There was a scratch on the tree. From a bear, from a knife, I didn't know. But there was a scratch on the tree. It was old and scarred, the tree's mighty skin just daring to peek over the edges of the cut. It was cooler outside, and I covered my arms to protect them from the wind that flew past me like arrows.
Where as I? The only question that boggled my mind. I didn't know. And I didn't know how I got here. Feeling the earth beneath me, I take a few solid steps before stopping again and looking around. The sky was a dull grey, no sun, and no moon. Strange. The trees above me carried no leaves, set aside from a few evergreens that stood short to the ground without the courage to reach higher. The grass, or what was left of it, was scattered around, blotches of greenish brown. 538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnr5AjBn8dt
It was an interesting place, without definition and mysterious. Curious, I begin to walk again, without knowing where I'd be going. Where I'd end up.
Soon I came to a stone, it stood in the ground defiantly, like a sore thumb. A grave stone, I realize, bending down to read the plate. But there was no name. Who would put a grave stone, a plate engraved, but no name carved out? I don't think twice about it as my curiosity drives me to continue to walk. Walk. 538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumG3wTIYC7
Eventually I come across an interesting site again, this time a man, old and crumpled, sitting by a grave with no name carved out. "Hello?" I ask, walking to him. His head turns to me, slowly and heavily. But he doesn't say a word.538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqBpOQ4W4I
"Are you okay, mister?" I ask again, coming closer.
But he doesn't say a word.
"I'm not exactly sure where I am, can you point me in the direction of a town?" This time I reach out to touch his shoulder, hoping to get an answer out of him. When my hand meets the boney joint, I shake softly. "Mister?"
A breath of air, he sucks it in like water to dessert sand. "Everyone is gone, everyone is gone, everyone is gone."
"Excuse me?" I look at him, his face grey like the sky. "Please, the direction of the nearest town?"538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVKwk28o0E
A smile reaches his face, appearing like a cracking rock. "A town... this used to be a town..." He looked to me, the same etched smile lingering so. "I used to be..." he stopped talking, furrowing his brow as his smile faltered, and turned back to the nameless grave.
"Everyone is gone, everyone is gone, everyone is gone."
"Are you okay?" I don't know why I ask, all I needed to do was to get home... where ever that was. I sigh, looking to the sky, knowing he wouldn't respond. As my eyes watched the dreary atmosphere, I could almost feel everything around me stop. Freeze. Halt.538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlR8qPU5csH
I wake up, my eyes groggily finding the clock at my bedside.
8:27 it read, and I didn't move for a while. A few minutes pasted and I sat up, shaking my head from the dream and getting up. I lived in a mountain town, went to a small school, had a little group of friends. That was my life, good and simple. My mother and father both work at a small restaurant our family owns, but I've never enjoyed the cooking business. Not because I'm bad at it, just never enjoyed it. 538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvaazAcwFU
Reaching for my coat, I slip on some shoes, and walk outside. It was cool this morning. My pocket knife was in my jacket, so I pulled it out and flipped it a few times. Out, then in. Out, then in. A few more times. In, then out. In, then out. When my feet met the mat of the front door, I opened it generously, leaving it swinging shut. Had I remembered to look at the ground when I was walking, I would've noticed the rock that was lazily perched on the porch. I would've noticed the way it taunted me. And I wouldn't have tripped.
Forward. Forward. My hands bolt out in front of me, my knife flipping out once again, slicing whatever lay before me.
A tree.
There was a scratch on the tree now. From me, from the knife. I knew. There was a scratch on the tree.
If that was confusing to any of you, the ending meant he created the first scratch on the tree (see first line of story.)538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOXZqwUvrJ
Thanks for reading!538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8sBCNbjAg
538Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SePiioPtw
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