A Flash of Normalcy

The house looked like a broken shell of what it was once. The yard was completely overgrown, the windows were shattered, and there were scorch marks all over the siding. The tree that had once stood tall in the front yard now was barely clinging to life; just a few leaves were sprouting on the upper branches. The more Jacob thought about it, the tree really represented him and what he had become since the flash. He had once been a vibrant young boy filled with life, now he was just an empty body trying to survive in this new world.

The flash had come one day when his mom was driving him to his soccer practice; he was only twelve at the time. The flash was the brightest thing he had ever seen and probably would have blinded him if he hadn’t been wearing his new sunglasses that his Grandpa had given him for his birthday. When the shockwave and heat hit, the car started to flip onto its side, practice had just ended so he hadn’t put on his seat belt yet. The force of the blast had knocked him onto the ground of the car when the car had started to turn. The force of the blast made his head hit the glove-box, causing his vision to go blurry and eventually caused him to pass out. When he came to, he was fifteen feet from the burning wreckage with burns all down his left side; his mom was lying next to him covered in burns and blood. That was the first time had ever Jacob seen a dead body; he had seen many since then, in the new world that came after.

Jacob walked onto the overgrown lawn taking care with each step so he didn’t step on any broken glass or metal shrapnel. He had learned his lesson when he had stepped on a piece of metal piping when exploring a school a year or so back. The pipe had cut deep into the front part of his foot; Doc had to give him fifteen stitches and a shot to make sure he didn’t get tetanus. He easily trudged through the yard and to the front porch of the house.

Jacob pushed the crooked door open; with a loud creak the door slid open and stuck into place. He walked in dragging his red wagon he had brought behind him. To his right was what most likely once the living room of the house was. There stood a small entertainment system with a T.V. knocked face down on it. There also was a couch that was in fairly good condition, except for being dusty and probably having raccoons living in it. The hallways through the living room led to what Jacob was here for initially, the kitchen. The kitchen surprisingly seemed to be clear of looters and must not have been searched yet. He had thought that since this was a house out in the country that maybe it would not have been ransacked yet, it seemed that his intuition was correct.

Dragging his wagon behind him he started opening the upper cabinet doors. In one there were dishes and cups that had once been used for eating by the people whose house this once was. In another cabinet there were containers that they had once used to store their leftover food in. Now there is no such thing as leftover food, there’s not enough for anyone to not be able to eat their portion. In the cabinet next to that one there were some spices and baking ingredients. These would come in handy to try to make the homegrown food taste better. When the canned food had started to run out the governor had created a garden to try to grow food in. The soil had been contaminated and deprived of nutrients since the flash, so most of the food that is able to grow has no flavor or tastes like dirt. Doc says it’s healthier than not eating anything at all, but these spices should make it taste at least a little better.

Jacob then opened some of the kitchen drawers looking for anything that might be useful. In one of the drawers he had found quite a few kitchen knives and a sharpening stone. Doc would be able to use them to cut open wounds and use them for whatever it is Doc uses knives for. He remembered that his parents had always told him never to play with knives, because you could end up cutting or hurting yourself. Even though his parents were long dead, he still felt a sense of parental rebellion holding up one of the biggest knives in the drawer. Holding up the biggest of the knives he started thinking that this was most likely used to cut meat when the people who lived here wanted to cook something. Now it would be used to cut human meat to help the sick and hurting. That was pretty much how everything worked now. People had jobs and duties before the flash but now afterward everyone’s duties and jobs had changed completely. Jacob had been a boy in school growing up, now he explored buildings and houses looking for food and water for the camp. After he got done examining the knives he put them in his wagon with the spices.

Jacob opened the fridge hoping to find some canned foods or bottled drinks, knowing that any food inside would be long rotten and decomposed. He found some cans of soda and a few cans of alcohol that Doc could use as an anesthetic. He then turned to the pantry. Jacob stared at the closed pantry door praying to whatever higher being there might be to let it be full of useful items. He reached for the door handle and opened the door; there in front of him was a fully stocked pantry full of powdered and canned food items. Jacob quickly grabbed everything that could still be used and eaten and stocked his wagon with the items. It felt good knowing that he had done a good job finding this load of goods. Governor and Doc would be very proud of him when he returned to camp that night. Jacob started walking out of the Kitchen thinking about the other kid’s reactions when they see such big wagon full he has found, and how envious they will be that he found it and not them. Governor might even give him his very own can of food to celebrate. Jacob turned around and looked around one last time in the kitchen before leaving. He always made sure to double check before leaving a trove. He had started calling houses and places he explored troves, because of the excitement he felt when finding something useful, he compared it to how it must have been like when a pirate found a treasure trove.

Jacob left the house with his wagon full of food and stood on the front porch looking into the distance. This trove must have once been a farm house. In the distance there was what looked to be a barn surrounded by a fence that must have kept whatever animals they had inside. Jacob then was ready to start heading back to camp; he turned around and grabbed the doorknob to shut the door. Half way through pulling the door closed he stopped. He had never thought of this before, but why did he close the doors to the troves he explored? It probably would have been much smarter to leave them open, that way if he ever forgot he would know which troves he had already been too. Maybe it was just habit, he had always been taught to close the door behind him whenever he left a room or house. Why then did he still do it? There were no parents telling him to shut the door behind him when he left. No one would get angry at him if bugs got inside from leaving the door open. He thought for a moment then realized he shut the door because it felt normal. Everything in this new world was so different and unnatural. No one wanted to live in this world; everyone missed how it used to be in the old days, back when everyone had loving family and friends. Back when they could get angry about small things like shutting a door behind them.  No matter how small of an act it may be shutting a door behind him gave him a slight remembrance of that old world. In the new world those feelings were very rare and cherished. As he turned to leave he slowly shut the door behind and had a slight feeling of normalcy. On his way back to camp he realized that simple things like closing doors behind him or even wiping his face with a napkin, were what made him able to survive in this new world. Without those slight remembrances of the old world he would not have been able to keep his mind intact. As he walked back to camp he smiled knowing that every time he did something as simple as close a door behind him he could remember a piece of the way things used to be.