When my mom left, she said she’d be back. It’s been three days…She told me never to leave the home unless I needed to. I need to find her. I think my only choice is to head into the one place she never wanted me to see, the land of toppled giants.
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It was raining when I woke up. Mom once told me that when she was little the rain would burn, something about all the things that ended up in the waters. I think it would still harm plants when I was born, but now it seems really helpful. I like the rain. It always looks really pretty. Looking at the sun, it’s just before what I can assume is midday. I gather my things and start heading to the door. This place was nice, it had a couch that wasn’t too badly torn up, but I need to keep moving.
Leaving the building, I pull my hood up. While the rain won’t hurt me, it still sucks to get it into my mouth. Looking around, I spot what I’ve been calling the mega tree in the distance. Mom always said to find the large tree if I ever had to leave home.
I will find you Mom, I swear.
I stop only because I see something moving in the bushes. I’ve never been this far among the toppled…I think Mom called them “sky scrapers”… I always called this place the land of toppled giants. The ones that still stand are covered in vines and seem to reach into the clouds. I don’t get it, why build something that high then label it with the word “office”? It could have been used to house people. I really don’t understand past humans. I need to keep going.
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For the first time, I have found a large sign that stayed up and wasn’t fully covered by plants. It reads:
It’s weird, the year on it is two years before I was born…But the plants have taken over. I wonder if the stuff that was put into the air and water made them grow like this. It’s only been 16 years.
Only 16. I wonder how long after it was put up most people died. I can’t linger on this, I need to keep moving.
There’s a poster selling refuge in space…that’s a lot of zeros. I never understood money when my mom would talk about it, but I can understand that most people probably did not have that many dollars. I need to keep going. The tree is so far away. If I can get to it, I can see past all of this.
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It’s stopped raining. I’m closer now. I mean it’s still far, but I can see where the roots start and end. It brought down a tower. I can use that to see past all the mess of plants and buildings, and what I think were cars. A lot of them are either melted or covered in ivy.
I want to keep going but I need to rest. This means I need to find a place to sleep, hopefully not a couch this time. I see something that looks like it should say “hotel,” so I’ll check there. The doors aren’t too covered with vines, so I’ll clean them out and head in. There’s a desk to “check in.” It’s odd. I’ll try doors…oh, many of them are locked, at least ones I think would lead to a bed. I can try the desk again. Keys! This might help.
I got the door open… a bed. It looks nice, almost like it was never used. Mom said places like this were made for people traveling so I guess they’d come here, rest for a day then leave? I mean on some level I get that, but this place seems like a bad place to stay. It’s not very pretty like home…home, I don’t think I’m going back home ever. It feels wrong without Mom. I just need to sleep for the night and keep going. I’ll have to climb a wall of cars in the morning.
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Sunlight hits my eyes, waking me up. I’m used to it, but I’m more agitated. I put my shoes on and head back out. I think I’ll change my clothes again soon. These smell like grass.
Climbing the wall of cars isn’t too bad. Once I’m over, I can see a window of clothes. Good. I’ll head there and then keep going.
The clothes inside are fine, but so many have long sleeves or are meant to keep a person warm. It’s too hot for that, good to keep in mind though. I don’t think I’ll ever be back here, it’s sad in this fallen city. There’s a certain quality that makes it pretty, but overall it hurts to think about.
We wanted so badly to prove we could outlast everything and yet I’ve never met another human. Mom says my dad was a wanderer who must have gotten lost…I hope that’s right. She didn’t know him before what she called the Fall, so there must be other people out there, maybe Mom found others, or got taken by crazy humans…I need to stop thinking about this, I can’t cry, I’m low on water.
Mom once told me that when she was little the rain would burn, something about all the things that ended up in the waters. I think it would still harm plants when I was born, but now it seems really helpful.
I start leaving the store, but a newspaper clipping is on the floor. Mom said they didn’t really print anything on paper before, it’s weird. Reading it I think I understand why now.
“Sad news comes to us after project To the Stars was shot into space just last month. With the power grid failing, we have lost contact with the ships. Although one last transmission would suggest that only one shuttle remains, all others have fallen to the void of the unknown. The final one reported that its own power was beginning to dwindle as well. With grids failing all over the world, we can no longer reach it. They will likely perish as well.’
So that space thing didn’t work out. I thought they were going to a new world, maybe it was too far…maybe that was never the plan. I don’t know, all I know is I never want to go among the stars. I have to keep going. I’ve found myself clothes for later.
I can head into that old refuel place, maybe find more water bottles. I don’t like how it tastes but I need more water. Oh, there’s a smaller version of that massive sign I saw yesterday. Save the world…Mom said everything went really bad in February, it has a print date of November. I don’t like that thought. I’ll just grab the water and go.
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It’s taken three more days but I’ve reached the base of the fallen tower. Only one thing left to do now. I start climbing. I rested yesterday to make sure I could do this. I know I can do this. I have to do this.
I start by walking up the roots. It’s amazing how massive this tree is, to just topple on the tallest buildings in the city, at least I think it was, pictures show it standing taller than the rest. I think this tree is bigger. The root isn’t too bad to get up. Though the jump I need to make would be really bad to miss. I’d definitely break something. 3…2…1.. I made it!
I’m on the tower. I start running up it. It’s been a long time. The wind doesn’t smell wrong up here, it smells like home in the forest outskirts. I can see the sun again. I missed this. I’ll need to stop before I hit the edge.
Slowing down, I can see the edge of the building, I can also see out of the city. I sit on the edge and look out at what looks like nothing but the plains. It’s really pretty. Something moves! Watching it, I see more things moving. People! Maybe my mom is down there, maybe not, but at least I won’t be alone. I need to start heading down using the other fallen towers.
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I never saw what the world was before, well for myself. Mom said she never wanted me to see it, but now I’ve seen the old lands, ones still littered with towers that once touched the sky and cars that have been overtaken by the vines and trees. I like looking at everything that was. It’s sad but so cool. Old humans seemed really dumb, obsessed with ever expanding. They never thought about the cost.
A lot of people left for space, at least the ones with money. They failed. Many died before everything started to heal. Resources ran thin, and many couldn’t find a way to survive the harshness of the fall. But I have hope. If there are other people out there, then maybe we can fix things. The world we live in is healing itself. Maybe we can heal with it, and not almost wipe ourselves out this time.
Velocity 
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