Built Upon the Ruins

“It was a different time, before the world changed forever, and what we knew became no more. I remember that day so clearly, when the bombs began to drop, and the people began to die. I remember it all so clearly, that sometimes, when I close my eyes, it is as if I am still there in that house. Sometimes I can still feel those grand walls around me, as if nothing had changed. Sometimes I can still hear the doors opening and closing, or the thump of steps in the halls. Sometimes I can still smell the wood burning in the great stone fireplace, or the smell of freshly baked bread from the kitchen. Everything from that place is stamped in my memories, and I don’t believe it will ever leave me. I would be very sad if they ever did.” I take a breath, controlling the tears that wanted to stream down my face as I remember what it used to be like before everything happened. Before the war to end all wars. My heart had broken that day when I saw the destruction around us. Across the world, almost everything had been destroyed. Very few buildings still stood, and those that did have now been taken over by the elite, while the other survivors travel across the deserted and desolate lands.

“Tell us more!” I hear a voice shout out, and it shocks me out of my thoughts and back to the matter at hand. The young kinds surrounding me all scoot closer, their eager eyes staring up at me, starving for more tales of the past. They all want to know what it had been like, and especially about the house that I called home. These kids have seen nothing except the aftermath of the war. All they know is ruins, wastelands and people who have nothing anymore. I clear my throat and get back to the story I was telling them.

“The place I called home was the most amazing place I had ever lived. When I was younger, my parents and I traveled around the whole world. My father had to travel often for his job, and he brought my mother and I with him everywhere he went. It was amazing. I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, the coast of Greece, and so many more places. It was incredible to see so much from a young age. But the one thing I always looked forward to, was going back home and walking through those front doors. So, let me describe it all to you.” The kids all nod their heads eagerly, their eyes shining with bright curiosity. “In a large green forest lies a worn stone path, wide enough for a single car to travel on. We would wind through the trees on that path for some time before the trees would start to slightly thin. Then, peaking through the branches, a large iron gate would loom before the car. There were many pretty designs on that gate, with flowers, leaves and some writing. It was beautiful to see. Once the gate was opened, we traveled underneath an archway made of a canopy of purple and pink flowers on over-reaching branches. Soon, from underneath those branches, you could start to see the house in the distance. White marble columns frame the dark wooden doors. Stained glass windows grace either side of the door, and as you get closer you can see the sun shining on them, making them sparkle in the light. Once through the trees, everything comes into view. The home is three stories tall, windows on every floor. The walls are all white to match the marble columns, but the trim is all gold. We would drive up, stopping just before the marble steps to the front door, and I would often jump out of the car and run straight inside. The entryway was gigantic, black and white marble tiles, leading to a plush white carpet sitting room, with glass floor to ceiling windows behind. Depending on what I would want to do, I would either go to the right, where I knew the cook had fresh baked cookies for me, go straight to where I knew the pool was beyond the glass windows. Or I would go up to the second floor and straight to my room where I knew I had a multitude of toys and games waiting for me. The possibilities were endless in my home. If none of that appealed to me, I could instead go to the left where the movie theater was, or out in the backyard where I had my own jungle gym. I was never bored in my home, and if I ever wanted to do something different, my parents would get me anything I might have wanted. It was an incredible place, and I wish that it was still there.” I let a single tear start to stream down my cheek and some of the kids get closer and lay hands on my legs, trying to comfort me. I don’t even know why I am telling them all of this information, except that they wanted to know what some things were like before the war. What houses had been like and what normal families might have done. Of course I knew, deep down, that my family was not what you would call normal, but these kids did not need to know that.

“So, when did it happen? Were you just a kid then?” One of the kids in the back pipes up, and for a moment I want to lie and tell them I was too young to understand.

“No, I was much older by the time it happened. I was twenty-one when the bombs began to drop. It was actually my birthday that day. My parents were throwing me a party, and had invited all of their most loyal and trusted friends to celebrate with me. It was one of the best birthdays I had ever had. The day began with my favorite breakfast in our elegant dining room. The table there could seat as many as thirty people. They had a large meal laid out and we spent the morning eating and talking about our futures. Then I went up to my room and spent the day getting a spa treatment for the party that night. I was given the full treatment and when it was over I felt like a queen.” Some of the young girls sighed, wishing they could experience something like that. “And then I dressed in the most gorgeous shimmering gold gown and descended the stairs to the applause of my parents and their friends. That night was incredible, but it ended when the bombs began to fall. We felt the first one before we saw it. The earth began to shake, and we all went outside on the deck to see what was going on. That was where we saw them all start falling. There on the marble deck, columns surrounding us with our one hundred closest friends, we watched as fire fell from the sky and the world began to burn and fall. It was an experience I will never forget.” I paused to take a breath, watching it all happen in my head, as if I was back at our home again.

