Afterwards.

Slight Confusion.

This is the introduction to the story, as an explanation for its particularly short length. Hope you enjoy.  :)

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The birds chirped merrily in the summer wind. Thunder clouds rumbled in the far-off distance, yet the rain wouldn't arrive for another few hours. For now, a family sat on their balcony and laughed, sharing a grand meal to welcome the oncoming autumn. While they didn't normally celebrate the new season, it had been a particularly hot few months, and they were glad to see it go. 

There were four in total. A mother and a father. A young boy, maybe five. And a girl, possibly fifteen. The girl smiled at a joke, finishing the food on her plate. The smell of rain was in the air, as was the delicious scent of well-earned food. All was comfortable. All was peaceful. All was well. 

The girl stood up, bringing her plate with her. Placing her dishes in the sink, she swiftly rushed to her room, remembering an assignment that was in need of immediate attention.

She turned on the light, breathing in the many flowers and herbs that lay around her room, sighing in relief. Although she loved her family, she still preferred to be on her own most of the time. 

Sliding a pencil off of a small, cluttered desk and moving a few items away from her seat, she began to write. Despite the fact that writing had never been a natural skill of hers, she had always loved the way words seemed to flow from her pencil.

While in her room, she was entirely unaware that across the globe, humans were disappearing.  You'd think they'd at least have the decency to leave behind their bodies. Instead, they didn't leave behind so much as a thread of clothing, or a button from a shirt. 

And the girl in her room had absolutely no idea.

An hour or two later, she stretched, having eventually finished her work. The rain had arrived early, and was tapping lightly against her window. The thunder was becoming stronger, lightning flashing in some far off valley. The wind had picked up significantly, silencing the chirping birds and moving them from the open branches to more covered shelter. The weather seemed to rue the changing of the seasons, or perhaps it was simply welcoming autumn. 

Tip-tap. The rain knocked peacefully on the roof. She wandered down the stairs, calling to her family. Tip-tap. When complete silence answered her, she assumed they had gone for a walk. Something tugged at the back of her mind. Tip-tap. Why would they go for a walk in such windy, wet weather? It wasn't like them at all. Maybe they felt like feeling the wind against their faces. Tip-tap. She shook off the uncomfortable feeling and wandered down another set of stairs to watch an episode of a show before her family returned. Tip-tap.

An hour later, and there was still nothing. No sign of her parents and brother. She sat with her dog, feeling slightly confused. The fact that her family hadn't arrived was strange. It was getting on to the later hours of the evening. They definitely should have been home by this point. Rising from her seat, she reached her phone, scrolling through and calling her mother. It rung out, and she heard a phone ringing from somewhere else in the house. Following the tone, she located her mother's phone within a cupboard where the chargers lay, her father's phone sitting beside it. Odd. They wouldn't have left without their phones.

She called out their names. Possibly, she had missed their presence within the three floors. No answer. The uncomfortable feeling had since returned. Grabbing the keys that sat idly on the table, she left through the front door, locking it behind her before her dog decided to attempt an escape. Ignoring the rain, she walked in bare feet up the stairs that led to the front lawn. Immediately, she noticed the absence of the cars that one lined the suburban roads. This wasn't normal. Something felt wrong.

Walking to her neighbour's house, she knocked on the door, receiving no answer. She continued along her street, her uncomfortable feeling increasing with each unanswered knock of the door, or ring of the bell.

Deciding that calling the authorities was necessary, she returned home to retrieve her phone. The second she reached it, she dialled triple zero. The call rung once. Twice. Three times. No one was answering. This had confirmed her hunch. The humans populating her world had entirely vanished, and for whatever reason, Atlas and her dog were last two that remained.