As the fire and smoke rises from the ground

Only one thing is left

It is no tank nor man

plane or trench

For this thing is stronger than all of that

For this is a flower

Stronger than any man or shell

For this is a poppy

And right when it grew so did the hope

Knowing that there can be life here in this barren land

And that if this poppy could survive four years of death

Than so could we

None of my statements require force, cursing, or the abandonment of reason.

1. “Global warming is real”. That is why no one ever shows the data, the methods the data was collected, demands a belief, and will tax you to death if you refuse to comply. Remember, some time ago, some scientists voted on science and demanded everyone accept that the issue was settled. Remember, some time ago, some scientists openly warned of Global cooling and the dangers and impending taxes all must pay before the world ends. Live long enough and everything gets recycled.

2. “Trump is a shitty choice”. Hillary was worse, way worse. The vote was near 50/50. Any opinion only represents half of the electorate. All are welcome.

3. “Guns should be legal”. Wrong! Guns are legal. Firearms are constitutionally protected.

4. “Having preferences in appearance of partner is not racist or any form of predjudice”. Right! Every single person who has dated has had preferences in their partner’s appearance. This is nothing new. News flash: the sky is blue and water is wet.

5. Women in the United States enjoy a judicially manufactured excuse, immune to legislation, not found in the US Constitution, to kill an unborn (or in some states, a post-birth) child without charges of murder brought against them and sometimes financed by tax dollars collected at the point of governmental gun from people who do not wish to finance murder. Or, take a respite and enjoy the “Women should be able to choose whether to abort or not” excuse if it makes you feel better.

6. “Rape is never the victim’s fault”.

7. “Gays deserve basic human rights like everybody else”, not because they are homosexual, but because they are everyone else.

8. “Transgender people are their preferred gender of male or female”. Fill out a government employment application and look at the choices. Two, and only two exist.

9. “Nonbinary people exist”. See number 8.

10. “Feminism isn’t about female superority”.

11. “Women AND men do get raped”.

12. “The United States is NOT a Christian nation. (Get this one through your fucking heads!)” Opinions need not be forced, just expressed, maybe even debated. When opinions are forced (Hard Pills to Swallow, But Swallow Them You Most Fucking Will!) it dilutes both the value of the opinion and the credibility of the opinion maker.

13. “Not all Muslims are terrorists. Not even most. Not even half. Not even a lot. Most are victims of terrorism too”. However, whether a Muslim or not a Muslim, it only takes one terrorist to create victims. Concentrate the effort to eliminate terrorists. Then, worry about identifying the perpetrator.

14. “Carnivorous animals will NOT be healthy on a vegan diet. Anyone who enforces putting their pets on a vegan diet, that’s straight up animal cruelty”.

15. “Abuse in a relationship goes both ways, and it doesn’t have to be physical in order for it to be called abuse”.

16. “Vaccines do not cause autism. They save and protect people, especially your children.

(You’d think this was self-explanatory but apparently not. Just take a look what’s happening in the state of Washington.)” However, remember, the first vaccines had a statistically accepted failure rate. It was small, but it was present.

17. “If a man sleeping around is considered okay, so should a woman”, or read #18.

18. “A “side chick” is considered cheating. Don’t glorify it”, whether you are male or female.

19. “Evolution is fact, just like everything we’ve learned and discovered through different fields of science from electrical science to biology. Your Bible or any other religious texts are not.” How much are the tickets for this debate? I would be interested in viewing BOTH sides presenting their best arguments.

20. “If a woman says no or she’s not interested, just respect her wishes and let it go.” After reading #18, #17, #7, and #6, it might be better to include all non-interested people when respecting their wishes.

“If you have a problem with anything listed here, take your snowflake candy-ass elsewhere because I’m not in the mood for any of your bullshit.” Too bad. This entire post might have made a great challenge. More than one opinion (diversity of thought) might make for and interesting read. Pity.

Thank you,

Andy Betz

The Governor of New York State is Andrew Cuomo.

The top 1% of all earners in New York State pays 46% of all taxes.

The new federal tax code limits state income tax deductions to $10000.

The New York State tax revenues are 2.3 Billion less than expectations one month ago.

So where is the money going to come from?

Will New York State raise taxes on the rich?

Will New York State raise taxes on everyone else?

Will New York State cut spending?

Will New York State have to borrow money?

Can New York State pay it back?

If higher taxes are placed on high earners, will those high earners leave to states with low taxes?

In a New York minute.

Or should they remain to be fiscally milked and vilified as evil rich people not paying their fair share?

How much snow is falling in the Northeast? How much in Florida?

"God Forbid if the rich people leave"!!!!

Translation, Governor Cuomo may have to be accountable (EGAD!) during an election cycle. Imagine the horror if your boogey-man took his ball and left and you could do nothing to stop him.

Amazon's new hub learned an important lesson and saved billions of dollars.

New York State Politicians have decisions to make, difficult decisions, decisions that can turn a politician into a former politician.

I hear the golf courses in Florida have tee-times even in February.

This is going to be fun to watch.

