-III-

They predicted their own end, and brought it down on themselves, never knowing that only their own decisions and actions dictated their future.
The time had come when one false god was supposedly destined to walk the Earth, and in preparation, a group of religious zealots decided to cleanse the world.
They rained nuclear fire down on this same metropolis, and sparked the greatest war in the history of Earth.

In one of their books of lies, a story was told of Armageddon by water...now, in reality, they died in a blaze so hot it burned away nearly every trace of their existence.
He had given them the greatest gift, life, and far too many of them had wasted it and finally destroyed it in preparation for an afterlife they would never experience.

Now, gazing mournfully over the wasteland, The Creator's eyes were suddenly drawn to a distinct contrast in the landscape... a glimpse of color amid the dull gray, black, and brown. He walked toward it slowly, never taking his eyes off the spot, and leaned over it. He blew very lightly, and dust flew off of an object...a wondrous object.

It was a bright green sprout, barely the size of his fingernail, but it represented so much more.
Seeing this tiny plant, he realized something...Now, hundreds of years after the war, the radiation left over from it had dissipated, and the dead plants and animals had nourished the soil. One day vegetation would once again flourish in this place.
From death, came life.
Then he jumped to his feet at a sound...the first sound he had heard in lifetimes.