The Earth Gives, The Earth Takes

November 6, 2026

We tasted the filtration of tears cascading along the mountainous frown where soil shuddered in abandoned nurturing. The salty residue that cleaved us as parched was but a remnant of a memory long set aside. I felt the strength in your hand diminish as if each vein had already desiccated in an affront to our floundering, but I was stoic in my denial of such endings.

“No one escapes their raison d’être, my pet.”

Your voice soothed with its molasses drawl, but I heard the brittle cracks flaking beneath each syllable. I felt the reaper galloping through the shadow of your existence. I trembled in frustration of an ancient oath no soul should be held obedient to, but I remained silent as expected. It was the least I could do just this once.

You continued, as if saying the words aloud mattered. As if my ears might find your desecration more acceptable when spoken from your own lips. “Those of us gifted the extraordinary glimpse of all that shifts are duty bound to step forward when the short-lived forget.”

I bit down on the inside of my cheek in order to swallow the growing dissent bubbling at the heart of my existence. The coppery aggravation was of little distraction to the iron-soaked beads I could smell sinking beneath our feet. I could smell your peace. Instead of comforting, it rended me with a violent upswelling.

Your fingers tightened briefly; something already vacated from their hold. Darkness smothered my awareness as I heard your voice beseeching forgiveness within my mind.

When I awakened, it was as if you never existed. Never laughed. Never warred. Never loved... would never tenderly scold my impetuous ways again. I lashed out at the ground which held you from me. On skinned knees, I beat at the freshly turned harvest. My screams became the echoes in the wind. But none of it mattered.

You were still, and always would be, no more.