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eugolipe

Epilogue

"Once upon a time, a rock caught fire and burned. It did it so beautifully that space wept and moaned for the rock, stunned by the ignited skin and inaudible cries. Because of its sympathy, that rock was then flooded and drowned. Eventually, the fires and the floods understood each other and lived in harmony, but there was more there. The rock wanted to be more than a rock, it wanted to grow things, be a home to the living and free. Fire and Water, although fearful at first, wanted such things too. So air was the first created to protect such living things, and they were born with everything needed to survive. This place, this sanctuary, was at peace. Its name was Earth. The Earth was quiet, and it was not long before new creatures came to be, ones with larger heads and better posture. They called themselves Humans.

"These Humans, although equipped with natural instincts to survive, had many flaws. These flaws made them greedy and lack understanding towards things different from them. This started with Humans vs. plants, then Humans vs. animals, and then Humans vs. the Earth itself...and eventually Humans vs. Humans. In result of this difference, it began to wear the Earth down. Sick of the neglect, the Earth gave birth to another species...one with the will to survive as Humans had, but without the self-destructive tendencies they carried. They call themselves Syncs. The Sync population began to grow and learn things from the Humans. And still, the time came when the differences between Sync and Human were too strong to ignore. Many Humans with power were misguided, and they pushed us out. In fact, that's why they gave us this desert, they figured we should live in the place that best resembles how they saw us: Empty. But, what the humans failed to realize was the amazing quality of those species that live in the desert; Their ability to thrive under all the pressure in the world. So, with the help of far and few kind Humans, we were able to thrive here. And yes, we do still face hardships. Because of our lack of food, we resorted to eating Human remains, even killing when the time was right...and the future generations developed a necessity for the meat. But we get by, and one day, we will be strong enough to take the Earth back from the Humans, and it will prosper again."

The children looked up at Zana with wide eyes, backs hunched and legs crossed as they listened. "Cool!" one of the little girls vocalized, and the others followed in her hype.

"Well take is a very strong word."

The children turned around in the middle of the play grounds to see two familiar faces standing there. "Grandma May!" one of the quieter kids yelled, and all the others got up to hug her. May stumbled back a few inches, not old enough to kick any nearby buckets but definitely enough to have a knee replaced.

May's human hair was grey and thinning, and she balanced at least half of her weight on her cane. She was wearing shorts that exposed the sagginess of her legs and a tank top that exposed the sagginess of her arms, yet she still sweat. Her skin had gotten much darker over the period of time the Syncs had known her, the heat of the desert affecting her more than it did the others.

"Hey, what about me?" The youthful Sync next to May caught the attention of the kids, them now making the effort to hug him next.

"Talon," Zana called, and Talon looked up at her as she stood. The kids backed away and let the two friends share a fist bump before Zana said, "What're you doing here? I thought you were on the outskirts of the land trying to gain us more territory?"

Talon sighed. "Yeah, about that—" But May already jumped into the waters, cutting him off.

"It's a no-go," she put it simply. "Neighbors wouldn't give up any of their land, we knew that from the start. It was a stupid idea anyway."