 | Feathers of the Soul In a land with no name, in an age long forgotten, there lived a very brave little boy. His name was Jeremy, and this is the story of how he changed the world. |
| Contest: | Short Story Challenge 2013 |
| Round: | 1 |
| Genre: | Fairy Tale |
| Subject: | Solar Power |
| Character: | A factory worker |
| Results: | did not advance |
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
~ Emily Dickinson
The children marched single-file from the domicile wearing their gray plastic environment suits. They weaved through desolate streets, abandoned buildings, and empty lots. None looked up at the dark, poisonous clouds that never parted. They ignored the distant, barren hills of the forbidden land. They tramped ahead without deviation, without distraction...and without hope.
All except Jeremy.
Jeremy imagined the hills covered with flowers, trees and animals. Jeremy could dream because he'd found something special. He found a very old book, the kind children weren't supposed to see. He couldn't read the words. But oh, the pictures! They showed a world of color, light and life. He saw lush, green places where children played together under skies of blue. Everyone looked happy.
Nobody looked happy as they entered the factory. It stood like a grim castle against the bleak skyline, smokestacks rising like spires into the tempestuous clouds. The children filtered through the airlocks into a storage room, where they traded their gray plastic environment suits for dingy gray coveralls. One by one, they punched-in and marched to the factory floor.
A whistle blew. The furnace roared, and the machines shuddered to life. Building speed, they settled into a throbbing, mechanical chorus. The belts began to move, and the children began working. They worked very hard. From a catwalk high above, the Boss watched with a malicious gaze.
At lunchtime, Jeremy slipped away to his secret place, where he could daydream alone. But today, he wasn't alone. A red-haired girl named Penny followed him. She asked what he was doing. He showed her the book. Penny was astonished. Jeremy hoped she would share his dream. But she didn't believe any of it. Jeremy felt more alone than ever. Then the whistle blew and they scrambled back to work.
At the end of the day, Jeremy stayed late to clean the machines. The work was grueling and his body ached, so he stopped to rest. Seeing no sign of the Boss, he squirmed into a cubbyhole, wiped his hands and opened his book.
A spindly hand snatched the book from Jeremy. He found the Boss glowering over him. He dragged Jeremy roughly across the factory floor to the furnace, and tossed the book into the fire. Jeremy watched his treasure erupt in a flash of light, and his eyes filled with tears. The Boss didn't let him leave until the last machine was clean.
Jeremy trudged home. His body ached from head to toe, but nothing more than his broken heart.
Cutting through the junkyard, Jeremy became embroiled in an imaginary battle with a foul beast. The beast won. Jeremy tripped and careened into a pile of rusted metal. He stood slowly, rubbing his knee. He conceded the battle and began limping towards the domicile.
But something was wrong. It was hard to breath, and he felt sick. He found a rip in the side of his environment suit. Jeremy panicked and tried to run, but only breathed more toxic gas. He knew he wouldn't make it. For a moment, he felt very sorry. Then everything went black.
Jeremy awoke coughing. He found himself lying in bed in a cluttered shack. A very old woman sat near him, smiling. She handed him a cup of murky liquid. She said it would help him feel better, and it did. Then she tucked him in and told him to rest until morning. Jeremy didn't know why, but he felt safe, and drifted back to sleep.
Jeremy found breakfast waiting when he awoke. As he ate, the woman asked what brought him to the junkyard. He told his story, and she listened sympathetically. When he finished, she showed Jeremy a picture, like those from his book. He saw a young woman and child, playing in a green field.
The woman told Jeremy the world used to be like the picture, with lots of people, plants and animals. She said practically everything worked on something called "solar power". It made all the lights and machines run, and provided everything they needed. The air was clean and there was plenty to eat. Nobody had to work in that horrible factory. Everyone was happy.
Then, the Darkness came. It didn't happen all at once. Over time, the clouds gathered and darkened. Something had gone terribly wrong, and nobody knew how to fix it. Eventually, the clouds covered everything, and people forgot about the sky.
For a while, things kept working. Then the lights went dim. The machines stopped. The plants died, then the animals. The air turned poison, as did the water. Everybody got sick. Most died.
Decades passed, and life became harder. It was toughest on adults. Only a few developed resistance to the toxins. The rest died young, leaving only the children to work, and eventually die like their parents. It was a bleak existence, and nobody knew anything about hope.
