There is a small ember in the remains of the fire I built. It’s orange glow the only thing that I can grasp in this world full of darkness. It is the only thing that gives me something to keep going. It is the only thing I have left.
The sun went out. It’s gone, taking almost everything with it. The few survivors are hopeless. They have nothing to live for. All we can do is sit in the complete darkness and wait for the earth to turn to a frozen wasteland. 
The sun’s death happened in 3 stages. Stage 1 brought balls of fire that spewed from the sun, killing off some people. Stage 2 welcomed the immense smoke from the fires, which was the top killer. Stage 3 is the transformation from the hot, smoky earth to the frozen wasteland. It is completely impossible that I along with few others have survived.
I rest my head on what I think is a tree behind me as the ember goes out. I decide I am just going to curl up, close my eyes, and imagine disappearing from the earth when I hear an abrupt rustle in the shrubs behind me. I perk up and turn towards the direction of the sound. I know that it is another human because I can hear soft breathing.
“Hello?” my voice is hoarse and my throat is dry from all the smoke.
“Please don’t hurt me,” the little girl’s voice is quick to respond.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I get on my hands and knees and try to feel my way around the forest floor to reach the girl, wishing so badly that my fire was still burning, “let me light a fire so that we can see.”
I reach into the pocket of my jacket and pull out a fire starter. I feel around for some dry leaves and grass and make it into a pile and light it. I start coughing when I blow on the little flame to make it bigger. Then I see the girl. She looks about four years old and sits next to me as we watch the flames engulf the tinder.
“We should go get some sticks,” I break the silence. She nods. Her face is covered in gray splotches of soot from the smoke, but her complexion is still young. I realize that she has the same brown hair with streaks of blonde as me. After we gather sticks and place them into the fire, she stares at me, her blue eyes shining out of the darkness behind her.
“What’s your name?” I ask her.
“I need help,” the girl looks at me longingly.
“With what?” I pick at the edge of my jacket that is starting to fray. The girl points to her arm where a bad burn makes her soft, pale skin red with her blood. I immediately scoot over to her and hold up her arm closer to the firelight. The burn looks infected because it was not tended to properly. She whimpers when I try to peel away the fabric from her shirt on the burn. I need to get her to some water where I can clean the burn.
“Can you fix it?” a tear trickles down her cheek. I nod, although I’m not so certain.
“We have to find some water to clean it off,” I notice that the girl has a small bag, so I ask her what she has inside of it. She pulls out a stuffed rabbit, a baby blanket, and five granola bars. I quickly take notice of the baby blanket, as it can be used as a bandage for her arm.
“My older sister gave this stuff to me before she suffocated in all the smoke,” the girl’s eyes begin to water.
“I’m sorry,” I say as we approach the trickling sound of water. When we get there, one look at the stream and ice is already crystalizing over the surface… I need to work faster. I hold her arm in my hands and pour the icy water over the burn as my hands become numb.
“I saw you had a blanket in your bag, can I use it to bandage your arm?” I see sadness in her eyes, but she doesn’t hesitate to hand over the tattered piece of yellow fabric. I delicately wrap the thin blanket around the wound I can only imagine is throbbing in pain, and secure it firmly.
After I finish bandaging her arm, we sit back against the same tree. The thought of not being able to survive for long wanders into my mind, but I push it away… besides, I have a new priority to tend to now. I sneak a quick look at the little girl sitting beside me, her face radiant in the light of the fire, and I am reminded of my younger self. I feel a need to care for the girl now. Maybe it’s because I’m lonely. Maybe it’s because it keeps me from looking ahead into what the future holds. Whatever it is, I will protect the diminutive bit of my life that I have left, and that is the little girl.
***
Days have passed from when I first met the girl. She tells me nothing about her past and I tell her nothing about mine. It only makes the days take longer to pass by and we both know that. Each day, we sit together against the tree near the stream and listen to the faint trickle of water under the sheet of ice. We have nothing to live for now except each other.
One day, out of the darkness, when our fire is just embers, her voice is soft and peaceful, “Clover.”
I’m puzzled by her sudden remark, “What?”
“That’s my name,” she replies as she leans her head against my shoulder.