A Tower Built On Hope

The sound of music filled Greta's mind as she began to stir in her sleep. Slowly her vision returned to her casing view onto a man that seemed to be in his late forties with greying hair. She tried to sit up but could barely move her arms due to lack of strength. The older man turned to her and noticed her trying to move with a panicked look on his face.

"You shouldn't try to move dear. You haven't moved in a few days. You are probably weak and hungry." He gave an award winning smile to her as he spoke.

Although it was hard Greta managed a slight nod in response to what the older man said.

"Oh, I haven't told you my name yet." The older man said in slight surprise. "My name is David. I was supposed to go back to the United States but that doesn't exist anymore."

The older man dawned a solemn look after he had finished talking, but like the flip of a switch his smile was back in no time. He went to what she thought was the kitchen to cook soup so that she could eat. She knew that she needed to gather her strength so that she could make it to her final destination. It would take three days before she could get to where she could sit up. It would take another four before she could stand.

"How are you feeling Greta?" David asked as he came into the room holding a deli-meat sandwich.

"I think I am feeling a lot better, but may I ask why you have been willing to take care of me?" Greta's eyes made contact with David's sending a chill down his spine.

"Well it comes from a story my mother told me." David cleared his throat shortly followed by coughing a bright flehm into his handkerchief.

"Can you tell me it?" She felt weird asking but took real interest in the story.

"Yes, I can tell you that story. It is best to pass on stories or else they will be lost to the sand of time." He gave her a smile before getting up for a cup of water.

"They are a part of our history so it makes sense to pass them on to others." She sat up and prepared herself for however long it will take for him to tell the story.

"Okay, so I am going to start the story where she started it for me." David gave Greta the same smile her father used to give to her.

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"Humans used to live in fear of the unknown. This was because the world in which they inhabited was covered in darkness. It was a darkness that forced them into hiding for months at a time and during these months they couldn't see anything beyond the candles within their homes. For three months of the time they have constant daylight for anything they need to do such as hunting for their food, farming for their bread, and hosting weddings.

One time they decided that they had become tired of the darkness. The humans took the three months of their daylight to build a settlement on the top of a nearby mountain. The settlement took two and a half of their daylight months. After the dark months settled in the darkness seemed to have grown heavier. The darkness gave birth to monsters to stalk the settlement and kill those that lived within it.

After they suffered one death a day for their dark months the humans banded together once again. They built a large tower in the center of their settlement and asked the gods for help with their tower. The gods cast down a light into the tower and this light was used to keep the darkness away. It was dubbed The Tower Of Hope. That was the original light house and has stood the test of time. They saw that today it still keeps the darkness away."

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"That's an amazing story." Greta's eyes began to glow with a youthful fire.

"It's not really that great. It's just really old." David finished with a deep and hardy laugh.

"They always say the older the story, the better the history behind it will be. So, that means even with your story being old doesn't mean it loses its value." She paired her statement with a smile.

Greta got up and walked to the top of the light house which to her surprise was airlocked fully so that David could do his job without having to worry about his mask. She was amazed by it until she noticed that no glass was around the building, but no fog was entering the area. The light wasn't rotating either like it would in a normal lighthouse.

"That wasn't just a story was it?" Greta asked in response to the footsteps she heard coming up the stairs behind her.

"No it wasn't just a story." David said as he walked up beside her looking out over the ocean.

"So, does that mean I am standing on the tower of hope?" She asked walking out to the guard rail.

"Yes, you are on the tower of hope. Some people in my field of work called it the last beacon of humanity. It is called this because no one ever knows it exists until it is needed. I have been here since the virus first appeared. So far staying within the perimeter of the light house I haven't needed my mask." David laughed it off nervously.

"I would call that lucky if I am allowed to be honest with you David." Greta gave a smile to David.

Looking out over the ocean brought some calm into her heart. She thought back to how her mother would have loved to have seen the view. She didn't want to leave, but her goal is in the north. She was sure that she would probably be returning to this tower before she would die.