—
Title: “The Final Gentle”
The world had fallen silent.
Cities as soon as energetic have been now simply skeletons of metal and stone. Nature had taken again what mankind deserted—ivy creeping over damaged home windows, bushes piercing via concrete, and the wind carrying solely the sound of vacancy.
Amara walked alone.
She was the final individual she knew. The Collapse had taken everybody—some by illness, others by insanity, and the remaining by battle. However Amara survived. Not as a result of she was the strongest, however as a result of she refused to surrender.
Every morning, she lit a hearth and made tea from herbs she gathered. It was her ritual—a small act of defiance towards the darkness. She scavenged previous buildings for meals, instruments, and reminiscences. Typically, she’d discover a kid’s drawing or a pale {photograph}. She stored these. They reminded her why she fought to stay.
One night, whereas exploring the ruins of an previous library, she discovered a journal with a message scribbled on the final web page:
“If anybody finds this, know that the world is not lifeless—it is simply sleeping. Maintain the sunshine alive.”
Amara smiled. She wasn’t really alone. Others had fought to carry on too. Someplace on the market, perhaps another person had survived. Perhaps they have been additionally strolling, hoping, ready.
And so she stored shifting. By means of forests, over mountains, throughout rivers. Lighting fires as alerts, singing into the wind, and leaving her personal messages behind:
“I’m right here. My identify is Amara. I nonetheless consider in tomorrow.”
As a result of surviving wasn’t sufficient. She needed to stay—and perhaps, someday, assist the world get up once more.
—
