Just posting this because I can, since I wrote it! The Last One I can hear it, moving around outside the cave. Why did I pick this cave to hide in? The opening is too big, it can get in! I am pretty sure that I’m the last one. I’ve received no communications in over two weeks now. The creatures hunt us down and kill us. It is the end of everything. It’s moving again; I can hear the metal in its suit. I have so little left to fight with; my flamer is empty, and there is nothing near here to reload it with. I have not eaten since…a long time, yes. Once we were a great culture. We had families, hopes, dreams, art, music, love. Then they came and spread like a cancer across the land, killing us off, one by one, planting their food everywhere. They pushed us further and further north, into climates too cold to sustain us. But we tried. We just wanted to live! We finally fought back, as best we could. But we simply were not equipped to defeat them. Oh, we made them pay dearly for every one of us they killed. Very dearly. For a time, it looked like we had won a kind of truce. But it did not last. And now, I am the last one. Legend has it that in the remote past, we traveled the stars, marveling at the wonders and the vastness of all creation. Somehow we lost that, and all of us ended up here, on this little ball of rock, water and sand. We met the killers here. At first, they welcomed us. They called us angels from heaven. We taught them how to work metal, build with stone, and to govern justly. And then, one day, they started killing us. Now, we are no more. I am the last one, of that I am certain. It is moving again, creeping into the cave. I can hear its metal suit grating on the rocks as it slinks through the cave. It wants but to kill me, it has declared as much, in a loud, boastful voice. And, I am very weary. You see, I am old now, for my kind, and I would not see the next spring even in happier times. So, the savage in the metal suit will find me, and kill me. But I will not give up life’s last breath without a fight, feeble as it may be! There, the noise, closer! Death comes! Oh, creation, I do not wish to pass from thy warm embrace into that cold, dark, loneliness beyond! Why must we all be killed in such an inglorious, brutal manner? Death, have you no heart? There! I see it now. Light glints off of the metal suit. I have managed to kill one before, but it cost me an arm. And my family. Those metal suits, they are too strong for our weapons! Except for the flamer. That terrifies these terrors! They run from it, but only to return again to slaughter us. It’s closer. I am frightened. I think of Jorrelle, my mate; the most beautiful Jorrelle! How her tears flowed when they found our home and they butchered our children! I cannot bare the thoughts of what those lives could have been! Jorrelle! My love! She died as much from a broken heart as from the blows of the savages! Jorrelle! Forgive me, for I have failed you! Here! The battle joined, you worthless, immoral abomination! Struck! Pain! Lash out, again! Again! I’ve landed a good blow! Pain! Pain upon pain upon pain piercing pain! Darkness closing in! The savage is talking. No! I don’t wish to pass hearing those boisterous words! Jorrelle! It said it had killed me, the last Dragon! I am sorry, so sorry, Jorrelle!

Interesting comparison: 1938 Plymouth Roadking $685 or 2,740 hours worked at minimum wage No wood grain dash No vent windows on the front doors Manual transmission 17MPG; 60MPH max; cruise at 45MPH No radio, but you do get a spare tire, hydraulic (unboosted) drum brakes, and an ashtray! 2025 Nissan Versa S $18,330 or 2,529 hours worked at minimum wage Cloth trim, Air Conditioning, power windows and door locks Smartphone integration; AM/FM/Satellite stereo radio; 7 inch touch screen; back up camera Cruise control Seat belts; air bags; power steering; power disc brakes; automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, and rearview monitor 32MPG city, 40MPG highway; 115 MPH max

Back in the late 1970s while I was playing semi-pro football, I was a Teamster, driving a truck delivering caskets to funeral homes. One day in Binghamton I was driving the "old" truck, no power steering. We were waiting to turn left at a red light. The light turned green and I went through the routine; let out the clutch, push down on the gas, and turn the wheel. That's when it happened. The steering wheel broke off in my hands. The spokes broke about an inch from the hub. I pushed in the clutch and hit the brakes, holding the steering wheel in its place, not quite believing what happened. Bob, my Helper, said, "Well, what are you waitin' for?" Instinct kicked in. I handed the steering wheel to Bob and said, "Here, you drive!" "Oh GEEESH!" he yelled. I managed to steer the truck around the corner and into the funeral home parking lot somehow. True story.

Don't get frustrated Don't get discouraged GET INVOLVED! Here's how! Link in replies:

American women have been told over and over since the 1960s that family and children are a burden, that real fulfillment only comes through a career or activism. They've been lied to, along the same pattern of lies used on 'trans' kids: "You'll only be happy if you..." Then it's, "You're not happy because you're oppressed by..." False promises to make them vulnerable to false oppression premises, which lead to radicalization. It's the Liberal Recruitment Method. It's Voltaire: "Those who can be made to believe absurdities can be made to commit atrocities." So we have trans shooters and mothers offing their own kids.

The key to life is realizing what you can do and what you can't do. This is why God made first cars, first houses, and first loves.

Choices. Priorities. Kathy Hochul and her Democrat Cartel put illegal alien criminals before the citizens of New York. She takes money from New York Taxpayers to protect, feed, and house illegal aliens in violation of longstanding, bipartisan immigration laws. New York simply can't afford @GovKathyHochul any more. Choose better than Democrats.

MORE OR LESS or How to tell the Patriot from the Tyrant One side thinks of everything in terms of a fixed-size pie. people can't be rich unless others are poor people can't be happy unless other are sad This side thinks equality means controlling how much everyone has. While keeping the best for themselves. The other side thinks in terms of growing the pie. more people can be rich more people can be happy This side sees creation and innovation as the path to more wealth and happiness for everyone. Including themselves. These two are not the same.