“I heard it was a nuclear attack”

Stumbled a bit on nuclear

“That’s what great grandpa said

Near the end of his life!”

One of the boys said

Before tossing his stone

Skimming slightly over the lake

Sharp rings singing out in response

“Nah

If it was nukes

Do you think things would still look this nice?”

Another chided

Still searching for a flat stone

“Well I mean it was so long ago

Maybe things just grew back”

The first grumbled

“I heard it was living corpses!”

Another hollered from behind a fallen tree

Getting some privacy for refuse disposal

“Started somewhere in Asia!”

The others all laughed

“Don’t be stupid!”

“Yeah that’s ridiculous!”

The oldest boy cleared his throat

“I heard it was just a big war

No big bombs needed

Just enough fighting

Enough death

And it all just…

fell apart”

The children were silent

Even the birds held their breath

Then a little girl

Maybe eight

Spoke up

“Well my dad talked to Elder Rose

She said it was a bunch of

Of

Of

Scary sea things!

Huge with wings like bats!”

The other kids nodded gravely

“Seems right to me”

One concurred

A fantastic sequel to one of her earlier poems in After the End just went live! Go check it out!!! If you want to read more from this world check out the collections for them on our blogs, or check out our hashtag #AfterTheEnd