Everyone Is Dying
by Nothingman
The bottle of wine feels heavier with each step. I clean the blood from my hands with a rag and wipe the bottle clean too. I also catch my breath. With so much radiation in the atmosphere, it takes something out of me everyday. But it’s ok. Everyone is dying.
I stop five more times before I reach the roof. The door to the roof is broken and a lone Clawgger eats the metal with a hypnotic hunger. I stick close to the wall and hope it will ignore me. I don’t want to spend my time fighting off a biomechnoid bird that even hell spat out.
I pass the bird and see Yas sitting on the other side of the roof. Her hair, once black, has grayed prematurely. I feel a twinge of sadness in my chest. I walk over to her and sit on the ledge. Our feet dangle 36 stories above the ground. Yas looks at me and takes out a dirty glass goblet from her overcoat. I smile at her and show her the bottle. Her sad, sleep deprived eyes light up and a smile slithers over to her lips. I pull the cork of the bottle and one tooth comes out with it. I hide it in my hand and pour her the wine.
Together, we watch the black smoke rise from the cities as a sick egg yolk sun sets on whatever is left of the planet after World War III.
[Nothingman writes short stories at A Story A Day. He listens to metal that is very heavy and drinks Mountain Dew that is spiked with Vodka.]
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Get the winners of the first 12 Clarity of Night contests in one place! Extras too!!
Listening for the words in a quiet corner of the night. The fiction, poetry, and photography of Jason Evans.
About Me
- Aine
- Collaborator and night owl.
Past Contests
- "Elemental" Short Fiction Contest
- "Uncovered" Short Fiction Contest
- "Silhouette" Short Fiction Contest
- "In Vino Veritas" Short Fiction Contest
- "Ascension" Short Fiction Contest
- "Running Wind" Short Fiction Contest
- "Whispers" Short Fiction Contest
- "Restless Dawn" Short Fiction Contest
- "Halo" Short Fiction Contest
- "Endless Hour" Short Fiction Contest
- "Silent Grey" Short Fiction Contest
- "Lonely Moon" Short Fiction Contest (with Anne Frasier)
- "Midnight Road" Short Fiction Contest
- "Two Lights" Short Fiction Contest
The Official Compilation!
Get the winners of the first 12 Clarity of Night contests in one place! Extras too!!
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~clausum~
25 comments:
For a second I thought that that Clawgger would swoop down and get Yas. Interesting Sci-Fi piece.
Cool post-apocolyptic vibe and the "sick egg yolk sun" is a fantastic phrase.
The casual references to radiation sickness are very effective.
Cool picture here!
alex
Brilliant imagery, Nothingman, rich, tragic, devastating. Good job!
I laughed outloud at the Mountain Dew spiked with Vodka. I thought, what? Not wine? Great end of civilization story.
my kinda tale :)
Losing the tooth did it for me, like their bodies are just breaking down with the world around them.
Sick egg yolk sun. Great imagery.
A sad tale, but well written. Nice.
JR - Maybe it did ;)
Laurel - Radiation sickness can be a bitch :)
Wrath999 - Not as cool as your display pic! :)
Absolute Vanilla - thanks :) I think that about sums the story up!
Catvibe - Wine is not my taste, I'm more of a vodka guy :P And, not quite end of civilization. This guy probably fought, killed someone maybe, to get the bottle for the girl. Who knows! :)
Laughing Wolf - Ditto :) If I didn't like it I wouldn't have written it! :)
Hoodie - Even when their bodies are breaking apart, they are catching in on small joys, a glass of wine, as the world burns :)
Thanks everyone!
N
Wonderful imagery and emotion. Almost a sad acceptance of their fate.
gosh! That is a poignant picture yu paint. And so well too!
You're tremendously talented. I love the tenderness and sensitivity of this piece (he hid his tooth in his hand so she couldn't see he'd lost it--wow!)especially as it is off-set by the bleakness of what is all around them.
I can see I'm going to be a regular at your blog!
I love me some sci-fi! Great imagery here. Thanks for sharing.
Shockingly touching in a way few sci-fi pieces could aim to be.
Great use of imagery. I greatly enjoyed the sci-fi/dystopic environment.
You know I love sci-fi and this is a class story mate - as always
Four Dinners
When I saw the title, I thought maybe you'd written this after reading the first 100 entries.
I do love the line, "It's OK. Everyone is dying."
Sometimes we forget what we currently, right this minute, have the capability to do. Younger generations, I think, have been removed from the fear of nuclear war. Largely in the same way that the Boomers were removed from the fear of depression, leading us into this credit mess that has caused our financial system meltdown.
Your story paints a vivid picture. Nice work.
Gritty world eulogy.
hmm, a story that lives up to your handle. This is a piece whole unto itself, but of course, I want to know more.
You did some amazing things in so few words - biomechnoid bird; tooth coming out with the cork. It almost felt steampunk, futuristic and bittersweet.
Masterful.
Ditto to pjd on "When I saw the title, I thought maybe you'd written this after reading the first 100 entries."
I too thought it would be a pun on others or something like it.
But it turned out so much more. I love sci-fi too and this one was just great.
Clinging on to those little moments of joy... reminded me of 'Life is Beautiful'.
Liked it a lot.
Beth...sad acceptance, but trying to snatch a bit of happiness :)
Mona...thanks :) There are better painters than me here ;)
Ranee...I was hoping someone would mention the tooth part. It's just like that you wouldn't want a loved one to see you hurt. Thanks for reading :)
Deb...thanks :) it's been a pleasure posting here :)
Jadis...glad to have touched you. ;)
Amanda...good to write about, sucks to be the ones there :P
FD...nothing compares to your madness sir ;)
PJD...ah, i read the entries only near mine :P Didn't catch many before #126, just a few :) Glad you liked :)
Bernard...let's hope this doesn't become true in next 25 or so years :|
Aerin...talking of the handle, please feel free to check out A Story A Day, things are insnaer there ;)
Aniket...no pun, only fun. LOL Life is Beautiful, ah i have to see that again! thanks for reading! :)
Thanks all, and super thanks to Jason for hosting the contest and wow, 158 entries this time!
Cheers!
N
Nothingman - you delivered. Big time.
nice one.. :)
i think tht is only d future of earth n us..
Great imagery. Your use of description is exceptional....even the sun was damaged. I knew this was set in the future, but I did not expect it to be WWIII - that was great. I went back and re-read it again and again - because I liked it so much. The title is perfect too. And, you can't help but feel good that in the end, they managed to sit together and do something together - one final time. Sad. Very sad but beautifully written. One of my favorites.
Congratulations! You're in the 40s club!
Sounds like the most romantic that can be mustered. Vivid view post-apocalypse. Well done!
Very high scoring.
Welcome to The Forties Club!
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