Snow Fall

I step out into the snow. It covers the land completely. The cold is all I can ever feel, a biting frost that tears through my clothes right into my flesh.

My path, the exact same one day after day, had formed over the years from my constant walking. A scar across an empty land. The world around me was now barren, lifeless, the great frost had swept over everything. Now holding almost nothing above the surface and everything below. The lost and forgotten treasures from an unknown world sat just waiting to be found.

An auto-cart put together by my past finds was following behind me. Carrying a sturdy iron shovel, and other necessary tools, the cart clanked away trudging slowly through the snow.

Treasure lay everywhere beneath this cold surface, it was just a matter of getting to it. So I dig. Everyday.

After picking a spot, my shovel went through the first layer of snow with ease scattering it to the wind. The second layer is more settled and hardened, it takes me a little more time to break through.

The final layer is the most difficult as it has been there for years turning to solid ice. This was the layer that held onto anything ancient. You didn’t want to chip away at the ice carelessly, as it could damage anything inside. Taking out a pick I carve out where an item might lay, and use a blowtorch to melt away the snow's icy grip.

All that I uncover in the frost was generally the same. Junk. Some of it proved of use, but most of it was just junk. No treasures today sadly.

Then Clank. I hit something.

Swiping away at the loose ice I uncover a large steel box. It appears to be some sort of luggage, possibly from one of the ancients trying to escape the frost. It might still hold some of their secrets inside.

But that last thought quickly vanishes as I hear the all familiar buzz of my drone.

Bzzzzzzz.

The sound grows louder as the drone approaches, building to a steady hum.

Beep-Beep-Beeeeep.

It wants me to get back to work. Throwing the luggage into the cart I continue to dig.

The drone floats over to the cart humming over my recent findings. An inspection.

I sigh, knowing the luggage will be taken and I’ll never see what’s inside.

It notices the box and begins beeping and chirping as it scans the item. It makes a few whirring sounds then picks up the luggage full of secrets and zooms off to someplace I’ve never seen. It then sorts through the items and brings back anything it doesn't desire. It does this several times repeating the process till it has taken everything it wants. Which all in all is not much.

Each of us who remained alive after the great frost had a single drone that tracks our whereabouts at all times. Anything found in the frost that they deemed valuable or too volatile to humanity was taken. Though the scraps were left to us, to do with as we want.

Long before I was born it was decided that the world would not fall to chaos again. The last remaining power on earth prompted the order of, no contact no conflict. There could be no war, theft or savagery if there was no contact. Spread out across the frozen earth humanity lived completely alone and in peace.

The small metal drone that hums around me enforces the law of no contact no conflict. I never thought about the others who might be out there. The law was embedded in me, this was the way to keep us all safe. The drones protect us from ourselves.

Years had passed since I’ve seen another person and it was not by my own choice. During a routine dig, I heard a man yelling in the distance. My eyes were locked onto the horizon prepared for what was about to happen next. The man appeared through the snow fall. He was making his way towards me waving. But, before he could get close, my drone zoomed in and enforced the law.

The man was electrocuted, with a small spiked prod only extended by drones in the most extreme circumstances where the law had been broken. I don’t know what happened to him after that. There was a scream and the drone ushered me away from the scene. We never went back there.

This was the way we lived. No contact, no conflict. It was peace.

Beep-Beep-Krrt.

The drone began crackling, letting me know it was finished taking what it wanted from today’s junk.

A strong wind blew across the snowy landscape in my direction, it was time to pack up and head back. There was nothing left for today. With the cart rolling behind me and the drone humming at my side I made my way back to our dwelling.

Opening the door, the heat of the fire hit me instantly, melting away the bits of frost that caught to my clothing. The cart was able to park inside, while the drone perches itself on a nearby shelf to recharge. It was time for us all to rest and recuperate.

The fireplace was blazing, spreading warmth around the rest of the room. There was still some coffee left over from this morning, after I set it to reheat I take off all of my heavy clothing and lay it out to dry near the fireplace.

Taking a long sip of coffee, I took a peek at the scraps the drone had left me. Very little, just some small sheets of metal that could be used for covering up in the dwelling later on. But also, the clothes that had come from the suspected luggage. The clothing inside that was still intact, a couple shirts and a jacket. Nothing special.

