Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Well, I thought I would share a bit of my writing, so here is my most recent creation I've titled One Last Day, which also won a writing challenge in a guild I'm a member of here on Gaia.

ONE LAST DAY

A heated wind etched a wayward path along the desolate wasteland surrounding a small shanty, erected from twisted steel and tin. One lone wooden window peeked out towards the western sky from the misshapen structure, awkwardly set between two metal plates that bore an insignia from a military plane. A makeshift door beat feverishly on its hinges, closing and opening again as the wind churned up from the east, carrying with it clouds of poisonous sand. Amid the roaring wind, the sound of feet moving at a hurried pace echoed out, as a shadow loomed along the horizon of the mid day sky. A figure soon came into view, her hair blowing about from under a torn grey hood, as she held a cloth across her face, covering her nose and mouth. A thunderous boom shook the ground and the sky filled with a ghastly orange glow, knocking the young girl to the barren land as she cowered for a moment, shielding her head from the unknown. A calm stillness then seemed to fill the air and she looked up, her tear-filled hazel eyes a dim reminder of the person she once was. She gathered herself up from the ground, her hand never once falling away from the face cloth that kept the air breathable and her lungs unscarred. Quickly she made her way to the small shack, grabbing the door with her free hand before closing it tightly behind her, barring it shut with a long metal rod. Frantically she paced about, searching through an array of items lining several small shelves inside before she finally stopped near a stack of books, carefully concealing a silver lock box. She pushed the books aside and removed the metal box, setting it on a make shift table, before promptly removing a long black cord from around her neck, which held a tiny golden key. Another rumble sounded in the distance as the ground shook beneath her and without a moments hesitation she threw aside the cloth covering her face, thrusting the key she bore around her neck into the rusty lock holding the lid closed on the silver metal box. Tears caressed her cheeks as she pulled the lock away, tossing it to the ground as she fumbled through photos that bore scars along their edges from fire and smoke. She picked up a small leather journal, the pages between its covers wrinkled and yellowed from the acidic moisture that filled the air. She then reached into the box and took out a small clump of charcoal, frantically etching words across one of the pages. As she continued on her breaths grew labored and she coughed deeply, trying in desperation to catch her breath. A loud whistle filled the air and she drew her eyes away from her writing, looking out through the clouded glass window as a brilliant flash darted across the western sky. Her heart sank and she dropped to her knees, digging at the ground beneath her, unearthing a sheet of metal that covered a shallow hole. She pulled the metal box from the table, setting it down on the ground beside her as she scrawled one last set of words across a page of her journal before setting it inside. She pushed aside the sheet of metal and looked down into the hole, which held many scraps of paper and mementos gathered from the streets of a town that once stood around her refuge, which was now surrounded by nothing more than an empty plain. Before closing the lid to the box she pulled out one picture, a long faded photo of a family, smiles still etched on their faces through the blackened hues left behind by angered flames. A torrent of salted tears etched trails along the young girl’s dirt covered face as she placed the lock inside the box, followed by the key she had worn for so many months long passed. The ground then shook with a fierce velocity, quickly followed by a drastic change in the air pressure. Without another moment of hesitation the young girl closed the lid to the box, gingerly placing it down into the shallow hole. She pulled the metal covering back over her treasures, slowly covering it with a thin layer of dirt before looking down at her photo. She held it tightly to her chest, breathing in deeply, looking towards the heavens before closing her eyes as the air around her grew warm while her skin burned with unnerving pain and within the next instant, she remembered nothing more.