Through the Broken Window: A Love Story at the End of the World

The city shimmered, a mirage against the bruised sky. Amelia clutched the worn photograph, its edges softened by a lifetime of worried fingers. Ethan, his smile as bright as the sun that was now a dying ember, stared back. They were supposed to elope that day, beneath a sky bursting with stars, but the world had different plans.

A tremor rattled the building, a punctuation mark to the symphony of destruction. Decades ago, a rogue asteroid loomed, a celestial harbinger of doom. Governments scrambled, then crumbled. Amelia and Ethan, young and in love, clung to each other, a fragile raft in a storm of chaos.

Years bled into one another. Shelters became homes, canned food a luxury. Love, a stubborn ember, flickered between them. Ethan, ever the optimist, sketched constellations on the damp walls, whispering stories of futures they might have had. Amelia, the pragmatist, rationed their dwindling supplies, a knot of fear tightening in her chest with each passing day.

The final day arrived, heralded by an unnatural stillness. The once-vibrant city was a graveyard of concrete and steel. Huddled together, they watched the pre-recorded message on a flickering screen. Leaders, their faces etched with despair, spoke of a final impact, a fiery farewell.

Ethan, his hand rough against hers, traced the faded lines on the photograph. "Do you regret it, Melia?" he whispered, using the nickname from their stolen moments.

Amelia shook her head, a tear tracing a path down her cheek. "No, never. Not a single day."

Silence descended, thick and heavy. The world held its breath. Then, a blinding light, a deafening roar, and then...nothing. Just Amelia, the photograph clutched in her hand, and the faintest echo of a love that defied the apocalypse.