The long walk back

God could not believe His eyes! The devastated landscape all around seemed utterly alien to Him!

- SOUVIK CHAKRABORTY

He could no longer tell apart the world He had once so lovingly crafted with His own hands from the infernal nightmare that now surrounded Him. The stark realisation threatened to jeopardise His sanity!

Such wanton annihilation! Where had I been during all this?

Memories from an unimaginably remote past came unbidden to Him. A wayward blob of hot gas, cast off from the sun, straying into His path. Aeons of perseverance going into shaping that malleable ball of fire into a planet capable of sustaining life. Striking the perfect balance between warmth and cold, day and night; bringing into existence the first spark of creation, a simple unicellular organism. Subsequently, through evolution, the emergence of more complex life forms—species majestic in beauty and prowess. And then, one day, man!

Every responsibility of a doting father, He had fulfilled with care and watched with satisfaction as mankind, rising from the quagmire of base instincts and ignorance, took its first brave steps into the light. It hadn’t taken long for humanity to spread its wings—laying the foundation of civilisation, discovering the wonders of science and technology, exploring the deepest oceans, and the infinite expanse of space. Yet, at this moment… all seemed meaningless.

Grief was a human emotion, not something that befitted God. Yet, with comprehension dawning that everything He had so painstakingly built was shattered beyond repair, His heart twisted in agony!