A two-part short story. Part 1. ----------------------------------------- The Boy trudges through the deep snow, exhaling exhausted breaths as he continues farther and frather. His left hand is pulling a sled carrying all sorts of necessities while his other hand is holding the smaller hand of his sister. Are we almost there? she asks. Yes. How much farther? Not much. He is right. Up ahead he can see the remains of the city once called New York. From books he has read, it was once a thriving city full of life. Now it is nothing more than a few standing buildings and rubble. I'm scared. She says. Don't be. This is our home for now. It is much better than where we were before. He can see a smile creeping up on her chapped red lips. He holds her hand tighter as they reach their destination. The wind blows gust of harsh wind against their faces. Almost there. They are almost their. He wraps his scarf around the smaller girl and continues on. The winter is like no other. The winter is harsher than any other. The winter would be like no other… Finally they arrive in front of one of the last buildings standing. There are boards that cover the front entrance and he sighs. He looks through their belongings to find a hammer. He takes a swing at the boards, one of them becoming lose. He hands the hammer to his sister and pulls on the board breaking it lose. There we go. He says. Hurry hurry. She says. I'm trying. Minutes later all the boards are off and he pulls the sled into the building and she folllws him. He looks around. The place is dark and old. The ceilings are high but he can't see how high they really are. The windows are all boarded up as well. Everything seems gray. Even as they explore the area, the place is just as cold as it is outside only minus the wind. Stay here. He says to his sister. Where are you going? To find something to burn. When will you return? Soon. He leaves. He ventures deeper into the building. The places without windows are nearly pitch black. It's almost impossible to see anything in this place. Suddenly he sees an old curtain like material on an old desk. He is sure it will burn quickly. As he grabs it, something falls along with it. Curiously he lifts the curtain. He jumps back, falling back onto the floor. Oh my God. He covers his mouth with his hand as he stands up. What…? It's a corpse. But what's worse is the condition it's in. He tries to advert his eyes but he can't. He brings himself to look at it. He notices that the head is completely severed from the body and that the left leg is completely gone. The arm… the arm is nearly gone, but there are some remains of flesh. Cannibals. He can see just by looking at the body. It was definitely a harsher world then what it was before the war. At least these are his thoughts. He returns to his sister who has already set up camp. He smiles and shows her the curtain. What is it? She asks. A curtain. Curtain? It's something that Ma and Pa used before the war. I remember them too. Should I? No. The war was fifteen years ago. I've told you before, you weren't born yet. You were only three. I still remember though. She smiles and then looks away. He can sense she is in some sort of mood now. He only shakes his head before looking at her. What's wrong? I miss them. Ma and Pa? She nods. He understands. He misses them too. It has only been a year since they were attacked by bandits on the road. He can remember being tied up, his eyes fixed on the man eating away at the flesh of his dead mother. Even now, the memory is burned in his mind. He is thankful his sister hadn't seen it. Do you know what day tomorrow is? He asks. My birthday? Yes. Do you remember how old you are? She holds up six fingers and he nods. Correct! He says. She smiles. Tomorrow, we can do whatever you want. Does that sound good? Yes. Um… hey brother? Yes? Are we going to die? No. Don't lie to me. He takes a deep breath but he answers, Yes. Now? No. When. I don't know. I am afraid. Don't be. Why? Because then we will be able to find our sanctuary. Sanctuary? A place full of love and happiness. There is laughter, kindess and… all the food you can eat! Meat! LOTS of it! She closes her eyes and smiles. He sees this and he smiles too. He hopes she will be able to accept death when it is her time. As much as he wishes that it is his time soon, he still strives to live longer but only because of her. She is the only reason why he is still alive now.
I like this. Remember to use quotation marks around dialogue, and proofread for s/g/p/c errors. Otherwise, it's a great start. Continue!
Yeah, I didn't really proof read and actually there are supposed to be no quotation marks. It's the writing style of Cormac McCarthy. We are studying his novel in my university course.
Hush little one I also studied The Road when I was in highschool. We also studied Brave New World which I also did in highschool as well
Bump Get the second part out within a week or I shall start an army full of angry peasants to take turns spanking you