by Kailin Gow
A hand reached out to grab my hand. I couldn’t see who it was since the Sun had gone down to a point that nearly blinded me. The hand lifted me so I was standing for a second before I let out a wince. I couldn’t stand on my right foot.
Whoever had helped me stand was now lifting me up and putting me on top of its back, carrying me down into the river and through a waterfall. And into a cave.
Finally out of the blinding sun and placed on the soft ground, I was able to see who had helped me.
Staring at me with deep blue eyes, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing was a young man, slightly older than me. With shoulder-length blonde hair and beautiful bright blue eyes, he looked like an angel to me. He was tall, muscular with broad shoulders and long legs. He had a chiseled face, high cheekbones, full lips, and full brows. And his skin was so clear and smooth, it looked almost like it would glow.
He was the most beautiful man I have ever seen…even more handsome than any of the movie stars in the films of Vintage Earth.
He looked bewildered at first, but when he saw me trying to get up, he came over to me and gently held me still.
“Don’t try to get up,” he said in English. “You’re hurt.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was human, and he spoke my language.
He wasn’t wearing a mask or a helmet, though. How could he breathe without oxygen?
Was he human?
As though reading my mind, he tried lifting my helmet, but I stopped him.
“No, I need this on,” I said. I hoped he could hear me through the helmet’s thick barrier.
He said, “There’s oxygen down here. Don’t worry.”
I was surprised. “How?” I asked, still keeping my helmet on.
“I’ll show you,” he said, helping me up. He gestured for me to use his shoulder to lean on. I did, and I couldn’t help marveling at what it was like to feel the warmth of another human being again. He felt firm, too, with rock hard muscles along his broad shoulders and back. I wanted to rest my head against them.
We walked from the entrance of the cave into an unbelievably beautiful world. It was as though everything became technicolored in contrast to the world I was from…the Shelter’s blues and greys. As though I had entered Dorothy’s Farmland from the Wizard of Oz.
There was a red barn. There was a nice country house, and rows upon rows of plants on a farmland.
I looked over to the young man and asked, “You did all this?”
“Well, my parents and I.”
“Are your parents inside?” I asked. It would be wonderful to find more humans, especially the elderly wise ones like my mother.
He shook his head. “No, they died years ago.”
“This,” I said, waving my hands, “is beautiful. Amazing. You’ve captured the ideal pastoral portrait of the American country life.”
“That was what Mother wanted,” the man said. “She loved the Wizard of Oz, and when we came to New Earth, she said she felt like she stepped into another world like Dorothy did. She wanted to bring color and the feeling of home to our new home. Plus, my parents had a farm on Old Earth.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. Someone else was using the words, “Old Earth” and “New Earth” with me. Someone else understood what a farm was. Understood what Wizard of Oz was. I couldn’t help myself, as I smiled widely at the man. I finally took off my helmet and let my hair loose. My long dark hair tumbled out like waves against my shoulders.
“Beautiful,” he said, looking at me, his eyes darting from my eyes to my lips and to my hair. He kept staring at me, mesmerized.
“I feel like Dorothy after the tornado dumped her into the Land of Oz. A little shaken up.”
“I can’t believe you know about the Wizard of Oz,” he said.
“Yes, it’s one of my favorite films. I love watching the Classics, even from Vintage Earth’s Classic period. The real oldies of oldies.” I thought about how much the Shelter was like the Wizard’s control center. And how there was a real evil upon the land, like there was a real evil upon Old Earth and New Earth…with the Monsters around.
He chuckled. We walked towards the house, and he said, “So that is how we’re able to produce oxygen naturally. The vegetation in this contained environment. The water that naturally flows and feeds the Farm…”
“What a setup,” I said. “Power naturally generated by the waterfall and river to feed the plants, which generate the oxygen…brilliant.”
“My parents were not only farmers, but scientists,” the man said. “Come on, you must be starving. I could tell you more when we get inside the house.” He lifted me in front of him where I was cradled in his strong arms and facing him, nestled against his warm chest. A feeling went through me that made me catch my breath. It was almost the same feeling I felt when I would watch the passionate kissing scenes from romance movies of the past. He smelled good, and I felt safe and secured in his arms.
He looked down at me, too, his face, indescribable at first. But his blue eyes were now darker, more dilated.
We had entered his house, with him carrying me over his threshold like a bride entering her new home. I blushed, thinking that I had watched too many old-fashioned black and white Classic romance films to be thinking of being a bride.
He was a stranger, too. Although friendly, I wasn’t sure if I could trust him yet.
He placed me in one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table before standing up straight and saying, “What do you think of it?”
