The Caretaker

 (Needs revision)

  Soft crystals fell lightly over a diamond landscape. Their gentle landings upon my face kept my senses at bay, and my mind at rest. Children play, forming shapes with the powdery froth. They are unable to perceive what was about to transpire. Every bright flake was a warning; and from dull gray, soon would alight in the sky a fire.
  I waited silently, my breath pacing back and forth in the wind. And it happened. The cherished giggles of playfulness subsided, and a new sound bore through the countryside. Quakes cause canyons to form before me, and the world beyond my hill plunged into their depths. Children stared in awe as my instincts raced towards me.
  "Inside! Inside!" I ushered, and all flew to the schoolhouse. I knew it was not over.
Fire-born red broke through the horizon and shook overhead. It was not safe here. I turned and began to slosh through the now malted blanket of powder as more destruction rained from above, bearing heat as well as chaos. In front of me, the small red building remained an untouched safe haven, and still more flashes could be seen behind it. I could only hope everyone had made it inside.


  A sincere hope ached in my heart as I trudged through the schoolhouse door. A hope that all were alive, and all were safe. Thirty-two I oversaw. Thirteen stood concentrated in a frightened mass, amongst the very center of the room.
  Overwhelming despair encompassed me, and I paid no heed to the constant thunder that shook below. Bowing before my pupils, three separated cries of loss escaped me. Though, despite the quakes of the beams above, and the rattle of the windows around us, one by one, they came to me.
  We huddled, weak and weary. Soon the thundering came to a faded halt.
Strength returned to me, however much to reach the neatest pane of glass. What was left of my hopes shattered, as I gazed upon the ashen glow of the hillsides, now bore deep into crevices. The fear that had gripped us before had since subsided, as a new feeling of dread rose to overtake us. The world beyond, whose life we had cherished, now lay in ruins ignited by destruction.
  I looked back toward my pupils. The few that remained did return my solemn gaze. Some came forward and helped me to find a chair. Once I was seated, I slapped my hands against the solid, paint ridden wood. This desk reasoned no ill will, and gave me no hardship. I cried. And my tears were fresh against its splinters; in so, softening their ferocity.
  The children did not stare, but instead viewed me with scrutiny, their eyes searching for some signal of strength, perhaps determination. However there was none. My focus remained on nothing, and my hushed tears continued to drip.


  A Sick aroma of ash flowed in gently from the open window. Its breath reached me in coarse whisps. No one spoke. Only our collective silence gave reassurance that we were still there.
May, tall and shaken, walked slowly to where I sat in arid dejection, her head bowed.
  "It’s making me ill," she said faintly.
  I nodded. There was no escaping the very air.
  "We have to leave…" Her voice resonated with strain, as if she was driving herself to speak.
  "And go where?"
  She did not immediately respond. Instead she turned to a map of the continent. "Somewhere…" She replied.
  A small boy began to wail. His voice croaked as he asked for his mother. May strode to him and wrapped her arms around his small frame.
  "James..."
  "Where is she? What if she’s not alright?" The boy whimpered. After what he had seen, there was no way to drown his discontent.
  "It’s going to be okay…" May hushed the child, her voice falling away.
  "But where is she? Does she know I’m here? Will she-" So full of questions was he, that May had come to horrid realization. Her mother, as well as everyone she cared for in her home, had possibly given into an undoubtedly sudden death.
  "They’re all gone," she whispered, "All gone…" and with that, a tear drifted solemnly to her chin and soundlessly fell away. They sat together for an indefinite amount of time, comforting each other in each own’s sorrow.
  When the two quieted, May gave the child a light squeeze before returning to my side.
  "I am very glad you were here," I raised my frail hand to her shoulder, thin and light. She returned a touch with her own hand to mine. With this, I took a moment, and then stood.
  "We are leaving. There’s nothing to eat and the skies have calmed. This shelter could have only been temporary from the start."
  I led them as my flock, May by my side, into the treacherous landscape burning outdoors.


