On a cool summer night in the early morning hours a young man and a young woman sat atop a grassy hill. Neither looked at each other. Their faces were transfixed on the starry sky. “The stars are so beautiful! The sky is clear without all those city lights,” the woman said in a soft voice. The young man sighed. “Rose, the city lights went out over a million years ago.” “Has it been that long? I lost count after New York was nuked. You know, I like it better without all those nasty people. All they cared about was themselves. We were never selfish like them. That’s what mortality will do to you. And now look at where they’re at. Not here.” “No, they’re not here, and we shouldn’t be here either.” “Daniel!” Rose shot up, hands on her waist. She gave Daniel an infuriated look. “Don’t say those things!” She paused. “You’re all that I have!” Daniel could see that she was now holding back tears. “I’m all that you have,” she let out in a whimper. Daniel reached out with his hand. “Sit. Sit. I’m sorry. It wouldn’t have worked anyways. You know that.” Rose’s face unfurled. She plopped herself back down on the ground with her arms cross, pushed her face into her lap and began to sob. Daniel wrapped his arm around her. “Shhh. Shhhh,” he said. “It’ll be ok.” Daniel put his hand on her back. He felt Rose’s chest rise and fall as she took several deep breathes. Rose stopped crying. She turned her head towards Daniel. The birds in a nearby tree began to chirp and warble. “Why do you say those things?” Rose asked. Daniel looked back at the sky. “Do you know why the birds are singing?” There was a moment of silence between them. “The sun is coming up, Rose. We’ve had 185 trillion sun rises since we were made immortal, and we’ve done amazing things. We learned, we loved, we laughed, but . . . we also lost. And, you’re right, now it’s just the two of us. I love you Rose, but I’m scared.” “Scared of what?” “I’m scared of the darkness. Rose, we’re coming to the Earth’s end. Soon the sun will run out of hydrogen, and when that happens, it’s going to balloon. We’re going to watch as everything dies, engulfed by the sun’s heat and flames. Then, the sun will slowly retract. Its light will become more and more dim every year, and eventually there will be nothing. The sun will be nothing but a lump of coal. You and I will be all that is left on this burnt planet. We’ll never hear the birds greet a new day ever again.” “We’ve still got a couple million years at least, right?” Rose said rhetorically. Daniel looked as if he was in a trance. Rose rocked her body, tapping Daniel and catching his attention. She placed her hand on his knee. “How about we go back to DC and look through the Smithsonian again. We’ll see if we can build a spaceship or something.” Daniel’s face was now smiling. This is why Daniel had fallen in love with Rose. She always managed to make him smile when he became too macabre. Daniel knew they weren’t going to find a way off earth now that the rest of humanity was gone, but he didn’t want to make Rose upset again and kept his thoughts to himself. “Sure, darling. We can go to DC tomorrow.” The two lovers sat there in silence. They watched as the sun’s red, orange, and yellow fingers began to push away the night sky. The sun began to appear just above the horizon. “Daniel,” Rose said in a concerned tone that Daniel hadn’t heard in a long time. “Daniel, I think I’m going crazy. I think I’m seeing things.” Daniel’s heart began to beat quickly. “Was she going crazy? Why would she say that?” Daniel thought. He quickly looked around, but couldn’t see what was bothering her. “Daniel!” Rose screamed as she pointed into the valley below. That’s when Daniel saw them. Four silhouettes of people were moving up the hill.