Nothing in his experience had suggested this moment. Ahead, forked lightning pierced the ground, soundlessly. Behind, the last sunset smoldered a deep orange hue, the color of dying embers. High above, cumulus clouds wearing a black armour, as if charred, invaded the vast expanse of a dark blue, glowing sky as it succumbed to the sure advance of darkness.

No tree, no plant, inhabited the visible world, from the distant eastern horizon to the dying sun in the west. This was the end of the world. This was the beginning of Time. The eternal moment of creation sparked, burned, chilled.