the poppy

After the incident, the world turned bleak, moody and dark. Darker than the red that stained battlefields, darker than the thoughts of those surviving soldiers, most definitely darker than the world had been previously. It came as a shock to most, and certainly no one had prepared. Civil wars are heard of, but when they break out over the world like a deadly disease - that’s when people question what was happening. Bright colours and floral patterns that had been worn were burnt and a hated reminder of what the world had once been. Dark greys and blacks filled the empty palettes; it was as if a wave of depression and melancholy had been washed over the Earth.

Pollution and climate change had been the issue before the war but, during it, it never crossed anyone’s mind. After, the worry of climate change was simply a hope. The planet was burning and everything had gone too far. Our world was too far over the edge for us to turn back so all we could do was sit and watch it crumble before us. Some civilizations tried to return to an earlier time but it never worked - others just gave up. They let themselves go numb and forget about the worries of the world. Days passed by - they soon turned into weeks, months and finally years. No one forgot the war but they never spoke about it. No celebrations for the ending, only misery and sorrow. People tried to change but it never worked - they always resorted back to their own greed and selfish nature.

On the battlefields, flowers grew - the same ruby colour as the blood that had once been spilled. Seeing as no one returned to these battlefields, they never noticed the flowers. If they had, maybe there would have been hope. That some light can shine from the darkness. On this Earth, there are no happy endings. Only people making their way through their life wondering how it will end - in this case, they didn’t get a happily ever after. Flowers were one of the many objects that disappeared along with the happiness and cheerfulness of the people. All flowers went, except for the poppies.