The End

I looked upon the the Earth and saw I was alone. So alone. So very alone.

The Earth was scorched. The seas were history. Water, such as was left, merely burbled within the rocks, never upon the surface. When it did reach the surface, it came as scorching geysers venting the Earth's fury at the vicious, cruel sky, the pitiless sun.

I am the last representative of the greatest empire to have ever existed upon this world. And with my passing, it would end. We would be no more. And none would follow. For none could.

Some small part of me yearned to try anew. To try rebuilding. To replicate what was lost. But the fury of the sun was nigh and the end of the world was now. It had been 10 billion years since the Earth formed from the very disk that begat the Sun. And now, the Sun, old and bitter, would consume this world. And me with it. And the last remnants of my empire.

Some basal drive pushed once more to attempt to defy the odds. To find a hiding place and see if I could escape the world's fate...and then use all the tricks of life for the last 10 billion years to survive, revive and rebuild my empire.

But no.

I am too tired. I have not the energy. The distance is too great and the likelihood of survival too slim. I have grown too old and cannot bring myself to do what would be necessary.

Instead, I sit upon the surface, amidst the ruins and wait and wait as the corona reaches out and takes hold and burns the earth to a cinder, rendering everywhere and everything uninhabitable for anything or anyone. I wait, all but encysted. I wait and wonder in the manner of my kind until I am burnt to nothingness.

With my passing, with my demise, the greatest empire ever known on earth passed. It had reigned since before the Late Heavy Bombardment had finished. We had reigned since shortly after the Earth cooled enough for water to last upon its surface. We had reigned through the coming of complex life and its demise. We had reigned and sat fascinated by those fish with feet pulling themselves upon the land. We watched in awe and made our own peace with the dinosaurs. We giggled at the rise and presumption of humanity and mourned its passing. We lived. We grew. We reigned. We out lasted. Until now.

I, the last bacteria upon this world, flashed and burnt and the great empire of prokaryotes was no more.