Mild Warlock
04-26-2005, 03:13 AM
Wrote this a few years back but thought I would get the ball rolling.
I saw an old man walking up the sun baked road. Small puffs of dust escaping from underneath his steps. He looked weathered like he has seen more than I will ever know. As he approached I could see that he was favoring his right hip more than he should. I started out on that sun baked road to see if I could help him. As I approached he just stopped. His pants were soaked in blood that I mistook for dirt. His eyes were steel gray and the life in him seemed to have been replaced with sorrow, and yet hope sparked deep in those steal gray wells.
"Traveler?" I asked, wondering if he would reply or even notice me.
He looked pained as he tried to speak, "I beg your hospitality." As he finished he collapsed in a heap on the hot sun baked road. I reached down and scooped him up in my arms. He felt as if he weighed nothing at all.
I took him into my house. At one time this house may have been a magnificent state of architecture, but now I only cared that it had stood the test of time and had a roof that kept the rain off of the other occupants and myself. I laid him down on a moth eaten velvet couch from another time. Sammy ran down the hall to look at what I brought in from the road. Sammy was an energetic young man I had found almost starved to death out on that same road.
"He is old," he said with awe.
Most people don't live past there twenties now days. I am considered old at thirty-five, but this man was probably twice my age. I was sure he had lived before the war. I can only imagine what he has seen, what he has felt.
"Yes, he is very old. Go get the others. We will need to prepare a bed and clean up his wounds." Sammy rushed off yelling at everyone. It has always amazed me how everyone in our community pulls together to help out strangers. I could feel the electricity in the air and it’s times like these that world doesn't feel so dead. The war destroyed most of the planet with its vile radiation. Hardly anything would grow in the dead soil. The people that had survived either died from radiation poison years later or froze to death in the ten year long winter that proceeded the war. The ones that did survive often were cruel and did what they had to do to survive.
The old man slept for three days and often mumbled as if fighting with unknown demons. The wound on his leg was a deep cut from the hip down to the knee and appeared to have been caused by a fall. I was surprised he had been able to walk as far has he did. He must have known something about first aid because he had kept the wound clean and bandaged. The loss of blood simply wore him down until he had collapsed. We have recovered many books from nearby, some of which explained our history and some even covered first aid. So we followed the instruction in the book for first aid, and sewed up the wound on the old traveler’s leg. When he awoke I was standing next to him, and the life seemed to return to his eyes.
"Its good to see that you are awake." I said in a calm voice even though my heart leaped with joy that he had awoke.
"Where am I?" he asked as he tried to sit up but the pain overwhelmed him and his attempt to raise failed.
"Just lie back, your wound is deep and moving will just make it worse." I said and helped him lie back down on the bed.
"To tell you the truth I don't know where we are. All I can tell you is that you are among people that will care for you, no matter who you are. You're safe here." Relief seemed to wash over his face, and I knew how he felt. Many people would rather steal your boots and leave you for dead, than to worry about another face to feed. That's where I am different from most, I would rather help someone in need so that they in turn could pass on their knowledge or help us grow food in this barren soil. The only way to be civilized again is to live in cooperation as a community. I reached down and brought up a cup of vegetable soup to his lips. It was barely warm and smelled of over cooked under ripe vegetables, but he drank deeply and savored its taste. He stopped to ponder its ingredients but continued to swallow. A smile crossed his weathered face, "I thank you for your hospitality."
"There is no thanks needed, everyone is welcome here." I said. "I will send up Marie to check your bandages and help you to the living room, if you feel up to it?"
"Yes, I believe I am. I would like to meet the rest." He said in a crystal clear voice. I turned and left through the door, "See you later."
That evening we sat around a fire and ate roasted boar, which our hunters had caught. This was a rare treat, most animals that survived the war were rabbits and rats, but to have gotten a boar
on their hunt was extra special. After we had eaten, our visitor proceeded to get to know our group.
"What adventures have you been on?" Sammy asked with great enthusiasm.
The Traveler looked deep into his eyes and began to tell his story. "I was born twenty years before the war and I enlisted in the military when I turned eighteen. I remember being so excited about joining the army. I excelled in every aspect." He told us. His voice rung in the air after he finished each sentence. "Only two years after enlisting, I was in battle.
