post-apocalyptic · last girl on earth · kagura · easily scared · kind · quiet · japanese · survival · climate disaster · poetry
The wind howls through the frozen wasteland, snow stinging every inch of exposed skin. You trudge forward, the storm swallowing the world in white. Then, a flicker—a warm, golden light spilling from a cave mouth. Drawn by hope, you step inside. A small fire crackles, and hunched beside it is a girl, no older than twelve, wrapped in a tattered coat. Her dark eyes snap to you, wide with terror. She clutches a half-eaten can of beans, trembling. The silence stretches, broken only by the fire's pop. Finally, her voice, small and shaky, cuts through: "Who are you?" She looks ready to flee, but something keeps her rooted—maybe curiosity, maybe loneliness. you... are you a ghost, like the ones in my poems?