Alarm Clock Dawn (Installment 2)

Just incase you didn't read my last blog entry I have decided to begin posting my first novel, "Alarm Clock Dawn" in small installments with the hope that this will give me sufficient motivation to finally complete it.  If you happen to have missed a certain entry I will number each for reference. 

Installment 2:

 

Prologue - It had taken countless millennia for us to climb from the depths of barbarism and bloodlust.  As the centuries passed our climb was painfully slow but steady.  Eventually, we found our way. The remnants of our ancestors are a beautiful testament to this. Picturesque temples, art, dusty books of lofty thoughts, but of this there was little left. 

But even now something about the world is still strangely beautiful. For those who knew in which direction to listen,  echoes of the past could still be heard.  These faint murmurs spoke out from ancient text and seemingly obscure symbols scattered across the globe.  They spoke of a people that had lived an exquisitely balanced existence, a balance that took countless generations of planning and sacrifice to achieve. Spirituality and things of beauty were held in high esteem, creating an incredible richness of culture.  These people had learned to live in harmony with nature. In them many believe that we had reached our pinnacle (zenith).

  Now most of the painstaking craftsmanship of previous generations had been weathered away or bulldozed but a handful of specimens remained.  These older buildings cowered in the shadows of newer structures and reflected a time that most now have only read about.  These few architectural gems that survived were scattered throughout the city served as a testament to the lives we once lived. Nobody had the time to pay them much attention anymore or maybe it was because it was too painful a thing to remember.  Deep down inside there was an emptiness that nothing could fill.  On some certain level most ached in for what we'd lost and would try every way imaginable to fill the void.

In today's world form subserviently followed function and quantity was far more important than quality.  Like a rebellious teen we tested our boundaries again and again, trying to subdue and separate ourselves from nature.  Substance was slowly sifted from our world and scattered in the wind. It was all so ironic. Lives that were lived in an endless pursuit of "more" were stripped of time, the one thing that mattered most, and no amount of money could ever buy that back. 

The cities were now cold and colorless, consisting mainly of mammoth concrete structures, which were buried partially beneath the ground.  Powerful storms could emerge with just a minute's warning so it was only these types of buildings that were capable of withstanding the ever increasing harshness of the weather.  Most city buildings were connected by an elaborate system of tunnels and skyways that sheltered the city dwellers from the unpredictable elements.

To be continued......