Branches Book

BRANCHES

Avery Johnson

SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2149

I blew out the candle at the edge of my desk. The smoke slowly rose and twirled up towards my concaving ceiling. I picked up my journal, grabbed a lantern, and walked out the door. As I began to venture down the path outside my house, I turned around to take one more look at my house. I had grown up there. The house was aged, the paint was peeling, some of the walls were replaced with big scraps of metal, and the entire house seemed to sit at a slant. When I was younger my parents used to tell me enticing tales about the houses they grew up in. It always made me sad. I would hear their miraculous stories then walk to my room, which consisted of a large trunk, a small oil lamp, and a mat for sleeping. My parents saw my sadness and informed me of the complicated history our planet had experienced. I’ve learned everything I know from my parents. They were very smart, but they were never able to reach their full potential, The Surge happened before they ever completed their educations. After they passed away, I was determined to find out as much as I could about the world. I began conducting my own research and spent hours daily searching for old books or old articles to read. I wanted to know the truth. My feet slowly shuffled as I walked down a path, for what I believed to be three hours. I had finally arrived. It was a small patch of grass with large rocks riddled throughout. Grass had become almost extinct. I knew it must have been expensive to supply enough water to keep just that small patch alive. When I got closer I was able to see writing engraved into the rocks. I walked to the center of the patch, and approached the cracked dark brown rock. There was a wilted flower laying on top of the rock, which read, Beloved Mother, Daughter, Sister, and Wife. It didn’t have her name, Marian Carter, or her birthdate on it, but I could tell by the picture carved into the rock that it was hers. I pulled out my journal and began to write everything I could remember about her untimely demise. The story of Marian Carter was one that haunted people all over the world. No one believed something like this could happen to someone as typical as Marian. She wasn’t particularly rich or particularly poor, she hadn’t invested in experimental technology, she didn’t download illegal software, she didn’t push her machinery to its limit, compared to most of the people of her time, Marian’s lifestyle was fairly traditional. It was a typical summer day, the Enviornmentors had the sun on full blast, the temperature was set to a comfortable seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit. I know this from my extensive research on the work of the Enviornmentors. Marian picked up the house controller from her bedside table and made a lofty request down to the kitchen of chocolate chip waffles and “fresh” berries for her family’s breakfast. There used to be a need for freshness in food,

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