Salvation. “The last ship can only take less than 500 people. Your town’s population is more than that number. The council has resolved to take a maximum of 3 persons from each registered household. You must understand that if the number of passengers exceeds, the ship won’t get to Mars…”

The dream shifted to her wife. “Itnaya, we cannot leave without you….” Shiya’s words seemed spoken through a well, slowly fading like she was being devoured by the abyss beneath the well.

And then, the dream changed to him standing outside the airbase with Shiya and their sons. “You must leave now, Shiya.” He kissed his sons on the forehead, the younger first. He kissed her lonely wife on the lips and imprisoned her in his arms one last time. “You must leave for me. Take care of our sons.” Shiya’s tears streamed down her cheeks, slowly soaking Itnaya’s chest.

And then, they heard the sentinel at the gates of the airbase shouted the gates would be locked in 5 minutes. “I will always love you,” whispered Itnaya and he let go of Shiya.

Shiya and their sons walked inside the airbase. They were the last in the queue that was moving like a millipede.

The last thing Itnaya saw before his family got inside the ship was Shiya’s begging eyes, drowned with tears of love.

Deafening thunderbolts and strong earthquakes awakened Itnaya. It was the inception of Earth’s agony. He stood up and rushed to the mountain peak as the land danced from music that humanity had composed and played. It was a music based on notes that humanity created. Notes that had made Global Warming worst.

At the peak of the mountain, Itanya faced to the east and spread his arms like an eagle. He wanted to welcome the death of the world. The sky wept as thunderbolts kept on coming. The ground that had held civilizations charged humanity with his every creation. Itnaya tried hard not to fall. He gazed across the horizon. The ocean had risen and reached the highest weeping clouds. It imbibed everything in the lowlands. And now it was coming to him.

Itnaya was waiting for his demise. He was ready for it. He smelled the breath of the ocean as he closed his eyes. There was silence as time stopped for him. He saw Shiya’s beautiful smile. He saw his sons smiled. He saw himself lift them against the fierce sun. He heard them babbled when they were babies. He felt them rode at his back while acting like he was a horse. He felt them clenched around his legs upon arriving from work. He saw Shiya teasing and inviting him to bed. He placed his head over her bosom and heard the beat of forever love. But then he heard the ocean whistled and splashed. The ocean took him as the end of the world took his family away. He tasted seawater. His lungs quit and his heart stopped. Slowly he felt numb, and darkness was all he could see.