[ZO]Enek's Log: Drive

Drive

Vrrrrrrrr...Gears can be heard clicking as the stick snaps into place. The motor responds to the gas pedal, purring louder and louder as if being petted like a kitten. The car speeds down the highway, scorching pavement as it shifts up gears. Birds nearby, frightened at the sound, dive off into the clear blue sky. However, the resounding flaps of a futile escape only serve to heighten the car's power as it tears up the pavement. The driver smiles, head nodding slightly forward to display the dark sunglasses in the rearview mirror. Inside the car, the only thing that can be heard is the roaring of the wind, and that too pales in comparison to the howl of the motor. This is one of the images I have of Earth.

Besides the road sprawls an infinite vast of blue, both above and below the car. Below it is a deep azure, glistening in the daytime sun. It is fresh, quite possibly teeming with life as skips up and down along with the car, as if beckoning the driver to come play. Above the car lies a vast expanse of aqua, dappled with white lines off in the distance. It is a distance that feels both near and far; near enough to almost touch it, but far enough to always be out of reach. It is brightly painted and all encompassing, as if enveloping the car in a warm embrace. This is one of the images I have of Earth.

Further down the road is a city, teeming with buildings and shops and houses and ooh, the excitement! Each step towards such a city mounts a new peak of excitement, the peaks washing over one in waves, as if in rhythm with the bright disposition of the nearby water. It is a carnival of sights and sounds yet to come, and although still far away, one can feel the energy of the city folk going about their day's business. This is one of the images I have of Earth.

The image that I am currently seeing is desolate, burned, and destroyed. Cities have fallen; of their buildings only walls remain. Smoke from the remains of chimney have long past smoldered, leaving only stains along the hollowed brick stacks. The water bubbles a putrid green and bronze; algae has long since taken over the inhabitants, only to die out to the excess of metals in the water. The sky burns a blazing purple, but only due to the pollution exhausted into the once brilliant depths. Animals no longer inhabit the area, having long since died out or left by unnatural means. This is what has become of the rock of origin. This is what I currently see. This is a shell of its former self. This is Earth...no more.

-- By Enek --