I looked around, taking in all the bright cheerfulness of the sunny yellow kitchen, the blue gingham covered sofa, and even a stone fireplace. It was comfortable and warm-hearted…a place where I could imagine a young boy growing up in with loving parents.
“I think it is a place filled with love and happiness,” I said. “I can’t believe a place like this exists on New Earth.”
He chuckled and shrugged, suddenly looking a little shy. “It’s all the home I know.”
With his dimples and sweet innocence, I could tell it had been a while since he had seen another human being, too.
“Hey, listen,” he said. “I’ll get you something to drink.”
He walked over to what looked like an old-fashioned Vintage Earth refrigerator, opened it, and took out a pitcher, which he set on the counter.
Then he went to the wooden cupboard, opened it, and took out two glasses.
He walked back to me, and poured me a tall glass of strawberry lemonade. I gulped it down. I was so thirsty.
“I love strawberry lemonade,” I said. “It’s my favorite.”
He beamed. “Me too.”
He got up and walked to the kitchen. He opened a door, walked in and then came out with a plate full of cookies, setting it in front of me.
He poured a glass of strawberry lemonade into his glass and sat down next to me. “I hope you like these.”
I looked at them. Oatmeal raisin cookies. “I haven’t had oatmeal raisin cookies since I was a kid,” I said. “Mom used to make these for me, along with Chocolate Chip cookies when we had chocolate.”
“You lived with your Mom?” he asked.
“I did,” I said. “A long time ago before she disappeared.”
Will’s eyes flinched, and he looked down. He reached out for my hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve lost my parents so I know what you must have gone through.”
“She was all that I had,” I said. I looked down. I never had the chance to talk to anyone about the loss I felt when Mom disappeared. No one except Mary.
Oh Mary! I had to go back to get her.
Although she was a robot, I loved her like a little sister. I had to get her.
“Umm…” I said, trying to get up.
“My name’s Will,” he said, smiling, the bright star-like specks in his eyes twinkling. “Are my oatmeal cookies that bad that you want to run from me?”
I had to laugh. “My name’s Evie.”
“
Evie?” he said, rolling my name on the tip of his tongue. “So beautiful, sweet, innocent; yet womanly like Venus… it fits who you are.” Even the way he said my name made my toes curl. His voice was friendly, deep, gentle, yet authoritative. He was so handsome, charming, strong…everything I wanted and dreamed about in a man. Was he real? I still believed my delirious mind had dreamt him up. How could the only human being I’ve ever met besides Mom, was this handsome, kind, funny, and easy to talk to?
“I like hearing your laugh,” he said, closing his eyes. “Your voice…it’s like fine music. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that just to sound corny, but it does. You have a beautiful voice…like the ones I hear in the music from Vintage Earth. And you,” he cleared his voice. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to hit on you…it’s just that, I haven’t talked to anyone for two years since my mother passed away.” He looked sad all of a sudden. I took his hand and squeezed it, like he had with mine before. “I wished we had met earlier…had known of each other earlier. You are everything I had been praying for, Evie. You don’t know how desperate I was to find another life out here.”
“So now I’m here,” I said.
“God heard my prayers,” Will said. “Since my mother passed away, I have been praying so hard to find another human. I didn’t want to believe… I didn’t dare to believe I was the only and last human alive.”
I saw the look of despair in his face, but understood how he felt.
Although I kept myself too busy to dwell on it, I had felt the same.
“Are there others where you came from?” Will asked. “Is that why you are in a hurry to go back?”
“No,” I said, my face falling. “I’m the only one.”
“Then why must you leave so quickly?” Will asked. “At least let me fix you something to eat.” He walked away while I tried to get comfortable in my chair. I was still wearing my suit.
He came back with some folded clothes. “I hope these fit you. They were my mother’s clothes.”
I took them and saw they were a little big, but it was better than being too small for me. “Thank you, Will.”
“Evie,” Will said. “After you change, let me take a look at your leg.”
I blushed.
“You may have a broken leg or a twisted ankle. We don’t know which. But it will be tough for you to go back on your own with your leg like that.”
“You know how to heal it?” I asked.
Will blushed. “Believe it or not, when you have nothing else to do but Farm, experiment with recipes, watch old films, read books; you also study textbooks. In my case, I’ve read, watched, and studied so many books and online course videos on cooking, Farming, technology, building my own computers…you name it, whatever you could think of…someone from Vintage Earth had made a video on it. I was especially interested in medicine and taking care of the human body.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because when my mother became ill, and there was no one else around. No doctors…no nurses…I tried to find a way to heal her. I tried growing the medicinal herbs and plants she would need. I tried Eastern medicine, alternative medicine, and even traditional Western medicine of Vintage Earth. She became better, and she lived for a few more years after that.”