If a (completed and guarded) wall on the United States - Mexican border actually forced people to identify themselves (photograph, fingerprint, answer questions, show passports or visas), disclose their belongings (subject to search and seizure), pay a duty (a tax) on imported goods, and limit their stay in the country they are visiting,

would this infuriate people because they do not wish to be subject to the laws the rest of the citizens are subject to when crossing boarders?

would this infuriate politicians because they could no longer have a steady influx of people voting to keep them elected at the cost of failing to curb illegal immigration, curb human trafficking, curb drug smuggling, curb terrorism, and curb social welfare cost increases?

Current functioning and proposed walls between countries (Wikipedia - Border Walls)

Belize/Guatemala Belize, Proposed, Disputed territory and anti-illegal immigration Botswana/Zimbabwe Botswana and Zimbabwe, 2003, 500km, Anti-illegal immigration Brunei/Limbang Brunei and Limbang, 2005, 20km, Anti-illegal immigration Bulgaria/Turkey Bulgaria, 2014, 30km, Anti-illegal immigration

Ceuta border fence, Spain, 2018, Anti-illegal immigration

Costa Rica/Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Proposed, Anti-illegal immigration

Chinese/Korean border fence, China/NorthKorea, Under construction, Anti-illegal immigration

Egypt/Gaza barrier, Egypt, 1979, subterranean barrier under construction, 3.1km, Anti-terrorism and anti-illegal immigration

Estonia/Russia border fence, Estonia and Russia, Planned, 106–108km, Against Russian intrusion, illegal trade, and illegal immigration

Macedonia/Greece barrier, Macedonia, 2015, 30km, Anti-illegal immigration

Malaysia/Thailand border, Thailand and Malaysia, Proposed, 650km, Anti-terrorism Melilla border fence, Spain, 1998, 11km, Anti-illegal immigration,

Hungary/Serbia barrier, Hungary, 2015, 175km, Anti-illegal immigration

Hungary/Croatia barrier, Hungary, 2015, 41km, Anti-illegal immigration

India/Bangladesh barrier, India, Under construction, 3268km, Anti-illegal immigration

India/Myanmar barrier, India, Under construction, 1624km, Anti-drug smuggling and anti-terrorism

Indian/Kashmir barrier, India, 2004, 550km, Anti-terrorism (disputed territory)

Iran/Pakistan barrier, Iran and Pakistan, Under construction, 700km, Anti-drug smuggling

Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan barrier, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, 2006, 45km, Anti-drug smuggling

Korean Demilitarized Zone, North Korea - South Korea, 1953, 248km, Conflict zone

Kruger National Park, South Africa and Mozambique, 1975, 120km, Anti-illegal immigration

South Africa/Zimbabwe Border, South Africa, 2000s, 225km, Anti-illegal immigration, anti-drug smuggling, anti-weapon smuggling

Kuwait/Iraq barrier, Kuwait and Iraq, 1991, 193km, Conflict zone

Pakistan/Afghanistan barrier, Pakistan, Under construction, 2400km, Anti-terrorism, anti-illegal immigration, anti-drug smuggling

Saudi/Yemen barrier, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, 2004, 75km, Anti-illegal immigration

Saudi/Iraq barrier, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, 2014, 900km, Anti-illegal immigration and conflict zone

Slovenia/Croatia barrier, Slovenia, Under construction, Anti-illegal immigration

Turkey/Syria border barrier, Turkey, Under construction, 828km, Anti-terrorism, anti-illegal immigration, and smuggling

Turkey/Iran border barrier, Turkey, Under construction, 144km, Anti-terrorism, anti-illegal immigration, and smuggling

Turkmen/Uzbekistan barrier, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, 2001, 1700km, Anti-illegal immigration

Ukraine/Russia barrier, Ukraine and Russia, Under construction, 2000km, Anti-weapon, smuggling, and conflict zone

United Arab Emirates/Oman barrier, United Arab Emirates and Oman, Under construction, 410km, Anti-illegal immigration

Mexico/United States barrier, United States, Proposed, Partially Constructed, 930km, Anti-illegal immigration and smuggling

Uzbek/Afghanistan barrier, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, 2001, 209km, Anti-illegal immigration

Uzbek/Kyrgyzstan barrier, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, 1999, 870km, Conflict zone

11-2-2218

8:40 p.m.

Analia’s Home

Analia and her Mother were finishing a late dinner when the darkness came. The lights went out.

All the lights went out.

The colony was plunged into a darkness that felt almost physical. It felt menacing. It felt dangerous.

The people waited and hoped. Maybe the generator had gone out. It could just be switched back on. Any minute. They waited for a minute. For an hour.

The dark stayed. The most unwelcome guest in all of Last Watch. Within the night all of Last watch was in a panic. The LIGHTS were off. ALL of them. Some of the citizens had started setting fires to see by. Then the smarter of the group would come and smother them, more concerned about their oxygen than the light.

Analia saw this happen many times, and the knowledge that when the lights had gone out the oxygen filters might have gone out also terrified her.

“Mom. What’s happening?” Analia asked in the direction the thought her mom was. “

I don’t know, they must be having trouble with the generator or maybe the batteries.” Siantha said from a completely different direction, trying to sound comforting.

