The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

To Begin Again
by Sue Renol

She lied dormant for eons, never showed herself to humankind. She hid for time immeasurable to preserve what she held, what she meant, what she truly was. A mask of peace and content covered her true nature, shielded all from what really lay beneath. She waited patiently for the right era to come.

When the poison in the air kissed her gentle lips and the filth finally mixed with her essence, she knew the time had come. A world that didn’t appreciate her presence was one that didn’t deserve to exist. This was always in her control, never out of her reach. Her hands held the globe firmly and she could squeeze its life away at any time.

She inhaled deep and held her breath. She let the moisture collected in her lungs to thicken and condensate, to darken and storm. She then exhaled with force, blowing gray clouds across the skies, blocking the sun from the view of all on land and sea. The air cooled until a freeze set in. She watched with some regret as millions succumbed to her wrath. But she knew this had to be done. She danced with fury and made the ground quake and split apart. Then she flooded the lands with tears of sorrow, grief for those lost and the few left that would soon be gone.

But she found solace in that life always started again. That this was not the end, only a new beginning.

.

Fiction © Copyright Sue Renol
Image courtesy of Pixabay