In the End

“Do you think there’s life on other planets?” Snroff asked her father as they stared up at the sky from the top of the dune. She held onto his long pinkish-red spotted tentacle with her small one peach colored one. Overhead, the white clouds traveled quickly as the planet turned rapidly on its axis. The sun glowed bright in the distance.

“It is all gone. The stars in all the other galaxies have died and they have gone cold,” he answered matter-of-factly. “We are the last living beings in the universe.”

Snroff tightly gripped her father’s tentacle, her eyebrow furrowed over the large eye in the middle of her tall, slim head. “Will that happen to us?”

“Eventually.”

The young female started to shiver. “While I am alive?”

“Unlikely. You should live to be at least 10,000 Marcianic years old!” her father said, lying,

“Like you?” Snroff giggled then ran out of reach of her father’s tentacles so he couldn’t tickle her.

“Why! I outta!” he said then chased after her across the green sand. Their tracks were quickly covered by the wind swirling the sand around. They laughed and giggled when he caught her and fell to the ground.

A loud boom filled the air all around them and stopped them in their tracks. They looked up and saw the sun begin to expand then explode. The hot molten core of the star split into millions of pieces and was flung into space, hurtling towards their planet and destroying everything in its way.

“What is happening?” Snroff cried, clinging to her father.

“Seems Daddy was wrong,” he said and held her close, covering her body with his. His tear didn’t have a chance to roll off his face before the first of the sun’s core hit their atmosphere.

The inhabitants of Marcianic fell to the ground, gasping for air as the flames soaked up all the oxygen from the air. The pieces of the sun’s core pounded into the surface and melted everything in its path. Snroff and her father turned to ash. 

Then, just as sudden, there was nothing.