“What if they can’t fix it?” Analia asked.

“They’ll fix it. We just got all those bikes working, everything was finally lit up. We didn’t do all that work for nothing.” Siantha said.

Analia couldn’t believe it would be that simple. Something was WRONG, she could feel it. Just like before, someone would have to fix it.

“I’m going to try to help. I know where the Generator is, I can get there. Maybe they only need an extra hand.” She said.

“No, we’ll go together. I don’t want you going out there alone. With how dark everything is you might get lost.” Siantha replied. She didn’t say that she was as scared of the people running wild outside as she was of the dark.

They held hands as they left the house and made their way up North Street. They could hear shouts and screams, glass breaking and wooden structures being torn down. Siantha wished her daughter didn’t have to hear any of this. She wished she could protect her, like she had when the dark came before, but the only thing she could do was try to hurry to the generator building.

They felt their way through the street which was now cluttered with things people had dropped as they tried to navigate the dark, and stopped several times to determine how far they had come by whatever landmarks they could identify.

Halfway up North Street, or as close as they could come to identifying, they turned down Second Street toward the side of the dome, where the industry buildings were kept. They could still hear people calling for help, but they were moving further away from it now. Analia had been getting more and more anxious. She couldn’t help it, she thought she could finally understand what all the older people said when they talked about the dark now. It intruded upon her mind and crawled through her thoughts until all she could think about was how dark it was, about how she would never see anything again. It frayed her nerves thin and stretched them ready to snap with panic like the rest of the colony. All that stopped her from crying in the darkness was her mothers hand holding hers.

A few minutes later Analia tripped over something large that was lying in the street. She went down with both hands out, trying to catch herself blindly, only screaming as an afterthought.

“Analia!? Where are you?!” Siantha yelled into the darkness. Somehow her mother seemed to be farther away than she should have been.

Analia felt her way, on her hands and knees, to a light pole and slowly stood against it.

“I’m here.” She said unsteadily trying to find her mothers voice in the dark.

“Just come this way!” Siantha said from somewhere in front of Analia.

“Okay, I’m coming.” Analia said. She reluctantly let go of her sanctuary and shuffled a few steps in the direction she thought she had heard her mom in.

She suddenly bumped into someone. She felt her panic subsiding and took a deep breath. Everything would be Okay.

“Mom, how much further do we have to go?” She asked.

“Analia? Come over here.” Siantha said.

Analia froze. Her mothers voice was somewhere to her right, and the person she had run into was swaying. Slowly, from above.

Analia screamed and scrambled back away from the hanging body she had mistaken for her mother. She tripped over something behind her and fell onto her back. She kept screaming and crawling away while Siantha called out after her,

“Analia! Where are you! What happened?! Are you okay!?”

Analia couldn’t answer. She couldn’t stop screaming. Nothing mattered but getting as far away from the body as possible. She scrambled to her feet and started running. “Analia! Analia, where are you?!” Came her mothers panicked screams from the dark behind her, but Analia couldn’t stop running.

She tripped over any number of obstacles in the street as she ran, but she picked herself back up and kept running. She didn’t stop until she ran into a wall and hit her head on the hard brick.

She fell onto the sidewalk, stunned, and someone in just as much of a hurry as she had been tripped over her in their haste. The person stumbled away quickly. She lay there for several minutes catching her breath and gathering her senses. Her head throbbed horribly and her side was bruising under her shirt.

Analia felt her eyes prick with unshed tears as she sat up slowly. She had lost her mom completely. It was all her fault, she had run away and now she might never find her way back. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself. ’

Okay.’ She thought, ‘Think this through. I can find her. Just stay calm and keep walking.’

Analia stood up and turned her back on the wall she had hit.

‘Alright, just one step at a time.’ She thought as she pushed off the wall. She put one foot in front of the other, cautious but steady, calling out to her mother every few minutes. She knew it was pointless to look for her, but she kept her eyes open anyway. It was hard to let go of a sense, even if it seemed useless.

Analia shuffled through the streets for what seemed like hours, avoiding the sounds of screaming, but didn’t find her mother. Tired, she felt along a wall until she felt a doorway and sat down in it to rest.

She stared out into the darkness and wondered why the colony felt to much bigger now. It felt like she could walk all day and never reach one end from the other, like maybe her mother could be lost in in an infinite maze.

Analia wondered if she stayed in the dark if she would get used to it. Would her eyes eventually adapt? Or would being blind just start feeling normal? She looked out into the dark and imagined she saw spots of color floating through the air. She even saw a speck of light smaller than a grain of salt twinkling in the distance. Analia sat up. The speck of light didn’t move. She shifted her position to be sure. It stayed firmly in place, shining innocently, like it had every right to be shining in the dark.

Analia got up and moved towards it. It looked like a small indication light she was used to seeing on the sprinkler switches in the greenhouse, but this one was pure white instead of green or red.

As she got closer the light didn’t seem to get any bigger, but when she moved her head to judge it’s position she could tell she was getting closer.

Eventually she was standing right in front of it. Just this tiny point of light let her breathe easier. It told her that everything would go back to normal. If this light was on, others could be too.

