The sky falls, the walls crumble, and the world ends. And I have been lying here for the past God-only-knows-how-many hours. I have never seen the sun before, but after so many years it's there, shining while the world is ending. I've been used to artificial light, a poor substitute for the sun, and now that there's something natural, it burns and scorches me into a crispy red.

And I am alive, so very alive and breathing and just wondering the unanswerable question of why. I am used to being below them. I have been used to the idea that they would outlive me.

I'm sorry, I must not be making much sense. But Mr. O's dog has not stopped howling at the moon it could not see for over 30 days, Mr. and Mrs. S have been fighting non-stop for over ten times that period, and it took me until I was sixteen to figure out the sky was not made of pipes and gray cement. You wouldn't make much sense either if you were me.

But I have time today. There is nowhere to go and nowhere I want to be, so I shall stay here until I feel the sudden urge to leave. That will not be for a while though, I'm guessing. I'll have to start at the beginning for you to fully understand everything I'm saying. I'll have to start before I knew what the sky really looked like, before Mr. and Mrs. S started fighting, and before the world was split in half.

It wasn't literally split in half, don't get me wrong. But overpopulation led to serious problems, and when there was no more space all there was to do was make more. And so the second level was built and those with money flocked up there as quickly as they possibly could. It was people like me who stayed down here on the natural earth. People refer to that as the splitting of the world and the name is fitting. Their world is made of sky and sun and parks for the rich children. Mine is made of metal and thick cement columns to hold theirs up.

The world I remember was made up of children playing in muddied rainwater from pipes that started in a place they'd never seen. The air was gray with smoke from the factories and almost all of us had skin that was pure white. Our world was beautifully ugly and we were happy. And that was all that mattered.

We were raised to detest those that resided above us. Those who had stolen the sun and the sky and the grass from us deserved all the hatred they received. We were raised to wish that their world would eventually collapse and fall apart. And someone must have been listening to us because quite literally it did. Right on top of us. And that was when everyone's happiness wore away, because it is hard to be happy while the world is ending.

If it hadn't been for their need for so many trees and buildings higher than the sky, the ground above us wouldn't have been so weak. If it hadn't been for the fact that they refused to come down to fix the columns that held them up, then they may have been able to support the overly heavy ground. If it wasn't for them, the world tumbling and flopping about like my stomach when I'm nervous wouldn't have made the world come falling down like the London Bridge in that old children's song.

The only sky I have ever known has fallen, and the columns have crumbled, and the world has ended. And all I can see that is left is rubble, me, and Mrs. L's kitten which Mr. L got her recently for her birthday. I fear she will not see another one.

The world has ended, but grass has fallen from up above, and I have never seen it before. I know it though from all the little black and white pictures I saw from when I was younger. It looks exactly the same except there is color. And it is living while everything else is not. But if the grass starts to grow down here, then I guess I can be happy, because it is something new and full of wonder. The sense of pure amazement will not wear off for a while, I hope.

The world has collapsed in on itself, but mine becomes natural, and if I ever become used to it, all will be right. And Mrs. L's kitten is here to keep me company and if you leave I will always have it to tell my stories to.

I am still here, lying amongst all this ruin. The world for those above us has fallen just as I had always wished, Mr. and Mrs. S have stopped fighting, Mr. O's dog has stopped howling, and I have seen the grass, sun, and sky all at once. And I am wondering whether or not to be happy that all my wishes have finally come true now that the world has ended.