The End

The man walked slowly across the frozen land, his booted feet dragging in the snow. He had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no one to care what he did or where he went. It was a bleak day - perfect to accommodate his mood. The world had left him. All that remained for him was listless wanderings. He vaguely remembered a time when this was not so. He had been happy then. Happy when *they* had been alive. They had been there to share his happiness. Now there was only sorrow. He wondered, were they sharing in that too? It made him feel guilty to think about them.

The man shook his head. He didn’t need this now. Those thoughts and memories had no place here. Nothing had a place here - except, perhaps, himself; himself and loneliness. But then, he wasn’t really lonely. he much preferred it like this. He was alone with his thoughts; alone with the empty shells that *were* his emotions.

He was just waiting. For death, perhaps, but surely the world would end before it was seen fit for him to die. Yes, that was it. And he alone realized that the world was ending. Atleast it was back there, back in the place where he had once been happy. The world had left him, but he could never truly leave the world. The world would end and he would end with it. Nothing could be done to change it, and he didn’t want to. What purpose would it serve?

There was nothing here. He smiled slightly. Maybe it would be good to die. This isn’t to say he looked forward to it, he just wouldn’t mind when it happened. It would put an end to this existence, this unending wandering... wandering to nowhere...

The man thought back to the City from whence he had come so long ago. The bright lights. That’s what he’d so loved about it. The bright lights shining against the darkness. The City always left it’s mark in various ways, but the lights were harmless. Two exceptionally bright lights had come for his wife and daughter. They had put out the lights in their eyes and he had watched them go.

“Needless thoughts, these,” the man murmured to himself, shaking his head. And they were needless. The past could not be changed and soon the City would be gone. Soon everything would be gone. Except, perhaps, himself and the loneliness.

No, he would end with the world and maybe he would be nothing after that - simply cease to exist. Or maybe he would be reunited with *them*. He didn’t care either way. He’d be dead, so why did it matter?

The sun moved slowly across the sky. As it touched the horizon, the man looked at it. It was a dull, red, fiery ball sitting on the horizon. All of the sky was stained a sickly shade of pink.

The man did not cease his walking. He looked straight at the sun, unblinking. The expression on his face was that of a blank calmness, nearly perfectly unreadable. The snow shone brilliantly around him. He walked on, straight into a dying sunset of a dying world. His last thought was “I wonder if they know...”

The thought went unfinished, as do so many things.

***

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