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Property of The Winter Writer

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Based in 2083

Seattle used to have a skyline.

Decades later, the tree line which replaced it was said to be the tallest the state had seen in its history. All the trees were like that after the Scourge; taller and fuller and greener than ever. New vegetation covered every city in Washington.

The country had been a battlefield of carnage, until the earth claimed the bodies and the world changed. Those who were left to enjoy it were granted newness and purity of nature.

Beauty had come of horror, peace had come of destruction.

The danger became normal; the hiding became living; but, for those who survived, at least it was beautiful.

Areum's mother had once told her of a time when the world wasn't overgrown, crumbling, and fertilized with the blood of humanity. The earth then had been vibrant and loud and the only people who killed humans were other humans. There used to be businesses and libraries and a President and cities built up of buildings made of glass.

At twenty-two years old, Areum was too young to even dream of a world like that.

Her world had forests that consumed cities, growing through the rubble of demolished buildings. Trees grew through living room floors and animals lived in the break rooms of high corporate offices. Moss covered the concrete that used to be paved roads. Even those had crumbled.

Her world had lakes and oceans that couldn't be swam in for the sake of the creatures living beneath the surface, promising almost certain death. Humans lived in bunkers made of cement and steel, with no windows. People lived in camps and colonies, scattered throughout the earth, hiding on mountaintops and against cliff walls—anywhere they could see an enemy advance from miles away.

She arrived at the cabin a little after noon, leaving her handmade snowshoes leaning against a tree nearby.

The Professor opened the door before she could knock, urging her to enter the warmth of his home quickly. With few words of greeting, he traded her a steaming mug of tea for her thin winter jacket.