Erasing A History

The tribe had long outgrown their small island. Most men dwelled not in houses or shacks, but underneath the palm trees. Every night they prayed to their gods, praying for a real home for their family. And it seemed one day they finally answered. The seas rolled back to reveal miles and miles of land that man had never set foot on. The woman rejoiced and talked anxiously about their plans for their new house. Men danced in the muddy sand, thanking the gods for their answered prayers. Hundreds of children crawled over rocks with bare feet searching for treasures that had been hidden from them until now.

There was only a single man on the island that did not rejoice. He tried to warn the people of the impending danger, but they would not listen. Oh, the arrogance of this people! If only they knew what he knew, if only they knew that this blessing was actually their extinction.

He tried to warn them, but none would listen. After many failures, he knew he didn’t have much time. He took only his faithful dog and ran to the volcanic mountain at the center of the island. He silently said a prayer that the battle between earth and sea would not upset the fiery depths of the mountain

It took him less than 2 minutes of sprinting to reach the base of the volcano, and he started to climb, making sure to never leave his dog behind, and never stopping to catch his breath. Soon he was high enough to see the beach, and the people still rejoicing on its shores. They did not know.

The man looked to the sea. A wave began to form over the ocean, like a titan immerging from the depths of Tartarus, furious with the world for allowing such an injustice. The man didn’t dare look back as he continued his climb upwards. A tear fell down his check leaving a trail of clear skin on his dirty face. His whole people, his family and life, all gone. Soon it would only be him and his dog, and not even that was for sure. Soon, his whole existence would amount to nothing. Nothing he had ever done on the island would be remembered, for there was no one to remember it. No one would be there to comfort him, no one would be there to enjoy life with him. He would be alone.

His dog barked at him, he was stuck on a small plateau a few feet below him, not able to climb the vertical cliff

There was a colossal crash as the wave finally met with the land. But the wave didn’t stop, it continued forwards destroying everything and everybody in its path. The small silhouettes of people running across the sand, unsuccessfully trying to escape the wave could be seen even from this high up the mountain.

It was then he realized that he wasn’t high enough; the wave was much bigger than he could have imagined.

His dog barked louder and louder trying to get the mans attention, but he was too entranced by the impending danger. Everyone was dying before his eyes, being washed away like mere specs of dirt on the earth. Trees and houses were being picked up by the wave, and trashed about like toys in the colossal waves hands.

“There’s no escaping this…” The man whispered to himself, as if to make sure that he himself was still alive. “Today I die…running from everything I’ve ever known…”

The dog continued to bark, but to the man, it was a silent bark. It was if the whole world had stopped spinning, and only the ocean was moving over the face of the earth.

He couldn’t understand. He couldn’t understand why the gods would allow this. A thousand people killed in only a few moments, their life, their history wiped from existence. No one would remember them; no one would ever know that they ever existed.

The wave rolled across the island, it was level with the mans eyesight. Soon it would collide with the volcano, and water and rock would fly in all directions. There was no escaping it.

“Today I die…” The man whispered again. “Running from everything I’ve ever known.”

He looked down at his dog who stopped calling for him.

The man climbed down to the plateau with the dog and rubbed its head. Mans best friend. He held on tightly as the wave crashed into the side of the volcano, erasing an entire history.