Except Jeremy.
The woman grasped Jeremy's shoulders, looking deep into his eyes. She asked if he wanted to change the world. He guessed he did, but couldn't imagine how. She fiddled with an odd contraption. A lid popped open, releasing a cloud of vapor. She reached in and pulled out a pouch filled with large, brown seeds. She placed the pouch in Jeremy's outstretched hand, closing his fingers around it tightly.
She told Jeremy to plant the seeds on the highest hill in the forbidden land. She said he had but a single day to plant them, for the seeds would soon spoil. She asked Jeremy if he understood, and he nodded. A curious grin crossed her lips. Jeremy had many questions, but the woman hurried him out to catch up with the other children.
Jeremy worked hard that day. At lunch, Penny met him in his secret place. He told her everything, hoping she wanted to change the world, too. But she said he was being foolish, that he'd just get into trouble again. She said the toxins made him crazy, and he should throw the seeds away before something bad happened. Then she ran off, leaving Jeremy alone.
Jeremy returned to work confused. He wondered if Penny was right. Maybe he really was crazy. He gazed at the seeds. It seemed impossible that such little things could make any difference in the world.
He noticed Penny looking at him oddly. He stuffed the seeds into his coveralls and glanced over his shoulder. He saw the Boss bearing down on him. Jeremy froze.
The Boss grabbed Jeremy and searched his pockets, withdrawing the seeds. Jeremy's heart sank. Betrayed! The Boss sneered, "I'll deal with you later. Then we can toss these in the furnace!"
"No!" cried Jeremy. The Boss struck him in the head. A collective gasp escaped from the children, who had stopped working to witness the spectacle.
The boss screamed in rage, "WORK!" and stomped back to his office. Tears streamed down Jeremy's face. He didn't notice the sad faces of the other children, or the tears in a red-haired girl's eyes.
That night, Jeremy went straight to work cleaning the machines. He knew the Boss would soon come to throw the seeds in the furnace. Jeremy wanted to get it over with. It was a stupid fantasy, anyway.
"Pssst!"
Jeremy was surprised to find Penny hiding nearby. He confronted her, but she explained. The Boss had been watching, and saw the seeds. She tried to warn him, but too late. Jeremy remained skeptical. She didn't even believe in the seeds. Now, neither did he. It didn't matter anyway, because it was over.
"Jeremy," she pleaded. "I didn't believe you, at first. But I thought about it, and it doesn't matter. I believe in you, Jeremy. I was mad because I didn't want you to get hurt, but if there's even a little chance you can make things better, you gotta try. You gotta try, Jeremy!"
Penny was right. But how? She told him she had a plan, but he had to keep the Boss occupied. Jeremy didn't know how, but before he could object, the Boss approached. Jeremy swallowed his growing fear.
The Boss closed upon Jeremy and produced the packet of seeds, dangling them before Jeremy's nose. "Tell me what these are, and where you got them," he hissed.
Jeremy trembled. He noticed Penny slip from her hiding place behind the Boss. He couldn't see what she was doing, but she needed more time. Summoning his courage, he answered, "I found them."
The Boss raged, "LIAR!" He grabbed Jeremy by the throat. "Tell me or I'll toss you in the furnace!" Jeremy's voice rose in fear. He said he found them outside, and didn't know what they were. The Boss flew into a rage. He started dragging Jeremy towards the furnace, but his head snapped back, and he faltered.
The Boss spun to find his long gray scarf tied to the conveyor belt. He glimpsed a red-haired girl running away. "What??" he screeched. "You impudent little maggot!" He struggled with the knot, but Penny had done a very good job.
Jeremy broke away from the Boss's grasp and stood fearfully. Penny said she had a plan, but Jeremy wasn't sure what to do. The Boss still had the seeds, and it was only a matter of time before he freed himself. Penny was nowhere to be seen.
A whistle blew. The furnace roared, and the machines shuddered to life. As they gained speed, the Boss's rage gave way to panic. He fumbled with the knot but only made it tighter. The machines settled into a chorus, and the belts began to move, dragging the Boss with them.
The Boss clawed at his neck, but the scarf was too tight. He stumbled and fell, dropping the pouch and scattering the seeds. Jeremy gathered them frantically as the Boss slid across the floor. When he had them all, he spotted Penny running to the exit. She shouted, "Jeremy, run!"
