Unholy Trinity: Cosmic Emptiness by Margarida Brei
Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.
I
Some think life insignificant, meaningless. Especially standing alone under a huge sky full of stars. Not me. At night, I shouted up at the cosmos, “I am here with my feet on earth, and you are all alone, light years away.” It was easy feeling safe when the earth was whole. But now? Only a few survived the apocalypse. Living scientists think earth was hit by a giant meteorite. What really matters is earth is dying, our resources are few. There is darkness and despair everywhere. Dystopia is a reality. Now I feel that I am nothing in the world.
II
I am one. One alone after the apocalypse. It is hard not to feel insignificant when you are the only survivor out of your family. No one to live for. There is nothing to live for. What is the point of building a broken earth when few survived. The only choices are what to die from- starvation, boredom, hopelessness, disease? Out of necessity, I now occupy a beautiful ornate mansion. Oddly, it survived intact, when all around it was destroyed. Endless rooms, glamorous bathrooms, landscaped pool. It is a dream house, but so empty that it brings me no joy.
III
Shortly after the apocalypse, I woke to mewing. My imagination, I argue and fall asleep. Depressing to be one of only a sparse number of survivors! Listlessly sitting, I hear a tiny weak sound coming from the servants’ quarters. So faint. In my hand a torch and in the other a baseball bat. The torch gives me more confidence in the dark. Amazingly, I discover the maid’s baby is still alive but alone and suspect the parent died during the apocalypse.
“You will survive. Earth’s hope. I am here for you, always. Call me Mummy.” I sing to the baby.
Margarida Brei
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Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her longer work includes the folk horror novels, The Five Turns of the Wheel, Reborn, and The Woodcutter, and the post-apocalyptic/horror/sci-fi The Barricade, and the novellas, Bottled and Paused. Her dark poetry has been published in her collections Lilith Rising (co-authored with Shane Douglas Keene), Foundlings (co-authored with Cindy O’Quinn) and Metallurgy, as well as the HWA Poetry Showcase Volumes VI, VII, VIII, and IX and Black Spot Books Under Her Skin. She can be found supporting indie authors at HorrorTree.com via the weekly Indie Bookshelf Releases. She can be found at https://stephanieellis.org and on Blue Sky as stephellis.bsky.social.