Their Life After The End

Chapter 1: Bonfires and Bombshells

11 years later

    I shiver as I step into the shallow river that passes through our valley, our home. Last night my mother asked me to gather some salmon, which is our main source of food due to its abundance in this section of the large river that twists and turns around our houses, for the ceremony that is supposed to commence within the next few days. The ceremony will be held in celebration of Kevin’s safe return from his expedition.This celebration will be especially big I presume, since he is the son of two of our leaders. Nobody tells me but I know this from experience, we may not have anything to celebrate, his return is not guaranteed.

   When my parents and the scientists decided that our survival depended on having leaders and a common law that we needed to follow, they agreed that there should be five adults that made the ultimate decisions for our society. When they had chosen their leaders, they proceeded to set rules and standards that we were expected to follow. We became orderly; we were leading great and healthy lives, until one of the women fell sick. The herbs and medicine we had weren’t enough to heal her, and so we lost her. Her husband was torn apart with misery, they tried to calm him, they told him his ten year-old son needed him to be strong, but nothing got through to him. The next day he was gone.

   After that incident they figured we needed some way to develop new technologies and find new ways to sustain ourselves, I mean eventually our resources would run out right? So they came up with this idea, any person who turned twenty would go on an expedition. They were required to find new species of plants and animals, study our neighboring habitats, or find disregarded tools that seemed useful. Anything that would help sustain our society. Two years later you are to return, whether you unearthed anything or not. The first person to ever go on this expedition was my father. He left exactly a year after we moved here. I haven’t seen him since the day he walked out of our cottage.

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      I enjoy the soft feeling of the grass between my toes as I walk back home from the river with the sack of salmon slung over my shoulder. Beatrice, one of the bitchiest people I know, thinks it’s disgusting that I don’t consider shoes a necessary piece of clothing. The way the blades tickle me summons one of the only happy memories I have from when we first found the valley. I was only six at the time and I had already watched my grandmother die, and my brother and I had nearly died our selves. When my parents saved us we were both unconscious, so the first thing I felt when I woke up was the tickling of the grass and I knew for some reason, that I was now safe.

   When I push the crooked wooden door of our house open, I am instantly intoxicated with the aroma of freshly baked bread. I set the sack on the small counter in the kitchen, and kiss my mothers forehead. I’ve grown a couple of inches in the past few months, so now I stand just barely past her head. It seems I got my fathers height, along with his chocolate brown hair, and pointy nose. I feel my stomach twist, every time I think of him I nearly collapse. I was seven when he left so I remember him well enough. I remember his strong confident laugh, his perpetually messy hair, and the way his strong arms used to hug me like he would stop at nothing to keep me safe.

   Mother notices the color draining from my face, “What’s wrong sweetheart? Is everything all right? Did something happen by the river?”

I sigh, my mother is so kind I can’t believe she is also powerful enough to be one of our leaders, “No, I’m fine, I guess I’m just tired. The weather is getting really hot.”

“Yes I noticed” she doesn’t seem convinced, “Maybe you should go upstairs and rest for awhile. Would you like me to find Pollyanna and have her come over?”

Pollyanna is my best friend; she is also Beatrice’s younger sister. They also have an adopted brother, his name is Jasper, he left for the expedition last year, so he isn’t due to return for another year. Jasper’s mother is the one who died eleven years ago; he’s the one who got abandoned by his father. “Yeah, sure.”

    Half an hour later, Pollyanna sits crossed-legged on my small bed telling me all about the advancements she has made in her relationship with Ryan, her boyfriend and Kevin’s younger brother, yes, It’s a small valley. I roll my eyes at her as she tells me how soft Ryan’s lips were when they made out last night. “Seriously Polly, you can save the details for your diary.”

“Oh come on Priyanka, you sound like such a bitter old lady, isn’t there something you would like to tell me, hmmm?” She wiggles her blond eyebrows at me.

She has this fantasy that a guy named Nicholas and I are eventually going to end up being some kind of love stricken couple, when in all actuality I don’t even think he knows who I am. Admittedly, it would be nice to be noticed by someone like him, he is gorgeous after all, with his pale skin and golden hair. He seems like a real-life version of Hercules.

“Polly, stop it. He doesn’t even know me. God, you are such a kid.” She is only one year younger than me, still I like having that card to play.

“We’ll see. Anyway, I’m sorry Priyanka but Beatrice wants me to help her with the menu or decorations or something that had to do with the celebrations.”

Kevin happens to be Beatrice’s boyfriend, and lately, she can’t seem to shut up about the fact that her mate may or may not have contributed to the eternal well being of our society. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll see you later then.”

   Kevin surprised us by arriving around noon the next day, which meant the ceremony was to be held that night. All morning I helped my mom cook and bake and set out the tables in the field we had reserved for special occasions. By nightfall everything was perfect. There were two long tables set next to each other that were adorned with at least a dozen different dishes ranging from salads to soups to meat platters to deserts, and each and every plate made my mouth water. There was a massive bonfire that illuminated the entire field, it was surrounded by four round tables that were placed a few feet apart.

   When my mother, Abraham and I first walked into the field I could hear people laughing, and chattering and just being thankful that Kevin had returned safely. As soon as they noticed our presence, everybody fell quiet. What was wrong with them? Did they think we were sad that Kevin had returned while our father didn’t? My mother, always the leader, gracefully walked up to Kevin and hugged him tightly, “I’m so happy your back. The valley most definitely wasn’t the same without you here. I’m sure I speak on behalf of everybody when I say that we missed you, and whether you have found anything or not, we accept you back with open arms.” At that, everybody clapped, whistled and shouted words of assent. At that moment I was so proud of my mother, she was strong, even when everybody expected her to cower down and be weak.

   After I had piled about a pound of food on my plate I made my way to where Abraham, Pollyanna and Ryan were sitting. They were talking animatedly about what they thought Kevin had found on his expedition. Abe had just started listing off the terrors he would face on his expedition when I felt a slight tap on my shoulder, I turned around and found Kevin gesturing for me to follow him. I was confused, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I followed him.

We were just a few meters away from everybody when he said, “Priyanka, this is important, you need to listen closely. I’m only telling you this because it concerns your father and I thought you had the right to know”

I was startled by what he just said, my father? He was gone. “What do you mean? This better not be your idea of a joke-“ I stopped short at the expression he had on his face. His eyes were wide with shock and he was staring at something behind me. It was then that I noticed that the music and cheerful chattering had stopped. I don’t know what I was expecting, but when I turned around I was certainly not expecting to see the tall, muscular figure of Jasper walking into the field.