The Laughing Sun
This is the "holiday fic" pixiebelle requested from me. She wanted me to continue this story, so I did. I hope she likes it!
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Everyone - gone. Nobody, there was nobody left. Brynn tried to still her racing heart, but it was no use. How could she stop the panic when everyone had died? They - her whole community had killed themselves over an apocalypse that hadn't even come true. The sun hadn't exploded like the prophets said it would. Their power over the future had betrayed them, and everyone had died for - for nothing.
Brynn stared at the back of the abandoned bakery, wondering just what she should do next. She couldn't, wouldn't stay here. The wind blew, buffeting pamphlets along the streets. “The End Is Now.” Her throat closed up; Brynn could hardly breathe. She wanted to run, but where would she even go?
She knew one thing: no matter where she would go, she needed food if she wanted to get there. Slowly, Brynn approached the bakery before realizing she didn't even have a bag to carry the bread. Perhaps she ought to go to the convenience store, which sometimes sold cheap backpacks. It, like everything else, would be abandoned. The only place with any people would be the Meeting Hall, and - Brynn was not going to go there, where the bodies...
The convenience store was closed - locked, in preparation for the end of the world that never came. Rage and despair bubbled in Brynn's chest. She grabbed a rock from the street and threw it at the glass door, smashing it into sparkling shards. Her heart hammered. Had she really just done that? At least now, she could reach inside the door and open it from the inside. The door opened with an angry creak, and Brynn entered, but not before she cut herself on the broken glass.
Not wanting to spend much time in here, she grabbed a backpack from the display. Brynn couldn't let herself think anymore, or she would freeze to the spot. Quickly, she filled it with the supplies she thought she would need, including bandages for her arm, remembering to take a flashlight. Brynn didn't know how far she would have to travel, not having spent much time in the outside world. All she knew was that it did, in fact, exist and she would have to brave it or else go mad in this abandoned city.
All stocked up, Brynn set off towards the city gate. Maybe if she pretended she wasn't all alone, she could survive this. She was simply going for a stroll, that was all. Her whole community hadn't killed themselves. Telling herself this made it just this side of possible to walk towards the gate.
The gate, like the convenience store, was closed. It was always closed, and the supposed end of the world was no exception. Brynn screamed loud enough for any Gods to hear her, if they even existed. She screamed until her throat grew hoarse, collapsing onto the ground. The whole city sat inside a wall. The prophets said the wall represented security from sin, but it was really to prevent anybody from leaving. Brynn didn't know how she had even managed to get pass it when she had tried to go to university. She suspected the prophets had wanted to test her loyalty and make an example out of her.
What a fine example she was now, all alone in a world that had betrayed her community by staying standing when it should have been lost in a fiery explosion. For the briefest second, Brynn wondered if she should have taken the cyanide pill like everyone else. She tried to remind herself they weren't really all dead, but the denial wasn't working so well after having reached the closed gate.
Finally, after what may have been hours, Brynn rose from where she lay sobbing on the ground. She would climb the gate. The way it was built, that shouldn't be difficult. Brynn grabbed onto the gate and began to scale it, her heart thudding in her chest. Soon enough, she reached the top. Don't look down, she thought to herself as she jumped from her precarious perch.
She landed and rolled, being lucky enough to fall in such a way as not to hurt herself. That was one small miracle. As Brynn scanned the empty, grassy plain before her, she thought it might be the only miracle. There was nothing out here, save for browning grass and a softly blowing breeze. The sun, as intact as ever, shined down on her, almost mocking the city from where she came. Brynn had wanted to break away from her community for years, and now she'd been forced to. The sun laughed at her as if to say “be careful what you wish for.”
There was nothing to do but keep walking beneath the laughing sun. Brynn quickly grew tired as she walked, though. It seemed the grassy plain would last forever. Maybe it did. Could this be some kind of punishment afterlife because she had refused to take the pill? That thought threatened to strangle her until a noise snapped her out of her reverie. Cars. Brynn was near a road; she had to be.
The weight that had settled around Brynn's shoulders lightened. If there were cars, this wasn't some kind of punishment for thinking against the Gods. She was still in the real, human world. And - everyone was still dead. That weight settled back around her.
It would be foolishness to flag down one of the cars and ask it to take her to regular civilization. Brynn knew hitchhiking to be dangerous, but she had no idea how far this plain went or how long she could survive in the wilderness. As horrifying as everything was, Brynn didn't want to die. She tugged at her sleeves, stuck in indecision. Eventually, she came to the conclusion she had to try and get one of them to stop.
Her eyes stung as she headed towards the sounds of the passing cars. Soon, a highway stretched before her. It seemed to disappear into infinity itself, though Brynn knew that couldn't be the case. Hesitantly, she raised an arm, not even sure how to hitchhike properly. Car after car passed her. Brynn was about to give up hope when a particularly beaten-up vehicle stopped for her.
Brynn hesitated; she just stood there in front of the car, which started honking. Could she even do this? If Brynn got into that car, she would be leaving everything behind. She had no choice, though. Her world was gone, and she had to keep moving forward, no matter how painful it was.