She reached out to touch it.

Her fingers hit smooth glass.

‘It’s someones window.’ She thought. The thought suddenly made her angry. Someone was hiding inside with lights while the world fell apart for the rest of them! She couldn’t take the time to find the door, she couldn’t wait that long. She turned and stumbled back into the street, searching for something to break the glass with.

After a few minutes of searching she found a metal chair sitting outside someone’s porch. She picked it up and went back to the window. She took a deep breath and swung the chair at the window, determined to release the light.

Cracks spread across the window, shedding more light, but it didn’t shatter. She lifted the chair and swing it again, sending more cracks across the large window.

She swung the chair one last time and light poured over her as she glass fell away. The brightness of the light stung her eyes and made them water. It took several seconds for her to open her eyes fully. She saw nothing but light falling though the hole she had made, there was no room on the other side.

She stared in amazement for a moment feeling the warm light flow past her. Then she noticed the cracks surrounding the hole were spreading. They spread all the way to the ground. To both sides, further than any house width in the colony. Up past where the light shone far into the darkness.

As the dome wall shattered into a thousand pieces she stared out into the light, at the planet she had lived on her whole life, and never seen once. The roof of the dome crashed down into the colony, bringing with it a large portion of the hill that had formed on top of it when the rapid terraforming process had caused landslides in the area.

Analia heard the falling glass and looked up just in time to see the approaching dirt. She turned and ran, following the light into an empty doorway, entering just as the fallout crashed into the door behind her, sealing the exit.

The large hill beside the town of New Dawn crumpled inward as concerned townspeople looked on. A Dark haired man stopped applying shingles to a new roof and watched the hill from high on the rooftop. A long lost memory stirred in him and he left his work unfinished and left town by the side road toward the collapsed hill.

Analia woke some time later, rattled and unsure of what had happened. She stood up noticed that the doorway was blocked by a mound of dirt, but there was light coming from the stairway, so Analia started up the stairs hoping to find a way out.

When she reached the top floor she saw that the light was coming through a hole in the ceiling. The light was brighter than she had ever seen before, and something about it seemed blue.

“Hello?” She called weakly, finding her throat full of dust. She swallowed as best she could and tried again,

“Hello?!” She was much louder this time, but there was no echo like she would have expected from any loud sound made inside the dome. There was a moment of silence and then she heard Siantha’s voice,

“Analia? Are you there?!” She said from far away.

“I’m here!” She shouted up into the light. She squinted up into the light looking for some sign of rescue. After a few minutes a silhouette appeared in the light over the hole. “Mom?” Analia asked. Another, smaller, silhouette joined the first.

“I’m here, Oh Analia, I’m so happy you’re okay!” Siantha said. The bigger shadow crouched down and reached into the hole. The shadow’s deep voice said, “Hi, my name’s Rofian. Don’t worry kid, we’ll get you out of there.”

Analia took the hand he offered and was pulled up into the light of her first day.

Thank you for reading to the end! I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought in the comments! ^-^

10-15-2218

10:47 p.m.

Energy Production Building, maintenance room.

Analia was working on a particularly suborn bike chain when she heard the commotion from outside.

Mr.Tind went outside to see what was causing the crashing sounds and soon Analia and her Mother heard shouting.

“Stay here.” Siantha said as she stood up and walked to the door.

“I want to come too.” Analia said standing up to go with her.

“No Analia, stay here.” Siantha said and closed the door behind her. Analia frowned, hating being treated like a kid. She went to the door and pressed her ear to the back, hoping to at least catch whatever was being said. Mr.Tind and her Mom were arguing with a man in the bike room.

‘How did someone get in?’ Analia thought. They had locked the doors behind them like usual.

“What is all this? Glass?” Siantha said.

“Just don’t step over there, he broke a window.” Mr.Tind said.

“What are you doing here? Jik Fondrey, are you drunk?!” Siantha sounded shocked and angry. The only way Jik could have been drunk was if her were using their fruit to make alcohol again. Something he had been punished for doing twice before.

“It don’t matter fff I’m drunk!” Jik slurred, “S-not like we’re gonna be here long nny-way. L-light’s goin’ out a-lla time... Can’t even see the dome anymore!” Analia thought that at least was true. The lights hung in the colony didn’t reach the dome, she had only ever felt it a few times. There was nothing to see but darkness, so she found it mostly boring. She thought maybe the adults decided to cut out those lanterns closest to the dome first to avoid seeing it. Maybe they found it depressing, knowing that they were trapped in here.

“Get out Jik. Take that gloom and doom attitude somewhere else. There are some people who are trying to be useful here.” Mr.Tind said.

“Don’t touch me! Stupid hypocrite. You know we’re all gonna die down here jus’ like I do. Yur just too blind to admit it.” Jik said.

“No one’s going to die.” Siantha said calmly.

“Yur jus' idiots, yur all idiots! There ain’t no way out. There ain’t no sun. There’s nothing! It’s better to go out quick, ya know? Jus go like you don’t even know it.” Jik said.

“Jik, if you want to drink yourself to death leave the rest of us out of it. We don’t plan on dying any time soon.” Siantha said angrily.

