Short Story: Digging for Ghost

 

By Ebiniyi Janet

 

The world had ended, but no one noticed until it was too late. 

 

Sarah had learned to live with the quiet after the fall. The endless hum of civilization is now silenced. The cities were ruins, their steel skeletons eaten away by time, dust, and nature. Only the echoes of human ambition remained—decaying billboards and overgrown streets—silent monuments to a past life.  

 

She moved through the wreckage, her boots crunching on the shards of glass that once reflected the brightness of a bustling world. It had been five years since the Collapse, when wars, plagues, and environmental destruction had sealed humanity’s fate. The only ones left were the few survivors scattered across the landscape, like Sarah, eking out what little life remained in the hushed aftermath. 

 

She had no family or friends left; she had only her instincts and the routines she had developed to survive. Food was scarce, and freshwater was even scarcer. The little she could scrounge up came from old grocery stores and abandoned homes, but it was never enough. Every day was a battle for sustenance and safety. 

 

Today, Sarah was searching for a new supply of water. She’d heard rumours of a well in the old district. If she could find it, it could keep her going for a few more weeks. She reached the city's outskirts, where the remnants of old apartment buildings leaned toward each other like weary giants. The streets were eerily quiet, save for the wind rustling through broken windows. 

 

A cold breeze hit her face as Sarah made her way into one of the buildings. She pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. The air smelled of decay, but also something else—a faint trace of something familiar. The sound of footsteps followed. She paused, her breath catching in her throat. She had been alone for so long; she had almost forgotten what it was like to hear someone else’s steps in the dust. 

 

Her eyes darted around, her hand instinctively reaching for the knife she kept strapped to her belt. But when she turned the corner, she froze. 

 

It was a man. Unshaven, ragged clothes hanging from his thin frame. His face was gaunt, eyes hollow but sharp. He didn’t seem like a threat.  

 

“Looking for something?” he asked in a voice that was rough, but not unfriendly. 

 

Sarah hesitated. There had been others before—travellers who had turned dangerous, looking to take what wasn’t theirs. But this man seemed different. 

 

“I need water,” she said simply, “heard there was a well here.” 

 

The man nodded. “I know where it is. Follow me.” 

 

She followed him through the dark hallways of the crumbling building. Her senses were heightened, aware of every creak of the floorboards beneath them. The silence seemed oppressive like the world itself had stopped breathing. 

 

After a few minutes of winding through the labyrinth of abandoned apartments, they reached a door that looked no different from the others. But the man pushed it open, revealing a hidden courtyard. In the centre was a large, round stone well, its mouth dark and empty.  

 

“Here it is,” the man said, turning to her. 

 

Sarah’s heart sank. The well was dry. There was nothing there but dust and the faint stench of rot. She was about to speak, to ask why he had brought her here when the man’s voice broke the silence. 

 

“You’re not the first to come looking,” he said softly. “But no one’s going to find anything anymore.” 

 

Sarah’s confusion deepened. “What do you mean?” 

 

He looked at her, his eyes dark, his lips curling into a faint smile. “The well is empty. It’s been empty for years. But people keep coming. They think they’ll find something, something to hold onto. Hope, maybe. A piece of the past.” 

 

She swallowed hard, realization dawning. The well had never been more than a symbol. It was a lie people told themselves, a reason to keep moving forward, hoping for a future that was never coming. 

 

He turned away from her, his gaze drifting toward the horizon, where the sun hung low in the sky. “The world ended,” he said quietly. “And some of us are still trying to live like it hasn’t.” 

 

Sarah’s breath caught in her chest. For the first time since the Collapse, she realized the full weight of the truth. The well wasn’t just empty; it was a reminder. A reminder that hope was the real scarcity. 

 

The man didn’t wait for her reply. He walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the ruined city. 

 

Sarah stood at the well for a long time, staring into its dark emptiness, feeling the heavy truth settle in. She had come looking for water, but what she had found was the last thing she had wanted to face: the end of everything, even hope.