The Lake Diary

Chapter 5

There were strange lights and noises in the sky last night. Most of the camp was woken up near midnight by loud crackling sounds overheard. We all got out of our shelters and looked up, afraid of what we might see. A large ribbon of color was spread across the night sky, a bright green fading into reds so deep they were almost purple. The colors shifted back and forth like they were dancing to an unheard tune.

I've never seen the northern lights before but I've seen photos. I didn't think we were far enough north but then it might also be that the light pollution (and regular pollution) of the first world is gone and we're seeing stars and lights we never would have seen otherwise. Still, it is weird to me that we've been here six months and this is the first time we've seen them.

And the sounds they made were so loud. They reminded me of the crackling noise that fireworks make after the big boom. I've heard that the northern lights can sound like that but it was so much louder than I thought it would be. But then, the world is also far quieter than it used to be.

Half of the camp thinks that the lights are a sign of some kind though none seem to agree on it's meaning. It's either another sign of the impending apocalypse (Ha!) or it's a sign that the Earth is healing itself and things will only improve from here. Others think that it's a sign from God, a portent of good things to come. That seems unlikely to me.

I'm not sure what to believe about the lights, they gave me a troubled feeling, but the clear skies at dawn improved my mood. Bright sunlight, not a cloud to be seen. The relief among the survivors in camp was palpable, supplies had been getting dangerously low. As safe as the island is, it's tiny, there aren't enough resources for us to survive without frequent scavenging trips. Everyone knew we weren't going to be able to scavenge food until the weather cleared. This morning they're looking at us bright eyed, expectant. Morale has been sinking daily with the weather, mentally and physically we all need a good run today.

After almost a week of rain and a sleepless night, the raiders and I are exhausted but we have to go out or soon we'll be too weak to scavenge. Every day it's a decision to either fight and eat or wait and die. We've almost waited too long.

Today I'll be taking out the same group as last time. We used to rotate everyone in camp on the scavenging runs but it soon became apparent that certain groups worked together better as a team. Sarah, John, Malik, Peter, Nicholas and I liked working together and had the most successful runs. We brought back the most food with the fewest casualties, so we've become the primary scavening team.

Joshua, the eight year old, has been bugging me to let him come with us for the last few days while we were beached. He wants to learn how to survive in this new world instead of being coddled on the safety of the island, his words. There's an angry intensity about him these days. He's too young and too small though, we'd either be tripping over him or spend the entire time trying to keep track of him. He needs to stay safe until he's big enough to learn how to handle himself.

I told him that, he disagrees. But it's "my" boat, I'm the captain, and what I say goes. I asked Michelle to keep an eye on him until we cast off, he'd stow away given half a chance, I'm sure.

Yesterday, I was feeling some island fever. I kept busy by fashioning half a dozen wooden fish hooks. That was something I learned in boy scouts, decades ago. I gave them to Joshua this morning, encouraging him to try his hand at fishing while we're gone today. Little does he know, when the rest of the world fell apart no one was left to stock the lake. Each of us, when we first arrived, spent many hours trying to catch some fish. Unsuccessfully. It's possible the natural population is growing with so few people fishing but I think the lake is too small and shallow for them to survive the winters. Without anyone to stock the fish, I think the lake will probably be forever barren. Too bad, the food would be welcome. Fishing would keep Joshua occupied while we're gone though, give him something to do. And you never know, he might get lucky.

Pete's calling, says everyone is ready to leave. Hopefully everything goes smoothly on this trip and I'll have a good update later.