Empty

The city was empty. Not a single soul roamed its streets, not a single car drove on its roads. The only sounds that filled the air were the whispers of the wind and the distant rumble of thunder.

The empty buildings seemed to stretch on forever, their windows dark and lifeless. The once vibrant storefronts were now nothing more than husks, their display windows smashed and their goods long since looted.

As I walked through the empty city, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over me. This was not the bustling metropolis that I had known and loved. It was a shadow of its former self, a ghost town doomed to haunt the memories of those who had once called it home.

I turned a corner and came upon an empty park. The swings swayed gently in the wind, their chains creaking eerily. The seesaws and monkey bars were rusted and overgrown with weeds.

I sat down on a bench and let out a sigh. What had happened to this place? Where had all the

people gone?

As I sat there, lost in thought, I heard a faint sound behind me. I turned to see a figure emerging from the shadows. It was a woman, her face gaunt and her eyes sunken in.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice barely audible as if someone had robbed her

of it.

"That’s a question I should be asking you" I replied, looking for answers in her empty eyes.

"I stayed behind," she managed to speak, beginning to sob, "Everyone else left but, I couldn't bring myself to go”, she said between sobs. “This was my home, and I couldn't just abandon it."

I didn't know what to say. The woman's words filled me with a sense of sadness and

desperation.

"Why did they leave?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"They were afraid," she said, "Nobody wanted to stay behind for the horrors of what was

coming."

"What was coming?" I asked, my fear growing.

"The end," she said. I could feel the heaviness of what she has witnessed growing over her. "The end of everything."

By Advika Asthana

2nd year, B.A. English Honours