Nature Rules - 2022 WATTY'S SHORTLIST

A Message and a Promise

The next few weeks in Nakimu are a mix of school and extra lessons. It should be life as "normal" but there's an underlying current of tension. It's in the angry tone of voices. It's in the echo of empty rooms, once filled with families. It's in the way Solomon and Katherine no longer smile and laugh and instead, frown at the least little thing.

Every time we go somewhere in Nakimu, we witness settlers moving out. Some folks carry their possessions on their backs, some have carts piled with valuables and some have nothing more than a bag full of food. The departures are constant and I'm beginning to wonder who will be left.

At a community meeting, Solomon tells the crowd about one hundred people are gone. That's more than I had imagined.

"Others are scheduled to leave," he announces. "Fujina was the first one to go and convinced more to follow."

Rumblings start through the crowd. Sebastian's metropolis must not be too bad if 100 people went to join it. Right? No according to John.

"Don't you see now how big a mistake going to the new city is?" he shouts out. "Can't you see you're falling into a trap?

"By now all those people who left have been picked up by Motos and shipped to this so-called utopia. They're at the city all right but not on Aeternian terms. There's no way Sebastian is letting them be free. He wants us and wants us as prisoners. Not tourists and especially not as residents."

"What do you mean shipped?" snaps one man in the corner. "By boat? By rail? I thought there wasn't any fuel left to run big machines?"

"Are you kidding me?" says an incredulous John, his brown eyes bulging. "That's what the GlobalGov wants you to believe. They have fuel. They have everything and anything you and I used to have before the wars. Vehicles, airplanes, boats. They just don't want any of us to have it."

Again the room fills with chitter chatter. I see the pain in John's eyes and his clenched fists when he speaks about Sebastian. He's fighting for the settlers' lives. Unfortunately, lots of them don't care.

Then, a woman walks into the meeting chamber and changes everything.

"They've arrived! They've arrived!" she announces, holding up a piece of paper. "Fujina and her son are safe and well in Newtopia."

That seems a little fast. How did they get to the city so quickly?

The woman's rushed by people wanting to hear all about it. Solomon holds up his hand to control the crowd but they aren't having it. He takes a seat and waits for the lunacy to subside.

Finally, the woman emerges out of the mass and heads to the front of the room.

"My name is Vesta. I'm good friends with Fujina and she told me I would be the first to hear the good news.

"She sent me this letter via the Companions, Aeternians working for Sebastian. Fujina says Newtopia is brilliant and wonderful and she's found a home she feels she can raise Dodney properly in.

"Fujina wants us all to know we can come to Newtopia anytime. She said the Companions will guide us to the city. Sebastian is waiting for us and wants to fulfill our every need and wants. All we have to do is put one foot in front of the other and go. Go!"

With that exuberant order the half of the room that hadn't mobbed Vesta yet jumps to their feet. There's lots of clapping and cheering and laughing and one man breaks out into a jig.

John doesn't move from his seat. His eyes fill with tears while watching the merrymakers. Solomon seems to be made of stone too. He doesn't move even when a couple of folks approach him with smiles.