It was the year 3034.
It was not so long ago that human civilization had been completely demolished. They were now…extinct.
Animal species back in their time had slowly become endangered and eventually wiped out due to human activity. This should have been an obvious, blaring alarm that would allow humans to realise their wrongdoings. Like a bright red warning sign that flashed in their faces. Of course, they ignored it, aversed to admitting to their wrongdoings. At one point, it had been possible to turn back and fix their mistake. The humans chose not to and moved on with their oblivious lives happily, turning a blind eye to the catastrophe they were causing. Unfortunately, they hadn’t ever thought that they, themselves, would suffer the consequences forced upon their fellow animal inhabitants.
Within a millennium, the human population had managed to pollute their planet so horribly that they had completely dwindled out. It was their own doing. They had lived ignorant lives of luxury and paid the consequences.
A long, long time ago – so long ago it seemed almost like a dream as if it never happened before – there had been clear blue skies. The stars would glimmer like tiny gems in the blackness of the night. The sunrises were vivid red, orange and yellow splatters. The sunsets were dusky pink and purple painted across the sky. Under the humans’ care, the luminous skies eventually grew grey and bleary. The twinkling stars would never be seen again.
There had once been clear blue oceans. Shimmering water would flow in rivers and seas, glowing in the sun, like a God-given gift. Eventually, they too grew muddy and churning. The light that reflected off the brilliant blue surface wouldn’t ever glisten again. Yet, the humans still hadn’t stopped.
In their imaginations, Earth was a magnificent empire that they ruled over.
In their minds, their empire was filled with magnificent, towering buildings and endless, zig-zagging highways. It was crowded with brilliant zooming cars and soaring aeroplanes. It had air that buzzed with the rumble of engines and whirring of mechanical wings. It was an empire that was flooded with bustling cities and booming economies. It had the potential to become everything they had ever wanted, everything they ever dreamed of. They were high on the power of being able to do anything they wanted.
And at the centre of their majestic kingdom, were the Kings and Queens, humans.
But they weren’t human at all. What human would possibly mow down rows and rows of forests and destroy countless habitats? What human would purposely release gallons of harmful gas into clean air? Most importantly, what human would do all these appalling things just for the sake of money?
In that sense, they weren’t human. They were corrupt beings – who with their greediness – brought down the whole world with them. All that was left now was an empty echo of what once existed.
Now hundreds of centuries later, their empire was a wreck. Torn apart, the buildings and highways became a wasteland littered with cracked, ageing bricks and cement. The cars and aeroplanes became pieces of rusted metal scattered across overgrown grass. The cities had tumbled down to their demise, crashing and breaking apart atop of one another. Miles and miles of broken-down bricks and dirt. Filth seeped into every corner. There was a pungent smell left behind by the humans. Their rotting trash and waste. The rusty metallic smell of their used-up cars. The nauseating stench of garbage and sewage water was hidden under the wreckage of the buildings. A slew of brown fungi creeping onto walls.
The Earth was in ruins. It would have broken the heart of anyone who knew what Earth once looked like. Its beauty had been reduced to this ghastly, vile wasteland. It was like a massive, dreary garbage dump. All the human waste was deposited onto clean land, and there was so much, too much that it overflowed. The world wasn’t big enough for the swarming amount of litter that threatened to spill constantly. And now the humans responsible for it had left. They left without cleaning the junk they left behind, like they always did. They had just dumped trash down and left it there. It left a bitter taste in the remains of the world.
At first glance, it seemed like without humanity Earth was a desolate shell. There was nothing anymore. Absolutely nothing. After aeons of existence, Earth had finally been beaten down. Too tired to do anything, except lay down and accept the immeasurable and infinite amount of trash piled atop it. Earth was ready to close its eyes and rest forever. Unwilling to remain in this barbaric universe where everything good and beautiful had been stolen from it. Perhaps, the havoc and damage wrecked by humans was truly irreversible. They had robbed Earth of its glorious greenness.
Yet as sunlight shone over the collapsed, grey buildings, something glistened atop. It was an astonishing sight. Almost impossible, even. How could it be? The last traces of green had faded away a millennium ago, along with the humans. Yet somehow, stubbornly defying everything the humans had ever done, there it was.
Green.
The vines that slithered across the cracks glowed with a beautiful green sheen. Shimmering, green moss covered the hood of a tattered van. Tiny, green sprouts shot up from the dusty ground. As precious as a hidden emerald, green bloomed everywhere in small bursts. In all the tiny corners of the world, it was there. Thriving among human junk. Small, but significant to the point that everything depended on it.
Unexpectedly, there was no eerie silence that stretched across the vacant lands. Without the thundering, harsh roar of machines and the loud, boisterous voices, what noise could there possibly be…?
In the distance, the chirp of a bird could be heard. Quiet, soft and weak – but it was there, and it was present. And that was all that mattered.