The Only One Left Standing

He gazed up into the sky. The sun was too hot on his skin, but he knew he has strength enough for this. Yet, as his eyes level on the ground, he can't help feeling a spasm of fear. He still can't quite believe the scene before him. The ground was cracked with excessive dryness. Not a single green shrub or even a small green grass could be seen. No animals mill around the area. No birds, not even insects. Everything stood still in silence.

As he stood in utter loneliness, he remembered the time a few months back. A stream was gloriously running on his right side. Thick greeneries surround the area. Wild animals are running all round. The forest was bursting with life.

But now, all he could see is a barren land. The place was a victim of human's cruelty. And now drought has descended upon the land and the forest suffered a severe blow. Nature was history. As he stood in the midst of this sad scene, he knew that his time will soon be up too. Like the others who were unpityingly slaughtered by the greedy humans. Like the animals who were hunt to extinction and the others who fled for survival. There was no more future.

He wished he could cry. He wished he could shed tears to alleviate the emptiness and fear he was feeling. He was hopeless. He closed his eyes and awaited for what was to befall on him. He did not win to have survived this long. He was the only one left standing. The single last tree in the middle of the empty forest.

This is prompt #256. The instruction was actually to write in the view of the single tree in the forest but I opted to write it in the third person.