Friday 11 October 2013

#FridayFlash - After It All

Image by adpsimpson, edits by me
Grey clouds scudded across a flat, empty sky. Far below, the countryside stretched between deserted cities. Every day brought a further encroachment of wilderness into the urban wasteland. Grass grew tall in the narrow lanes between the abandoned blocks of flats, and weeds pushed up through cracked concrete. Rusting cars stood in the street, smashed into one another where occupants had collisions in their hurry to leave. Moss coated discarded possessions in overgrown gardens, and tree roots erupted through tarmac as the forest retook the roads. No animals moved in, as there were no animals to move, just as there were no longer any people.

Crates of goods that would never be bought or sold sat on rotting pallets in forgotten warehouses. Dust lay thick on nylon carpets in vacant flats, and TV screens reflected empty rooms. Belongings with no owners became mere objects, unused and unloved. Houses were no longer homes, instead simply tombs to bygone consumerism. Days passed, seasons turned, and the peace continued.

Yet somewhere in the depths of the silence, between the emptiness and the darkness, something moved.

Something growled.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Something new? I like to think something better, a change born from the passing of the old. I like the top-down descriptions going into the depths.

Larry Kollar said...

The depiction of emptiness, and nature retaking what has always been hers, was lush and satisfying all by itself. But that twist at the end... turns it into something different. This could work at the blurb to a novel. What it's about, I have no clue, though. :-)

Katherine Hajer said...

I'm with Larry -- this definitely reads like the start of something big. I'm especially taken with the idea that the apocalypse is well over, so instead of hand-wringing over "what happened", the story can just mice back to that growling thing.

John Wiswell said...

Aw, and just when I thought we'd found world peace. Everything in a post-mortem slumber. I hope it's the growl of structures about to collapse and not the last thing on earth being unhappy.

Anonymous said...

I hope next week you'll tell us what's growling Icy. Great, chilling atmosphere in this.

Cat Russell said...

Wonderful setting and description!

Steve Green said...

Ah, post-apocalyptic, I love it.

Like Deanna, I too would very much like to know more about the growly creature.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful setting! I wouldn't want to live there.

Helen A. Howell said...

Nice description of abandonment - loved the last lines "Yet somewhere in the depths of the silence, between the emptiness and the darkness, something moved.

Something growled."

Cindy Vaskova said...

I love the stillness of this piece. But then again I love the mystery of it - has something truly survived and adapted?

Tony Noland said...

Your reversion of civilization to nature, red in tooth and claw, is beautifully done.

Post a Comment