  Smokey disentrancement from the air kept me in this reality. It’s not possible that this was all a dream. However beguiled by the silence I became, I could not accept that I had fallen asleep, perhaps even collapsed in the snow. This all was happening. Not only was this happening, but too was I the sheppard to a herd of lonely school children. They who now know no one else from me. If all was expected to heed well, I would have to be more.
  Their parents, dead. I too, left seeking admission to a greater peace, now that the end of days has come. These children were in my hands, and though I could not muster the strength to accept my role as their savior, I knew I could be the only one.
  "Where are we going?" May’s question had somewhat caught me by surprise.
  "Safety."
  "Is there such a place?"
  "If God’ll will it, then yes." There was a mysterious note of confidence in my tone. Even I had no suggestion to where it might have risen.
  Despite being old, holding most of my weight against my cane, I moved briskly. My flock followed ever so willingly, some leading others by the hand. The child who had, in the schoolhouse, been crying was now walking slowly alongside another boy. They paid no attention to the path, their eyes only grabbing at everything to see. The great trenches we walked alongside stretched to the horizon in measures of eternity.     No bridges to gap them, and too deep to endeavor climbing through.
  We walked toward nothing, for the town had been engulfed. Not even buildings could be seen in the darknesses that stretched. Though an occasional bit of dirt pathway could be made out, beat in straight lines through the red desert rock, then ending in abrupt seismic drops.
  May held her head down, focusing only on her swaying feet. I did not wish to deprive her of what may have been the only comfort she could grasp. And so, looking back ahead, I left her to her solitude. Despite my weariness, I remained alert to the surrounding dangers. The road began creeping higher. It grew to where my legs could barely manage themselves, and my weight pressed heavier on my cane.
  In front of me, May had closed her eyes, perhaps trying to mull over our possibility of surviving this. She did not see what she was striding towards. I gasped hard and reached out, pulling her backwards.
  "No!" She screamed, her feet slipping allowing rocks to tumble deep into this great new abyss.
She fell into my catch and everyone stopped behind me.
  "Are you alright?" I questioned worriedly. She nodded, terrified and relieved that I had been there to soften the consequences of her irresponsibility.
  "Why did I not see this before?" I asked myself out loud. The narrow strip of land we were following rose steeply and dropped deep into a void-like chasm. It was as if it might have been a hill, but was now the only portion which had not been grabbed by the envious destruction that had already consumed so much.


  My vision was foggy. I had no plan, at least none currently. I sat, staring at the hills, far in the distance. Their surfaces bore no cracks. The dirt that clung to their tops and sides clung firmly. Hope at last.
There must have been a way across. Somewhere… I looked down, but not into the abyss.
  Amongst the cliff sides hung ruins of buildings, drilled deep into the earth. And within their grasp were ledges that trailed along, bringing close reach to the solid land above. We had to climb. My plethora of questions all stilled themselves with one determining answer: we had to survive.
  "Of you all, who has the strength to continue?" I demanded from my flock. There was no response, save for May who looked at the children and then to me.
  "None of them do. Even I feel my steps beginning to falter. We must rest a while."
I nodded. I could understand this consideration. Too, have my legs been battered by this short trek. Beside my weariness and fatigue, I could also sense a growing hunger. Our rest could not begin yet.
  Glancing back to the cliff face ruins, I scanned their surface for anything. Barrels and crates lined a brick-made shelf in the canyon. There had to be a way down, to reach those crates and check for food. Somehow, I knew there was.
  Without warning to the others, I threw my cane to the dirt and clambered over the side. May’s arms held me back for several moments, but I managed to escape her grasp. I thought she may have lost her grip, however, the determination in my eyes must have told her to follow me.
  We struggled down the vertical slope, reaching out for footholds we weren’t sure would be there. At any moment, one of us may have slipped, falling into the dark shaft below. Determined as I was, I closed my eyes still making my way downwards. By such an action I was only gratified with panic. There was nothing below me, and I fell. My fear was cut short, and I lay on my side atop the red of sun-dried and wind-dusted rock.
  I unclosed my eyes to find welcoming relief. May had safely made her way down and was now rushing over to my side. She lifted me unto her shoulder, supporting my weight from one side as my cane was no longer with me. Children made their way down the cliff face one by one as carefully as they could. Some slipped, but firmly they kept their grasp on the rough stones which were strongly pressed into the dirt.
  The drifted cliff continued for a while before coming to a cross of splintered wood. A fence that had fallen during the earth’s undertaking, and caught between the rocks closing this small gap and mayhap guaranteeing our passage to the other side. It could not support the weight May and I combined provided.
  I looked to her. "Go, I’ll head last."
  "No, I –"
  "You must. Then the children… and I will come after." With that, she gave me a nod and stepped onto the cracking surface of the makeshift bridge. Her small steps continued, her frame wavering here and there. At last she was on hard soil.
The children trailed behind her. Some missed a step, but most graced the bridge without hesitation. The numbers on my side dwindled. Soon the last of them was to go. It was James. He stood there, staring down into the abyss.
  "Go on," I urged. All he did was look at me, not speaking. "It’s safe, I promise." It was all he needed to take his first stride. But the sound of snapping wood, after so many had crossed subsequently followed.
I could not react, I could only watch as he plummeted through a once solid means of passage.
  "No!" I shouted, fighting my inability to move. I threw myself at the ledge and looked deep down into darkness.
  "No.." I repeated to myself. The trenches sank too far for one to survive. But my attention was stolen quickly thereafter by a thunderous shockwave that bellowed from the sky. The clouds rippled, and came forth tremendous machines through veils of brilliant sapphire. Thousands took flight overhead, each appearing in the image of a steel cross. And spiraling from above, they began to fall like rain.


