Chapter 1: The day the earth came to an end
The word. The word that created the earth. The word was with us. It was the word that kept us alive. It is the word. The word that has kept the earth spinning for the past few billion years. The word. It would soon disappear along with all human kind.
-Kingdom of Bermesiah: Serdin-
There was a shop somewhere in the cozy warm street of the sun shine filled city, red banners were hung and flags of the great Serdin empire waved in all its glory in its stunning coats of gold, green and red outside it's doors. The great walls of the shop were lined with festive colours of fresh flowers. From roses to daffodils to orchids, they all sat well on the wall, clinging on the metal bars which were already partially rusted from all the rain and sun that it had braved over the years. The stone walls which held up the bars, were given a fresh coat of indigo paint. The windows which looked tinted from the outside sat on the second and first floors of the building. Each were about five meters apart from each other. The tint reflected whatever image on the outside and created a sort of mirror effect. But if one looked closely enough, red curtains with silvery gold ends could be seen hanging on the other side of the window. The shop stood out as one of the grand features of the event at hand, The Anniversary of the Uprising of Serdin.
People from all ethnic groups and classes gathered around the shop, in wait of its grand revelation. Top hats, sailor suits, dotted ties, army vests, silk sandals, leather shoes, all these people came in many many types of shapes and colours. From the plumpest and biggest to the shortest and smallest. All gathered as they awaited for the shop the open their doors.
A teenage girl with a pointy black hat which looks slightly crumpled at the top stood nervously in the middle of the crowd. Her purple hair wavered in the light breeze that played around in the streets. Her eyes of purple twitched and rolled around cautiously. Her mouth was in an almost upside down 'U' shape. Her hands clenched fiercely on a giant book as she mingled in with the crowd. Her legs looks as if they could collapse any moment, they were shivering nervously. Her one piece dress of purple, white, violet and slight gold which were supposed to fit her slim and shy built draped on her like an oversized piece of cloth. She didn't really mind, soon she was going to experience sweet sweet sensation.
Her shivering hands finally came to a halt when the biggest window on the top floor of the building burst open with a giant white mist that filled the air with bright and colourful scents. The crowd began to cheer as all of their eyes turned to the window. Slowly, a giant golden bell appeared on the balcony lined with even more flowers. A man, wearing a baker's hate and a white chef suit came out from the side of the bell. His moustache stood out like a black dot on a piece of white paper, it was oddly shaped and it looked unevenly trimmed. His baker's hat slanted to one side and his white uniform was drenched with sweat. None the less, his eyes glimmered with red hot fiery passion as he held up a small ladle.
"COME AND GET IT!"
He hit the shining golden bell hard several time, making a giant sound wave that lifted the crowd's spirit even more. The ringing could be heard as far as 7 miles away and it informed people that 'The Cake Café' was now opened for Serdin Day and that meant.
"FREE CAKES AND PASTRIES!" The crowd exclaimed as they rushed into the store just as its two massive door flung open while golden glitter was being sprayed from on top to the people below.
The girl in purple lifted her head and took off her hat. She opened her mouth and let some glitter land on her tongue. A great overwhelming and electrifying taste of sweet and mellowish sour filled her mouth. It was heaven for a sweet tooth like her. She frolicked in the flitter for the moment while letting the sun warm her body to get ready for the feast of donuts and bagels awaiting her.
"Arme! Arme!" A voice called out from above.
The purple girl looked up as she saw the white baker with the odd moustache waving at her. She waved back.
"HI! UNCLE!" She exclaimed looking at the queer old man. Her grin was as large as ever as she waved her arm along with her baggy hat. It looked as if she was going to throw it up to him, but she wouldn't do that. The hat after all has a tendency to breakdown under nervous conditions.
"Arme! Arme! Stop that! You're making me nauseas!" The hat spoke in an almost dizzy manner.
"Get in! It's going to finish quick like every year!" Her uncle called from above.
Arme turned behind to look for her friends. "Hey guys! The shop is opened!" she exclaimed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A piercing scream from a lady's throat could be heard from behind. Arme turned and saw a body. Dressed in a yellow orange one piece dress but now drenched in murky crimson red blood was a lady lying on the floor. She was sprawled on the floor like a dead octopus. Arme felt her stomach churn for a moment. And then…
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
A man in blue this time fell from the sky and splattered on the ground like a red drop of paint. This time, Arme could suddenly feel her entire stomach and intestine swell up inside. Her guts were on fire and she was controlling herself to keep it in. Her dress was now splashed with drops and sprinkles of blood.
"WWWOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH!"
"NWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
More people fell out from the sky. It was almost as if it was raining humans. Arme's eyes swelled up with tears as she saw the devastating streets now scattered with lifeless pale white bodies. She covered her mouth. Just then, she felt her legs lose balance. She looked at the ground and suddenly noticed she was standing in a giant crumpling dent.
"AHHHHHHH!"
She turned up to look. The familiar voice pierced her heart as she tried to focus on the screaming man. A drop of cold sweat ran down her now pale and almost lifeless face. She saw, she witnessed it.
Her uncle fell from the window of the cake shop and splattered on the street flat with blood gushing out from his bald head. His once white hat and uniform now turned into a brownish red colour. The cake shop too started crumbling and giant rocks came crashing down on him, making an even bigger puddle of blood. It was horror, pure devastation.
"Un….UNCLE!"
Just as she was about to run to him, the ground underneath crumbled only to reveal a hollow darkness.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Arme screeched as her voice slowly disappeared into the darkness.
A cold sweat finally broke as Arme got up from bed. She quickly threw her dirty and dusty blanket to one side and rushed to the toilet nearest to her. She felt gastric juices burning her oesophagus. Her shirt was nothing but a white cloth wrapped around her and nothing else. She was afraid it would get dirty too so she pulled it off and went into the toilet stark naked. Her legs took her to the sink which was coloured in an ugly dark green, brown and black of moss. She turned to the sink hole just in time as she felt her mouth fill with a nasty sour and bitter taste.
She opened her mouth and vomit came flowing out. Her stomach churned and churned over and over again. And for a few seconds, she lost all air in her lungs as the acidic liquid came flowing out of her mouth. After a few mouthfuls, she stopped and her bloodshot eyes started to focus around the room.
The toilet was dark and eerie. It had a rusted shower top which she clearly remembered as the water that ran through it tasted like rust or rather iron. The broken and damp cement floor under her legs crippled her with a few small shards of rocks and pebbles. The mirror in front of her was broken and the tap was covered in a slimy orange brown moss which would make anybody nauseated just by looking at it. But not Arme, not anymore.
She took a few steps outside the toilet where the cement was covered with light wooden planks. In the room, she could see the dirty, dusty and blackened bed which she was just sleeping on. The blanket she used to cover herself with was lying on it. A soft paper like texture suddenly filled the underneath of her right foot. It was the white cloth she used to cover herself with. Without a word, she picked it up and draped it over her shoulder. Her naked body had scars and wounds on it, and that was the only purpose of the cloth, to cover them for healing, nothing else. She didn't really care if a boy accidentally saw her naked. Not anymore that is.
Arme's eyes turned to the cupboard on the opposite side of the bed and she walked towards it. Her hands pulled it open and a few mice which were chewing on a small piece of wood came scuttering out. Her eyes showed no amount of concern. The mice had nipped her a few times before. At first she was furious, now she just didn't care anymore. Arme gazed at her once magnificently coloured purple dress lying on the cheap wooden floor of the cupboard, now it was partially nipped away, dusty and black. Her blood shot eyes seemed to show little expression when looking at it, but she stared at it for a few moments. She closed her eyes and closed the cupboard doors.
Next, she turned her attention to the dusty window which was about the only thing in the room that was actually intact. She drifted towards it as she stepped on a few wooden planks that made a light hearted squeaky sound. She remembered how fun it was playing with such a plank, now, her mind was totally blank, the sound didn't even make any sense to her now anymore.
She finally reached the window. Her blood shot eyes peered through the thick dust. And she saw the same scene she'd seen every day, ever since she came to this forbidden land. It was a wasteland with nothing else. Her naked body stood right in front of the window. Why hadn't she cared about anything anymore? About her hair? Her clothes? Her dignity? She thought. Then suddenly an overwhelming sadness and pain from all those memories she constantly dreams about every night came to haunt her. The eyes that was once always in a cherry mood now filled with warm sad tears. Her heart broke into two as she fell to the floor and lay there crying like she had done for the past three weeks.
This was because she knew the answer to the question she had just thought of. The answer was simple really, and it was because nobody existed any more.
The world had already ended.
-To be continued….-
