Disappear

There is an unspoken rule that young George should never be talked about. It is as if speaking of him will cause the incident to happen again. Of course, his parents should be considered. Mentioning his name would only add to their pain.

His disappearance is a mystery. Only his mother was present at the time that he vanished. She recalls only faint details: a warm, spring day, digging in the garden and a small cry of alarm. She claims that she saw something in the tree line. Something moved in the shadows of the forest.

All of us searched for George every day for a week. We found no trace of his whereabouts. Even the hounds couldn't pick up his scent. Whatever happened to him couldn't be explained.

There was no funeral. His family mourned his loss in private. None of us saw them much for several days. When they were outside, they kept close to home and spoke to no one. The rest of us felt like a dark cloud hovered over the entire community. George's absence haunted us all.

As time passed, everyone moved on, including George's family. They had no other choice. In order for our community to survive, each family has to contribute to the greater good.

Our community doesn't have a name. It is located in a large national forest; far away from modern civilization. We received special permission to build within the forest as long as we limited ourselves to a certain amount of acreage. A promise was also made to not damage the surrounding forest in any way.

There are five families living within the community, including mine. Each family plays a role in helping the community thrive. The purpose of our community is to be as self-sustaining as possible. We don't want to interact with the outside world if we don't have to. We grow our own food year round. In the spring, summer and fall we rely on our large communal garden and fruit orchard. In the wintertime, we use the greenhouse. The men go hunting for our yearly meat supply because our beef cattle are few in number. We make our own dairy products from the milk of our dairy cows and goats. Our flock of chickens provide the eggs that we need each week.

Even though we grow and gather our own food, we don't live like the pioneers did. We have running water and electricity. We were able to set up our own water system and electric grid. We do use horse and wagon for transportation. That way we don't have to rely on gasoline. One convenience that we do not have is access to the internet. We don't want any interaction with the outside world.

Within our homes we live simply. No television sets. Only basic furnishings are present. Each kitchen does have an oven, a fridge and a chest freezer. There are lamps in the living room and bedrooms. We all have several bookshelves filled with books; our main source of entertainment. The pictures on our walls are either photos of our family or scenes from the landscape around us. Any kids toys that a family may have are made of wood. Clothes are plain in color and design. A stranger could easily walk into one of our homes and be underwhelmed by its contents.

I don't know the details of how our community came to be. I was just a year old when my parents left behind everything they knew to live here. This place is all I've known.

I do remember when George was born. I was playing outside with my friends. We all stopped in our tracks when we heard the cries of a woman. She sounded like she was in pain! The man who lived at the house where the cries originated burst through his front door and ran toward the community doctor's home. Seconds later, the doctor rushed past the frantic man as he returned home. It wasn't long before the cries of the woman turned into the cries of a baby.

When I told my parents about what had happened, they were both overjoyed! George was special. He was the first baby to be born in our community. Now he is gone.