Life Is Worth More

A nuclear fallout befell the world. In the beginning, before the bombs went off. Our world leaders tried to calm the public down. Saying “Everything will be alright, we shall not succumb to a 3rd World War ''. But the world did succumb to it. We are selfish and greedy beings. Nobody cared about each other. They only did things to help themselves, they had no empathy for others.

As for me, I was a rich spoiled kid. Who got everything I ever wanted. As long as I did what I was told. My parents were everything to me, they were all I had. My father was a very humble man, even after he became rich and famous. My parents died after trying to help people get to safety from the strong winds caused by the bombs. But it only caused them their deaths. Once I was able to go outside after the air had settled. I could only see parts of their limbs sticking out of the ground. I pried open my mother's hand that was clasped onto her locket. It was the only thing I could take that reminded me of them.

The town I in was desolate, nothing but run-down buildings & vehicles remain. Not very many people were left around either. The nights grow colder and lonelier. While days flew by like tumbleweeds in the breeze.

A small group of survivors remains. They spend their nights having huge bonfires and music blasting through the town. Their living their days like nothing has changed. How could they, how could they stand there celebrating after witnessing their friends and families' lives be ripped away from them? Did they not care, did they not love them.

I sit and watch as they drink, have sex, and laugh as if nothing has changed.

New survivors arrive once every blue moon. They arrive looking distraught, only to be shit-faced and smiling later that night.

“How could you stand there looking and acting so happy in times like this”. I whisper to myself

“It’s plain and simple actually”. The new stranger said as she looked down at me.

I clutch onto my mother’s locket hanging around my neck.

The girl looks at me and says “Many of us lost friends and family years before the great war. Also, many of us never got a chance to live lavish lives either.” She points at my locket.

“Yes we might look happy and look like we’re having the time of our lives but we are also in mourning. We mourn them every day. We miss their touch and the sound of their voices. But that doesn’t mean you should stop living your life after you’ve lost them. The memory of them will not die as long as you continue to live. Living is what carries out their memory. You are what is left of them. We live so when it is our end, we will look back and remember”.

She stands up and walks over to the group of survivors. They all greet her and hand over a beer as they all dance the apocalypse away.

I glance at my locket, it’s golden and heart-shaped. It has a swirl design on both sides that has holes in it, allowing the viewer to see what is inside. Inside of it holds a red ruby. My father handcrafted the ruby and the locket himself. He found the ruby when he went on a trip to Mozambique. He proposed to my mother with the locket right after they first met.

He would tell me the story of how they first met, over and over again. But I could never understand how he could propose to someone he just met. He would later tell me at the end of the story, that you will understand one day.

As I look up to watch the girl dancing around the fire. My father's words would echo in my head.

“I saw her, I watched the way she talked, I watched the way she moved. It is nothing but magnetism. She always had a happy look on her face. But her eyes held so much sadness. But she made each day worth living”.