There were four of them. The world was their rotten oyster. The ground they walked on was charred, the people they knew dead. The trees were as hollow as their souls.

The world was their rotten oyster.

It wasn't their fault that the world had ended. It seemed as though Mother Nature had given up on her inhabitants, tired of raising unruly children. This was the punishment that they must face for behaving badly. Will it ever return to normal? Ha, who knows. Maybe it will.

Everyone was pretty sure it wouldn't. The odds were pretty slim.

The silverette was very thirsty. So was the princess, the angel, and the child, but the silverette was certain that he was the thirstiest of them all. The thoughts of water clouded his mind. Food was great, but water was better. His throat was dry, and his voice was strained to the point that every word he spoke crackled and sprinkled into dust.

He'd do anything to taste that soothing liquid.

The cries of the child caught his attention. There was a small pond in the distance. He didn't realize there were ponds in the city.

Wait, they weren't in the city anymore, right? Where the hell were they?

The silverette shook his head. That wasn't of importance. He wasn't sure when his legs started moving but they did, and they sure as hell was moving fast. Other jumbled footsteps made mix-matched sounds behind him, but he was going to get to the water first, damnit.

He knew he was there when he fell face first into the mushy liquid. His eyes sparkled with ecstasy. Water, precious water! He began slurping, lapping, inhaling the precious source of minerals. No one else joined, but whatever. More for him, and that was good.

The water was murky, but that was okay. The water burned his throat, but that was okay. He could see the bugs crawling in the water, but that was okay. He ignored their pleas of stop, don't drink that, please stop, but that was okay. In the aftermath of it all, we prove that everyone is insignificant, and we are all going to die anyway. He was fine with that. The silverette was fine with that. It was the truth, and that was okay.

He never realized how much of his own blood would bubble and froth and spill onto his clothes.

There were three of them. Their last bit of food had died four days ago. It only managed to survive a little longer than the silverette.

The child's stomach roared with fury and growled with warning. She missed all the pleasant sweets and treats she would partake in. The sugary goodness revving her up, the tartness causing her lips to pucker. But what she missed more that the syrupy goodness of candy was all the grand meals that would be prepared at the mansion. They were always fresh and hot, ready for devouring. She missed the ability to eat real food.

Bugs with grass toppings weren't that appealing.

They marched in a single file line. March, march, march, onward to anywhere and everywhere. March, march, march, onward to whatever awaits them.

The child wasn't sure if she could march anymore.

She was sweating profusely. She didn't remember being this hot. Why was it so hot? It wasn't supposed to be so darn hot. Her vision blurred slightly. Should she tell the others? No, she probably shouldn't. They were older, so they had it worse than her. The adults always suffer the most. She should just be a good girl and stay quiet. No complaints required.

The world through her eyes became peppered with dark spots and landmarks of distortion. This was weird. Was she dreaming? Surely she must have fell asleep. The voices of the princess and the angel were equally as disturbed, skewed beyond complete comprehension. Maybe this was a nightmare. The world shouldn't be turning dark. Is it ending again? No, no, no. You can't end again. We won't survive the second time around. No fair!

A loud rumble reverberated in her thoughts.

She was so, so hungry.

The child felt as though she was melting. Her limbs transformed into jelly, and she found herself a mess on the floor. Loud noises rang in her ears. They were words, she was sure of it, but they were words that she couldn't make out. The large, shaky figures materialize in front of her, and they scare her, so she screams and screams and screams until she finds that her voice has sizzled and died. The world begins to grow dark on her, and the shadows fade away like everything.

She swore the last thing she tasted was the sweetness of a lollipop.

There were two of them. They were alone, but together. The princess had a knife in her hand, using it as a substitute for a can opener. They were lucky to find this house, she and the angel. Too bad the owners they found on the floor weren't so talkative. They could have had pleasant conversations about the end of the world.

Two weeks have gone by, and the princess wished the angel would get rid of the sources of that horrid, decaying smell. It ruined the near-normality she was trying to recreate. Instead, the angel just sat on the couch and stare the wall. He would mumble to himself and make the occasional threat on the princess's life. She tried to ignore, tried to pretend that the mind of a heavenly being wasn't ironically deteriorating right before her eyes, but it was happening. It was happening, and she couldn't stop. All of her words went in one ear and had gotten lost in the jumbled thought processes.

Soon, the angel refused to eat. He refused to drink. He refused to move. He refused to exist. The angel was a shell with barren wings on a worn-out couch. His eyes and face were hollow, and his skin was paler than the moon.

The princess sighed. She had a firsthand view of the loss of sanity.

"Today is August 5th, 2026. Today is August 5th, 2026," he said continuously, voice robotic, eyes soulless, the stiff moving of body parts being nothing more than mechanical. Lips were cracked and bloodied, bony fingers tip-tapping away.

"Today is August 5th, 2026. Today is August 5th, 2026."

The angel, he was no more.

The princess approached him gently, though she knew that he wouldn't react to her presence. To the angel, she was a mere blotchy memory of the good ol' days. She placed a hand on his shoulder and the knife to his throat. It would be nice to leave misery so easily, she thought.

The angel's last words were the reciting of an incorrect date.

There was one of them. There was no one but her and the burned environment.

How lucky she was to find a box of matches lying on the ground. A poor fellow must have dropped them. It may have been his or her only chance of survival. Of course, that person is surely dead.

Doesn't matter anymore.

The princess picks up the box and realizes that there is one match left. If she is lucky and finds some wood, she could start a fire. It was a bit chilly. Fall was approaching. If the trees were able to grow their leaves again, they would be a crisp brown, gently falling to the ground.

Instead, she had no resources. It was just her and the tattered clothes on her back. Pulling the match out of the box, she examined it before swiping on the coarse striking surface for a while. For once, luck was on her side, a small fire appeared. The princess stared at it as if this was first time discovering such a phenomenon. It flickered and flared, and kept her somewhat comfortably. Holding it near her tattered glove, she decided that she always wanted to be warm. She won't end up like the others; she'll find a way to survive.

She will become one with the world.

There was none of them.

Hey, 'tis be Mika here with something, um, kinda messed up. I like it, though, hee hee. The characters aren't named for reason, so you can imagine any Smasher you want (within the descriptions, of course).

I hope you all liked it! I was surprised I even found time to write this. I've so much to do. I have to update my two main stories and finish writing prize fanfiction (I'm so so so sorry for the wait!) and update my one original story on FictionPress *cough*read it*cough*shameless self-plugging*wheeze*hack*dies* and survive the rest of the school year.

Whew, I wish life can be spent with full of leisure. At least all of my homework is done…

(Bonus points if you understand what "Today is August 5th, 2026" is.)

See ya!