“You better leave now, I don’t want to see you anywhere near here unless you’re here to do your two hours.” Mr.Tind said hotly.

“Okay, okay.. I’m goin’” Jik said.

Analia heard the shuffle of feet and tinkle of glass slide across the floor, then the metal front door opening and closing. There was silence for a moment before she heard her mom and Mr.Tind speak again.

“What do you think he was doing here?” Siantha asked.

“I think he was looking for that easy out he was talking about.” Mr.Tind said.

“What do you mean? You think he was here to kill himself?” Siantha asked. Mr.Tind took a moment to collect his thoughts and then quietly said,

“I think he was trying to take the whole colony out. He had matches in his back pocket.”

10-30-2218

1:20 p.m.

Energy Production Building.

Analia walked into the changing room of the Bike Mill and changed quickly in the dim light like always. She hoped she could snag the bike closest to the door. The breeze from people entering and exiting created a slight draft that helped with the sweltering heat.

She stopped in the door, shocked. The bike room was packed! There were eight more bikes in the room than there had been yesterday. She found Mr.Tind in the corner at his desk where he logged down peoples hours.

“You finished all eight?!” She asked excitedly. They had been working on them for a week. Everything seemed to be in place, but these eight still hadn’t generated energy correctly. Apparently Mr.Tind had found the problem after they had left last night.

“Yeah.” He said, “They were all missing a copper cord in the primary box. I had to take the whole thing apart to get to it.”

“How could those be missing?” She asked. The primary box was sealed tight with screws. If pieces were missing from it, they were taken out intentionally.

“I don’t know, I’m just glad I found it. We’ve got eight more cycles now. If everyone moves to doing three hours a day we should have enough power for the greenhouse and light up the streets a little better too.” Mr.Tind said.

“Do you think people would agree to that?” Analia asked.

“Maybe. I’m sure we can convince at least half the colony to pitch in. We all want a little more light in here.” He said.

Analia smiled feeling accomplished. They had done it. There would be enough light for the greenhouse. The older people might even stop complaining about the dark. She did her two hours easily, hardy even noticing the heat.

In the coming days the greenhouse was lit up brighter than ever, extending it’s light to surrounding houses for hundreds of feet. Most of the colony had gladly agreed to put in the extra hours to light up the streets, some pulling five hours a day. Analia heard a new hope in peoples voices, and saw new light in their eyes. It was like the whole colony had been refreshed by the light. Even Analia could see why some people would miss the brightness.

It couldn’t last though. Three days later the lights went out. Throwing the colony into a new and terrifying darkness.

End of chapter 4!

9-22-2218

7:55 p.m.

Last Watch, Energy Production Building

When Siantha was young she didn’t have to work at the bike mill two hours a day just for her daily food ration. That was a change, like many others, that came after the dark descended onto the colony.

As she left the cycling room she pulled her brown hair out of it’s ponytail and let it fall around her shoulders, glad for the slight breeze on her sweat-soaked neck.

The cycling room was hot even on the best of days, with twenty-odd standing bicycles all in one room and most of them in use at any given time. The combination of body heat, energy being collected in batteries in the back of the room, and being an entirely enclosed metal building, made the place almost unbearable even though the standard cycling uniforms were barely more than sports underwear.

Siantha turned down a small hallway, just wide enough to let two people pass. It used to be wider, but years ago one wall had floor to ceiling cubbies built into it. Half of them were for people to leave their clothes in when they changed into the cooler uniforms, the other half were stocked with towels for cyclists to take to the showers.

This time of day the only towels available were in the upper cubbies. Siantha looked up at them from her 5 foot 2 inch height and sighed. She stepped up to the wall and climbed the first three cubbies like a ladder to reach a towel stuffed in the top shelf. She jumped down and stepped into the changing room, looking forward to a cold shower.

She was alone in the changing room, a rare blessing, so she took the time to brush her hair before she stepped into an empty shower stall. As she pulled the curtain closed she heard someone come into the room. They were speaking in hurried whispers to someone she assumed he was on the phone with.

“No! We can’t push the bikes any harder! They’re held together with tape and prayer! There’s no way we can push these things any harder.”

Siantha usually wouldn’t listen in on someone’s private conversation, but if she turned the shower on now she felt like she would be interrupting something important.

“I’ve done more than I should already! Communications is tearing me apart for more power and I can’t tell them where it’s going!” He said. Siantha crossed her arms uncomfortably and waited, trying not to listen.

“I know how it is. We’re not going to get that desperate. We’ll think of something. I just need more time.” The conversation cooled, as if both parties were running out of steam.

“We can’t increase bike hours with the bikes the way they are. We have to think of something else.” The man sighed deeply,

“We won’t let anything happen to the children. We’re going to fix this, just have faith. If we need to we can shut down some of the street lights, we can do without some of them” A small pause, then,

“It’ll be okay. Bye Lisa.” The man hung up, took a few deep breaths and left the room. Siantha stood in silence, all thoughts of her shower forgotten.

9-22-2218

8:34 p.m.

Last Watch, North Street Siantha trudged home despondently. Every time she looked up she saw something else that had changed so much since her childhood.

