The Village in the Sun

It had been raining for the past two weeks. The sky no longer existed; in its place was a cold gray wall, imprisoning the Sun behind a wall of depression. Once, about a week after the rain came, the Sun almost escaped, but was caught and thrown back even farther into the prison and for the guards’ amusement, the townsfolk were punished with more rain. Most thought the rain could not have gotten any worse, but they were wrong.
The punishment had been in place for two weeks. The townsfolk, desperate for a break from their dreariness that had invaded their world, turned to their superstitions. Those in the town who were known to be extreme arachnophobes were brought to court on suspicion of causing a spider holocaust. They were found guilty by the town jury and were killed. The rain did not stop, so some townsfolk gave up their vices while others tried to escape their watery hell only to find their cars flooded. The rest prayed to whatever god they believed in that the Sun would be released from its prison.
A month after the punishment had been enacted, the rain was steadily getting worse. Some blamed the prostitute; some blamed the cheating wife; and others blamed global warming, even though the rain was cold and depressing. There was an increase in suicide in the month following the punishment, and to combat this, the town’s mayor employed scientists to find way to free the Sun from its prison. They were baffled and could not explain why the rain would not stop. This made the townsfolk very angry. The scientists’ inabilities were viewed as incompetence, and the frustrated (depressed) townsfolk stormed the scientists’ laboratories, killing them with ignorance. This made the rains ease ever so slightly; the townsfolk noticed this and were overjoyed. The mayor (who was heavily religious) made the connection and ordered that the scientists be brought to trial on suspicion of forcing the Sun to go to prison. The scientists were found guilty and were crucified. With each death, the rain became less and less substantiated. Eventually, all of the known scientists were dead, but the rain was still coming down -- hard. The mayor then proposed the idea that anyone who was suspected to be supportive of the scientists and scientific advancements were to be investigated and killed as well. With each death the rain continued to dissipate.
After 3 weeks of deaths, ignorance ruled and science was deemed illegal. The rain stopped and the clouds cleared completely. The Sun, angered by its lengthy sentence, blamed the townsfolk. The Sun drew itself closer to the Earth in an attempt to set a curse upon the townsfolk and soon, a large drought occurred. The townsfolk, who relied heavily on agriculture, were devastated by the lack of water. They began to wither away, dehydration setting in quickly. The townsfolk went to the scientists’ homes, looking for an explanation as to why there was no water, no food, and the extreme heat. (The reader must understand, by this point, the entire scientific knowledge of the Village was deteriorated to the point where there was none.) But they, in their ignorance, had killed the scientists. So again, the townsfolk turned to their superstitions. Some prayed for the Sun’s imprisonment again. Some, especially those who found themselves starving, tried to escape only to find that their cars would not start because they had been flooded previously.
Soon, the townsfolk got angry. Their tempers, made worse by the heat and by their thirst, caused divisions within the town. One side blamed the other for the scientists’ deaths. The divisions became so pronounced that each side elected a new mayor; the previous mayor had starved to death. The townsfolk believed that because there was no scientists to control the Sun and because of it, the Sun got too close and was killing the town. Yet no matter what the townsfolk tried, they could not control the Sun. To make matters worse, the Sun became more and more angry with each attempt to control it. This escalated the divisions between the townsfolk. Shortly thereafter, all attempts to control the Sun were halted because a war had broken out between the two sides. On one side, there were those who had been in power when the scientists were killed and on the other were those who carried out the crucifixions. There were not many direct deaths due to the war; the Sun, not knowing that he had the ultimate (and very final) power, drew himself closer to the town so that he could get a better view of the war. In doing so, the town started to burn. The screams of the innocent pierced the Sun’s ears, but he only thought of them as victims of the war, so he drew himself closer. By now, he could smell the burning flesh of all the townsfolk, and hear their screams, but he still could not realize that he was responsible for their suffering. His heat spared neither side, for they were both to blame. He enjoyed hearing the souls of the townsfolk destroyed by the unrelenting heat.
It had now been 6 months since the punishment ended. The population before the Sun’s imprisonment had been equal to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, but now there were few survivors. With each passing day, the Sun drew itself closer and the number of survivors decreased. They cried out, pleading to God (who they believed had made Himself present to the townsfolk) for mercy, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. The entire town, which at one point had been a sprawling, beautiful place to live, had been transformed into a desolate wasteland where the few survivors killed each other and those who didn’t kill anyone probably couldn’t because they were dead or were on their way.
There was not much time left for the Earth following the Sun’s return. Catalysticized by the conflicts, and the divisions, and the desperation of the townsfolk, the already short time was reduced to almost none. The entire Earth caught fire 3 months after the Sun’s return, and within 4 hours of the start of the fires, all life, regardless of species, was dead. Death enveloped the Earth; it became synonymous with death. There were not even ashes left. The Sun, seeing what it had done, had swallowed the Earth out of grief, and then proceeded to commit suicide, effectively ending everything. The souls of the townsfolk, whom had once been in Heaven, were now in hell because the Sun had swallowed that, too.