The Complete Four-Book Box Set
Page 48
The light in the sky began to bend, turning the colors. Gray rainbows jutted down from the fractured dark clouds, splitting open with deep blue threads and yellowing light that bled through. The pain from the burns disappeared in a cozy breeze from the sea, and he dropped to his knees, fixing to watch the end of gray skies. The gray rainbows became more brilliant as they reached down, touching the ocean where they turned into the perfect union of color. And in that miraculous union, Declan saw bands of red and yellow and green and blues, and other colors he had no names for.
His heart sat in his throat, and he tried to reach out and touch the impossible sight of a small rainbow that appeared in front of him. Within moments, more of them appeared, floating all around him as warm moisture lifted into the air and passed through the beaming sunlight. When his finger touched the color, he pulled back, uncertain of what to expect. His finger passed through the colors and spurred a laugh that mixed with tears filling his eyes.
More of the dark clouds split open and lifted into nothingness, letting the colors grow wildly upward like a flower from the farming floor. The colors replaced the grays forever. Declan cried at the images before him. He cried even more when Sammi was nearer to him. Her beauty shined in the sunlight in a way that he had only seen once before. But today that beauty would not be eclipsed by her death. Instead, it was a testament to their new life.
Ms. Gilly and his father approached next, but Declan could not hold on and fell forward onto his hands, exhausted.
“Sammi,” he managed to call out. His voice felt rough and sounded hoarse.
“Declan!” she yelled, dropping down next to him. Red hair flew around him as she carefully peppered his face with kisses. “Oh, Declan, look at you!”
“Isn’t it wonderful?” he answered. Ms. Gilly and his father joined then. Their eyes fixed on him with worry, but he shrugged it off, not wanting them to miss what was happening all around them. “It’s over. We ended it.”
Tears stained their faces and smiles kept the words from coming as they hugged each other, continuing to watch the rainbows take flight.
A soft, delicious wind rushed up the coast, sending Sammi’s long hair into the air.
“Smell that?” his father asked.
“So fresh,” Ms. Gilly answered.
And over the breaking waves, Declan could see forever. Finally, he could see the giant surf far from their shores that roared and rumbled in hiding all of his life. The ocean was larger than anything he could have imagined—a vast sea of blue reflecting the open sky. Tears washed the stain of the fire away and for a long time he could say nothing. He held his chosen, thankful to have her back.
“Amazing,” his father said. “Just amazing. Look over there.”
From the furthest edge of the black sands, the grounds began to turn and change color in the new light. They may have always been like that, but with the strong sunlight, the brown they had known forever was nearly gone.
“Is it supposed to happen like that?” Sammi asked.
“After a thousand years of waiting, I suspect things will look very different, now,” Ms. Gilly answered, excitement in her voice. “Our world is waking up.”
More of the ground came to life, showing off colors none of them had ever seen. It wouldn’t be long before the first plants would bloom and climb and swallow a millennium of decay. Declan imagined a few small plants at first, growing upward, budding and opening into flowers. In time, some of the flower petals would be enormous, fitting in the palm of his hand. And as the blooms unfurled, the flowers would turn to face the sun—reunited like lost lovers—they’d dip their faces to take a sip of the golden daylight.
“Look over there,” Declan told them, and they turned toward their Commune. The distant buildings jutted up from the ground, crooked and decaying, covered in patches of black resin. To Declan, the Commune looked like a mouthful of jagged and rotten teeth, but it was home, and his heart ached to be there. He peered over to see each of them smiling at the sight of the old buildings.
“I think it needs a little paint,” Ms. Gilly laughed.
“I think it needs a lot of paint,” Declan’s father added.
“It’s home,” Sammi said, her voice shaking. She took hold of Declan’s arm and joked, “I get to pick the color.”
EPILOGUE
Without the lights to drive the alien programming, Sammi never heard the call of the machine’s soul—the recycler. She went on to live a life with Declan as had been their hope from the beginning.
Two. There hadn’t been just one child, but two that Declan and Sammi raised after the End of Gray Skies. But unlike their parents, the twins never knew a world without the sun. They never experienced the dread or felt the dangers of walking under the veil of gray—a world forever captured in a heavy fog. They played outside, untethered and ran freely with the warm touch of the sun.
Janice loved again, taking a chance with her heart, reaching out and asking Richard for his hand. Declan’s father had found his second love, but never forgot the pain of losing his first. He and Janice went on to work the school, only now they added something new to the curriculum: an afternoon recess held outdoors.
The executive floor was no more. With the machines shutdown, the executives disappeared, having run with the burden of guilt weighing on their shoulders. Some were found dead on the beaches—salt gnats cleaning the scourge of the earth (so to speak). And for those executives who tried to make a difference, like Declan’s mother, they found a new calling as a new leadership formed. Small governing bodies worked together to keep the Commune running, and the families fed. A democracy was born, borrowing from their history to help forge their future.
