Not much attention is given to the smallest of creatures: to the mice that scrabble for food; to the reptiles that bake in the sun; to the flies flitting from beast to man, man to beast. I pay attention. I am the promise between merchant and customer; I am the glee in a young child’s voice; I am the air between the cracks in the rock; I am the speck of light in sunbeams. I am a god of moments, a tangible whisper of the stars. Now I am nothing, a god with no city, no honour, no freedom.
I did not always suffer like this. My life was once content, joyous, meaningful. The hoards of humans that swept by kept me alive, kept me sane. Now, no one is left but me. The beginning of the end came without warning, wreaking havoc as it spread. I felt every life as it was extinguished, gone, as simple as blowing out a candle. I had never felt so helpless. I could do nothing. Survivors, with no home left, quickly fled, leaving me the sole inhabitant of a drowned city. I believed that I deserved the punishment given to me but after countless decades I am not so sure.
Although the Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that believed they were eternal, I will endure. I will endure it alone. While I do not wish my damnation on any sentient being, I wish that I were not alone. Not chained to the earth forced to watch the life I want for myself unfold without having any part in it. To watch those that I have loved fly free, soaring, diving, calling me to join them. I want so badly to follow but seawater saturates my wings, making it impossible to lift them. With no voice to speak, my story is swallowed by the cerulean blue heavens. My tale, the story of the Nothing God.
