Fields

I

"Yes Father I won't cross the fence." 

"Good girl Cameron, run along now. I'll see you when I return." He says to me and waves me off. I walk along the fence line to find little Annie trying to throw pebbles over it. 

"Anna banana!" I run down and pick her up.

"Cammy what's over the fence?" She asks.

"Nothing and no one Annie. There's just us, and only us left." I replied.

"Tell me how the world flippity flopped again please."

"C'mon then." I picked Annie up and carried her on my back away from our house, towards the meadow. I sat us down under the shade of the grand oak tree. 

"Well first there were lots of us, but then there was a great war and everyone was thought to have been killed in a big gas-out. Then father brought us survivors here and built the fence, he used his powers to make the fence magic and anyone that touches it will get badly hurt." I leaned in and kissed Annie's forehead, I'm so glad Father and Mother had Simon and her. 

"Wanna go see Gracie and Tedrick now?" I asked her.

"You know Father said that's not his name, we have to call him Ted." 

"And you know your very wise for seven." I told her. She giggled and we ran to auntie Bella's house. There must have been a small village here before the war, because inside the fence there is our two houses standing side by side in the center of our paradise. A meadow and a small wood have grown over rubbles of old buildings. There is a small garage closer to the fence on the verge of the woods, which Tedrick normally hangs about in. He says there may be other forms of life out there, but who is he to question fathers great knowledge. Whatever Father says is right and we all must listen to him. 

I walk to Auntie Bella's house holding little Annie's hand. Gracie sees us and runs over to Annie. Gracie and Tedrick are auntie Bella's children. They run away together back towards the meadow. I head to the garage to find Tedrick. I walk through the knee high grass, listening to the birds chirping in the woods above me. I pull open the rusty old garage door and see Tedrick sitting at the work bench fiddling with little wires. I walk over and sit down on the bench.

"Hey be careful!" He yells at me.

"Was I sitting on your wee wires Teddy?" I say in a baby voice. He sighs. "So what are you thinking up this time?" 

"Not thinking, making. And it will work. I hope." He says.

"Uh huh, just like your last sixteen years worth of inventions aye?" 

"Actually your sixteen Camie and I'm seventeen." He says matter-of-factly.

I looked up at the clock on the wall, it read 3:54pm. 

"Hurry up Teddy we gotta go! It's ten to and we can't be late for tending time!" I yelled at him.

"Shit. Thanks. Coming." He muttered as he dropped his little contraption on the bench and followed me out. I ran out through the tall grass and passed the houses. I didn't see any movement so that means they must already be there. I ran through the meadow and through the orchard. I ran into the woods with Tedrick hot on my heels and made it to the plot just in time. Mother and Auntie were watering our magic plants and Gracie and Annie pulled out any weeds that grew with them. Simon made sure that they were all growing healthy and strong. Auntie Bella turned around and saw us.

"Just in time children." She said with a warm smile.

"Hey Mum." Tedrick said as he walked past her, I followed him. Father said our little plants were magic, we call them shimmer. He said they would lead him to other survivors if they're were any. Once every fourteen nights he loads the back of his car up with the good plants and drives out of our safe haven. The day he leaves is called a pan. Every first pan of the month he goes out for about three days. Every second pan of the month he goes for at least a week and takes double the amount of Shimmer. But whenever he comes back the Shimmer is all gone. He left this morning for a first pan, and should be back in a couple of days.