Outlast Me

The heat was approaching unbearable. Two lone figures stumbled across the barren expanse, the sun beating down on them. It’d been three days and two nights since they’d set out, hoping to find something of use. They wore light layers to keep the sun from roasting their skin, using their water sparingly. Even so, it was wearing on them more than they anticipated.

Now they doubted the longevity of their own meager rations to get them back home. Without some kind of miracle the return trip was looking grim.

“One more night.” Huffed Sam. “We don’t see anything by daybreak tomorrow, then we head home.” Sam side-eyed their companion, who walked a little slower, huffed harder, and took the heat with less stoicism. Sam walked close by to be there, should their companion falter.

“Yeah. Okay.” Wren tried to keep the exhaustion out of their voice. And failed. “Sounds like a plan.” Wren had insisted on a brisk pace. A plan they now regretted.

The sun began to set when Sam first noticed the dark blotch. The heat rising off the land gave it a dream-like look, almost as if it didn’t exist in firm reality. And truth be told, Sam wasn’t sure it did.

Sam kept the discovery to themself, afraid of getting Wren’s hopes up for nothing. When Wren’s own gasp of realization escaped their lips Sam knew they’d seen the same thing. “Sam…” Wren’s voice sounded hoarse.

“Yeah, I see it, Wren.” Sam looked at their companion and then forward again. “It’s a building, I think. Some kind of shelter.” The two exchanged a hesitant look before grins overtook their faces and they broke out into a hobbled and uneasy run. Excitement fueled their frantic, half-limped sprint.

As they approached the shelter, certain details became clear. There was no sign of life from the outside. A lone building made of wood - bleached and dried. A single window facing south was too dirty and scratched from windblown sand to be seen through.

They came to a stop, gasping for breath as they looked over the structure. They walked around the outside, eyes alert for any sign of life or movement. Any indication that their approach would be unwelcome or invite trouble.

Sam spoke up first. “Hello?” Their voice lost in the expanse of open air. “Is anyone home? We need shelter for the night. We may have something to trade.” Both Sam and Wren’s ears strained to hear any motion inside the shack. They held eye contact with each other for a long moment before visibly relaxing.

“Sounds like we’re alone. Is it bad that I’m almost disappointed?” Wren smirked as they approached the door. The knob turned with some effort and the door swung open on creaky hinges. The inside was dark and took time for their eyes to adjust from the garish light of day.

Inside wasn’t much cooler than outside. Now that their adrenaline had worn off, Wren’s exhaustion was catching up to them again. Their shoulders slumped, their eyes fought to stay open and they wavered on their feet.

Sam watched every movement with concern - every small struggle Wren made. “Come on. Let’s get you sat down.” Sam took Wren by the arm and led them to a corner of the room, holding Wren’s arm as Sam helped Wren ease to the floor.

With Wren no longer in danger of falling over, Sam could finally take in their surroundings. The building once had many functions - a small cot in the corner, a desk with a ramshackle chair, and a workbench with tools. The tools scattered across the bench might be saved or repurposed. Sam began making a mental checklist of what they’d be leaving with. What had once been intended as a storage building had clearly become someone’s home.

“I see some bags. Might have some clothes in them. Desk drawers need goin’ through.” Wren’s words came out slurred and slow. They needed sleep. And probably water. Sam knelt next to Wren with their canteen.

“Here. Drink. I’ll sort through stuff while you rest.” Sam’s tone left no room for arguing - not that Wren was in any position to fight back, even verbally. Sam helped Wren drink, making sure they were taken care of before returning to inventory. Wren was right. The bags held clothes of varying sorts and sizes. There’d be folk back home that would put these to good use. Even the ones that were well worn could be useful as patches or for rags.

The tools were old, but Sam had seen worse. After gathering the clothes and tools together, Sam finally moved to the desk. The top was strewn with old, yellowed paper, envelopes, a few well-used and half sharpened pencils.

“Who do you think they were?” Wren took in the shack as a whole. It was an odd building to be so far away from anything else. But it had clearly been someone’s home.

Sam sighed. “No telling. All this paper and I haven’t seen a single wor—“ Sam’s voice died on their lips as they pulled open the top drawer. Inside held an envelope, unsealed but containing a letter. On the outside read “The Future”. Across the envelope laid a plain silver chain with a single adornment.

Craning their neck to the side in a futile attempt to see what had stopped Sam, Wren asked. “You find something useful?” Wren was feeling a little better, the small break and the drink of water did them good, but they still weren’t ready to stand.

Sam pulled out the necklace and held it up for Wren to see. “It’s beautiful… but what purpose could it serve?” Sam walked the necklace to Wren who took the chain in their fingers and held the pendant up to examine it. “There was a note as well.”

