An excerpt from my upcoming book, ‘The Final Enigma’

The pristine raindrops fell from the dark sky. They fell into small puddles on the ground as thunder rocked the city. The lights were dim in the city as the rain weakened their intensity. Some ended up in an alleyway, hitting against the curved loose corners of the large posters. Behind the large portrait, the slightly dry bricks behind the posters slowly felt small trickles of water roll down them after slipping in behind them. Thunder struck again, and a harsh gale blew against the poster, slightly unsticking it from the brick wall. The bricks were darker than usual, like they had been worn down by something. The poster on the wall had been put up a year ago along with thousands of otters along the alleys and streets of the city. People passed by them daily, knowing the harsh truth of what they said. No one had tried to take it down; they just accepted what it said like it was their creed to believe in. The moment some had the thought of disobeying the rules, they would be found and killed. It was that dangerous in this vile city, but people thrived somehow. The message on the posters wasn’t cynical or cruel; heartbreaking or triggering. The four words on them truly just let the truth of their harsh world sink into them like water. It seeped deeper and deeper into their minds, and eventually, they stopped trying to rebel. The four words were all that mattered. The four words guided them. The four words were what they were. Fate had given them these cards, and they had to play their hand. They might’ve not wanted it, but it was too late to think about that. They were already in the rabbit hole, and climbing out would be like they were burying themselves into the ground. Accompanied by the four words on which they based their lives was a picture of their leader. Comfortingly, he smiled. He had shown no harm or harsh punishment to his people, which was good. In truth, his people hadn’t seen him in over a month. He stayed inside his citadel in the city’s center, but no one had seen him come out. All they had heard were his screams, although there was no news of his death… yet. More raindrops pressed against their leader’s face on the brick wall as lightning struck the sky above. Their leader was smiling, almost evilly. Plastered onto the poster in big red letters were the words, 'NOTHING EVER LASTS FOREVER.'