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written for 500themes #50 - "Betrayal"
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Everyone - gone. Nobody, there was nobody left. Brynn tried to still her racing heart, but it was no use. How could she stop the panic when everyone had died? They - her whole community had killed themselves over an apocalypse that hadn't even come true. The sun hadn't exploded like the prophets said it would. Their power over the future had betrayed them, and everyone had died for - for nothing.
Brynn stared at the back of the abandoned bakery, wondering just what she should do next. She couldn't, wouldn't stay here. The wind blew, buffeting pamphlets along the streets. “The End Is Now.” Her throat closed up; Brynn could hardly breathe. She wanted to run, but where would she even go?
She knew one thing: no matter where she would go, she needed food if she wanted to get there. Slowly, Brynn approached the bakery before realizing she didn't even have a bag to carry the bread. Perhaps she ought to go to the convenience store, which sometimes sold cheap backpacks. It, like everything else, would be abandoned. The only place with any people would be the Meeting Hall, and - Brynn was not going to go there, where the bodies...
The convenience store was closed - locked, in preparation for the end of the world that never came. Rage and despair bubbled in Brynn's chest. She grabbed a rock from the street and threw it at the glass door, smashing it into sparkling shards. Her heart hammered. Had she really just done that? At least now, she could reach inside the door and open it from the inside. The door opened with an angry creak, and Brynn entered, but not before she cut herself on the broken glass.
Not wanting to spend much time in here, she grabbed a backpack from the display. Brynn couldn't let herself think anymore, or she would freeze to the spot. Quickly, she filled it with the supplies she thought she would need, including bandages for her arm, remembering to take a flashlight. Brynn didn't know how far she would have to travel, not having spent much time in the outside world. All she knew was that it did, in fact, exist and she would have to brave it or else go mad in this abandoned city.
All stocked up, Brynn set off towards the city gate. Maybe if she pretended she wasn't all alone, she could survive this. She was simply going for a stroll, that was all. Her whole community hadn't killed themselves. Telling herself this made it just this side of possible to walk towards the gate.
The gate, like the convenience store, was closed. It was always closed, and the supposed end of the world was no exception. Brynn screamed loud enough for any Gods to hear her, if they even existed. She screamed until her throat grew hoarse, collapsing onto the ground. The whole city sat inside a wall. The prophets said the wall represented security from sin, but it was really to prevent anybody from leaving. Brynn didn't know how she had even managed to get pass it when she had tried to go to university. She suspected the prophets had wanted to test her loyalty and make an example out of her.
What a fine example she was now, all alone in a world that had betrayed her community by staying standing when it should have been lost in a fiery explosion. For the briefest second, Brynn wondered if she should have taken the cyanide pill like everyone else. She tried to remind herself they weren't really all dead, but the denial wasn't working so well after having reached the closed gate.
Finally, after what may have been hours, Brynn rose from where she lay sobbing on the ground. She would climb the gate. The way it was built, that shouldn't be difficult. Brynn grabbed onto the gate and began to scale it, her heart thudding in her chest. Soon enough, she reached the top. Don't look down, she thought to herself as she jumped from her precarious perch.
She landed and rolled, being lucky enough to fall in such a way as not to hurt herself. That was one small miracle. As Brynn scanned the empty, grassy plain before her, she thought it might be the only miracle. There was nothing out here, save for browning grass and a softly blowing breeze. The sun, as intact as ever, shined down on her, almost mocking the city from where she came. Brynn had wanted to break away from her community for years, and now she'd been forced to. The sun laughed at her as if to say “be careful what you wish for.”
There was nothing to do but keep walking beneath the laughing sun. Brynn quickly grew tired as she walked, though. It seemed the grassy plain would last forever. Maybe it did. Could this be some kind of punishment afterlife because she had refused to take the pill? That thought threatened to strangle her until a noise snapped her out of her reverie. Cars. Brynn was near a road; she had to be.
The weight that had settled around Brynn's shoulders lightened. If there were cars, this wasn't some kind of punishment for thinking against the Gods. She was still in the real, human world. And - everyone was still dead. That weight settled back around her.
It would be foolishness to flag down one of the cars and ask it to take her to regular civilization. Brynn knew hitchhiking to be dangerous, but she had no idea how far this plain went or how long she could survive in the wilderness. As horrifying as everything was, Brynn didn't want to die. She tugged at her sleeves, stuck in indecision. Eventually, she came to the conclusion she had to try and get one of them to stop.
Her eyes stung as she headed towards the sounds of the passing cars. Soon, a highway stretched before her. It seemed to disappear into infinity itself, though Brynn knew that couldn't be the case. Hesitantly, she raised an arm, not even sure how to hitchhike properly. Car after car passed her. Brynn was about to give up hope when a particularly beaten-up vehicle stopped for her.
Brynn hesitated; she just stood there in front of the car, which started honking. Could she even do this? If Brynn got into that car, she would be leaving everything behind. She had no choice, though. Her world was gone, and she had to keep moving forward, no matter how painful it was.
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written for 500themes #50 - "Betrayal"