Life After

The child beside him rolled over and mumbled something into the darkness. He braced himself for another day, and lifted his heavy legs out from underneath the blankets. Carefully taking taking the stove out of his bag, he held his lighter to it and the little blue flame burst into life. It burned with a peaceful grumble, like a content cat. His shoulders slumped. The sound seemed desolate and alone against the backdrop of silence. For a while he sat and stared at the stove, entranced as the wind beat it almost to extinction, only for it to surge back into life during a lull. A noise made him shift his gaze, and the child crawled out from underneath the sheeting. They were silent as they sat on the hillside and watched the dead trees sway underneath the blackened sky.