Thanatos : The Red Dawn

(20)Coquelicot's Demise

"I had no reflection though, which frightened me more than it should've."

Coquelicot's Demise...

The skyscrapers were threatening to intimidate my heart into a frantic sprint, but I felt like there was a hollow hole where the organ of love should've been.

My long hair blew across my face; covering my vision with gold.

Alone I walked forward, towards the horizon that sailed into vast empty fields of faded yellows and blues. The sun was setting slowly, and yet my steps fell even slower to the ground than the blazing star did to the other half of the world. As it lowered itself over the edge, my feet began to tread harder and faster against the cold tar of the long and broad road. My heart began its drum.

Suddenly, I'd found it.

The city around me was so empty to a point where I felt uncomfortable and yet oddly and pleasurably satisfied. Yes, it was empty and it made me feel defenseless, but that wasn't all- it also made me feel invincible. Honestly, I couldn't fathom why.

The sun dragged me to the horizon. 

In old westerns or in some poetic stories, the hero and his lover ride off into the sunset, forgetting the past and the world for those few precious cinematic or literary moments. This was unlike that. This was real. Felt real.

In reality, you don't ride off into the sunset and you don't leave the past in the dust and ashes.

You ride the waves of regret and remorse till the horizon, and there, at the end of the edge, you either fall apart, jump over or retreat back to the spoiled soil. Some never even reach the edge...

This was my edge.

As I stood gazing down over the land, I was sadly shocked to find no body of water at the base of the giant cliff. Instead, I was gazing over a sea of purple. It looked like lavender flowers, but longer and richer in colour.

With the abandoned city at my back, I tried to jump, but found my feet glued to the rocks of the edge. I peered behind me. This was the part where the hero hadn't looked back, but instead, grabbed his horse and damsel and rode off without a care in the world. 

I resisted the urge to retreat back towards the blackened horizon calling my name. It was harrowing.

The city slowly began to hide itself under the cruelty of the night sky, while the sun's last rays rolled on. My heart skipped a beat and tried to cover it up with a faster rhythm.

My neck stiffened as I turned my head back to what lay before me. Suddenly the cliff was edged out as if a large hand had taken a rolling pin and had rolled the cliff flat like dough. I took a step towards the horizon once more. 

The black heavens consumed the countless skyscrapers and tarred roads with one big gulp.