She had been born in Last Watch. She didn’t know what it was like to see the horizon, or swim in a river, but she had grown up with the sun and the light. This used to be a place where everyone was hopeful and working toward a future where they could one day step out of this dome and onto a green new planet. Then the dark came, and all attention turned to survival. Without light new energy sources had to be created practically overnight.

The population has to be kept as low as possible. That was why her daughter Analia was the youngest member of Last Watch.

Siantha passed a park where she used to play as a child and saw only a group of adults sitting at a picnic table and talking in hushed whispers.

She passed the house where Mrs.Kilnen lived. She had been a schoolteacher until there were no more children to teach.

Last Watch had never been meant to produce its own energy. Before the dark had come Last Watch had had a field of solar panels outside to produce all the energy the town needed. It had stopped when the dark had come.

Siantha stopped to take a calming breath.

‘Looks like our time has already run out.’ She thought.

If the bikes couldn’t be pushed any harder they would run out of light for the greenhouse and that would be the end of their food supply.

Tears pricked her eyes as she thought,

‘What will happen to Analia? Isn’t there anything we can do?! I can’t just let everything fall apart.’

Siantha started walking again, faster than before. By the time she got to her front door she was running. She wouldn’t just stand here and wait for death, she would do something about it!

She unlocked the front door and put her bag down in the front hall. She heard Analia in the kitchen and wondered what she was making for dinner. “Mom? Are you home?” Analia asked from the other room. “Yeah, I’m home. How was your day?” Siantha asked walking into the kitchen to stand behind Analia.

"Umm... It was okay.” She said as she stirred a pot full of vegetable soup. Siantha heard a strange note in her daughters voice. She was worried about something. She just wasn’t sure if she should ask about it yet.

“Is something wrong?” Siantha asked.

“It’s just... I heard Mrs.Lin talking on the phone today.” She said. Siantha felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach.

“What was it about?” She asked.

“I think she was talking about... Stealing something... For the greenhouse. She was saying that she needed it to keep the plants growing.” She kept looking at the soup as she talked, not sure if she should have brought any of this up.

“I see...” Siantha said, unsure of what to think. It sounded like Mrs.Lin was talking to whoever she heard earlier that day. They were talking about giving extra power to the greenhouse to keep the plants alive. To keep the food production up.

“Mom, is Mrs.Lin doing something wrong?” Analia asked.

“I don’t think It’s really wrong.” Siantha said, “I think she’s trying to make sure there’s enough energy for the plants to grow so we can keep making as much food as we need.”

“Why isn’t there enough energy? There’s always been enough energy before.” She asked.

“Well. The bikes are getting old. Sometimes they break down, and it could take a little while to fix it. So when some of the bikes are being fixed there’s less energy to give everyone.” Siantha knew she was simplifying and downplaying everything, but she didn’t want to worry Analia. She was only a kid, she shouldn’t have to think about any of this!

“Mom, I know how energy works. I want to know why we can’t just give the greenhouse more? If we need it for the food why can’t we get it?” She asked. Siantha sighed. Her daughter saw things in such back and white. The greenhouse needs energy, just take it from somewhere else. She didn’t think about the older generation, who fought tooth and nail to keep as many lights on as possible, trying to recapture the daylight of their youth. Or the engineers who had been working on communications projects for the past decade, trying to reach the outside, to tell anyone that they were still in here.

"Analia, there’s only so much. If we give it to the greenhouse we’ll have to take it away from somewhere else.” She explained.

“I know. Why can’t we? We can put out some street lights, or the houselights! If it gets really bad we could even share houses. The houses are big and the families are small, we could share the light and the heat!” She insisted. Siantha looked down at her daughter, she was trying her hardest to come up with alternate solutions, but it wasn’t just an urge to help, Analia was seriously worried about this, she sounded scared of it.

“Look honey, it’s alright, we’ll get everything back to normal. It’ll just take some time.” She said reassuringly.

“I heard them talking about a population cut.” Analia said. Siantha froze. The tiny bubble of their world suddenly got much darker. There hadn’t been a population cut since six months after the dark came, but Siantha remembered the tearful goodbyes as the oldest in the population gave their lives so there would be enough food for the rest of them. She remembered how many funerals she attended after many of the remaining population gave up hope and killed themselves in the night. It was a horrible time. She was glad she had carried Analia through it, untouched and oblivious in the womb.

“That won’t happen.” She said resolutely.

“It’s happened before though, right?” Analia said.

“Who told you that?” Siantha asked. The people who remembered it didn’t like to talk about it for obvious reasons, it was a depressing subject. “That’s what happened to Dad right?” Analia said hollowly. “What?! No! Analia who’s been telling you this stuff?!” Siantha asked stunned.

“No one tells me. I figured it out myself. The way Mrs.Lin sounded when they talked about a population cut. It sounded like something that had happened before. And it’s not hard to see that a population cut means killing people. And Dad’s dead, so I thought...” Analia trailed off.

“Your father is not dead Analia.” Siantha said, “At least not that I know of.”

