And then there were two.

There were two. Two males. They'd waited until the last possible moment to abandon the planet. For thousands of years the species known as human had walked the earth. They'd left their mark on every piece of earth available, often to the disadvantage of the planet. Now within the hour they would depart for the last time. Millions were already dispersed through the galaxy, busy leaving their fingerprints on other planets not as old as theirs. The mother planet was a single mother bidding her last adult children farewell. She was greying and her core cooling.

The two men had spent the morning walking the abandoned streets for the last time. They'd studied the rain clouds trying to make their eyes take pictures. They'd felt the soil of the fields slip through their fingers like farmers. Now they sat in the rocket making the final countdown checks. The nearest inhabited planet was expecting them within a fortnight. Then something happened. The older one turned to the younger one with watering eyes. They didn't speak, not because they didn't want to, but because they spoke different languages. The younger one saw the death in his companions eyes. He saw the fire going out and the coals cooling. They shook hands and that night there was only one man left on a planet that once supported billions.

In the silence after the last rocket left the earth, the only thing that broke it was not the earth crying for its sons and daughters. It wasn't the songs of birds, they had died centuries before. It was the short drop of a body on a rope from a plastic tree in the town square. The body swung back and forth and the eyes rested on the ground. On the home that seemed so far away.