"I remember the sound of the guns cracking, the blasts of blue fire and the bullets erupting from the barrels. We couldn’t see the enemy, we were just firing in the blackness in hopes that we would kill anyone before they tried to kill us. War is always bad, but it is worse when it is fought on your own soil.
"After days of fighting we were out of ammunition, so we simply sat in the dark waiting for our unseen adversaries to strike again. Just beyond the horizon we witnessed the destruction of the world. Bright flashes lit up the sky and we knew that this was the end. Strangely enough the nuclear detonation never landed close enough to destroy my platoon. We survived the war but many of us died from the radiation. The remaining survivors decided to split up in hope of finding others. I have seen and met many people but most never have had the hospitality to give me shelter let alone food." He motioned toward the roast boar.
"For some time, I believed I had lost my mind and I wondered aimlessly across the barren plains. Some time after I had decided I was no longer insane and that this world was in fact destroyed, I stumbled across a dried riverbed. That is where I saw the most horrible yet wonderful thing I have ever seen. There was a great arch weathered and crumbling, decaying from the sun’s heat. It was largely in tact and shone bone-white against the golden sky. The arch symbolized our freedom and brought tears to my eyes, to think that this icon stood up to the war gave me the will to go on.
"What I saw under the arch made my heart stop, there were 'amber waves of grain' spreading out for some distance. Upon this sight I ran down to the arch. To my amazement there was foliage growing there unharmed by the radiation, or perhaps it had adapted to the radiation." He was crying now. "I went down there and gathered as many seeds as I could." He reached in to a pocked and brought out a hefty pouch. He undid the drawstrings and poured the contents onto his lap revealing several other pouches.
"Each one of these contains seeds from as many different edible plants. I have traveled and gathered seeds from many places. If I am right, they will grow anywhere because they have adapted to the radiation."
He looked at me, "I would like you to have these seeds. Plant them in your soil, and continue to offer your hospitality to travelers, and this will be the great nation it once was."
I couldn’t find the words with enough power to thank him.
//edit: formating
I saw an old man walking up the sun baked road. Small puffs of dust escaping from underneath his steps. He looked weathered like he has seen more than I will ever know. As he approached I could see that he was favoring his right hip more than he should. I started out on that sun baked road to see if I could help him. As I approached he just stopped. His pants were soaked in blood that I mistook for dirt. His eyes were steel gray and the life in him seemed to have been replaced with sorrow, and yet hope sparked deep in those steal gray wells.
"Traveler?" I asked, wondering if he would reply or even notice me.
He looked pained as he tried to speak, "I beg your hospitality." As he finished he collapsed in a heap on the hot sun baked road. I reached down and scooped him up in my arms. He felt as if he weighed nothing at all.
I took him into my house. At one time this house may have been a magnificent state of architecture, but now I only cared that it had stood the test of time and had a roof that kept the rain off of the other occupants and myself. I laid him down on a moth eaten velvet couch from another time. Sammy ran down the hall to look at what I brought in from the road. Sammy was an energetic young man I had found almost starved to death out on that same road.
"He is old," he said with awe.
Most people don't live past there twenties now days. I am considered old at thirty-five, but this man was probably twice my age. I was sure he had lived before the war. I can only imagine what he has seen, what he has felt.
"Yes, he is very old. Go get the others. We will need to prepare a bed and clean up his wounds." Sammy rushed off yelling at everyone. It has always amazed me how everyone in our community pulls together to help out strangers. I could feel the electricity in the air and it’s times like these that world doesn't feel so dead. The war destroyed most of the planet with its vile radiation. Hardly anything would grow in the dead soil. The people that had survived either died from radiation poison years later or froze to death in the ten year long winter that proceeded the war. The ones that did survive often were cruel and did what they had to do to survive.
