The world is not the place that it once was. It’s not the place you might read about in a book somewhere, or see pictures of. The old timers are long gone and their memories with them. Their stories fading with each generation. It seems, to the new ones, the children just coming to the age where they can read and understand the incredible differences between the photographs and what they see with their own eyes, very strange. They don’t understand at all. What can we possibly tell them to make it clear? When what happened to us doesn’t even make sense to those now in charge and we had those that were children in that age to explain it?

The world is ravished. There is nothing here to sustain us naturally. We have only the things we can create with our own hands. All the food that survives is whatever was artificial and could be recreated easily in labs. We have no pure water. Sometimes it’s surprising that we even have oxygen to breathe.

Three generations ago it happened. I am of the third generation to be born since the tragedy. Yet it seems to me that thousands of years have passed, such is the horror of it all. I can’t even imagine what it was like for those who lived through it. And what of those who died? We have no way to know what they’ve gone through, there’s no want to, to be honest. As it can all only be more horrors. Terrible, terrible tortures.

There was nothing that could be done to stop it. The only option being to stand and watch in terror at the world being torn apart. Devoured. From what I have been told, hiding wasn’t much use. It didn’t offer protection from anything. There was just hoping. Hoping that it would all just pass by and ignore you. Hoping that you would somehow be unscathed.

And there were those who did come through without even a scratch. Nobody then knew why this happened, and nobody now has any clue either. Maybe they were chosen for a reason to be left alone. Maybe they didn’t exhibit enough fear to call attention to themselves. Maybe they were saved for some future torment that was planned but never came.

Maybe it was just stupid luck.

Others were not so lucky. Some were damaged. Some so damaged they begged for death. Others rendered limb from limb, living through all of it until the very last cruelty. Of course still others were captured and kept alive through things that nobody wants to think about, and destroyed systematically. Of these, the grievously harmed, we don’t really know who got the short stick. No option seems to fit.

Even the ones unfortunate enough to see these things happen were broken past the point of repair. Perhaps were even worse off than the ones who experienced things bodily.

It was not quick, the end of our way of living. The demise took an entire year. Three hundred and sixty five days of abject fear and intense pain. Twelve months of not knowing when it would be over, if ever. Fifty two weeks of suffering and death.

The worst part was they kept waiting for help. Even the ones who had believed before the start were left to experience the blood and breaking of bones. They who had been promised through faith that if they led good lives they would be freed from it all when it happened and taken to a better place. They lamented.

After the start, however, it was impossible to ignore. Nobody could deny anything any longer. It frightened those who had firmly denied any possibility that the believers were correct. But they accepted, they had to. Repented. Prayed. Hand in hand with the original believers, they begged for the help they had been promised.

Help that never even showed it’s face.

No inkling, no sign.

Not even a flicker.

There was no great love washing over them, telling them it would be alright. They may have even endured the tortures gladly if only they had known it would come to an end, and that the end would contain all the glory they longed for. But there was nothing offered. No kind hand to hold them up when the burden became too heavy. The whole world witnessed that everything went as the book had told them it would, except for the parts about eternity and rest, saving and protecting.

Their belief endured through to us, we can not deny it any more than they could. But our belief is tainted with hate. A deep realization of betrayal. We no longer venerate. We do not give our thanks, we do not worship. Not either side, because we are convinced now that there is but one side, and it is Evil. We do not keep the books to guide us in our lives, but to warn us. To remind of us the lies. Thousands of years of lies.

How many people died because of those lies? Because they were acting in the name of the liar or because they were the victims of crusaders, it hardly matters anymore. They are all just more blood on the page. More reason for our ire.

We exist however we can now. We work together, all of us – everyone on the planet – we help each other however we can. We all have brilliant scientists who constantly do their best to come up with new ways to help us all live, and the information is shared worldwide. There is no longer competition and secrecy in our governments. No longer is there any distrust of one another either. We have all come to the same place from the same place.

There is hardly any crime. People have given up taking from each other, or trying to hurt one another. Of course, there will always be the deranged, those who have damage to their very humanity, and all we can do is put them down when we find them. A service provided for the public by the public. But not without proof. For we’ve given up on senseless murder as well.

War has never even been a threat to those of us who came after. Something we have found thousands of books on, seen millions of pictures of. We don’t even have the desire to take up arms against other sections of the world. It is much better for all that we get along and work together. We have accomplished much through our combined efforts, in the future, there is hope that we will be able to accomplish much more. There is no conspiracy of hate anymore.

No. We are all brothers now.

All it took was to be forsaken.