Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Extinction (Connor, May 29th)

Boom! Crash! Bam! It quickly struck the air, disturbingthe flying birds, the peaceful clouds, and the still atmosphere– crashing and ripping throughthe surface of what was once a blue planet, a place where people lived in harmony. Plumes of deadblack smoke circled the atmosphere, flowing into the lungs of millions of people, leavingthem congested and stuck. The grass was dyed black and brown, exuding a smell reminiscentof a completely burnt marshmallow. Mobs of children screamed and cried, invading the invisiblebubble that each person had– shaking the weak and broken ground. Buildings were torn from theirroots, slammed into each other, and were sliced in half. Boulders and glass shards hoveredin the air, getting into the eyes of all the spectators. Blind and bruised, they ran to their carsand homes, but those were also gone, destroyed, or never existed. Deadly gases of carbonmonoxide covered the globe. Humanity extinct, families gone, and the planet that was oncecalled home left in ruins.