[ WP ] Begin and end your story with this sentence : `` And yet , the city remained . ''

And yet, the city remained. 
 There used to be so much light. Driving down Broadway felt like flying through space, with each passing light another star in the galaxy. Everything you could ever dream of was in the palm of your hand and a short drive away. The city of dreams. 
 
 We never thought it would reach us, never thought something so distant could affect us on our thrones of light. But war... war does n't discriminate. War does n't care if you want to participate or not, war is a plague. The plague spread across the nation in record time. What once was thought of as a conflict in a far off country, became the end of everyone. That's the problem with alliances. If one becomes angry and malcontent, the rest will fall in line. Never let angry little minded men hold the keys to the doors of destruction... we learned that lesson the hard way. 
 
 There was a light. A light you could never imagine, it streaked through the night sky and burned more bright than a thousand stars. I never understood it. What scientist looked at the atomic bomb, and all the pain and suffering it caused and thought `` Hmmm, that's alright, but I think we can do better.'' Progress for the sake of progress I suppose. As soon as the first wave hit, we knew it was the beginning of the end. News reports tried to calm the people, but we were n't blind, although it would make it easier. But soon, the news stopped. 
 
 The dirt began to tremble harder. I could n't stay inside any longer. I stepped out, looked to the night sky, and there it was. The last light of a generation... the last light of a species. A species doomed to self-destruct from the onset. Maybe the next one will be better, learn from our mistakes. Or, maybe they'll never even know we existed. Millions of years from now, will our cities in the dirt even be remembered? 
 
 It's closer now, it's so bright. I never expected it to be so 
 
 [ [ End of Memory 5,242,443,892 ] ] 
 
 `` It does n't get easier the more you listen to those you know.'' 
 
 `` I know. But we must study and understand the history, or we will be doomed to repeat it. All of our first generation, gone... And yet, the city remained.''
