Beauty

World Weaver's contest prompt

Today I want you to consider the place of beauty in your world. It could be beauty in the human form, but that is only one example. It could be something in nature, or art, or a kind of beauty which isn't seen so much as observed like the beauty in a spirit or concept.
What is your example of beauty? What qualities make it beautiful?
Is beauty at all important in your world? What value does this beautiful thing have and to who?

Tom sat in quiet contemplation. Looking out over the children before him, he marveled at the strength of the human spirit. These people, all of them, even the children had been through pure hell in the last year and a half. The Scourge had decimated humanity. At least that is what they called it now. He didn't even remember what it had been called before, some weird name with a number attached to it. What did names matter anyway? It had killed most everyone he knew.

The early days had been bad. No one knew what was going on. The government wasn't giving much information either. People got scared, real scared. They started hoarding supplies, water, food, toilet paper. It was a madhouse. Dwindling supplies caused fights at stores. Before long, groups of people were going house to house, taking everything they could, often killing the people inside. Tom had no idea this was coming, but he had been preparing for something like this for a long time. He had some property in the mountains. He and his family started laying in supplies and equipment a few years ago. They were prepared for just about anything. At least they had thought so in the beginning.

Nothing prepared anyone for what happened. Society broke down quickly. Within two weeks many states had declared martial law. Tom knew the federal government would soon follow. He called all his family and told them to head up to his land in the mountains, not to wait or to argue. Just go. He called two of his friends too, best friends really, and then he headed up himself.

Tom was the first there. It was a good place. It had a bunkhouse and a well. It was well stocked with a huge supply of emergency food. They had a propane generator to run the well and 500 gallons of gas. Tools, chainsaws, axes, gardening stuff, seeds, blankets, cots... the list went on. They had truly prepared, never thinking they would actually need the stuff.

Before long, Tom's brother Dan drove through the gate. Good, Tom thought, Mom is with him. Pulling up beside Tom's truck, Dan parked and got out.

"Any word from the others?" Dan asked.

"Not yet," Tom replied as he stepped up to help his mother out of the truck. Opening the door, he continued. "Jason and Shawn are both on their way. Jason called Kaitlyn and Caden. Shawn has Krystal and the kids with him. I have not heard from Chris. That worries me."

"Yea, that's not good," said Dan looking worried. "I hope he shows. He didn't answer my calls either."

Helping his mother down, Tom set up a camp chair for her to sit in as he and Dan started to work.

In the end, Chris had not made it. They never heard from him again. Tom's mom, Ann, had taken it very badly. She died two months later. Her health issues were complicated by a broken heart. It was a sad day. Shawn and Jason had both come with their families. Jason's son Caden had brought his fiancé Raven. Even Tom's friend Doran had made it.

That first year had been very hard. The first winter was... well, thinking you are prepared to spend a winter in the mountains with no heat, at 5500 feet was a learning experience. At first, they tried to make it without using the propane heater. It didn't work. They had used more gas than he had wanted, but in the spring, they had reinforced the bunkhouse as well as they could using tree limbs and mud. The combo made extremely good insulating material.

Indeed, that spring had been a busy one. Doran had taken charge of the gardening, and with the help of his son, had laid out the garden plot, and planted our seeds. Dan and Jason, along with Caden, conducted a thorough investigation of the property, figuring out how best to defend it if it came to that. My wife Diana, with Holly, Krystal, and Doran's wife Nellie began organizing everything else - living spaces, mealtimes, chore lists, etc. By the end of summer, we had all settled into a rhythm.

The first visitors arrived in October. Sadly, it didn't end well. They were not interested in joining. They were there to take only. Doran's son had been killed; his wife injured before we took them down. It nearly broke him. This became a problem when the next people showed up. Doran grabbed his rifle and was going to kill them before asking any questions. He only stopped when his wife begged him to.

Frightened, hungry, and scared, the visitors looked unsure, even after Doran had lowered the gun and walked away. It was a man and a woman, with four kids in tow. The kids were not all theirs, however. One teenager, a white kid with glasses on, a tall Asian kid, and two young black girls.

Dan and I walked up. "Where are you all from? I am surprised you found us way up here." I asked.

Speaking a bit warily, the man answered. "From the city. It's bad there. We have been on the road for three weeks." Looking from Tom's face to the guns on their hips, he started to shake.

"Look," he said. "We're not dangerous. We are just hungry. We smelled your fire. We haven't eaten for two days."

"What kind of skills do you have," Dan asked. Can you contribute to anything at all here?"

The man hesitated, not sure what to say. Just then Diana and Nellie walked up. "You cannot turn them away, Tom," Diana said. "Look at the children. They're starving."

"Hold on," Dan said holding up a hand. "Answer the question.

"I... I don't have any special abilities, but I am very handy around the house... and I learn quickly.

"Can you shoot?" Asked Jason, walking up behind Tom.

"Three years in the Army," the man said. "Infantry... 11 Bravo here."

Dan finally asked, "What's your names?"

Looking a bit more assured about where this was going, the man answered. "My name is Ed, Ed Collins. This is my wife, Sarah." Pointing at the oldest teenager, he said. This is my son Terence; we call him Terry. That's Dechen beside him. The girls are Rechell," he said, pointing to the oldest girl, "and Shanice. They're sisters."

The two boys looked on, obviously scared but trying to look brave. The girls were holding hands, watching pensively.

Diana looked at Tom. "Tom please, look at them!"

"Ok... ok," Tom said, and then introduced them all. "Don't be too hard on Doran, the first guy you saw. He lost his son last fall to a group that approached just like you all did." Turning to Diana and Nellie, Tom asked her to get the rest settled and fed. "Ed," he said. "You come with me."

Ed and his group had fit in well. We soon became like one, big extended family. Nineteen people... surviving, thriving really. And it would be twenty soon. Raven was pregnant. It would be Jason's first grandchild. Tom felt at ease for the first time in a long time. It was Caden's birthday, and they were celebrating. Dan had bagged a deer the day before and they were roasting it over the firepit. The women were gathered around the camp table, fussing over the first harvest of corn and green beans. Doran was nothing short of a miracle in the garden. Ed was gathering more wood for the fire. Jason, Shawn, and Dan were tinkering with some sort of contraption that Tom thought looked suspiciously like a still. Smiling, he turned back to watch the children playing over by the bunkhouse.

Walking up, Diana looked at him quizzically. "What are you smiling at?"

"Look at them," Tom said. "There is still beauty in the world." Stepping up, she sat in the chair beside him and took his hand. "Is everything ok," she asked.

"Of course, it is," Tom replied. "Better than ok. Look at them," he said, pointing at the children. "There is such joy in them. They are truly like brothers and sisters now, all of them. It's just..."

"Beautiful," Diana finished his sentence for him. "I know."

"I think we are going to be ok," Tom said at last. "I haven't felt that way for a long time. But as long as there is still beauty, still happiness, nothing will stop us."

Diana squeezed his hand and stood up. Smiling at him, she turned and headed back to the table.

He had never considered himself a sentimental man, but looking at the children, he couldn't help feeling a bit sappy. "Beauty," he said to himself. "I better ask Diana not to tell Dan I said that."

Standing, he Headed over to the rest of the guys, he wanted to see what this whole "still" operation was about.

1491 words