Post by Splashy on Jun 11, 2015 1:06:57 GMT -5
You never thought you’d see it go.
You thought that maybe, maybe even in its abandoned state it had a chance of holding on. Sure, you’d given up hope that it would ever reach its former glory. There were new worlds, new cities, new places more magical and entrancing and alive than this old city ever was. But it had always held on, it had always been there. It was supposed to always be there. Sure it was a ruin but it was their ruin. It was their home. No matter how empty it got it was their home.
There’d been disasters before, sure. The city had had to move a couple times. But this? This came with no warning. Suddenly you came wandering back like you always did and there was nothing but a dark, murky void where the ruin of your dream had once stood.
It wasn’t supposed to go. It wasn’t supposed to leave. You needed it, still. The few left needed it. It was your home, where you went on crazy adventures, where you learned to trust again, where you grew up. All those memories… gone in a flash.
You keep coming back like it’ll bring it back. You know it won’t. The one who had held it all together from the beginning was long gone. The few that remained could think of nothing to do anymore.
The small shelter thrown together by some of the few left outside of the void isn’t the same. It’s empty. It doesn’t have the gravitas, the ghosts, the past life of the city. It never had, even those six odd years ago when it had first been erected. It was the city, their city, that had that. No place could replace that.
You’d never thought much about home, about what the city had meant. Sure, you’d been nostalgic for its hay days, isn’t it human nature? But even in its dilapidated state it had undeniably been home. It was there that you’d frolicked in the RB fields shouting about Percy Jackson or Dragon Eggs or Harry Potter or Homestuck or Ponies or anything else that came to mind. It was where you’d explained the things you couldn’t tell anyone else. It was there where you and your friends, or perhaps other people, had crafted stories about marvelous adventures where you were heroes. It was there where you’d found a family, your home. You found a place where you belonged, no matter who you were you found a place there.
And now it was gone. Just like that.
You walk up to the fence that had somehow erected around the void, stopping people from just walking straight into it. You lay down the object you’d brought, a keepsake of your time in your beloved home, and lay it next to the various random objects alongside it. You stare at the void again, trying to weave together the image of the glorious city as you’d first seen it, but it fails to come to fruition.
“It’s time to go.”
You look back over your shoulder before glancing back towards the various objects arrayed on the drying grass in front of the void. A rainbow unicorn, a chainsaw, a silver feather. A squirrel, a butterfly, a leaf. A snowflake, a scrap of torn paper that says “Dearie”, a stack of familiar worn books. A bridle embroidered with a horse’s name that you knew once, a drawing of cat people, a stapler. A mafia game plan, an enchanted image of a flash animation of cat people from days long past, a dramatic recounting of the Flame Wars.
You look once more at the void, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it would just pop back into existence and everything would be okay.
But no amount of wishing can bring it back. It’s done.
“Thank you,” you whisper to the objects, the void, you’re not really sure who you’re addressing, “Thank you for everything.”
You pry yourself away and walk off into the barren world, the moon all there is to see far above. What you’re looking for, you aren’t quite sure. Behind you the void is silent once more. The city has succumbed at last to the end that befalls all such cities.
For all cities must fall, one day, into silence.
You thought that maybe, maybe even in its abandoned state it had a chance of holding on. Sure, you’d given up hope that it would ever reach its former glory. There were new worlds, new cities, new places more magical and entrancing and alive than this old city ever was. But it had always held on, it had always been there. It was supposed to always be there. Sure it was a ruin but it was their ruin. It was their home. No matter how empty it got it was their home.
There’d been disasters before, sure. The city had had to move a couple times. But this? This came with no warning. Suddenly you came wandering back like you always did and there was nothing but a dark, murky void where the ruin of your dream had once stood.
It wasn’t supposed to go. It wasn’t supposed to leave. You needed it, still. The few left needed it. It was your home, where you went on crazy adventures, where you learned to trust again, where you grew up. All those memories… gone in a flash.
You keep coming back like it’ll bring it back. You know it won’t. The one who had held it all together from the beginning was long gone. The few that remained could think of nothing to do anymore.
The small shelter thrown together by some of the few left outside of the void isn’t the same. It’s empty. It doesn’t have the gravitas, the ghosts, the past life of the city. It never had, even those six odd years ago when it had first been erected. It was the city, their city, that had that. No place could replace that.
You’d never thought much about home, about what the city had meant. Sure, you’d been nostalgic for its hay days, isn’t it human nature? But even in its dilapidated state it had undeniably been home. It was there that you’d frolicked in the RB fields shouting about Percy Jackson or Dragon Eggs or Harry Potter or Homestuck or Ponies or anything else that came to mind. It was where you’d explained the things you couldn’t tell anyone else. It was there where you and your friends, or perhaps other people, had crafted stories about marvelous adventures where you were heroes. It was there where you’d found a family, your home. You found a place where you belonged, no matter who you were you found a place there.
And now it was gone. Just like that.
You walk up to the fence that had somehow erected around the void, stopping people from just walking straight into it. You lay down the object you’d brought, a keepsake of your time in your beloved home, and lay it next to the various random objects alongside it. You stare at the void again, trying to weave together the image of the glorious city as you’d first seen it, but it fails to come to fruition.
“It’s time to go.”
You look back over your shoulder before glancing back towards the various objects arrayed on the drying grass in front of the void. A rainbow unicorn, a chainsaw, a silver feather. A squirrel, a butterfly, a leaf. A snowflake, a scrap of torn paper that says “Dearie”, a stack of familiar worn books. A bridle embroidered with a horse’s name that you knew once, a drawing of cat people, a stapler. A mafia game plan, an enchanted image of a flash animation of cat people from days long past, a dramatic recounting of the Flame Wars.
You look once more at the void, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it would just pop back into existence and everything would be okay.
But no amount of wishing can bring it back. It’s done.
“Thank you,” you whisper to the objects, the void, you’re not really sure who you’re addressing, “Thank you for everything.”
You pry yourself away and walk off into the barren world, the moon all there is to see far above. What you’re looking for, you aren’t quite sure. Behind you the void is silent once more. The city has succumbed at last to the end that befalls all such cities.
For all cities must fall, one day, into silence.
author's note: guess who's feeling nostalgic and sad. me. In case that was unclear. I know I ripped myself off with the ending but I felt like this was a sort of continuation of the sad nostlagia of Into Silence and I felt like that ending was fitting.