A magnificent tree stood in the heart of a verdant forest, where once, time seemed to stand still. Its branches reached out like welcoming arms, offering solace and shade to weary travelers. Beneath its sprawling canopy, a couple sat, sharing a simple meal as they had done fifty years ago. The world was different then, and his proposal had been innocent and loving.
Now, the man, weathered by time, and the woman, her face etched with the lines of experience, sat side by side, their hands clasped together in a silent bond that spoke volumes. Around them, the forest, which once had hummed with the melody of life, birds chirping, leaves rustling, and distant streams murmuring secrets of the ages, was silent.
“This is the last of our wine and food,” he murmured.
“I know. I guess we should savor every sip and morsel,” she responded gloomily.
A gentle breeze stirred the air, carrying a sense of foreboding. The couple exchanged a knowing glance, their eyes reflecting the depths of a shared history filled with love, laughter, and sorrow.
Exactly one year prior, the tranquility of their surroundings had been shattered by an otherworldly presence. High above the treetops, alien ships had descended from the heavens like dark harbingers of doom. With a deafening roar, they cast their ominous shadows over the land, blotting out the sun with their imposing silhouettes.
At the time, the couple watched in stunned disbelief as the Earth, finally at peace after millennia of angst and anger, once again became a battleground. Only due to their remoteness had they survived the attacks and mass exterminations. Their once serene forest echoed with the cacophony of destruction as alien weapons continued to rent the Earth asunder.
Amid the chaos, the couple clung to each other, their love a beacon of hope in a world consumed by darkness. Together, they sought refuge beneath the sheltering branches of their beloved tree, its sturdy trunk offering some protection against the continuous onslaught.
When the alien bombardment stretched into days and the days into weeks, the couple weathered the storm of war, their resilience tested to its limits. With each passing moment, they drew strength from their shared memories, finding solace underneath the giant tree. From the wireless, news from the various battle fronts, and the knowledge that they were not alone.
“I pray we win,” she’d said.
He usually agreed, that was, until yesterday. The broadcast from the military authorities had shattered any feelings of hope.
“We are defeated,” a weary voice said. “I have always held out hope that we could repulse this heinous attack. But there are so few of us left. It’s clear the Earth has been conquered. We, your leaders, regret to say the time has come to end the battles . . . and our lives. To the victors belong the spoils of war. I hope they choke on them.”
At the end of the broadcast, while the microphone was still on, gunshots rang out. The noise of bodies dropping made it evident that the entire room had just killed themselves.
With the Earth given over to the relentless tide of alien invaders, the couple knew their time had run out. With heavy hearts, they made a solemn vow to join the rest of humanity in the afterlife. Though they knew suicide was a mortal sin, they were also conflicted. They’d often heard a preacher of some renown over the wireless exhorting God to intervene.
“How can a loving God allow an alien race to attack his people so savagely?” someone had once countered. The answer had been oddly discomforting.
“Maybe he hates us and has given us up to these interlopers,” the preacher had answered.
And so it was that on the fateful day of Earth’s final battle, the couple returned to the tree where their love had blossomed, their spirits unbowed in the face of adversity. Sitting beneath its gnarled branches, they shared their last meal, savoring each bite.
Around them, their forest lay in ruins, its once vibrant beauty now reduced to ashes and dust. But amidst the devastation, the couple had their love, an inner glimmer of light that refused to be extinguished.
Then, amid the chaos, something miraculous happened. A rift appeared in the sky above the battlefield, bathing the planet in a brilliant, otherworldly light. From its depths emerged beings unlike the couple had ever seen, their forms shimmering with an ethereal glow.
These were not the cruel invaders who had brought death and destruction to their world but something else entirely.
From their vantage point, beneath the tree, it was clear that the last two people on Earth had a front-row seat to the fight between two races whose hatred for each other superseded their desire to save the Earth for their own use.
“I guess the enemy of our enemy is still our friend?” she said hopefully.
“Perhaps our military opted out a bit too early,” the man surmised.
“Maybe, unless these other aliens are also hungry, and we’re still on the menu.”
“Well. We may be all that’s left of the human race. Plus, we’re skin and bones now. If that’s the case, they should have come last year, when we were plump! With their help, we might have had a fighting chance.”
As he finished speaking, the ground shook, and a bright flash started to eat away at the horizon.
“Wow!” they said in unison.
While the ground continued to shake, an orange glow started to consume the sky. Seconds later, the wind began to be pulled towards the conflagration. The tree resisted, but some leaves ripped away and raced towards the maelstrom.
“Is that getting larger? What do you think that is?” she asked, downing the last gulp of the last bottle of wine on the entire planet. “I think, it’s our end,” he said, griping her hand as a searing wave of heat rushed over them. Circling the planet, it scoured the surface of the Earth, leaving a burned-out husk behind.
