A dusty wind howled over the empty plain. Fine grains beat upon the glassy surface of slag, adding to the polish, putting a fresh shine on Armageddon. A milky light filtered through clouds that until a few decades ago were all but impenetrable.

Sheltered from the wind but still able to eek a modicum of heat from the shrouded sun, a small puddle of ooze made its merry, non-sentient life on the remnants of a distant civilization. Through that miracle of evolution, forever a testament to the tenacity of the universal life force, coexisting organisms became one entity, one being.

The cycle began anew. Life beget life, and multicellular life once again graced the scarred surface of a once beautiful planet. From here, a great variation of flora and fauna could proceed, given time.

No soul marked the occasion. No man stooped to admire the wonder of nature. A bare sphere of crumbled relics and charred earth bore silent witness to life’s return. And the dusty wind breathed the sigh of peace long after war.