I failed to make this one a drabble.  Sorry.

Flash Fiction: Sci-Fi

I’m on the rooftop, scanning the ruins of New York and the overgrowth spreading over the concrete, when he joins me.

“It didn’t always look this way.” It’s the start of one of his stories. The ones he tells without realizing he’s told me them already. But this time he says something else. “I’m not going to be around to see it much longer.”

“I know.” I do know. I’ve watched him age while I haven’t.

“Would you like me to shut you down before I shuffle off the mortal coil?”

I consider the question, though it takes the circuits in my brain only a nanosecond. “No.”

He studies me as if he wanted me to think about it for longer than that. “Are you sure? There’s no one else left.”

“I know.” He’s the only human I’ve ever seen, outside of movies and photographs. “I’m sure. I think there’s still a lot for me to see.”

He smiles. “I’m sure there is. Well then, I’ll let you run.”

He turns to look at the reds and golds sweeping the sky. It’s our last sunset together.