“Your mother,” I said, thinking about my own mother. “She seemed like a remarkable and strong person to have raised you and taken care of both of you out here.”
Will smiled. “She was. New Earth is not for the faint of heart. It takes strong people to live out here. I think that was why the first few hundred people they sent to New Earth to begin a colony were very special people indeed. Very capable, talented, skillful people, who also had the disposition to handle tough situations.”
“Like being under stress,” I said.
“Yes,” Will said. “Being able to adapt to new circumstances.”
“Capable of being innovative and resourceful when they have to be,” I said.
“You got it,” Will said. “Mom and Dad and I were one of the families traveling. I believed I was the youngest one when we got here.”
“What happened?”
“My parents were specialists. They knew how to grow food, and had been experimenting with farming technology back on Old Earth, with growing all kinds of plants in all kinds of mediums. They were also leaders in their community. Father was a pastor, and Mom was the director of music at their church.”
“So they were going to establish a Farm community on New Earth and a church,” I said.
“Yes,” Will said. He looked away. “Only that didn’t happen as planned. The Farm came about, and even a small church, which I will show you in the back. The people, however, were killed before they even could step foot into this cave.”
My stomach growled, and I quickly took a sip of lemonade. It was the best-tasting lemonade I’ve ever had. “This is so good,” I said, licking my lips.
Will smiled. “Glad you liked it.” He took a sip from his glass. “All natural, too. The sweetener is from the Stevia plant I grow here. And there are the strawberry plants, and the lemon trees.”
“Lemon trees?” I asked. “I’d like to see that. Where I’m from, we didn’t have soil so we planted only fruits and vegetables that could grow in water. We obviously couldn’t grow a lemon tree in water… so I am curious to see that.”
Will said, “You’ll like that. Everything I make to eat here is from here and fresh off the tree or vine. That’s probably why the lemonade tastes good.”
“It’s probably why,” I said, gulping down more lemonade. I was so thirsty.
He filled up my glass. Then he stood up. “I better get the grill ready before it gets late.”
I stood up, and he took my arm, letting me lean into him while I hobbled my way into a bedroom. “This is our guest room,” he said. “For the guests we were hoping would show up.”
The room looked like it came out of a bed and breakfast inn. Comfortable large bed with a fluffy white duvet and pillows. A large window overlooking the Farm. A fireplace, a nice desk table by the window. A television set…
“It’s lovely,” I said, smiling widely. “I feel as though I’ve stepped into a Town and Country magazine layout. As though I’ve stopped at a fine country inn along my way up the California coast.”
Will laughed. “You’re so descriptive. I bet you like art.”
“I love art,” I said.
“Maybe you can paint this place one day,” Will said. “I would love to have a hand-painted portrait of this place hanging on top of the mantel in the living room.”
“I think I could paint you a portrait of the Farm,” I said. “It’s the least I could do to pay you back for saving me out there.”
Will blushed. “I was just doing what any decent human being would do for a fellow human.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, in that case, thanks for being a decent human being.”
“Now talking about decency, I’ll let you change while I go cook.” He stopped and said, “If you need to shower, you have your own private bath right in there.”
He closed the door on his way out, and I was glad to be alone. I haven’t had a conversation like that ever. Never met a stranger before. And to my embarrassment, never met a boy/man. Everything was so new to me, yet I thought I knew what to do, just based on book learning and watching videos.
But when it came to the real thing… you can’t learn how to interact with people just from reading about it or watching about it through films or other medium. You just had to do it.
I took my clothes into the bathroom and started up the shower. The bathroom was clean, never used, but nicely set up to match the country bed and breakfast look. I started the shower and began undressing.
When I took my suit off, I was glad to see it had not been damaged during the rocky rolling fall I had towards the river. It was fine.
However when I took off my t-shirt and pants, my skin was bruised all over. I had even started bleeding in some places. L
uckily I had my helmet on or my face would have been badly cut up.
The bruises on my body was nothing, however, compared to the swelling on my ankle. I didn’t break my leg, but I had twisted my ankle. It had swelled so much, I almost had to cut off my boots.
I hobbled into the showers, which was what I needed after everything that happened, and just let the warm water soothe my sore muscles. I read in Vintage Earth’s health and wellness archives that taking a warm shower could be therapy for the muscles. The steam relaxed me, and also made me start thinking. How did Will survive all this time with so little supplies from the beginning than what Mom and I had at the Shelter? How were Will and his family capable of creating such a garden paradise out of a rocky terrain on New Earth?