“Then why haven’t I ever seen him? You never talk about him, where is he?!” She said. Siantha was taken aback, she didn’t know Analia felt that strongly about knowing about her dad. Talking about him brought back painful memories for Siantha, so she had never brought up the subject herself, and Analia had never brought him up either.

“You really want to know, don’t you.” Siantha said, not exactly phrasing it as a question.

“Yes.” Analia said.

“Alright, make us a couple of bowls of soup. I’ll meet you at the table in a minute.”

Siantha turned and went upstairs to her bedroom. She went to her closet and dug through the top shelf for a pale orange box tied up with string. She finally found it under a stack of old clothes. She held it for a moment silently. The last time she had held this box Analia had been only eight months old. That was the day Siantha had given up hope of ever seeing him again.

Siantha carried the box downstairs and set it on the table between them. It’s presence created an atmosphere of mystery and odd hope. Siantha wondered if Analia would be disappointed.

“This is everything I have to give you about your father.” She started, not sure what else to say. Analia reached for the box and untied the string. Siantha felt a tightening in her chest, it had been so long since she had look inside. Had it been long enough to dull the sharp pain of loss?

Analia lifted the lid and looked at the stack of papers in the box. On top was a photo of a tall, well-built man with black hair and dark skin. He had a strong face that looked well used to laughter. He was standing in their living room in the same place their couch now sat. Siantha took a deep breath blinking back tears. It relieved her to realize that she could miss him without the pain stabbing at her heart. She was happy to see him again, even if it was only in a photo.

“So what was his name? What happened to him?” Analia asked as she looked through the photos one at a time. Some of him alone, some of him and Siantha. One of him standing behind Siantha with both of their hands resting on her middle, his head on her shoulder. A friend has taken it after she found out she was pregnant. They looked like such opposites. Him big and dark. Her pale and small.

“His name is Rofian. He... He was part of the relay team. He brought supplied we needed down from the space station. He was away when the dark came, so... I think he must still be out there. On the space station, or in one of the other colonies...” Siantha said. She felt a pang of sadness at the thought that he could have settled down in one of the other colonies, that he might even have a whole other family.

“So you don’t know?” She asked.

“No. Communications went down at the some time. So I could never get through to him.” Siantha said quietly.

“Do you think I’ll ever see him?” She asked. Siantha thought about lying, maybe saying that her father would somehow come back, but it had been near thirteen years, and the time for that kind of hope had long passed. She couldn’t give her false hope like that.

“I don’t think so.” She said, “I don’t think they can tell where we are anymore.”

“Why not?” Analia asked.

“Well, the dark isn’t just there. It’s dark because the colony has been buried. The dome protected the colony, but it still wiped out the solar panels and the communications tower. The amount of dirt is deep enough to block our location beacon, otherwise we would have had help by now. We’re on our own.” She said trying to be as hopeful as possible. She had to believe that they still had a future.

Analia was silent for a while. She was a mature kid. She didn’t pretend that they were going to make it through this easily. She knew life was not that easy, but she also believed in the people of this colony, maybe more than most adults did. She truly believed that they would think of a way to fix all of their problems.

Finally she looked at Siantha with determination.

“So, if we had more bikes, we could make more power?” Analia asked.

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it.” Siantha said.

“Do you think I could help repair some of the bikes?” Analia asked. Siantha thought about it. Analia wasn’t bad at repairing things around the house. She had even rewired the kitchen light last year. Siantha was proud of her for wanting to DO something about their problem when so many others were happy to ignore it or leave it to someone else.

“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we go down there together?” Siantha said.

“When?” Asked Analia.

“We could go after diner. I’m sure Mr.Tind would let us have a key if we’re repairing his bikes.” She said. Siantha and Analia finished their diner happily. She was glad to have something to do with her daughter, and who knew, maybe they could even help with the energy crisis. She began to believe that there might be a future for their colony after all. As long as there were kids like Analia who were willing to do whatever it took to see them make it to the next day.

The next few weeks went by quickly. Analia and Siantha went to work and did their shifts in the bike mill separately, then met up at home for dinner. By nine O’clock they were in the maintenance room of the Mill with tools in hand with Mr.Tind, who was happy for the help and agreed to stay and help them with the bikes. He taught them how the bikes worked and how each of them needed to be fixed. Slowly the bike mill gained five repaired bikes. Most days Siantha and Analia stayed up until midnight working on repairs.

End of chapter 2!

I wrote this for AdmiralFoxx's challenge, but it said I didn't have enough coins, so I thought I'd post it as chapters, since I'd still really like people to read it!

In 2100 the Mars Terraforming Project was initiated. Several terraforming pods were sent to Mars to begin making the planet suitable for humanity. Half a century later in the year 2150 the first Mars Colony was established. They named it First Sight. Six other colonies were established on Mars in the years that followed. Each colony was outfitted with start-of-the-art technology that would monitor the outside conditions and inform the colonists when the planet was ready for human habitation, expected to be near the year 2230, though atmospheric conditions could alter these estimates. The Mars Space Station orbited these colonies and provided them with everything they needed for comfortable living. It was considered an unparalleled success until the year 2205, when the colony of Last Watch was lost.lost.

9-21-2218

9:12 a.m.

