The Last Man and the Tree of Life

Sleep wasn’t necessary to experience nightmares that night. Being awake was more than enough. By midnight the storm had gathered strength as it made landfall in Nagoya and pressed inland. Winds nearing one hundred kilometers per hour whipped the tent to and fro. Hazuki wrestled with the fabric walls to keep his home tethered to the earth. Outside, he could hear the branches of the trees snapping under duress.

“Please, please stop. Please stop!” he begged the universe, but it was indifferent.

GodfellsilentwhenIcriedout

Lightning flashed above and thunder sounded out like bombs falling nearby. Rain stabbed the tent like a thousand small daggers slicing for blood. Just then, a horrifying sound caused Hazuki to struggle to his feet. Outside, something snapped. It sounded like a tree trunk. Wind nearly lifted the tent from the ground and Hazuki knew it meant that the trees were breaking in the strain. His thoughts rushed to Naoe’s tree. What would happen to her if anything happened to the tree? What would happen to her strain and exhaustion if the other trees all got damaged? Would it be too much?

With that fear in his heart, Hazuki stood on shaky legs, placed the four vials in his shoulder bag, and exited the tent into the terror.

Burning rain sliced across his face and tore at his skin. Howling winds blew him off balance. Before he’d even made it ten meters he fell over from the force of the gusts. Wet ground made it even harder than usual to stand. Hazuki let out a grunt of desperation as he forced himself up and forward. Only now did he fully understand how far he was from Naoe’s tree. What had usually taken a few minutes to cross now felt like an unclosable void. Still, he pressed on, gritting his teeth as tears of fear and pain mixed with the lacerating rain.

Along the way, several mature trees and saplings snapped and collapsed in heavy thuds. Branches flew by like arrows. Hazuki fell several more times.

“I BEG YOU PLEASE STOP!” he screamed to the sky.

Instead, the winds picked up. Thunder exploded in rage overhead. Was this the universe mad at him and Naoe? Was it just nature’s uncaring fury? He didn’t know. All he knew was it was nearly about to destroy the park.

Water reached above Hazuki’s ankles now as he made his way across the park. Naoe was close.

“Naoe! Naoe I’m coming! Please hold on!!” he screamed out but the roaring winds silenced his voice as soon as the words left his mouth. Red lines burned across his face and exposed hands as the rain whipped and cut. Step by unsteady step he went, clutching the vials to his chest. Eternity passed in a minute as Hazuki crawled and stumbled forward until he arrived at his destination and fell in horror. Naoe’s tree was snapped in two.

“NO!!! NO!! NAOE! NAOE NO!” Hazuki screamed in despair as he flung himself forward.

His feet gave out and he fell face forward into the water. As he fell, his hands instinctively clasped the vials to protect them, so much so that he did not brace his own fall. Down he went, and into the water his face careened, where a jutting root was waiting. His nose smashed into the hardened wood with no slowdown, and it was cracked immediately. Hazuki let out a broken howl of pain and agony as he forced himself up.

Naoe’s tree was there, but it was too late. The entire top portion of the branches had snapped at the trunk and fallen to the ground. Only a few inches of inner trunk and bark were keeping it held together to its former home. Several other branches had already snapped and fallen away.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!” Hazuki roared in tragic rage as the veil of reality tore away and visions shot into his mind through his waking eyes.

Naoe’s voice cried out in pain and brokenness. She was alone in the dark.

“No! Stay with me! Stay with me Naoe! I’ll keep you safe!” Hazuki pleaded.

Darkness grew around her and closed in from all directions. She was weak.

“Naoe! Naoe I’m here! I’ll help you! I’ll be the aeon! Please let me help you! Just survive till the spring please!!!” Hazuki screamed as he wrapped his arms around the tree to shield it from the oblivion that threatened to destroy them all.

Naoe vanished into the darkness in his vision. She was gone.

“NAOE STAY WITH ME PLEASE!” was all that could be heard as nature raged uncontested across the land, consuming all in its fury and darkness.

Bloody fingers clasped in prayer against broken bark. That night lasted a thousand lifetimes. From the heavens, the swirling mass of storm clouds moved in immense silence. No one’s screams could be heard. From above in the sky, beyond the reach of mortals, no one could see the individual homes being washed away. Down on the ground, as thousands held hands with loved ones and prayed for safety, Hazuki stayed at Naoe’s side, stabbed by rain and branches alike, bleeding across his body, weeping in defeat. If he died right then and there, he wasn’t sure he would have noticed.