Johnathan Sykes

Description from original post (created 2015-12-24 13:40):

We knew they were coming.


The bombs - the cleansing fire.


We just did not know when.



Before then, I was happy. I had my daughter, my little Elizabeth, and I had a wife, Lila. We lived in a nice home on a nice street in a nice neighborhood. Everything was great.



But we could not forget they were coming.


The looming threat of nuclear annihilation was always there.



We would sit on the couch and watch television. It was usually a kids’ program because Elizabeth was in the room - she was 5, by the way. Again, everything was great.



That was until the alarms came.



As they boredly whooped their warnings, I met Lila in the kitchen to engage our plans. We knew the only way out was death. I retrieved the poison vial from my dresser and brought the three of us into the living room.



I mixed the poison with apple juice and handed it to my dear Elizabeth while she cried from fear of the alarms.


“Drink this, honey, it will make everything be ok…” I said to her whilst holding back tears.


Peacefully, she died.


“Goodnight, Elizabeth…”


I handed the vial to Lila. She drank without hesitation. She, too, went into a permanent sleep.



It was my turn.



With nothing left to live for, I threw back the vial and closed my eyes.



It was not enough.



I woke up hours - maybe even days - later in a puddle of my own bile. The poison had not killed me.



I sat up and looked around. My beloved Lila and Elizabeth were dead.



I exited my house and was greeted by snowflakes. I reached out to touch one - it burned like acid.



My family, my neighborhood, and everything I had ever known was destroyed.


Why must  live?


I do not know.


I do not know.


I do not know.