A Year Of Good Reading Ahead

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Earth sought its revenge. The planet entered another ice age. It happened so quickly; there was little time to prepare. All wildlife died. People who managed to survive the initial freeze soon perished anyway. Buildings were not designed to withstand the extreme cold; glass grew brittle and shattered. Those who found windowless shelter eventually died from a lack of resources. Going outside was impossible.

Time passed. The extreme temperatures abated, but ice still covered the planet. One soul, alone, existed on the face of this frozen world. A world that was far too large for her.

She opened the door and stepped out onto the frozen landscape. Scanning the horizon, she saw a hint of color in the distance. She would investigate. She had no choice. To stay where she was would be certain death. She made her way toward the color in the distance. It was slow and exhausting work. As she got closer, her heart was encouraged. It was a house.

To her relief, the house had a wood-burning stove and a pile of wood. She made a fire and basked in the life-giving heat. Once she warmed up, she explored the house. She found a large stockpile of chopped wood frozen out back. She would not freeze.

In the basement, she found a pantry stocked with dozens of cans of food and jars of fruit preserves. Plus boxes of pasta and cake mixes. She would not starve. At least not for a while.

In the large main room was a bookcase filled with books. She grabbed a book, opened it, and looked at it curiously. She flipped through the pages. Then she put it back. She repeated the process several times.

Before long, she began exploring her surroundings, widening her circle little by little, using a compass she found in the house to make her way back. One day she discovered a town. It was empty. Frozen in time. She explored the buildings. They must have been abandoned in haste for they seemed untouched and fully stocked. She found a grocery store full of canned food, with a hardware store right next door. Down the street was a library. She knew what she had to do.

She took a sled from the hardware store and pulled it to the grocery store. After collecting two boxes full of canned food, she placed them on the sled and headed back to the house. The following day, she went back to town. This time she went to the library. She entered the library and went straight to the children’s section. She selected several books and put them in a box. Then she stopped at the grocery store for more food before returning to the house.

Once back at the house, she cooked some peas and took out one of the children’s picture books from the library. She started teaching herself how to read. Word by word, it slowly began making sense. Eventually, she graduated to books without pictures. She marveled at the stories she was beginning to comprehend. She did little else but read and eat for months.

One day, as she sat at the table reading, her communicator beeped. She jumped. It was an incoming message. She grabbed the comm and looked at the screen. The message read:

Your distress message received.
We understand your ship is inoperable.
Earth is a frozen wasteland. Of no use to us as a new home.
Rescue ship on route.
Acknowledge receipt of this message.

Overcome with emotion, she began to cry. She would be rescued! Earth had seemed like a wasteland when she crash-landed. But she had found an entire world of wonder in the writings of the humans. She knew she could only take a few books back with her. She would have to be very careful in her selections.

She plotted the time it would take the rescue ship to arrive. She figured she had a year of good reading ahead.

Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun.

Mark