The Burden of Faith

Wind used to be something you would love to feel through your hair, at least that's what I've heard. All we feel now when the wind blows is terror as we run to our bunkers to wait out the storm. Father always told me that one day we wouldn't have to hide from the windstorms and we'd be able to breathe the air without filters. This is a fantasy for most of us.

Our community is all children except father. He's not our real dad but he's the only thing any of us know to be a parent. Father has told us all about how the world fell apart in a nuclear war and that our current climate is from the fallout. We've heard about sunny skies and big cities full of people. Stories of going to church on Sundays and staying home from school during Christmas. Every day we sit together in a circle with him in our underground bunker that he's named "The Temple" and he tells us stories. Those stories aren't always happy but in a lot of them he does mention being able to see the sun and somehow the smell of fresh cut grass is mentioned often. I don't get that one at all. At the end of every circle time session he always holds his silver locket hanging from him neck and says "Have faith that better days will come my children."

Father also teaches us survival skills as he sends us outside in groups to find anyone else that might have survived and is looking for shelter. Its not so bad except when the windstorms come. Normally outside is very dark and gray and we have to wear masks with filters in them as to not breathe in the ash-filled air. We do have an alarm system for when the wind picks up. Father set up some chimes that pull a string that leads into the bunker that sound off a siren. That's when the fear sets in. Getting caught out in a windstorm is very dangerous. The ash can pile up so fast on you making it impossible to see, not to mention it also can clog your mask's filter and when it gets to that point, you likely wont make it back to the bunker.

Today father went out searching as well, he normally doesn't. Today he asked me to stay inside and watch the chime wire and sound the sirens if wind picks up. It was boring to say the least. At least I had some books to read. I was maybe an hour or two into reading a book about magic, Father said it was one of the most popular of his time, the chime wire started going crazy. I quickly ran to the siren call button and pressed it so hard my finger started to throb.

Only minutes had passed until the first couple of us got back to the bunker and slowly the rest poured in as well. What seemed like an eternity had passed and everyone was back, except Father. We waited for him silently for at least a few hours and the chimes were still going off wildly. Suddenly a bell rang, the alarm to get together for circle time came. Many of the children were crying thinking that circle time wasn't going to happen.

I went to Father's room and grabbed his favorite book. Its about a caterpillar and its very short. Not really the type of book you'd expect an adult to read. I figured this would be the one that I could show the pictures to the younger children to stop their tears. As I entered Father's room a shiver went down my spine, something felt very off. However I had to give the other kids circle time. The caterpillar book I was looking for was on his nightstand however strangely enough the silver locket was on top of the book. I had never seen father take it off, this was strange.

My mind was full of questions as to why Father would ever leave his locket behind. So I picked it up, it was heavier than I expected, along with the book. When I grabbed the book a picture fell out. It was a little boy, blonde hair, big smile, wide eyed giving a thumbs up on a sunny day at a grass covered field. My eyes started to fill with water and my knees started to feel weak. I sat down for a minute holding and looking at the picture, with the locket in my other hand. I must have been gripping the locket pretty hard because it got hot in my hand and made my palm sweaty. Placing the picture back into the book, I looked at the locket now hanging from my fingers. It is really pretty. "Should I open it?" I thought to myself as my fingers already made their way to prying it open.

After fumbling with the locket for a minute or two, I got it open. There was a picture of a brown haired woman on the left side of it and one of Father, that woman and the boy from the other picture on the right side. "Are these people who father was out searching for?" I said out loud as if someone was going to answer. "Right then, I know what I have to do." I said out loud again, but this time it was to encourage myself. I closed the locket and put around my neck, the picture on Father's night stand and walked back out to the common room with the book in my left hand.

"Hey everyone, I know were all worried about Father but you know he'd be disappointed if we missed out on circle time. So I grabbed his favorite book and I'm going to read it to you guys and show you all the neat pictures!" Instantly a little girl responded to me and said with tears in her eyes. "Big Sis, what do we do if father doesn't make it back? This wind storm is lasting a lot longer than usual." I just looked at her with a big smile, held the locket in my hand and said "You just have to have faith"