Wren peered intently at the pendant - two curves at the top and pointed at the bottom. “What does it say? Any clues as to what this is? The shape reminds me of something…” Wren trailed off as they tried to recall.

Sam moved back to the desk and pulled out the note, opening it gingerly. The paper was frail, thin, and brittle. The note was written in pencil, most of which had worn away. Though they could make out a few words here and there as they moved back to Wren, the note unfolded in Sam’s hands. “My Loves. Forever in my heart…”

“A heart!” Wren exclaimed, cutting off Sam’s reading. “I knew I recognized the shape. It was in an old book of shapes they read to us as kids. Not one we use often anymore.” Wren glanced up at Sam with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Please, continue.”

Sam smirked, one eyebrow raised. “Ahem.” Throat cleared after the interruption, Sam continued. “Forever in my heart. My last possession from What Came Before. May my love for you outlast me.” Sam’s expression grew sad as the last line hung in the air.

Wren’s brow furrowed deeper. “Forever…” Wren repeated. “In my heart…” The words echoed in Wren’s mind. There was something significant about that phrasing, they were sure of it. “Wait a minute…” Slipping a fingernail into a crevice on the side of the pendant, Wren gasped as the heart popped open.

“Look! There’s pictures…” Inside the heart held two old photographs. One person on each side of the heart, both in the middle of laughing, smiles taking up their faces and making their eyes shine. One had bright, vibrant eyes, while the other’s gaze was deep and soulful. “Oh, my.” Wren near whispered. “They’re lovely.”

“Stunning. But what’s the point of the thing? How is anyone else supposed to use this?” Sam’s face contorted in confusion, seeming almost mistrustful of something for aesthetics. “I don’t see what use it could be.”

Wren took the note from Sam, reading it again. “May my love for you outlast me.” Wren looked at Sam. The two had been friends for a long time. They scavenged together, hunted together, worked together, played together. And every so often Wren found that sometimes they saw Sam. Not noticed, or looked at, like usual. But seen. The curve of Sam’s face, the lines, the shape of eyes and the color - deep and soulful. Wren looked back down at the pictures.

“This was someone’s home, Sam. Their last sanctuary.” Wren looked around the dim area, as if making one last desperate attempt to look for signs of life. “They’re gone. And they have been for a long while. But this?” Wren held up the locket. “This remains. They made it for their loved ones. They kept it to remind them of those they’ve loved, Sam. And it outlasted them all. After there’s no one else to remember their names or their voices or their past… This symbol of that love remains.”

The two sat in silence for a long moment. Sam watched Wren’s face, the pair truly seeing each other. Tears welled up in Wren’s eyes and Sam’s burned with the threat of the same. Nodding, Sam understood. “That’s the purpose. That’s the legacy that remains of them.”

“Their love.” Wren nodded in return. Folding up the letter, Wren returned it to Sam who was careful to slide it back into the envelope. “ It’s addressed to ‘The Future’?” Wren read the envelope. “What do you suppose that means?”

Turning the envelope over to look at the scrawling letters that formed the enigmatic phrase, Sam said at last. “It’s us, I think. Or anyone who would come across it later.” Sam met Wren’s eyes again. “They wanted it found.”

Nodding in agreement, Wren closed the locket and slipped the chain around their own neck. “To outlast them. So their love would remain in the world long after they were gone.” Wren touched the locket where it hung. “I like the sound of that.”

Sam watched as Wren put on the necklace. Finally, they reached out and took Wren’s hand in their own. “Yeah. Yeah, me too.” The two held each other’s gaze, saying not a word and yet telling each other more than they ever had before.

Giving Wren’s hand one last squeeze, Sam was the first to break the spell that kept them entranced with each other. “We need to set up for sleep. I’ll pack up what we need to take home and we’ll set out before sunrise. Get you back before the heat makes us both crazy.” Sam’s smile and wistful tone tried to make light of the moment.

Wren would have none of it. Pulling Sam to them, Wren’s lips claimed Sam’s in a kiss both impassioned and shaky. Wren wasn’t the bold one. Wren wasn’t the one who ever spoke first or stood tallest. But in that moment, Wren knew that inaction only proved them to be lazy or a coward. It put all the responsibility of action on Sam or remain too afraid to take any. And Wren was tired of sitting still.

The kiss broke with slow deliberation. The pair’s hearts thundered in their ears, their breaths uncertain, their eyes opening to take in each other in a new light. “Don’t go far.” Wren’s voice sounded surer than they felt.

“Never.” Sam gave Wren a soft smile, reaching up to brush fingers across Wren’s cheek before standing and moving to gather what supplies they’d found.

Wren’s fingers caressed the locket as they watched Sam move about. Once again, and not for the last time, the words from the letter traveled from the heart of one, to the paper, through time, to whisper from the lips of another.

“May my love for you outlast me…”