Mistakes of Our Forefathers

Mistakes of our Forefathers by Keaton Phoenix

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m alone. A girl with a sight of a gloomy abyss of pale comparison to the world she experienced before. A byproduct of greed and selfishness it was. I’m not qualified to ascertain the reasons why our home had been taken from us. I can’t say that it was wrong, because we all did it. Gave into our own personal temptations and suffered the bitter consequence of “the modern world”. This was my world. Grounds of ashes, scattered corpses of individuals of innocence of people I knew. They were the harvest of generations before me. They did no wrong. Paid their debts and did their part. The thought of impending tragedy was distant from our fast paced lives. We never saw it coming. It could never happen to us we had thought. We are the invincible. The incessant voice of opportunity roared louder than any compassionate shout of warning that could be given. The bodies of someone’s friend, someone’s family, someone’s love lay deceased in vain with no chance of redemption. It was never their fault. After all they did their part. It only business; this is the lie that destroyed us all.

My name is Maple Livingston. Well, that was my name before the World Collapsed on itself; the reality is change only works when the solution is evident before the fall. The year is 2092. Earth was in turmoil. Over population bringing the earth to its knees, rapidly decreasing quantity of food and the violence of depleted resources, ravaged the earth to its core. These were all reoccurring dilemmas of history. The individuals who believed in history repeating itself were the prophets of social science. They warned the leaders this would happen. They closed their ears off. All they could hear is the blissful banter of opportunity that would restore an excitement that only a stack of paper could satisfy. The world had become chaotic with no solution. The United States and the United Nations tried to intervene like responsible older brother that is being protective. It was for naught; Useless effort to satisfy insatiable desire for power and wealth. The World couldn’t survive without oil. It was the black gold of the economy of nations. Industries, cars, homes and the common person would fall. There was worldwide vegetation dying and animals going extinct without a home or reason to live. The United Nations, a giant of order could only hold the weight of chaos for so long. We were like the Greek god Atlas, barely able to hold the sky up.

China was the first to go; arming nuclear weapons. The world prepared for Armageddon but none was ready for it to happen. The doors opened to ICBMs and that one missile Pandora sealed the world’s fate. Colliding in Saudi Arabia with the corpses of innocent people, the only response was brutal retaliation. The atom bomb, a symbol of our destruction became our worst nightmare. Asia was wiped out and the fallout ravaged the continent. Sending radiation ravaging cities and killing anyone that survived the nuclear onslaught .Countries began war, each protecting the only thing they had left: their home. Honor and petty ideas such as money were useless. Such technology has been our door to brilliance and technology paved the path to success and it was now the tool to our annihilation. Why did we never see it coming? The negligence of the only land we call home for our creations; our industries, our technology. It All started with a factory, a dream of enterprise. Now the World is dead, burned by the malevolent trauma of humanity. We abandoned our World; I hope to God you are more fortunate”.

The soft click of a button silenced the small device left on the gray ground. Buildings collapsed after many years of decay abandoned houses and cars filled the streets. One could hear the soft songs of birds flying within their flocks. Sky was no longer bright blue; it was the pale color of calamity. Even the insects that stirred had lost their purpose. These were Ancient relics of a period long ago. A large group of creatures with sharp pointed objects on its head moved quickly through the urban jungle. Small amounts of vegetation growing by the river; a flower of purple sprouted beside the creek bed; an odd sight among the less then exciting environment. Little creatures scattered. The silent sound of nature trying to heal itself or find a sliver of redemption. The strange man who listened to the girl on the video recording stared sympathetically at the world before him as a mother would toward her child when they are hurt. He wondered why a civilization would maliciously destroy their home. The sad view of destruction overwhelmed the man; His red skin radiating behind his suit. He did not understand. The eradication of humanity was a mystery; told by a girl of a language and culture long forgotten. He may not have understood the tiny little girl on this foreign world but he saw the pain and regret of this poor civilization. Taking one last glance he let go of the circular device of the girl. No one would remember humanity, or the beautiful culture it may have had. He boarded his ship, leaving behind the last clue of humanity’s demise and its past as he departed away from Earth; back to his home he loved.