The Cataclysm - Introduction

Cherry

By acetesfaye

Mon, 30 Jul 2012
  • 1123 reads
3 comments
 

tumblr_m6z8ga5d821rxfltuo1_500.jpeg"Fear is only as deep as the mind allows."
-Japanese Proverb

In the beginning there was no earth or sky or sea or animals. The end was no different. 

The first day brought lightning bolts sent from the heavens, carved by the supple hands of Zeus. They rained down on the earth and erupted into fires that ate away at civilisation. Fires that were neither red nor orange. Those fires were deep blue; effervescent.

On the second day the oceans were in turmoil; they heaved onto the land until everything was submerged; a global Atlantis. If humans were ever in need of gills it was then.

The earthquakes came on day three. The ground tore open at every angle and drained the water into every crevice there was. And so the volcanoes were brought to life. Abruptly awoken they created a world of dried lava foreseen by Pompeii.

The fourth day was the last, and the worst; a plague like no other infiltrated the earth. A plague that harmed not the body but the brain. A plague that warped the mind with enough fear to render its owner incapable of coherent thought. A plague that ended life as it was known. 

And so at the 148th hour, there was nothing left but death, despair and the hopeless remains of the cataclysm.

Certificate U
Story
The Cataclysm
Fantasy

Comments

Submitted by jolono on
A big warm welcome to the site. This is a really good start and I'm looking forward to more.

 

Submitted by The Walrus on
An excellent introduction considering your age, acetesfaye. No, that's unfair, it's a job well done regardless of your age. I loved the imagery. I only have one niggle, and it's a minor one. Pompeii was only a minor eruption, globally speaking, and Etna is only a smallish volcano. The biggest known eruptions in the Earth's history, I thought, occurred across what is now the Indian subcontinent, but a swift Google search revealed this tasty snippet:- In recent history, the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora has been the most violent volcanic eruption and also the most deadly, killing 92,000 people. This eruption also resulted in a major climatic change, causing what was known as "The Year Without a Summer". During the summer of 1816 Europe experienced frost and snow during the month of July, this caused widespread famine and crops worldwide to fail. In the past 5,000 years, the "Taupo", New Zealand eruption was the biggest ever witnessed and recorded by humans. This occurred approximately 1800 years ago. The eruption lasted for several weeks and produced a sequence of pumice deposits which blanketed the landscape east of current day lake Taupo. Approximately 30km³ of pumice, ash and rock fragments were ejected in just a few minutes. These fragments travelled horizontally, as a liquid flow, and moved at speeds estimated to be somewhere between 600-900kmh. It crossed every obstacle in its path except the top of New Zealand's current highest volcano - Mt Raupehu. An eruption column 50 metres high was produced (twice as high as the 1980 Mt St Helen's eruption column), and the effects were seen in the sky as far away as Europe and China where records of it are still recorded to this day. As for archaeological history, it's a toss up between the Toba Caldera, Sumatra Indonesia, which erupted approximately 74,000 BC, and the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff Eruption of Yellowstone Caldera, USA, which occurred approximately 2.1 million years ago. In geologic history, it might be the the La Garita Caldera eruption in Colorado, about 28 million years ago, in the Oligocene Epoch. That put 5000 cubic kilometers of lava into play. There may be larger ones, but the farther back in time we go, the more geologic evidence is destroyed by tectonic activity. Finally, it is likely that the most powerful eruptions ever were the Siberian Traps about 250 million years ago. The highest ranking on the volcanic scale is VEI 8; These are super eruptions. Yellow Stone and Lake Toba caldera were both VEI8's and Tambora was a VEI 7. But the Siberian traps would have been far off the scale. The Siberian traps were likely responsible for a mass extinction: the death of 95% of all life on Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_biggest_volcanic_eruption_ever#ix... Maybe you could use something from there, it's up to you, but that's what I would do - Google can be a writer's best friend or worst enemy. Enjoy writing your story!

Submitted by Sooz006 on
Hello and welcome. I've just read two newbie stories on the trot and they are both excellent. The site in getting an influx of good new blood. I didn't find any typos in this. Really cracking start and I look forward to reading more from you. Bring on the next part, please. I've been to Pompeii, I was young and it took me a long time to get passed the couple having sex (or at least locked in an embrace) but it was a serene and tranquil place. Great start.