(MSFE) Going Home

I can't say I never dreamed of it, or didn't want it. We had it coming, in more ways than one; we made it come.
I hit play on my IPOD; I figured it had just enough power for one last song. I knew just what I wanted to hear. I preferred the German version- it sounded better, and I could translate it however I liked. I never had decided on a translation, except to envision the last verse in an amalgam of the two versions.

99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here...

The earphones crackled and the power gave out, just a two lines short of the end. I looked around. I didn't have to envision it anymore. It was more touching than I ever could have imagined.
So this was New Orleans, in all of it's ravaged beauty. Fat, heavy drops of the perpetual rain splashed in the mud at my feet in at an unusually lazy cadence. I took in the stench of rotting lumber and rusting steel as I stared down the hill over the stagnant lakes which dominated the city. This was the first casualty of Mankind's judgement upon himself, my home, and resting place. I hadn't been home in years- no one had. There was too much to rebuild after Hurricane 27; they gave up on naming them after they ran out of letters for 2005. That was just trivia. It didn't matter. The weather weapons, the nukes, the terminator seeds, the factories, the cars, the nuclear waste dumps, the Russians, the Chinese, the Americans- all of that was gone now. Enough was enough, said the Earth. We didn't have to do it to ourselves anymore. A bell rings long after it is struck. When it stopped, if it stopped, it would be a thousand years before mankind could transgress again.
Good. At least I'd die ungoverned. If my children were alright, somewhere out there in the wastes of the mid west- perhaps they'd be able to start things fresh, and not repeat my generation's mistakes.

I'd done what I came to do. I'd stood where it all began, and it worked. I was ready for what came next. I ran a hand uneasily over my blistered, hairless scalp, the familiar uneasiness in my stomach reaching a peak as I anticipated its end. I slid my hand down the back of by neck, gripping the muzzle of the shotgun on my back, and pressed it to the base of my neck as i slid my other hand below my back to the trigger. I thought I was free, but everything went black before I could be sure.

Hi Vagabond,

That was a very powerful story! I especially liked the lyrics to the song, especially the last line "...just to prove the world was here." It is like we have already drifted off into the stuff of legend. It also does a great job of letting the reader know just how dire this "new" world is. The way the story ends is painful, direct, and yet hopeless. The main character seeks to end his painful existance, but even in the end, he didnt know if he was free.

Great story, I really enjoyed it. Good luck to you, in the contest!

I gotta agree, good story Vagabond. I'm glad to see you made it into the contest and wish you luck in the eyes of the judges. I'm still trying to digest the story though, It gave me the creepy willies up my back and i'm probably going to have nightmares tonight. (Believe it or not, thats one heck of a compliment)

Love and light my friend,

Wupy

Thanks guys . I liked it better before I had to trim it down to 500 words, so I'm relieved that it retained decent power.

In case anyone hasn't heard it, that song is Nena's 99 Luftballoons- it's about a group of balloons spotted on radar starting WWIII- based on an event in the late 80s when a flock of geese were mistaken for incoming over Germany.

I love that song. It's quite haunting- especially that last verse of the english version (i spliced on the first two lines from the german version though- 99 years of war, leave no room for victors.

Best of luck to you guys too

Edit to add: part of the idea also came from the movie "The Day After", which is a moving, if somewhat aimless post-nuclear horror show. Not a bad movie if you like to have your skin crawl.

[edit on 27-9-2005 by The Vagabond]