Elusive

All the Stars

Starlight stroked their cheeks as she held her hand- in less than six hours they wouldn't be here- no one will. No more will anyone run on the grass bare foot, the blades tickling their legs. No more will anyone breathe in cold air, letting it fill their body with freedom and peace. No more will anyone be alive.

They heard the news two years ago- it was broadcast everywhere. Every channel, every radio station, every newspaper, every billboard, magazine, announcement. No one knew why. No one knew how. But it was decided that every country must shoot weapons of mass destruction into itself- every single country, every single person would commit suicide at the exact same time. And there was nothing people could do to stop it.

Every one panicked. The protests and the riots were only the tip of the ice berg. People attempted to assassinate multiple world leaders, but they were not naive. Security became tighter months before they even announced the news. They were untouchable. And irrevocably dangerous to the entirety of the human race.

Harleigh held Xia's hand, resting her head on her shoulder as they stared into the sky, streaked with emerald, cobalt and a colour so beautiful, so unknown, they had no name for it. Xia kissed the other girls head softly. "Is it a blessing or a curse?"

Harleigh looked up in confusion. "Is what a blessing or a curse?" These were the first words they had dared to utter all evening and they pulsated with unsaturated fear. Shaky and so fragile.

Xia sighed and looked up, pulling away from the other girl and pulling her knees to her chest. She rested her chin on her bare knees, furrowing her eyebrows and blinking rapidly.

"Tomorrow will be a day to remember- yet no one will. It outshines the rest of history. Everything else has happened and none of it has been as impactful as tomorrow will be. This is the end of life as we know it, and no one will live to tell the story. The human race has been devastated over and over and over again. Plague, poverty, death, mass genocide, terrorism, destruction. And yet we've pulled through every single time. We've managed to rise from the flames, born again. Our tears heal our broken hearts and mend all we have shattered with our stupidity. Yet not this time. Cry all you want- it mends nothing. We will still be dead. We have no choice."

Xia stopped, dragging the early morning air into her lungs. She shook, out of nerves or pure anger and frustration. Neither knew which. Or perhaps it was something Xia would never admit, not even to herself. Fear.

"So I ask; is it a blessing? Or a curse?"

Harleigh looked up at the painting above her head. Her soaked cheeks were such a permanent feature now, she didn't bother to waste energy on wiping them dry. "It's a curse. It was has to be! What have we ever done to deserve this Xia? What have we done to deserve death? Because I honestly have no idea. We have so much left to live for but now we're meant to die like cattle in a pen. It's a curse. No good could ever come from this."

Xia blew the short black curls out of her eyes and snorted. "Perhaps it's a blessing in a disguise. We've fucked up the world in multiple different ways, countless different times over the years we have even dared to call this majestic masterpiece home. Maybe it is a blessing. Get rid of the offenders, create a haven for the victims. I'm tired Harleigh. Tired of life. Yet I still want to live."

She reached out to take Harleigh's hand again, who took it gratefully. The blonde girl laughed bitterly. "Isn't it funny how even the most suicidal of us will choose life over this?"

"That's simply because suicide is a choice, one final way of gaining control of the hell we call the miracle of life. Take away the choice, force them to die, and you take away their control. Their independence. Their last resort." Xia pulled down her sleeve surreptitiously, trying to forget the days of emptiness and the darkness. She forgot for a moment and tried to find solace in the notion that her future will be better.