The Begining Of The End

Standing alone, glancing at the valley below her, a young woman stood at the edge of a cliff. She had never felt this alive in her entire existence. She could hardly believe the extreme turn of events that had just recently happened in her life. She turned and left her gazing spot on the cliff over looking the valley. She had much to do before the sun went down.
She walked at a fast pace down a trail just beginning to take shape from her recent accumulated use. In her hand was a crude sling that she had created just after moving to the property she had purchased. However crude, it was a practical weapon. It consisted of two ropes attached to a piece of flexible material. When a smooth round stone was placed in the piece of material, you could hurl the stone in the air. When you let go, the stone would fly, and if you aimed accurately, hit its mark.
The young woman did just that when she aimed for a partridge that gave itself away with its beating call. She watched the bird fall from the branch it had been resting on. She jumped and quickly ran to where the bird had fallen. She collected the plump fowl and carried it with her. The day had been warm. The brilliant sun that was just beginning to set was still shining brightly through the mass of leaves on the trees. Its rays caught strands of the woman’s golden blond hair and made them shine a deep golden hue.
Shortly, she arrived at a large building placed beside a lake. It had just been built, she remembered, maybe a month ago. She had been the one to plan the design of the house. She had been the one to help build it, and now, she was the one living in it.
Before entering, she walked towards the lake. There was a large pit surrounded by metal that she used for large bonfires when the occasion called for one. She plucked the feathers of the partridge she had killed. She had learned not long ago how to clean a partridge to make it ready to cook it. She went through all the steps she had been taught and then cleaned the bird in the lake. She carried the bird back to front deck of the house and opened the door. The smell of fresh paint and new flooring was becoming a familiar smell for her. She smiled as she glanced around at her home. It was everything she had ever wanted, and she had wanted a lot.
The main floor was a large open space. One side held a large kitchen area; the other side was a living area that held a television, stereo, computer and 3 sofa’s. The floors were made of solid oak. The same flooring had been laid down over the entire home. At the back of the main floor was a bathroom. From the main floor you could look up and see a set of stairs leading up to a loft. Under that set of stairs, you could see a set going down to the basement that held a generator and a large storage area half filled with freezers and shelves.
The woman placed the partridge in a pot and set it boiling on the propane stove. She went downstairs and checked the generator. After making sure it was full of diesel, she started it. The loud roaring sound it made caused her ears to ring. She half ran up the stairs back to the main floor. After checking on her cooking meal, she went over to the computer and turned it on, and connected to a wireless internet connection.
This was her only means of communicating with anyone from the outside world. She glanced briefly at her list of contacts and then decided to play music. The stereo that had been idly standing on a shelf with its speakers spread around the main floor like long spider legs was soon booming with her music.
She quickly checked her meal and realized it was done. She strained the bird placed it on a large plate. She added some fresh pepper, salt, and garlic powder and sat at her table and ate her dinner.
While she was eating, she remembered her old life. It had been a lonely one. A life surrounded by selfish people. She shuddered at the memory and again felt thankful for the life she now led, it was lonely, but at least it wasn’t full of hate, anger, and depression. Here, she felt at home. She could deal with the loneliness that came at night when she lay in bed alone, holding a pillow to her stomach and grieved for another human being. But, she didn’t miss the feelings of rejection.
The sun was beginning to set. She had decided a long time ago that she needed some sort of companion to share this empty home with. She couldn’t be totally alone. She opened the internet explorer and searched the classified listings of the town that was only a thirty-minute drive from the place she stood now. She clicked on the Pets section and read the listings. One caught her eyes: “German Sheppard puppies, $100 each”. She smiled. That would be perfect. But then she caught her eyes on another listing: Yellow Lab puppies, $200 each. That was it. She sent out emails making appointments to view both sets of puppies.
The sun had almost hidden itself completely through the trees, and was making its way to the other side of the earth when she removed herself from the computer. She would go into town and pick up a few more supplies along with the puppies, and the supplies she would need for them. She sighed to herself and looked around, now bored with nothing to do. She went outside and made her way to the lake. Attached to a dock was a small boat with a paddle that she liked to use. She could bring home a great deal of fish when she spent some time out on the lake, and she decided that right now would be the perfect time to stock up on her fish supplies. Her fishing rod, bait, and tackle were all organized in a tackle box underneath her seat. She got in the boat, untied the rope that held the boat to the dock, and pushed off with her paddle. She paddled out far and watched her home grow small, and then out of sight.
She removed her fishing rod from the tackle box and attached a worm to the hook. She placed the hook into the water and waited. She lifted her head to watch the sun. Deep hues of pinks and orange radiated from it and cast the sky with a brilliant display of color. She knew that tomorrow would be another gorgeous day. She didn’t want to spend it all in the city. She still had to gather some more seed heads from the valley. There was some rye grass, and wheat that she wanted to collect and store for the upcoming winter. She could have just bought enough supplies for winter, but gathering gave her something to do to consume her time, and to push away the feelings of loneliness. When she wasn’t gathering grain, she was gathering roots and tubers, and when she wasn’t doing that, she was practicing with her sling. She just recently had gained enough skill with it to attempt hunting. The first partridge to fall to her stones had been a great victory. It had only been last week.
She was practicing her sling down by the lake where she had set up a target post, nothing more then a large stick in the ground with a rock on top of it. The goal was to hit the rock, and make it fall off of the stick. She had been doing that almost every time she aimed, and it made her smile. Just as she was loading another stone into her sling, she heard the steady beating of a partridge. She looked towards a large tree and saw the outline of a partridge resting on a low branch. Her heart jumped. Could she hit a live target? She aimed and then hurled the stone. She saw the partridge fall. She screamed a loud victory scream and ran towards the partridge nearly tripping over a long hidden by long grass. She didn’t quite know what to do with herself at that moment. Somewhere, standing by a large tree, down by a lake, there was a woman with a dead partridge in her hand who felt strong. She could survive.