I held on for a long time.
Death whispered in my ear.
Far away,
Yet closer than it ever had been.
I grasped the edge so hard my knuckles turned white.
I would not let go,
Not for this
The deep scarlet welled up to the edge of my skin,
I wanted to live.
The pain of holding on was less than that of letting go
I could barely feel it,
I was far away.
I tilted my head back,
I could hardly see the sky.
The grey smoke,
The aftermath,
It changed you.
It changed me.
I was clinging to life.
Do I dare look down?
Do I dare gaze upon my fate?
What had this world done to me?
Something shook me from my thoughts
It was a distant noise,
Brittle yet weak in the soundless asylum.
It was a cry,
A shout for help.
But I couldn’t help them,
I was still on the edge,
I couldn’t even save myself.
It didn’t stay long,
Not before another broke the silence,
Longer this time.
My pace quickened,
Thumping in my ears,
Making it hard to think.
It sounded like me,
But I was here,
Not back where the screams began.
But it had ripped from my throat,
Drawing them closer,
Closer to me.
I could hear them marching,
Doing what they had to do.
What they had to do to survive.
I tried to shrink away,
To shrink back into the past.
To do anything so I wouldn’t be there.
But it was too late,
They were already there.
There was no escape.
I tried to be scared,
But fear had left me long ago.
Then the light.
The light that I deserved.
It was grey,
That world of mine.
It was the aftermath.
With the smoke.
It changed everything,
It changed me.
“The Aftermath” – Greta Tucker