Declan often traveled to the machine, visiting with Phil and Isla. The two stayed together. They started a family of their own and created a new Commune for all who had become aware. Declan became an ambassador of sorts, visiting a few times a year, bringing back new technologies that would better their Commune.
Often, he would ask Sammi to go with him, but she never did. Shaking her head, turning away, her words a mere whisper about where her place was. Declan understood and stopped asking, but always enjoyed telling Sammi about the progress Phil and Isla had made.
In his walks to the machine, Declan often found himself staring up, his hand clapped against his brow, shielding his eyes from the glare. He looked for the alien star that Phil spoke of, wondering if they were still watching, wondering if they would return. But on his tenth visit, he decided to stop searching for what was not there.
With the End of Gray Skies, the world eased out of a thousand-year sleep, stretching blues and greens and reds all over the globe. The Earth sprang to life, and before anyone realized what was happening, trees grew, and flowers bloomed, and even the wet mossy coverings were replaced by wisps of tall green grass.
The first bird was spotted many years later. A white gull with mottled patches of brown covering its breast. Perched on the beach, stilted yellow legs, the bird drummed up bits of food from the surf. The birds were thought to have been gone forever, but soon more returned, making their homes in the fresh green of the trees. To Declan, they were like the rainbows—small feathered miracles, flying and singing, a living splash of color in the air.
THANK YOU
Thank you for reading Caustic. If you enjoyed reading my novel, I would appreciate it if you would help others enjoy my book.
How can you help? Tell your friends and family about the great book you just read. Reviews are a great help too. Post on Amazon and Goodreads and let me know that you wrote a review so that I have an opportunity to thank you.
Want to stay informed? Click my newsletter link, or navigate to http://writtenbybrian.com/sign-up to subscribe. Also, you’ll have the chance to get some freebies.
SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER
Subscribed members of my newsletter get more than just announcements.
Want to know when the next book will be published? Or how about some FREE stuff?
Click the newsletter link, or navigate to http://writtenbybrian.com/sign-up to subscribe so that you know when I’ve posted some freebies or hit the publish button on something new.
What’s in it for you when you sign up?
A chance to win a new Kindle or an Amazon gift card.
Short stories and free eBooks.
Signed paperbacks.
And it isn't just about free stuff. I'm always looking for readers and opinions on cover designs and book formatting. There is no better way to work the finer details of a story than to have a few dozen eyes giving me feedback. I tend to reach out to a sizable group, so don't be surprised if you receive an email from me inviting you to help.
Also connect with me online:
Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/authorbrianspangler
Twitter—https://twitter.com/WrittenByBrian
E-mail—brian@writtenbybrian.com
Happy Reading,
Brian
ALSO BY BRIAN SPANGLER
Action Adventure Suspense
Deadly Tide—The exciting adventures of Jericho Quinn. An officer with the Marine Patrol on the beautiful coast of North Carolina. A murder mystery.
Crime Thriller
An Affair with Murder—Having an affair with murder is easy. It’s what happens afterward that’s deadly.
Supernatural Suspense
Superman’s Cape—A grim tale of a boy lost in a forest that holds all of his fears.
A Contemporary Fiction
An Order of Coffee and Tears—Friendships, romance, secrets, and forgiveness come together in this cozy mystery.
Short Stories
Naked Moon—For one young traveler, a naked moon may mean the difference between life and death.
Some Sci-Fi, Dystopian Thrillers, and Anthologies
From the Caustic Series—An Apocalyptic and Dystopian series:
Fallen—Book One
Endure—Book Two
Deceit—Book Three
Reveal—Book Four
From Hugh Howey’s World of Wool
Silo Saga: Lottery—What happens when you have one too many mouths to feed?
For more, visit my site and subscribe to my newsletter, WrittenByBrian.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU?
I’M A WALRUS!
Brian Johnson—The Breakfast Club
Who am I?
I’m a resident of Virginia. I live there with my wife and children, along with four cats—sometimes more—a mouse, a parrot, a lizard, and the funniest chinchilla on the East Coast.
Although I live in Virginia, my heart is still in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I was raised. And I hope that, one day, I’ll be able to call Philadelphia home again.
Growing up, I liked to read short stories, but struggled with the words. You see, I had a secret, a sad little secret. Ashamed and embarrassed, I was the little kid in the back row of the schoolroom quietly moving my lips along with the class while everyone read aloud. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t write. I hoped nobody would notice, but they did. They always did.
By the time I reached the fourth grade, my secret wasn’t a secret anymore. The teachers knew something was wrong. Dyslexia. Maybe that’s why I liked science fiction so much? All those crazy-looking glyphs on the screen, glowing, flashing.
The fix? Back to the third grade for me, and then special classes three days a week. But it worked. Once I started reading, I never stopped. Stephen King, Piers Anthony, Dean Koontz, and even the Judy Blume books my sisters discarded.
I’m still one of the slowest readers I know, but school was never a problem again. I finally graduated from the third grade, and then kept on going until I finished my master’s.
These days, I work as an engineer and spend my nights writing, editing, and thinking up the next great story.
Happy reading,
Brian