Folding away the shirts I lay the jacket on top to decide what to do with them later. As I did, something fell out of its pocket and onto the cart. It was a small black box. It was unscathed from its eternity beneath the ice. It feels smooth in my hand as I raise it out of the cart. Sliding my fingers over the sides of it I feel a slit that ran along it. I yank on the sides of the box, and a small opening slid out.

Inside was something I had never seen before. The drone must have missed it. There was a chain made of gold with a heart shaped pendant on the end. I had seen the heart shaped symbol before and never understood it’s meaning aside from pumping blood through our body.

I fix my eyes on the object. It seems almost untouched from time. A nearby lamp was illuminating it, causing light to dance off the item's golden hue making the table glow with small bits of warm yellow light. Gliding my fingers over the heart I notice that there was a similar slit in the side of it as the box had.

This must open too.

With a snap, it opens easily. Inside I find something I will never forget.

People. One man and one woman. Printed on a tiny piece of paper inside the heart. The image takes me to another place in time. One that I’ve never known, yet seemed strangely familiar. They appear roughly my age and hold each other in an embrace that was foreign but also natural.

Narrowing in on where the people had placed their hands, they were grasping each other closely, my body began to call out yearning for that same contact. A warm sensation swept over me as goose bumps appear on my skin even though the fireplace burns fiercely filling the room with heat. This feeling was too unfamiliar, but it fills me with an intoxication I have never known. My body starts to relax gazing at their smiles. The smiles on their faces seem somewhat inappropriate, alien in their odd manner.

What could there be to smile about?

No contact, no conflict plays in my head. But, there was no conflict that I could see in the tiny image. Not the kind that could destroy a world anyway. Only something I couldn’t describe. A feeling lost to me.

Thoughts were swarming inside my mind, my stomach begins to churn over. Everything this image holds was something unknown to me. Yet I reach out to that strange moment captured in it, wanting to feel that same feeling they felt.

Every moment of mine up to this point had been by the drones command. It’s incessant beeps and buzzes. All emotions and routines were none of my own, but for so long I thought that was freedom and peace.

There were no drones above these two people. Did they make their own path through life without the drones commands?

A emptiness inside me that I had pushed away, begins to make itself known. I throw the heart across the kitchen, angry and disgusted with myself for even having these thoughts.

The drone hums almost silently on the shelf. Most nights I found it soothing, but tonight each hum increases the anger inside me. The questions didn’t stop, they kept coming.

Was this past world really so wrong? If it was, how was there such an image filled with life such as that one?

The room around me grew cold quickly. The drone was whizzing and whirring, the sound means it was powering up. Hovering towards me it takes a scan of the room.

The golden heart was now on the table. Once the drone saw it the bleeping started.

Beep-Beep-Beez.

I knew what that meant. It was going to take it.

There was no need for something like that for a drone, nor myself. But I wanted it. Something in me needed the golden heart.

"No! The scraps are mine!”

The drone didn’t listen, just began extending its greedy little arms towards the heart. Before I knew it, the shovel was in my hand running towards it.

Smack.

The shovel was brought down on the drone like an axe, it sent the machine flying across the room. The force of it broke off one of its arms. The other arm stretches out, lifting itself up off the ground taking flight again. Then it takes out its prod ready to shock me into submission.

The drone flies towards me, ready to end my life. Swerving out its way, I take a clumsy swing at it. Missing it completely.

The light on the drone turns red, something it's never done before.

Error-Error-Krrrrrrrt.

It screams from the damage. I have to think quickly before it kills me. If I could get it closer towards the fire place I could smack it inside and burn the thing.

I throw the hot coffee over the drone and quickly move towards the fire. Sparks and steam light it up from the splash of coffee. It now sped towards me extending its sharp prod to kill, right before it could reach me I dodge out of the way and smack the drone into the fire.

Klunk.

It sends out a few high pitched frequencies and buzzes burning under the fire’s heat. I was not sure if that would actually destroy it completely, but this would be the best time to get out if any. I gather up my clothes and a knapsack filled with a little food. I pause at the golden heart and gently pick it up. Instinctively I throw the chain around my neck and shoot out the door.

Night-time had fallen so the cold’s bite was much greater than it was this morning. Yet I didn’t care, there was something warmer inside of me now. A fire burning fiercely. I didn’t need to be alone anymore. I step out into the snow.