30 Day Image Prompt Competition

Day 22 Prompt 1 - Shaping the New World

         The coffee was warm in her hands. The familiar scent drifted up from the cup, teasing at her senses, bringing forth memories of times that would never be repeated. She took a long mouthful of the fragrant brew, savouring its rich taste. As she looked out across the stillness of the lake, she wondered how many more mornings she would be able to enjoy her morning coffee with the sunrise.
         “There you are. I wondered where you’d disappeared to.”
         She turned and watched as the older woman made her way across the grass covered sand bank. Her step was slow and precise, her movements mindful of the arthritic hip that caused her constant pain throughout the day.
         “I thought I’d watch the sunrise whilst I had my coffee. Who knows how many more of these there’ll be.”
         “Well, you don’t need to worry about your coffee. Max told me that the samples they managed to bring have all survived and there was a coffee plant amongst them. May take a while for the plants to grow but you’ll have your coffee.” The woman looked out at the lake. “Peaceful, isn’t it? It’s hard to believe there was all that chaos around here last week.”
         “It is peaceful. Reminds me of home or what home was before it was destroyed.”
         Silence settled between them as the two women remembered their home before it had been destroyed by the greed of those in power. Just two weeks earlier, they had been in their respective homes carrying out their daily routines, blissfully unaware that everything was coming to a sudden and devastating end.
         “Have you seen Kyr?”
         Carlie shook her head. “Not since yesterday evening. He was going out with Tarik and Dario to look at possible sites for them to start building the settlement.”
         “He works too hard. You need to make him step back and take a rest before he burns himself out. We’ve been here a month and he just keeps going from one task to the next.”
         “I’ve tried but he won’t listen, Maggie. He thinks he has to rebuild home for everyone before he can rest.” Troubled eyes looked out the across the lake, seeking the serenity of the calm waters. “Sometimes I think he feels responsible for what happened back home.”
         “That’s understandable. As far as I know, we are the only survivors stranded on this planet. Of course he feels responsible. That’s the sort of man that he is. He won’t rest until everyone has a home, a job, a purpose for being here.”
         “Or dies trying,” Carlie added, feeling a heaviness settling on her slender shoulders.
         “He won’t die,” Maggie prophesised. “As long as you step up to the mark and show him what’s really important.” She gave the younger woman a smile before turning and retreating across the sand bank to the makeshift camp that had been set up.
         Carlie stared after her friend, her words of advice bouncing around in her mind. Was that what was needed? For her to stand up to Kyr and show him what really mattered? Could she do that? Could she be strong enough to overcome this desire he had to create a new world for them? She didn’t know but, as she drew strength from the sunrise turning the lake into a sea of crimson fire, she knew she was going to give it her best shot.