In the vision, she smiled radiantly and gave a carefree laugh. Then she’d run forward, arms outstretched, to the man she loved. When she reached him, she leapt into his arms. He caught her easily and spun her round, laughing and then pulling her in to his kiss.
“I love you, angel,” the Nojan of her vision said.
“I love you too.”
As Mayra slept, she didn’t realize that tears were tumbling down her cheeks. She only prayed that she would never wake up from the vision of perfection that was playing out before her eyes.
Please, if I can truly see the future, let this be true. Let this be my future.
There was a sudden crash of thunder. The sky darkened from lavender to violet as storm clouds covered the twin suns. The world became cold as rain began to lash them. Mayra spun around, looking for Nojan, but he was nowhere to be found. The flowers that had smelled so wonderful were gone. In their place, bleached skulls grinned up at her.
“No.” The sky turned midnight and the thunder rumbled, almost deafening her. “No, no, no!” The rain began to burn her skin, to sear the ground around her so that smoke began to rise in spite of it.
Suddenly, the ground split open and fire spurted from the rent, blasting Mayra with heat. She stumbled backward, losing her footing and landing in a pile of bones. A voice more powerful than anything she’d ever heard began to speak and she screamed, covering bleeding ears.
“Welcome to the End,” it said.