Mars Colony No.7,

‘Last Watch’

The colony of Last Watch was dark. That’s what all the elders said anyway. For Analia Tenten, it was just another day. The lamps were hung high above her head and shed a dim yellow glow that faded to near black before the next lamp took it’s place, as they did every afternoon.

Her yellow jumpsuit crinkled noisily with every step as she hurried down the street toward the greenhouse. The large glass building stood on the edge of town, lit up like a beacon compared to the shadowy residential district.

Analia slowed as she reached the rear of the building. She sometimes wondered why adults complained about the dark to much. This much light made it harder for her to sneak into work when she overslept.

She crept toward the supply room hoping to grab a few bags of fertilizer. If Mrs.Lin thought she had been organizing the shed she might not ask why the gardens hadn’t been watered yet. Analia shuffled past the recycling bins noting that they were almost full. Toting them to the recycling plant would probably be on her list of chores today.

She opened the shed door slowly to minimize the creaking. It needed oiling, but most of the oil had been claimed by the maintenance division. She was lucky, the door swung open without alerting the whole colony, and she slipped inside the dark room.

She could barely see by the light of the greenhouse that filtered through the cracks in the shed walls, but it was plenty for her to find the bags of fertilizer stacked in the back of the shed. She tossed one over her shoulder and stacked two more on top of it. Bouncing it once to balance it she stepped confidently out of the shed and through the back door.

The interior was hot and humid, which the plants needed to grow as big as possible, but Analia still hated the thick, soupy feel of the air. She walked down the center isle to the sprinkler controls without seeing Mrs.Lin, which was strange. Mrs.Lin was a very involved boss. The garden was like her baby. She fussed over every plant as if she would be tried as a murderer if it died. Sometimes it was sweet to watch her coddle them, but most of the time it made her obsessively strict with Analia’s daily tasks and led to a lot of yelling.

Analia put the fertilizer into a wheelbarrow to be distributed later and turned on the sprinklers. The small spigots dotting the hoses strung through the gardens all started misting the plants with their morning dose of water and vitamins. Then Analia started checking off her list of daily jobs.

An hour later Mrs.Lin still hadn’t made an appearance, and Analia was starting to get worried that she was actually sick. She took off her gardening gloves and wiped the sweat from her brow before heading upstairs. The spiral staircase that led to the second floor was badly rusted. She would have to paint it again soon.

The second floor was mostly used as an office for orders and shipments, along with storage of anything light enough to pose no structural risk, but still big enough to be in the way downstairs. The only enclosed room on the second floor was a room Mrs.Lin converted into a personal office. Though she slept in it often enough for it to be considered a bedroom. Most nights she wouldn’t go home, instead opting to sleep close to the plants in case something happened. Analia couldn’t think of anything that would require her to be here in the middle of the night, but she didn’t want to ask in case Mrs.Lin had a lecture prepared on just that topic. She stood in front of the office door and raised her hand to knock when she heard Mrs.Lin’s voice. Analia considered walking away, but where would be the fun in that? She leaned in closer and listened. Mrs.Lin was on the phone with someone, it sounded like this conversation had happened before.

“No! I’m telling you Georg, it’s not enough!” She said. There was a moment of murmuring from the other end of the phone and then Mrs.Lin replied,

“I’ve told you, there has to be more! The plants can’t live like that!” More Murmuring and Mrs.Lin seemed to deflate,

“I know, I know. I know you’ve been shifting a lot for me, but we need it. I can’t raise that much food without it. What are we going to do, order a population cut?”

Analia could only follow the conversation a bit. It sounded like Georg was stealing something for Mrs.Lin. But what did that have to do with a population cut? That couldn’t be what it sounded like. Analia wondered what she was eavesdropping on.

“Could we increase the bike hours?” There was silence until Analia heard Mrs.Lin sniffle. She was crying? What was going on?

“I know, I’m just... I’m worried about everyone. What will happen to the children?”

Analia leaned closer, what about the children?! Why couldn’t they just be clear?

“It looks like it’s going to get darker...Bye, Georg” Mrs.Lin said. She sighed and Analia heard her get up from her desk.

Analia shuffled around the corner as Mrs.Lin came out of her office. Mrs.Lin walked straight toward her hiding place, stopping beside her.

Analia looked up to see Mrs.Lin looking disapprovingly back down at her.

“Good morning, Mrs.Lin.” Analia said hoping to sound clueless.

“You’re late, again.” She said.

“I’m sorry.” Analia said giving up on her shed-excuse. Mrs.Lin was already upset, Analia didn’t want to lie to her now.

“You know the sprinklers need to be turned on early so they have time to soak in.” She said.

“They’re on now.” Analia replied. Mrs.Lin sighed,

“I know you’re only thirteen, but you need to be more responsible. One day I’m not going to be here to make sure all this is done, and you’ll have to make sure there’s enough food for everyone.” Analia started to ask why she would be gone, but Mrs.Lin said,

“Come on, there’s lots of work to do and we don’t have a lot of time.”

Analia followed Mrs.Lin into the garden slowly. She couldn’t help but feel like something very wrong was about to happen.

Thanks for reading my first chapter!