We Were Never Here

I have always found myself drawn to the Apocalypse. The only thing I can think is that it is the consequence of growing up in a religious household with ideals that I didn’t necessarily agree with, but I still liked the narrative behind.

In college, I found myself writing about the same kind of apocalypse, a rapture that leaves the world an empty, hedonistic place, that “good” people have to retreat to the old world, the forest to escape. I wrote songs, short stories, and eventually a short film that got well into pre-production before having to be cancelled due to, you know, SCHOOL. It was for the best. And the memories we made in location scouting, editing the script, casting, and storyboarding, have always stuck with me.

This short story is different from the original that inspired it, encompassing more of the themes and imagery of the short film in my never-ending pursuit to really CAPTURE an idea and bottle it into prose.

The story follows nameless characters as they traverse through what is left of the world, wondering hopelessly if there is even a place for them still in it. What’s more, one of our characters is hounded by the persistent voice of something or someone inside of her head that beckons her to go where no one else can follow.

I think that of all my short stories, this is the one that captures the essence of how I want to write stories and my perspective of humanity as a whole.