  "Go! Take cover!" I ordered May from across the gap.
  "Where?" She stammered. Immediately I gestured towards a crushed building that was caught on the nearby ledge.
  "Hide! Search the crates! There may be food!" I did not turn to look at her again. Instead I faced the open chasm, and sought out any place of safety. There was none.
  From above, bewildering beasts of invention rocketed towards the abyss. Inside the depths alit magnificent plumes of goldenrod. Through these glows I saw the true form the chiseled rock had taken. Carved below were layers of inverted spires, creasing themselves into the skin of the earth, stretching further deep than I had envisioned.
  "Please!" I heard a shout. "Find your way across!"
As much as I ached to answer her plea, I knew there was no escape from this dangerous hell.
  "Leave me!" I echoed over the roar of engines in the sky and all around us.
  "No, we can’t make it without-"
  "I’ve taken you this far! I’ve shown you leadership! I’ve given you strength! Take them, and let no harm befall them!"
  She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. A calming entered my mind as I gazed upon her face. May, my pupil, seeing me for what she knew would be the last time. With this strength I stood, lifting heavily through my injured leg. I needed no cane. I needed nothing than the courage she had provided me.
  "Promise you’ll keep them safe." I said.
  Machinery continued to flood from the lighted sky. Pulled down, broken into remnants. Constant surrounding destruction, and the essence of chaos that had returned.
  Her lips began to move, mouthing words of obedience of which I could not hear. The rock beneath me began to shift, and sound returned to my senses. I jerked around to see large lines which rapidly approached, and web-like cracks drawn by an unseen hand. Before I could turn back to her, the ground gave way to an explosive fire.
  My screams arose above the scorching flames. Metal and searing shrapnel pierced me and cauterized themselves into my wounds. I was blinded, I was falling, and I was bleeding. A loud crack assured me that I had landed hard; as well my leg was fully broken. My hands slapped around at whatever they could find, but their efforts were stopped short by the jagged rock I had beaten them against.
  I slowed my breathing, and called into the air. No sound came from my lungs. I instead laid there rasping into the wind.
  Her voice found its way from a great distance above. Crying. Calling for a response. Worried that I was no more. It soothed me. I could not contain my agony, however, and released an inhuman wail. It was inaudible over the reign of calamity that thundered nightmarishly overhead.
  Despite this, her care and naïve hope continued to calm me, and lull me into an indescribably gentle sleep. The blurred and shady spears of rock hazed through my strained vision. Soon faded the light, and then faded what essence that remained. The horrid black crept, bound in the chains of eternal slumber.
Still her voice reached me. It cooed, softly. It ushered me to fight. 
  The peacefulness instilled in me was incomparable, and became more as I slowly let go. The pain receded, but I did not care to notice. All I could feel was the rough, rippling ranks of the hard rock beneath me. I felt the air as it blew across my skin. The wind flowed past, and the birds called in the sky. All enveloped by darkness, all graced by the ice that raced on the earthy breeze.

Withered (So Cold)

I walk these blatant pathways,
These doors are locked to me,

And though I know I’ve gone astray,
I grace these iron streets,

I am frail,
My hands the color of a dead man’s,

Though I press on,
Damn my determination,
Damn my will to search,

I hesitate before proceeding,
Another golden dawn,

The glimmer not receding,
Yet still I must press on,

I am weak,
My soul the apotheosis of despair,

Though I keep on,
Damn my insistence,
Damn my will to live…