World As We Know It

Chapter 1: Your Time Has Come

Taylor Marcos had traveled a long way from her family farm in Kansas. She had never before seen the outside world, except to go into town with her father. Though, he didn’t take her that many times there because she was working on the farm. The girl couldn’t believe how big the new cities were. When she pictured cities she pictured the worn down black and gray metal like Chicago or L.A. This was totally different. The buildings were completely made of white metal. They were made of this white substance and glass. Though with limited sunlight not sure what the point was to the windows… There was fake green grass all around and the apartment buildings towered over the main buildings. Sad part was this wasn’t even the rich side of the city.

As she continued to the east and up north towards the beam of light she noticed the roads began to crumble away. Her horse, Acorn, was having a bit of a difficult time on the road. A few weeds began to protrude from the ground, and the road was cracked to almost impossible amounts. Then suddenly her horse stopped. He backed up a bit as they came to a car. Most were powered off of daylight, which basically was limited because the sun just hid behind clouds all day. Yet, this one… no, this one had a large engine area. I mean the hood was long… now a-days they were flat and powered off of natural energy. This one had a rancid smell like the old gasoline that was only used for powering the tractors on farms. She had never seen a car like this… and on the back was a small symbol with a running horse. Taylor pulled Acorn along and tapped her heals to his sides.

He moved ahead with a snort until they got to what looked like a large bridge. Underneath there was the smell of salt… and the sound of water. In and out. A beach. Taylor had never seen the sand and ocean because the shore lines were so far from where she had lived. Not to mention most beaches were dark in color from the pollution crisis years ago. This water, it was clear, and she could see the green algae from the bridge. The bridge though was overgrown by vines and moss. The metal was rusted over, but looked sturdy enough. Acorn held his ears back. Taylor patted her horse’s neck and nudged him towards the bridge. As she got across the bridge she saw the sign that read, New York City. “That’s impossible.”

~

Greg Fronek couldn’t believe it. New York City, it was real. Not just a tale his grandparents told, but a real place. His car couldn’t get any farther than over the bridge. The ground was covered with weeds and vegetation. Just passed a building in green lettering that said STARBUCKS was a running river. It flowed out of the fallen buildings. His honest question though was why someone would name a shop off of mythological objects and male deer. Especially one that smelled like coffee beans, what did stars and deer have to do with coffee? Seriously, and still he had not seen the one thing he had been looking for. A theater.

Right now he was in the center of the city. The old projection screens had panels falling off of them. There were wires spurting out from the sides. This place probably used to sparkle and shine with lights and pictures… but now it looked dead. Minus the large amount of overgrowth of course. Then finally he found what he was looking for. A large hallway with a plastic screen over a poster… The poster was too faded out to be read anyways, but he could tell what this building was. The lights that rimmed the black letters showed this was a theater. A broadway show theater. His heart beat loudly as he stepped through the doors. Some of the lights actually flickered off and on, but he wasn’t frightened by that. The carpet was all the color of red and gold. He loved the way the windows caused the natural light to make natural pillars on the ground. Ahead of him were stairs still covered with the red carpet. Greg walked up the stairs to find more space and a few open doors. The doors led into a huge open part of the building and all around him were chairs. The seats folded up, but as Greg went to sit on once he noticed that the folded down when weight was put on the seat piece. Below was a huge black platform. That must have been the stage… and the huge red curtains. It was real. All of it was real. The stage, the singing, the shows… New York.

For the first time since the Reaping he felt a tear go down his face. He wished his grandparents could be here with him to see this. To see their stories in this place. Rubbing his eyes on his sleeve he walked back out of the amphitheater and back downstairs. He needed to see more of this city. And find out where the beam of light was coming from. Greg walked forward, and around the corner. The beam of light was actually coming from where there seemed to be two large square areas with water flowing down into it. The area was huge… probably big enough for two, maybe 3 building is squished. It lit up the whole sky… and all the light had been was a beam of light coming from the center of these two square fountain like areas.

The real question was how this beam was staying on when obviously at the theater the lights had barely flickered. Then the real question: How was there still any electricity in a place that obviously had no modern technology? It looked like a place that had been abandoned for centuries on end. What power could possibly be keeping this light source on?? What had restarted the power in this city? So many question and not one answer. Gregory was mesmerized by the over-sized light. By the looks of it... the light had been here for a while. Actually it was two separate areas with light that were in the shape of towers. He thought back to an old story in his literature class. All the history books had been lost or been misprinted... so this event was never thought to be real. Being in NYC, the city of myth, he began to think some of those stories, may have been real. Greg looked around and began to see a few human figures walking towards the place Greg was standing. The boy waved his hands in the air. People… real people.