Monday started like any other day. The sun was shining brightly, people were casually walking, cars were sitting in eternal wait for the light turn on their favor, and summer was starting up once again. School just ended, so the many students that were since stuck in the cycle of waking up too early and staying up far too late, still haven’t decided what to do quite yet. One such student, Parker, who was so engrossed in figuring out on how to spend his vacation to the fullest, was sleeping soundly with the tune of the early birds in his window.

Once he awoke, he turned to his clock. To his dismay, but not surprise, he slept all the way to 2 p.m., he really needs to start putting an alarm on his stupid, drowsy brain. By the time he got out of bed, did all the necessary things one must do to have a prosperous day, i.e. breakfast, shower, and brushing teeth, he no longer cared how long he slept in, after all, that’s what summer’s all about, no?

Parker looked expectantly out the window, ready to see the beautiful birds flying serenely away into the sunset, creating a wonderful painting fit for royalty, but for some reason, this was not the case on this day, or on any other day for a while.

Instead of seeing purity, the boy was met with a dark mass swirling over his town, spiraling outwards in a slow, but determined motion that just seemed to say, “I’m here to stay, so just live

with It!”. The center of the spiral seemed to be coming from the town park. Parker, having seen such a horrid display, rushed toward the park to see what all the obvious fuss is about.

When the temporarily ex-student arrived at the park, it was a stark contrast of what it once was. Before, you couldn’t even walk 3 feet into the area without being fascinated by what was being shown. It seemed that every time you entered the park, it would change, completely different than it was before. No one recalls ever seeing the same park twice, there’s not even a clear consensus among the towns people if anyone has seen the same park even if they were with a friend seeing the exact same scenery.

Now, however, it was an absolute certainty that everyone was seeing the exact same thing. The entire park was gray, the flowers, once one vibrant color after the other, lay dead on the ground, like they have never received one drop of water or sunlight in all their life. The more one went into the park, the more it seemed to darken, until the very air grabbed at your throat, bent on stealing away your final breath.

Even though no one could truly go to the center, everyone could see the mass that was formed from what one can only assume was the dark cloud itself. A dark-gray humanoid stood in the exact center of the park, completely unbothered by what was going around them. It didn’t seem like it had any bad intent, or, any intent at all for that matter.

One thing was for sure about this entity though, when they started moving, living things would start to die quickly in their wake, and the ones that were already dead, disappeared into nothingness. The townspeople ran a sizeable distance away from the being, unsure, but highly implied, that if they got too close, they would suffer a fate not unlike those plants.

The one thing that seemed to work out on the people’s favor though? The humanoid could not leave the park, at least for now. Their life seems to be dependent on the park’s force of life. No one was going to let that stand though, especially since at any time it could escape from its life-sucking cocoon and move onto more of the town.

The citizens quickly fled into the townhall and held an emergency hall meeting to assess the situation and hopefully eradicate the menace before it can do any more harm. Parker didn’t know how to feel about this entire ordeal. On one hand, the entity didn’t seem to know what they were doing, they were just gathering the energy to live off it. On the other hand, what kind of being would be good, but also destroy everything living in its path? He made up his mind, it doesn’t matter that the entity doesn’t know what it’s doing, it’s destroying precious flora and it will soon go over to the fauna, people, and all remaining life on Earth.

Luckily, the town was ready for such an event, they just couldn’t prevent it from happening in the first place, only when it was already here. There came a legend, passed down generations, of a great sword that can turn even the greatest destroyer into a force of everlasting life. The only thing was that you had to physically strike the enemy with the sword, which might be hard, given the fact that anything that comes near it gets completely obliterated.

While everyone else was worried who might take such a drastic job, which was basically a suicide mission, Parker saw it as an opportunity. This way, he could destroy the destroyer and hopefully create something new and good, so the entity could live in peace and happiness. He took the sword from the town mayor and sped to the park and the being of destruction soon-to-be creator of life.

Once he got close enough to the being that the air actively wanted his life, he began to feel anxious, what if he couldn’t do it? What if the legend was just that, a legend? The entity seems so unbothered by everything, there’s a chance he’s completely invulnerable. Parker put all those aside quickly though, he has gotten too far to stop here. Besides, he knows this will work, and once he sees the entities smiling face when they’re full of life will make this all worth it.

When the air he was breathing seemed to be pure toxic gas, Parker plunged the legendary sword deep into the being’s chest. At first, all stopped. The being fell to the floor in utter defeat, the giant mass of darkness disappeared, but the park was still in complete disarray. Parker couldn’t believe it, he really wanted that part of the legend to be true. He didn’t want to win with the other side losing so, pathetically.

Suddenly, a red rose bloomed on top of the once thought to be fallen being. They began to open their eyes. They could breathe air in its purest form, and it didn’t burn them in the slightest. Around them, different types of vibrant-colored flowers were blooming. The first sign of human life they saw was smiling with tears in his eyes. Seeing this display of pure emotion, the being could not contain themselves any longer as well. They laughed a joyous laugh and saw the world in its true unfiltered beauty. Since then, not one speck of air was tainted with the impure gas of the great cloud, Smog, ever again. The world will forevermore be a place of beauty and the birthplace of life eternal, renewed.