Peace

It had always been assumed that the world would end with a bang

Or a chorus of screams

But when the time came

It did so in utter silence

The silence was louder than anything that had graced the land

And with it came light

It fell over mountains

And oceans

And plains 

Like a blanket

A blanket of peace and warmth

Humanity had long feared it

This fateful moment in time

But when it finally came

They did not suffer

Instead

They were lifted

Their hearts were freed

The weight that had long rested upon their shoulders was gone

They remembered what they were

They remembered they were made of stardust

And that their bodies belonged 

To the soil beneath their feet

That once their brains ceased to keep them alive 

And their hearts stopped beating

They would decompose into the earth

They were no longer trapped 

In the cycle of death and survival

They did not have to be superior

And the hate that had once filled them 

Like water

Challenging a dam

Faded

The flash lasted only a moment

But it was the closest thing to their perception of forever

They were free

No longer pinned to the ground

And as they began to fade 

In the overwhelming brightness 

Everything was right

Bone became rock

And flesh became water

Hearts became flowers

And lungs became towering trees

This was the light people had claimed to see as they died 

As their consciousnesses were transported to the convergence point

To the end

Where the sky was gold 

And there was no more pain

Where Earth breathed a sigh of relief

The slate was clean 

And at last

There was peace.