MILA

Part 2

A decade has passed and Mila noticed how hot the day was. The sun was scorching through the gray sky. She looked around at her friends who now were skinnier than her. They had really dry skin and looked like all the water in their system has dried up. A cow suddenly collapsed meters away from her. It was breathing heavily, and slowly it's body stopped moving. He was no longer breathing, and the cow never got back up again. Mila felt pity for the cow but she knew there was nothing she could do for it now. "I wish it would rain to stop the heat." She looked back up at the sky and watched as the clouds slowly turned darker and gathered up. Lightning shot out and thunder rumbled. Before she knew it, rain drops fell from above. An hour has passed and it was still raining, only now it's harder and faster. The trash at her feet were beginning to be dragged by the water slowly flowing on the ground.

Another hour has passed and the rain still has not stopped. It felt more like a storm rather than a pouring rain. Some of Mila's friends were dragged off by the flood caused by the storm. She wanted to help them but she knew she couldn't. When the storm passed, everything was a mess. Things were scattered all over the place, small animals were lying on the ground, plastic wrappers and containers, some people screaming for plea. It wasn't long when the rescue team began to help everyone.

Years later Mila found everything different, the sky was dark. It was filled with the black clouds from the factory where Clades was working, but now there were about three factories around the city. The mess from the flood wasn't cleaned up at all, everyone thought it'd be very difficult to clean up such a huge mess so they left it as it is. The air began to smell foul with a lot of dead animals left around not disposed properly. Mila felt sick of the smell. She didn't just feel sick, she is sick herself. Her skin was as dry as the dessert, her hair lost its color. She was sick, and she was weak. It was summer but she didn't feel like putting flowers on her hair this year.

Soon after, Mila couldn't keep it together. She looked up at remembered how different things were. It used to be bright, and "beautiful", just as how Clades described it. The sun used to be warm, not hot. The air used to be healthy, not deadly. Her friends used to be around. Two kids ran by the road and Mila wondered how their future was going to be with their surroundings like this. She could no longer hold on. Too much pain and misery. Now she's decided to give up.

That same day, Clades visited the spot where he and Mila used to meet but found her nowhere. He wondered to himself what could have happened to her. Thus, he sat at the bench alone, facing an empty space. "There used to be a beautiful tree here."