I close my eyes and dream of a world with cotton candy skies and raindrops that taste of honey. The gentle wind blows, carrying with it the sweet scent of lavender and hope for the days to come. The clean air sparkles in the rays of the warm sun, calling me to bask in it, and I do so with open arms.
Two birds fly by singing songs, and I smile at them for their joy is contagious. They land in a nearby bush, and I step my bare foot into the green grass as I take a rose between my hands and inhale deeply, being careful not to pull it from its home.
Why don’t more people stop to smell the roses?
I open my eyes and see a world with smog-filled skies and acid rain, melting off the face of a once merciful humankind. The sour wind blows, dispersing our litter and fear for the future. The polluted air hangs above our precious city like a storm cloud ready to strike at any moment, leaving havoc in its place.
Two birds sit perched on a power line. I watch as one of them is shot down and the other flees, not wishing to fall to the same fate as all of his extinct friends. He naively lands in a puddle of industrial waste, and I touch my hand to the glass wall that holds me prisoner inside, wishing I could save him.
How have we let it come to this?
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleGreat use of symmetry between the first two paragraphs to create tension. Well written with, unfortunately, a sad ending as the second bird “naively lands in a puddle of industrial waste”. Mankind has created the glass wall that disallows us from helping.
A thousand welcomes to Voice.Club, Taryn. You describe a beautiful world and then contrast it cruelly to reality.
What exactly is the glass wall, preventing the protagonist from helping the bird?
You end on a powerful question.
Taryn, I like the contrast with your evocative dream to the stark reality of a mankind who have ignored nature and are busy destroying it piece by piece
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleWelcome to the voice club, Taryn. I like the question you left at the end, Taryn. “How did we let it come to this?” I think this is the answer, “Because people sometimes forget the word SATISFACTION, we are not satisfied with the beautiful and balanced world that we already have before.” People are very greedy for more. We always want more. We always want to explore too much. Without thinking that… Read more »
Taryn, I must say this is one of the loveliest reads thus far. It’s poetic. You’ve brought such a visual to your story; encompassing beauty and destruction. Well done!