World's End

FADE IN:

Television screens lie dormant. The computers have gone to sleep. Static reigns on the stereos. All the books are blank. The world has faded away.

There is no memory left. Everything I cherished is gone. All I have left are empty walls. All my dreams have taken the train to nowhere, and here I wait for my ticket to the end of the world. But has the world already ended?

Switching on a million buttons, switches, anything that my fingers could find, there is no response. Everything is dead. I'm alone. What lies outside the door? Is the world still there, or will emptiness greet me before swallowing me up into nothing? What remains now? Why am I still here?

The need to hear a voice, feel a hand, or even taste the salty tears I have run dry of would have been reminders that I am still alive. I would know that the world still lives and breathes outside these walls. I won't have to fear being alone, left in the dirt as the world falls over the edge. Where has everyone gone, and why haven't I gone with them?

Pacing in circles, I turn to gaze at the heavy door. My thoughts turn the wheel on what could lie on the other side. My hands shake, and my feet keep moving. There had to be an answer to this madness, but what if it is an answer that I don't want?

Still, the television screens remain black. The computers continue to sleep. Clouds of static sweep over the stereos. The words have faded from their books. This is the world left without dreams. This is where you will find me if we forget to create. This is the end of the road, which we will walk if we stop trying to make a difference. This is where you will find me.

World's End
by, Melissa R. Mendelson