The Earth's Eulogy

This is the end

Today is when the world ends. The final celebrations, of life that was once lived on Earth for millions of years is now coming to its demise. There are only ten hours left for us, ten final hours of history, of peace. Our once hated rivals, the Maaqi who inhabited Mars were now walking hand in hand with their kin. The Maaqi's appearance and stature had never significantly changed since their first years on Mars, they still looked like the stubborn homo-sapiens our ancestors were, and they even kept the personality of sapiens for their love of warfare and susceptibility to their vices. My kind have always lived on Earth.

We'd branched off to other planets beginning in the 21st century, and in the 33rd century to Venus, though most of the inhabitants - the Terra have died off or moved away. The cone-headed Terra feared death, replacing their sacred organs with mechanics. We humans once feared death, the unknown too many was something to put out of sight and out of mind to keep sane. Fear is a part of the past, or at least we try to keep it.

I looked around my room as my thoughts went from one place to another. The red glow of the dying sun filled the dark room. I sat at a table surround by pots of paint, placed amongst friends, painting every inch of their skin in intricate patterns, accentuating the luminescent spot that covered their bodies. I looked down at my blank pale arms, my train of thought had clouded the task at hand. I picked up a thin brush and began painting the backs of my hands in a floral pattern, the continuous dark lines of paint circling the joints of my bones while the centre was a mural of a flower, a lily. The flowers once were a symbol of faith and hope - the pure white colour and texture was something I had only seen in pictures. The once luscious green Earth was a wasteland, a desert of sand and cracked mud, scattered with rock, boulders and the occasional town of bricks.

There are now eight hours left, covered in paint I sit next to my friend, Selox, a Maaqi whose family had lived here for only two generations. Selox had painted himself in muddy tons of dots and lines, painted in the shape of his skeleton. His eyes were surrounded by large circular holes, filled in with red paint, his cheekbones accentuated by whole continuous lines. Today was a day of celebration, of life, not luxury, a celebration of our planet and the sun that had served us well in its lifetime.

With the hours turning to minutes, we all left the house to attend the celebrations. Music, dancing, praying too was all part of today - we didn't want a day of grief, instead a day of joy and reminiscing. The people outside, Humans and Maaqi alike were all covered in colour, there were smiles on everyone's faces. Three hours left. Ambassadors of each planet were now presenting speeches. By the thousands we crowed around the stage. Ambassadors spoke in their own dialects, recited poetry and quotes from Philosophers and Scientists.

The crowds cheered and laughed and sand. Through all this joy I could still feel anxiety building, not just within myself but in others too.

One hour left. Through the final hours the loud masses of people all became silent.

We separated into groups of all our family and friends, on my left was my mother, to my right was Selox who was shaking in fear.

The final hour was the hour of mediation, the hour of peace. The several dozen people in my group sand arm-in-arm as the minutes massed. Five minutes left. I could feel the lump in my throat, I could physically feel the anxiety running down my spine. As much as we wanted to believe we were strong, many of us were weeping. The blanket of happiness couldn't hold us together as our reality finally rested on our shoulders. Two minutes left.

The ground was shaking beneath us, high pitched white noise filled the air, the bright Andromeda galaxy that illuminated the sky became brighter and brighter. The air around us was hot and humid, drops of sweat were running down my face and smearing paint. Thirty seconds left.

Selox was in tears beside me, I embraced him until the seconds were gone. I couldn't let go. I didn't want to let go. As the surroundings became hotter, brighter and the ground beneath us shook and cracked, the noised fill my ears and I shut my eyes. This was the end.