Element 119

The Beginning of the End

        A lone house sat, deserted and decaying, on the edge of the mid-spring woods. The wildlife serenaded the entire area around the little house, with its overgrown yard and drunkeningly leaning fence that surrounded the acre lot, with a mixture of various bird songs and squirrel barks. The orchestra reached a fever pitch it seemed, and then slowly started to fall into silence as a single man walked through the trees, pushing aside the budding bushes and hissing as thorns sought and found his skin from time to time. His face was weather-beaten and half-covered by a thick beard, but still had a determinded yet weary expression, his mouth with its laugh lines chasing each other, was drawn in a grim line. His long hair, as thick and as dark brown as his beard, came down near to his shoulders, but it was tied back now with what had once been a shoestring, and he reached back to tighten the string as his tired green eyes looked over the ramshackle house that looked as beaten down as he did, its windows broken and the grey roof sagging dangerously. Once-white panneling was falling off of the side, and its chimney was now toppled to the ground, lying in a pitiful pile of debris that some kind of plant had quickly made a playground of, its vines twisting and crawling across every brick.

        The man made his way slowly across the overgrown clearing that had once been a well-maintained lawn to the sagging porch at the front of the house and climbed up the weak steps that groaned under his weight. Once, he might have worried about the noise, but now he didn't care about much other than finding a dry place-and soon. Thunder rumbled threateningly in the distance, and the man looked up, unsurprised to see the foreboding image of dark stormclouds rolling in from the west. The sky above him for the moment was a beautiful light blue, but it was slowly darknening in small amounts, and the scent of fresh earth and damp air filled the man's nose as he breathed deeply in, further support to what his eyes told him now.

        The man paused for a moment, his ears straining for any sound, but all he heard was the rumbling of thunder in the distance and nothing else. With a small sigh of relief, he walked into the house and closed the door quickly behind him as he looked the place over. The front room that he stood in now was a complete mess. Water damage was everywhere, the paint peeling from the walls, the ceiling sagging dangerously, and parts of the carpet squished under his boots as he stepped forward into the room, looking around.

        It was probably once a nice house, the man had decided. The walls had once been a white color of some shade, and the carpet he now stood one had once been a rich blue and thick. The fireplace in the middle of the wall in front of him was crumbling, though had once probably been a simple but pretty affair, with the picture frames that now littered the floor atop it. The man looked to his left at the furniture, studying it as well. There was what had once been an oak coffee table against one wall, and on each side were two arm chairs that looked dry now, but had had their fair share of water damage as well.

        The man crossed over to them and sunk heavily into one, letting out a deep sigh of gratitude as he slouched, letting his sore muscles rest. He let his eyelids sag for a moment, but another crack of thunder flashed, and his eyes snapped open, flashing about the room for danger and then--
        Something caught his eye.

         As the lightning had flashed in through the open window, something across the room hidden under an end table that he hadn't noticed before reflected the light. Puzzled, the man got up with a groan and walked over to retrieve the water-tight box and then returned to his chair before opening it. He looked around the room, frowning. Either the room had had nothing of value in it before, or it had been ransacked already. But why was this box still here?

         Curiosity filled him, and he opened the box carefully, hoping that he would find some kind of medical supplies or food-something he could bargain with-but was greatly disappointed and puzzled as he pulled a small book out of the box. Nothing else was in it.