Sunday, 18 January 2009
-
Suicide Note #1 - The Librarian
I doubt anyone will find this. Even more than that, I doubt anyone who does find it will know how to read it. But I feel I owe an apology to my old society and an explanation as to why I can no longer keep it alive. Sad but true, It will die with me. These past 20 or 30 years, however long it's been since the End, I've taken it upon myself to preserve what I can from the old civilization. But, I will soon be relieved from my post.
Let me start at the beginning. While most survivors burned their books for firewood, I was able to save some, some pretty good ones. And then, as food and fire both became me more scarce, I knew the libraries would be hit next. And seeing those libraries ablaze, it was much more than paper burning, it was our histories. So that's why I came out here. As far as I could from the ravages of the metropolis. I made west. I traveled through what had been farmland, where now, nothing grew. The disease had made quick work of the population, so there were less scavengers here and, thankfully, less Marauders. Also, I was able to borrow plenty rice, spices, and canned goods from the silent communities. After months of walking, I located a small out of the way town, deserted of course, like all the others, but it had a very redeeming quality - a good local Public Library. And that's where I made my home.
It was nothing special, but it was something. This would be my gift to the next generation. If there ever was a next generation. I would store our past. I would make this a fort. Be sure that no Marauders would ever be able to penetrate it or burn it down. That's what I did for the first few years. I would borrow supplies from the skeletons of the neighborhoods. I had seen how fierce and ruthless the Marauders had become in the cities. My stronghold would have to be just that - strong. As I worked, I read. Before the End I wasn't ever very handy, but luckily, everything I needed to know was at my fingertips. How To Reinforce A Door. How To Lay A Trip Alarm. How To Fortify A Wall. I read and worked, read and worked, Eventually I was satisfied. My fortress was complete. It had taken 2 years, but I could finally protect human history.
But, I had not seen another human in those 2 years. Not even once. But I took heart, I knew there must be others out there, other groups who had survived the initial attacks, survived the diseases, outwitted the Marauders. They had to be out there. And they would find me. And I would take them in. And they would have kids, and I would teach them. I would show them how the world used to be and how it could be again, if they worked at it. This dream kept me going.
I had finished the Fiction Section by year 15. All of it. Now I was only left with the Nonfiction to read, and the biographies. Occasionally I had to read for necessity: How To Hunt. How To Trap Game. Wilderness Survival. These became more and more valuable as time passed, and the food stores emptied, and the canned goods expired, and my hope started dwindling.
The years crawled by. I learned more. How To Fight A Fever. How To Set A Bone. How To Preserve Meat. Sometimes as I stayed up late, laying and reading at night by a fire, I thought to myself, "I must be the smartest man in the world." But then, this inevitably led to, "I might be the only man in the world."
A few more years went on just like that. But one day it happened. I had to look up something I had hoped I never would. How To Diagnose A Tumor. But, unfortunately, I couldn't find it's companion piece - How To Cure A Tumor. The trials of living in a radioactive wasteland.
So, it seems I'm going into a sort of forced retirement from my stint as a Librarian. And to think, before the End, I hated reading. I had wanted to be in Advertising. It's weird how things work out sometimes.
Well, I'm down to just one more lesson to learn from all these books.
How To Commit Suicide.
Travis Zephyr ©
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
email
- sent 0
- like
Post a Comment