ZZZMMM Illustrations - страница 4
The final evening marked a turning point, dividing their lives into "before" and "after." That day, the sea was eerily calm – a silent mirror, smooth as glass. Not a ripple, not a single splash disturbed its surface. Only crimson clouds and the golden orb of the sun, slowly sinking into the horizon, painted the sky. Its reflection on the water created the illusion of two suns gliding majestically toward each other, like two dancers in a final, breathtaking act.
As twilight faded into night, the sky unfurled a velvet canopy studded with countless stars. The air remained warm, yet there was an unmistakable tension – a premonition of an approaching storm. Sitting shoulder to shoulder in the stillness, they could hear each other's heartbeats. Their gazes, once again, were drawn to a peculiar star in the constellation Cassiopeia. For three nights in a row, it had captivated them with its unnatural flickering. A brilliant blue star, like a precious gem, cast an eerie glow around it, pulsing as if alive. Each flare of light seemed to carry a hidden message – a fragment of an invisible code, a transmission from a distant world buried deep in the cosmos.
Drunk on the romance of the moment, with all the fiery impulsiveness of youth, they swore a passionate vow to stay together – "until that distant star burns out."
The star itself seemed to hold its breath, like a dancer pausing before her final bow. Slowly, it began to unfurl its radiant petals, blossoming into a colossal celestial flower. Then, at the peak of its brilliance – it detonated.
A blinding flash. A million glittering shards. The cosmos rained fire.
Mikhail and Anna stood frozen, shock rooting them to the spot. A pain – sharp, alien – lanced through their very cores, as if something had pierced their hearts, each beat now a deafening gong echoing through their skulls.
Tears came unbidden, a flood breaching its dam. At first, there was only the crushing weight of irrevocable loss. But then – a flicker. Something strange and delicate pushed through the darkness: the whisper of something new. Unfamiliar, yet brimming with promise. Like the first snowdrop defiantly blooming in a winter thaw, its fragile petals a silent oath of spring.
The walk home felt like a dream. Thoughts dissolved into exhaustion. Only one urge remained: to collapse onto soft pillows, shut their eyes, and surrender to oblivion – to escape the incomprehensible visions that had shattered their world.