From The Ashes

 

On a dark clear night lit by a crescent moon in late Fall:

The baleful glow of the moon and twinkling starlight in the firmament could not equal that pouring forth from the inferno that was now consuming Anon's home. Neither could the cold light from those unearthly bodies provide any comfort to mollify the emotional pain. In the preceding hours, the flames had licked the earth clean of his orchards, barn, tool sheds, and even his bee hives before coming to devour this last standing structure. Now his house was merely a crumbling, flaming monument to what had already been destroyed. As the roof suddenly collapsed, cinders and sparks rose to the heavens seemingly in vain aspiration to become new stars, and the fire mocked Anon with its pleasant heat on this particularly chilly night. Everything Anon owned was totally lost, just as he himself was lost and cast off his land by this catastrophe. Now, from atop a berm on the other side of the dirt road that snaked its way for miles around the property, Anon and Applejack simply gazed helplessly at the ruin.

Anon, who was sitting cross-legged next to Applejack with his head propped up in his hand, looked down upon feeling the weight of her hoof. Then, seeing her genuine look of concern, and pausing a moment in thought, he wrapped an arm around her. "Thanks Applejack."

They watched for the space of another hour as the flames rummaged through the rooms of the house and progressively reduced it to smoldering ash. It was now around midnight and only a few pockets of active burning remained to testify that the fire's lust was satiated. "I just can't believe it, Applejack. I just can't. How did this happen? I really don't know; it happened so fast. What'll I do now?" said an exasperated Anon, turning toward Applejack.

 

Anon sighed in resignation. "Yeah, you're probably right. Ok, but just let me go over and take a look first." Anon then grabbed the shovel he had saved from his tool shed, got up, and brushed off some of the soot and dirt that had accumulated while he had tried to fight the fire.

"Yeah, I know." said Anon with a frown. Nevertheless, they delved in, poking around here and there looking for anything that was still intact. Shoveling through what was left of his dresser, Anon picked up the few bits he had saved and stuffed them in his pockets. They were still warm from the fire.

They found scarcely anything more; a few small tools, an old ring he had from his time back on Earth, and a locket that formerly housed a picture of what he had felt might have been a sister. The locket had survived, but like his memory of his sister and her name, the photo had been incinerated. "That's it Applejack. It's not worth any more of our time, I think." Anon collected the few items into the large pot before leaving the rubble. "Let's just have a look at the land itself."

Walking up a nearby hill, they surveyed the land. A somber scene of blackened and charred death confronted them. In the diffuse moonlight it appeared, but for the the wisps of smoke rising from piles of embers, as the surface of a long dead world.

Anon shook his head in dismay, turned, and started walking back toward the road with Applejack by his side. As they passed the remnants of the front porch something caught Anon's eye. A lone dandelion had escaped the conflagration. Anon stopped to examine it.

At length Anon clenched his fist and a maelstrom of rage overcame him. "Infernal weed! Of all the things to survive, it had to be a weed! It's like fate is rubbing my my nose in it!" With that, Anon reached down to pluck it out of the ground, intent to fulfill the work of death left unfinished by the fire. 'Why not make the destruction complete?' thought Anon.

 

Surprised at Applejack, who often unleashed tirades against the weeds constantly trying to invade her own farm, Anon stood up and gave it some thought with raised eyebrows. "Yeah, well maybe. But, it'll end up dead anyway! So, same difference I guess." He kicked some dirt at out of spite all the same.

Anon looked back over his shoulder at his property. It was difficult, even in his exhausted state, to abandon it. It was his home, he had poured hours of work into its cultivation, he embodied the land itself. The rage returned at that moment as his gaze looked up to the smirking moon. 'Curse the moon and all the stars! Curse this land for existing and curse myself for thinking it was all worth it!' he thought. Finally he conceded. "Lead on Applejack. I'm just frustrated is all, but I sure would like a place to stay for a while. I’ve got nowhere else to go in any case.”

Through the veil of shadows Anon walked to the side of and slightly behind Applejack, following her. Not knowing the way to her farm in the darkness, he was content to place his trust in her. As they progressed, the trees lining the road grew thicker and soon even the light of the moon and stars was occluded. The air grew substantially colder, stagnant, and heavily fog laden. No creature uttered a sound. Only the crunch of frost spoke, sounding like the snapping of small bones, beneath Anon’s feet and Applejack's hooves. It felt more like a subterranean tunnel than a road to Anon.

"Thanks." was all Anon could muster. He truly was thankful, but he was lost in his thoughts and the darkness enhanced his depression.