Interest Concentrated: Flipside 4

Flip-Side 4!

Finally, a flipside by Rayhaan again! Yes, he's back for now!

This time he's bought with him another amazing heartfelt story. It goes deep and personal. Always be grateful for what you have. You'll only miss it when it's gone.

These words are yours for now, enjoy them while you still can.

Read on.

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Flipside 4

The great white light of the sun shone upon the survivor's garden.The morning heat was intense, and was enough to awaken the man. He was aged; his features chiseled. He had enough to keep him disturbed, and he only slept because of the pain he felt in parts of his weary body.

The survivor was just a boy when nuclear warfare began. It was a strained idea at the time, not even a last resort for most nations: under the façade of "world peace". He could still remember the shrill cries of women next door once the warhead was launched. In a few seconds, the government pleaded to the citizens to run for the nearest shelter, and all hell began to break lose. Babies were crying. Animals moaning. The end was nigh.

The survivor rose from his bed; a deep sigh rolling down his nostrils. It wasn't really a bed, he thought. The sheets were rags, tearing away at its ends. His pillows were sacks of soft beach sand, decades old, as he was.

Gradually, within the span of, at most, 2 decades, most of the unhealthy adults passed, and without many adults, a few younger ones could not survive either. His sister was the youngest of the children, and was not strong enough. Upon recollection, the survivor often broke into tears, "Why me? What's the point of living when all I have are these damned chickens?"

He would often kick the cage door in frustration. Suicide was not an option either. He was stronger than that, and as his loved ones passed away in his arms, he vowed he would survive for their sake, and survive he did.

Afternoon came, and he retreated to the kitchen. He opened the food vaults and stared into it. The ample amount of nutrition mocked him. It stood for what would keep him alive, what would keep him in his lonesome, vulnerable to the ghosts of his life past. The survivor cooked and dined heartily, as his mother had taught him. He sat at the dining table. In his mind, mother was standing beside him, waiting for him to slip up on his etiquette so she could correct him. A single tear dripped down the sullen face of the survivor, as he remembered mother and her sharp features. He could never tell her how good her cooking was. He was too much of an idiot, enjoying the food when she fed him.

He finished his lunch and opened grandfather's dilapidated house, conveniently built next to his almost a century ago. He marveled at grandfathers paintings. His aged fingers rubbed the surface of the portraits. The world was so beautiful, why did it have to end the way it did?

The survivor could bare these ghosts no more. He grabbed a Geiger meter from grandfather’s office and headed out of the lead gates. He walked down the street, onto the main road, and into the city. He walked on, past the destruction of yesteryear. The Geigermeter began beeping. The radiation levels were increasing. The survivor went into ice cream shops, shopping malls, and restaurants, all with his family beside him.

Finally, he ventured to the the coast and sat on the rocks. The radiation he was being exposed was gnawing away at his skin, but he didn't mind. The toxic seawater sprayed on his toes as it hit the rocks. He tried his best. He really did. But he had his family again, in his mind, and they were comforting him. Everything was going to be alright. The survivor shed his last tears as his skin melted away atop the coastal rocks, he had made his family proud, and survived for three quarters of a century.

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As always, a great story.

Here's a bit of a sad fun fact for you. The reason this story is so short is because Rayhaan lost one important paragraph during transit. The paragraph between 'as he was.' and '.Gradually....'.

You might have not noticed it, but according to Rayhaan that way a key point in the story, which would have technically made it more exciting and given some background story. But whats gone is gone, and like I said, let's be grateful for what we have.

And that's it for this week. I hope enjoyed it, and if you did, please remember to +1, share and follow our blog (enter your email into the gadget above)! It really helps get us known, and is very much appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

You might be interested in our other stories and poems:

Check out my stories:

Crash, a short story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/crash-short-story.html

1:49, a horror story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/0149-pm.html

My Baked in Irony series:

Engrossing, a twisted short tale of irony:

http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/engrossing.html

Sorry…..

http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/sorry.html

Noticed….

http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/noticed.html