The old man slept for three days and often mumbled as if fighting with unknown demons. The wound on his leg was a deep cut from the hip down to the knee and appeared to have been caused by a fall. I was surprised he had been able to walk as far has he did. He must have known something about first aid because he had kept the wound clean and bandaged. The loss of blood simply wore him down until he had collapsed. We have recovered many books from nearby, some of which explained our history and some even covered first aid. So we followed the instruction in the book for first aid, and sewed up the wound on the old traveler’s leg. When he awoke I was standing next to him, and the life seemed to return to his eyes.
"Its good to see that you are awake." I said in a calm voice even though my heart leaped with joy that he had awoke.
"Where am I?" he asked as he tried to sit up but the pain overwhelmed him and his attempt to raise failed.
"Just lie back, your wound is deep and moving will just make it worse." I said and helped him lie back down on the bed.
"To tell you the truth I don't know where we are. All I can tell you is that you are among people that will care for you, no matter who you are. You're safe here." Relief seemed to wash over his face, and I knew how he felt. Many people would rather steal your boots and leave you for dead, than to worry about another face to feed. That's where I am different from most, I would rather help someone in need so that they in turn could pass on their knowledge or help us grow food in this barren soil. The only way to be civilized again is to live in cooperation as a community. I reached down and brought up a cup of vegetable soup to his lips. It was barely warm and smelled of over cooked under ripe vegetables, but he drank deeply and savored its taste. He stopped to ponder its ingredients but continued to swallow. A smile crossed his weathered face, "I thank you for your hospitality."
"There is no thanks needed, everyone is welcome here." I said. "I will send up Marie to check your bandages and help you to the living room, if you feel up to it?"
"Yes, I believe I am. I would like to meet the rest." He said in a crystal clear voice. I turned and left through the door, "See you later."
That evening we sat around a fire and ate roasted boar, which our hunters had caught. This was a rare treat, most animals that survived the war were rabbits and rats, but to have gotten a boar
on their hunt was extra special. After we had eaten, our visitor proceeded to get to know our group.
"What adventures have you been on?" Sammy asked with great enthusiasm.
The Traveler looked deep into his eyes and began to tell his story. "I was born twenty years before the war and I enlisted in the military when I turned eighteen. I remember being so excited about joining the army. I excelled in every aspect." He told us. His voice rung in the air after he finished each sentence. "Only two years after enlisting, I was in battle.
"I remember the sound of the guns cracking, the blasts of blue fire and the bullets erupting from the barrels. We couldn’t see the enemy, we were just firing in the blackness in hopes that we would kill anyone before they tried to kill us. War is always bad, but it is worse when it is fought on your own soil.
"After days of fighting we were out of ammunition, so we simply sat in the dark waiting for our unseen adversaries to strike again. Just beyond the horizon we witnessed the destruction of the world. Bright flashes lit up the sky and we knew that this was the end. Strangely enough the nuclear detonation never landed close enough to destroy my platoon. We survived the war but many of us died from the radiation. The remaining survivors decided to split up in hope of finding others. I have seen and met many people but most never have had the hospitality to give me shelter let alone food." He motioned toward the roast boar.
"For some time, I believed I had lost my mind and I wondered aimlessly across the barren plains. Some time after I had decided I was no longer insane and that this world was in fact destroyed, I stumbled across a dried riverbed. That is where I saw the most horrible yet wonderful thing I have ever seen. There was a great arch weathered and crumbling, decaying from the sun’s heat. It was largely in tact and shone bone-white against the golden sky. The arch symbolized our freedom and brought tears to my eyes, to think that this icon stood up to the war gave me the will to go on.
"What I saw under the arch made my heart stop, there were 'amber waves of grain' spreading out for some distance. Upon this sight I ran down to the arch. To my amazement there was foliage growing there unharmed by the radiation, or perhaps it had adapted to the radiation." He was crying now. "I went down there and gathered as many seeds as I could." He reached in to a pocked and brought out a hefty pouch. He undid the drawstrings and poured the contents onto his lap revealing several other pouches.
"Each one of these contains seeds from as many different edible plants. I have traveled and gathered seeds from many places. If I am right, they will grow anywhere because they have adapted to the radiation."
He looked at me, "I would like you to have these seeds. Plant them in your soil, and continue to offer your hospitality to travelers, and this will be the great nation it once was."
I couldn’t find the words with enough power to thank him.
//edit: formating