As the children escaped, the Boss struggled to free himself. The scarf choked him, but that wasn't the worst of his problems. He suddenly realized which conveyor belt he was on. "Oh god," he gasped. "The furnace!"
Jeremy and Penny donned their environment suits and fled the factory. They ran as fast as they could, weaving through the crumbling buildings. Seeing no sign of pursuit, they made their way to the barriers. With difficulty, they eventually made it across into the forbidden land. When they found the highest hill, they climbed hastily to the summit and dug a small hole. Jeremy opened the pouch and poured in the seeds. Together, they replaced the sooty soil and patted it down firmly.
"Well, that's that," said Penny. It started to sink in that whatever happened next could take a long time. Maybe a lifetime. Jeremy secretly hoped the seeds were magic, that something would happen right away. But that was a fantasy. He may have tossed his life away, and Penny's too, for something they'd never live to see.
Then the old woman's tale echoed in his mind. She said things were different, once. Maybe they could be, again. He thought whatever it took, whatever the price, even a chance of making a difference was worth it. Jeremy knew this was right, and he was proud of what he'd done.
Jeremy smiled. Penny smiled too. She took his hand, "Come on, Jeremy. Let's go home." The two stood up and started their way back to town.
"Jeremy!" screeched the Boss. He lumbered up the far side of the hill, his face blackened and charred. His scarf was gone, his neck red and swollen. His face contorted in rage.
"Jeremy, RUN!" cried Penny. They couldn't go back, so they made for the other side of the summit. The Boss gained ground quickly. Then Penny tripped and went tumbling down the far side of the hill.
"PENNY!" exclaimed Jeremy. He started scrambling after her. She rolled painfully, crashing into a rocky outcropping. She laid still, and Jeremy rushed to her side. "Penny, are you okay?"
Penny coughed fitfully, "I--I think so. I just...feel a little...lightheaded." Checking her over, Jeremy discovered a massive tear in the back of Penny's environment suit. "Oh god," he whispered. His face went pale, and he clutched Penny's hand tightly.
The Boss clambered over the hill and descended upon the children, ranting vehemently. But when he saw Penny's ripped suit, he stopped and fell silent. He knew the girl was dead. Her lungs were already filling with poison, and they were too far from town to save her. For the first time, he didn't know quite what to do.
Jeremy started to cry, wrapping his arms around her. "Penny," he sniffled. "Penny, I'm sorry!" He cried and cried, holding her tightly. The Boss looked on uselessly.
"Jeremy," coughed Penny, her voice a mere whisper. "Jeremy...it...it's growing."
Confused, Jeremy backed away to look at her face. "Penny, what--" Then he realized she was staring at the top of the hill. He turned around to see. The Boss did too.
Atop the summit, a tiny sapling poked through the sooty earth. It wavered there impossibly, a tiny sliver of green against a sea of gray.
"That--that's impossible," spluttered the Boss. For a moment it seemed he might race to the summit and yank the sapling from the earth. Then the impossible became the fantastic.
The frail little sapling pulsed with light. The light grew in intensity, and the plant quivered. Then, before their eyes, it started to grow. It unfurled leaves, then branches, growing higher and higher, wider and wider, faster and faster. Soon a magnificent tree burgeoned high above the summit. It grew larger still, its enormous crown spreading out to blanket the entire hill. As the upper branches reached into the clouds, the sky began to clear. An eye of blue appeared overhead. The eye expanded, pushing the swirling clouds away as golden beams of morning sunlight streamed from the widening blue sky.
The Boss dropped to his knees and cried.
"I--I can breath," whispered Penny. Jeremy held her hand and smiled. Of course she could. The tree was cleaning the air for them. Jeremy removed his environment suit, and helped Penny with hers. Hand in hand, they stood to watch. The great blue sky grew wider as the tree pushed back the clouds, letting the sunlight stream down onto the town for the first time in decades.
Below, the lights of the city blinked on. Some of the old machines came on, too. Jeremy remembered what the old lady had told him, how everything used to work, before the Darkness came. She called it solar power.
As the children filtered out of their domicile that morning, they all gazed up in wonder. Everybody looked happy.
Especially Jeremy.