Anti-Lullaby

Earth, an everlasting world through mortal eyes, crowned to power by a will of fire, is a masterpiece; an explosion of ideas and overwhelming possibility that encases the desire to do, to be anything.

An ugly breath of violence creeps onto the neck of the world, and in a moment, it is all-consuming. One, ten, a thousand shots are fired, and the blood of the innocent blooms across the earth. Stained and worn, the ground is covered in a layer of ash so suffocating you can’t hear the last of the explosions. They shake the earth, once, twice, hatred toppling an entire empire of dreams. Lives that had been measured in years were now measured in the infinite loss of a single second. Souls rise, clawing at the surface, grieving for one more chance to recover what they’ve lost, to return the hate, to abolish it entirely-to be human.

            Desperation clings to the dead, dead air, sadness trailing along. Destruction did not begin with the contentedness of a guilt-free mind, but willingly, in anger and outrage.

From the explosive disaster of emotion and carelessness, a new world was born. It is careful, its people speaking with timid, crystalline words that threaten to shatter at any moment. They live in tall, transparent buildings that tower towards the sun, beams of light bouncing off the glass of their homes. They are considerate, biting their cheek and breeding a race of people too afraid to outrage, to offend that they don’t live at all.

And then, a building-high strung, full of tension-they can feel it in the air. It swims around in their heads, and they are drunk off the feeling of feeling something. When it’s so thick that it crackles in the air, taboo words are uttered. They’re so loud that they break the system, that they cannot be ignored. Glass buildings overflow with the news. Features hidden behind a thick, red mask, the people jump from ledge to ledge, tip-toeing around indignation and controlled rage.

One more, another, another, and the masks are gone and it is chaos. Silence is a myth, and the slow, peaceful world they had created is gone.

Violence, rage, anger.

And ashes.

Earth, an everlasting world through mortal eyes, crowned to power by a will of fire, is a masterpiece; an explosion of ideas and overwhelming possibility that encases the desire to do, to be anything.