“Where did you go? How did you stay alive?” A little boy shouted from the crowd, and I looked up and locked eyes with him. I saw so much hope in his face, that I almost felt bad.

“My parents and I went down to the basement where we had a bomb shelter. Thankfully they had thought ahead. We were able to fit some people inside with us, but not everyone. There, in the large shelter underneath the house, we waited it out. When we came out, several days later, everything was destroyed. The house that had stood tall and proud in the forest, was in ruins and surrounded by fallen trees. Some areas were burning, and we had to leave quickly. But we did survive, and we have kept surviving even now, ten years later.” The kids all look at each other with hope in their eyes. Hope for a more prosperous future, that things might get back to that again. It is possible that we will be able to have that again, but not everyone will. Only the elite have been living in the buildings, and the rest have nothing. The future will be more decided for everyone. Either you will prosper and have everything your heart desires, or you will have nothing. It is not that those people that have nothing are less than the elite, but only that they were dealt a certain hand, and they have to deal with that.

“Alright kids, time to go.” A guard dressed all in black, a rifle strapped to his back, and a black helmet and mask comes up behind the kids and orders them all away. A few more of these men walk up at the same time and come over to me, while the kids all quietly grumble under their breath but quickly leave. Some of them glance back at me once more, waving goodbye as they shuffle out in their ragged clothes, dirt practically falling off of them as they move out of the room.

“Ma’am, your parents are asking for you.” One of the guards holds out a hand to help me off of my small wooden chair I had been sitting on to match the kids. I take his hand and gingerly stand, my black heels clicking on the floor, and my dark red gown flowing behind me as I step away, heading to my parents. There is no need for me to ask where they are, since we meet at the same place every time. The guards trail behind me, our steps echoing in the stone building. We are three stories up, the lower floors for the rest of our trusted friends, while we have the highest floor. Walking through the halls I can hear my parents talking just up ahead. I enter the large living room, and glancing around I see them up ahead on the balcony beyond the glass doors. My mother stands in a deep emerald gown, while my father stands in his black tux, accompanied by an emerald pocket square to match my mother. They hear me approach and turn around, large smiles on their faces.

“Happy Birthday dear!” My mother exclaims, quickly pulling me into a hug. I turn towards my father, and he embraces me as well, whispering a calmer “Happy Birthday, sweetheart.” I pull back and smile at them both, relieved to be away from everyone as the guards back up to their distant positions.

“Thank you both, I am so happy that it is just the three of us tonight.” I tell them, accepting a glass of champagne from my mother.

“Yes, I agree. A nice quiet birthday was an excellent choice. How did it go with those kids? I don’t understand why you do it. There is no reason for you to lower yourself and spend time with any of those people.” My father’s voice drips with disdain, and I can’t quite disagree. I don’t really love spending time with them, but it does serve a purpose.

“We have discussed this before, father. It is best that we are in their good graces and keep everyone in the dark. If anything does not go according to plan, we at least know that they will be on our side. Besides, we all know that the others are itching for power, we must be the favorite choice.” I say it all with a smile on my face, knowing that he can’t argue with my logic.

“I suppose you are right. I concede.” He dips his head, a slight proud smile on his face. “But we have other things to discuss now.” He looks towards my mother, and she turns her bright smile to me.

“Yes, we have been wondering all day what you might choose, so what is it? What would you like for your birthday this year?”

“Well,” I start, heading to the edge of the balcony and looking out to the world around us. “Nothing will compare to the spectacle of my 21st birthday.” We all chuckle, and stand looking out together at the new land. The large stone and concrete building they are in stands in the center of a large iron gate, fashioned out of their old one. The building they are now in, sits on top of the marble foundation of their old home. When I am feeling nostalgic, I go back down to the bomb shelter my parents had made when I had made my request for my 21st birthday. The world then had no direction, and people thought they could do anything that they wanted. People who had no business being in our circle dared to speak to us all the time. We traveled the world, and all I could see was everything wrong with it. No, it was time to change things. And what better way to change things then to start over. The land around them that had been a large forest was now converted into small wooden buildings for the people that had nothing. We gave them at least a little something, made them all equal, and they were grateful for it. No longer do they have to toil about their lives, trying so hard to get very little. No, they do the basic work we ask of them, and then they get to live their lives. As long as they do what we say, we have no troubles, and they are grateful. None of them have to think about bills, debts, food, or anything like that anymore. They are grateful for what we gave them. Even if they don’t know it was us who gave it to them. I sigh and think of all the good we have done and turn to my parents with my birthday wish. “I have been thinking about my birthday wish a lot, and I think it is time for us to expand.”