Going Home

In a wasteland when there’s no one except yourself, all you can do is move and think. I’ve been walking for days on end thinking about the people I used to know: mom, dad, my two sisters, and the love of my life. All of the people I cared so much about. They made up my whole world. It’s strange how fast a single person with the power of the world could take it all away.

Days of thinking and question and still only one thought persists in my mind; why am I still alive? Why did I survive? Why do I keep myself alive? Everything I once had is gone yet I keep trying. I could easily give up, but I just keep walking and trying to answer these questions.

Maybe I think I can get them back somehow. Or find someone to help me. Maybe I only survived to die. I start questioning what to do next. Do I suffer through the quick pain of killing myself? Do I suffer slowly? Or should I just keep up the fight and trying to find someone, anyone, to help.

I find it hard to have any emotion out here. I know if I stopped to cry or grieve over not being there to protect my family but I would surely die if I stopped. But at this point, would it be such a bad thing to die? Death couldn’t be that bad. I could disappear to nothing, I could find paradise, or maybe even get my family back.

After a long day of walking I stumbled upon a giant pile of rubble and a few standing structures left. I had made it into a city of some sort. The air was muggy and there was a thick fog as result of the bomb that had killed everyone. I wandered over to an old building and saw an old office cubicle. I curled up under the desk for shelter. The ground was cold against my skin, there was rubble everywhere I could move so I just gave up trying to clear off a smooth spot. It was a little rough but I finally fell asleep.

As I wake I see a blinding bright light. I sprint to it as fast I possibly can. I have no idea what it is or what has given me the energy to run like this but the light is pulling me towards it and I have no energy to resist so I just run towards it.

I seem to break through the light and I see a large clearing. My mom, dad, sisters, and my lovely wife are all there. I make my way towards them as tears begin to fall down my face. They’re standing with elated smiles and I’m crying tears of joy as they all wrap me in a big group hug. Although it had only been a few days it had felt like an eternity.

They tell me how nice it has been and how nothing bad ever happened to them. A relief begins to spread across me and my beaming smile soon returns as the tears fade. They show me around where they’ve stayed. It seems as though it is a perfect Utopia with a bright sunlight without an excess of heat, it remains calm and cool here. The streets are filled with people doing as they please and living however they want.

My family hurries me over to the massive building in the center of town. They tell me I have to meet their new friend and that he owns and controls this place. As we walk on the pearl floors with a bright red, spotless carpets we hurry through the halls and come to two giant, decorated, wooden doors with enormous gold handles. The size of this place is just incredible and I begin to worry about what is inside. They tell me I have to go in by myself so I trust them and do as they say. They assure me that inside nothing bad can happen.

I enter to a glowing white figure and I’m instantly blinded. I can feel the warmth and strength this light has but I believe it is a person. He speaks and his voice booms, “Welcome home son,” and it all begins to make sense.