When a Light Dies, Does Everything End? Perhaps.

Pale, nimble fingers reached out to the sky.

The sky was dark, like an abyss, and dull, like his own eyes. He could say little, nor could he see that much from his spot on the ground. There was hardly anything left, the few traces of life scarcer than half what it once was.

He let his arm drop.

The once bright light from the sky was now reduced to rare streaks up above, and all signs of life feeding from its existence were hard to come by.

Eyes as bright as the sun once was peered down, onto the vast and empty drylands below.

Nature relied on the sun, yet every day, its light became dimmer and dimmer until one day, it would be gone and the rest of humanity with it.

At one point, all the slowly drying plants would wither away leaving those that fed on them to die. Beasts feeding on other animals would starve and men would suffer until they themselves perished.

What a sad thought.

Even in the growing lack of sun, day and night could still be told apart thanks to the moon and the stars, whose formerly less significant lights were brighter than the sun itself. Though there was no point denying the inevitable; those would soon vanish as well.

In the few years–or perhaps months–humanity had left, the only ones still alive were those who had always been closer to nature and knew the way life worked, understanding how it came to be and how it would one day disappear. They stood tall and strong, awaiting the end, their true beginning.

Not everyone shared those feelings.

Some were full of despair, anger and sorrow; many had lost hope and yearned to die more peacefully. Yet the stronger ones stood, unshakeable, undefeatable, faithful.

He let out a sigh, turning to the sky once more.

Humans were foolish as they were fickle. Some were kind and others cruel. They were unique yet inherently the same. Indeed, they had a moral and a way of living, even if they rarely followed it, going out of their way to be different.

Only in their last few rays of sunlight were the strong seen apart from the weak, the faithless from the faithful, the wise from the foolish, the unreliable from the responsible.

Fools stayed apart from each other while the intelligent constructed armies, colonies, alliances; they helped each other, benefitted from each other and lived with each other knowing that in the end... the end would come.

Space was an abstract concept, whether it was real or not could only be told by people who knew, after all, humans were born sinners; lying, cheating, killing, frauding, manipulating, harming, dirtying and so on. For what? Nothing. And so, it was hard to tell whether it really existed, there were many tales which could explain its existence yet very few made sense. Some would argue that space was the cause of the sun's decline and others would say that it was the beginning of judgement day.

Yet he came here every day, and every day, the sky looked faker and faker until he felt like he was trapped in an imaginary world surrounded by fabric. Without the sun, the depths high above were nothing but darkness, each vanishing sliver of light impacting the world in a way never seen; it could never be the same.

Hair darker than the night glowed as the stars started to appear in the sky; night had come, brighter than the day had been and brighter than it would be from now on.

One could only hope. He didn't have much of it.

***

The sun was resilient, and so were men.

Four decades had passed and few were the ones who remembered the warmth of the sun. Days were cold, too cold for there to be a difference in between summer and winter, spring and fall. The sun could barely be seen, merely a tint in the sky.

Many were those who passed, and few were those who remained.

The ones with faith hadn't lost health, but the fools were long gone. Rare were the animals found, but the faithful ones prayed for them, maintaining them for as long as they could until it became their own responsibility.

The sun was important, yet they had been unintelligent and taken it for granted.

 "You only realize what's important when it's gone."

Such is true, it has always been.

Lands dried out, life died, water froze. Humans lived despite it all, fighting desperately to live knowing they'd die. Others would have called it pathetic, yet they called it resilience, the strength of His children even.

The world would not end, perhaps it would for a fraction of a second, plunged in endless darkness, but then, it would become what it had been before, giving them wisdom through hardship, experience, knowledge. That was life, no matter the circumstances.

Strewn across the sky were stars, only three dozen could be counted from the millions that were counted generations prior. The moon was dim, full but almost as visible as the new moon.

Would they live on? Only He knows.

***

The sun had lived longer than expected, remaining for three more decades. More had passed but multiple remained waiting patiently for the sun to say its goodbyes before darkness consumed them.

Cowards had long passed and those who were still here didn't fear the dark; They had their signs and they guided those in need of guidance.

The floor was pure ice and the days were completely dark, but the warmth wasn't gone. Fire still existed.

Fire helped them find food, grow food, eat food, it helped them stay healthier, it helped them see.

They were thankful and patient.

Life was lifeless where all of His creatures weren't but where they remained, the only difference was the lack of light.

He mused, staring into the starlit sky, his vision as perceptible as it'd been fifty years ago. The sky no longer looked fake, it simply looked pure, sprinkled with lights yet sombre.

What remained of life was peaceful and time ticked by in complete darkness.

And for the first time in fifty-five years, he saw a bright light flicker as the stars dimmed, showering the world with a renewed hope.