Taylor Kaszas

This Is Our Way

This Is Our Way My only escape is to drift off and remember the child utopia of my youth on the surface. Protected by structured walls made of strong rock, metal scraps from the previous life, and clay formed by our Elders. Everything in the Oasis is green, lush, and vibrant. Our bellies full and our every want or need met. There was laughter and joy and love in each little soul that walked the compound. Stories from the Great Elders and Academics passed down generation to generation give us roots to the cause of survival and progression now. Things used to be much different. A virus swept the earth in 2020, and when our people saw the light at the end of the tunnel, a bigger wave of catastrophe cascaded through the whole world. Viral variants multiplied, rushed vaccines had dire consequences, and worldwide power outages destroyed many populations. Civil unrest and war ran rampant before nature took over and started to heal itself from decades of destruction. The wild flourished like it had in ancient times. The beasts of the forests and jungles finally got the upper hand, and we were at their mercy, forced to go deep underground for protection. Our only saving grace was a genetic mutation found in an extremely rare number of us that gifted immunity to the superior viruses. Still, we were left severely outnumbered. The child sanctuary was nothing like the Elder’s times. Simple, basic, but everything you need to be strong and healthy and nurtured. The land was vast but the walls were colossal. Sunlight entered the valley during peak hours in the afternoons when it was at its highest point. Fresh water, hills, and vegetation flowed beautifully, and these memories are what keep my mind intact while I am physically confined in the dimly lit cavern the Expectants live in.