A desolate fraction of a field. That’s all that could be seen for miles. The mountain's high terrain threatened any who dared to challenge its presence. Eyes that looked onward for preservation and nourishment would be disappointed unless they came upon the one tree still standing. It beckoned lightning to strike it down but it’s determination could outweigh any storm. This was the story that Melvrick told his granddaughter Cassidy. By the shielded fireplace every night they listened to the wind ravage through it’s barren branches. It was inspiring really, that no thundering winds from the north, rotting sun from the south, or cackling jolts from the sky could intimidate a solitary life form all alone in a landscape of nothing. 

    Saturday morning came with the dust of dawn whisking across Cassidy’s toes as she sat on the splintering porch. She hummed a soft song to herself in rhythm with the cooling winds coursing through her strands of autumn colored hair. Melvrick awoke her from her trance by tustling her hair with his old ridgid left hand, firewood and a pot sitting in the palm of his right. 

    “You want to help me start breakfast today”?

Cassidy nodded, taking her grandfather’s hand as he led her to the cooking ground. Melvrick placed it a remote distance from the house and even farther than the tree. 

    “That tree is our last source if we ever run out of wood” he would tell Cassidy. 

He pretended not to notice her scrunched eyebrows and tightening fists until she wouldn’t allow her wishes to be ignored. 

    “Never cut it down”.

Melvrick sat down on the lawn chair right over the stones that would soon be engulfed in flames. He handed the flint and steel to Cassidy. 

    “Now remember what I told you…”

    “I know, directly towards the tinder so the spark is caught” 

    “That’s right” he nodded and sat back waiting for her to illuminate the flames. 

Cassidy drew the steel down towards the tinder. She struggled to grip it in her fingers but kept gracing the steel down the flint’s surface. She focused her eyes towards the conjured sparks, grunting with every stroke. Melvrick looked on with a proud smirk when she finally found ignition. The flames warmed her knees as she sat curled up looking off into the fresh sunrise. Melvrick balanced the pot carefully about to pour the MRE into its blackened grasp when his memory caught up to him 

    “Shit..” he muttered “Dear go fetch me the water would you”? 

Cassidy stood without a word and traced her steps back to the house. The wind’s chill met her shoulders with a shivering reminder of the fire’s comforting warmth. She exhaled in a sigh hoping something would return her call. Once in her atmosphere of never a bird would caw it’s feelings circling with the wind’s current. She knew it’s little heart beat for the same dreams she once had. When she was little she wanted to catch one. Let it rest on her arm and whisper illegible prophecies in her ear. But a bird is just a bird and a prophecy is just a fabrication of false hope. Exaggerated for the masses, escape violent truths by associating reality with empty faith. And amongst the rocky surface settled the ash and dust of wishful thinking. You can’t hold onto something that will slip right through your hands. Cassidy threw open the door creaking on it’s rusted hinges. The water was kept in a concave in the wall guarded by a wooden plank that blended in with the house's frame. Melvrick took precaution to hide it from potential looters but Cassidy never thought that would be a problem. She flung open the door, embraced by the smell of far off smoke. The wood cracked as the embers dug into its skin, separating every particle, crumbling ash settled in its place. 

    “Thank you dear” Melvrick took the jug from her, untwisting the seal and throwing it to the sparks. Cassidy sat across from him following the sparks with her eyes as they evaporated into the air. The breeze carried the flames closer to her grandfather who splashed water against the pot’s sizzling surface. 

    “How much ground are we covering today”? Cassidy asked. 

Melvrick’s eyes didn’t stray from steadying the boiling water. 

“We might as well take a couple miles that way” he said gesturing to the left  “I’ll bring the tent so we can set up camp for a night”.

“What about the mountains”? 

Melvrick’s eyebrows shuffled into a scold.

“How many times do I have to tell you, we don’t go to the mountains”.

“Nobody can get over them, we’re probably missing out on sheep, marmots, even lions. The terrain is smooth and as long as we don’t scour the high ground”...

“I told you no” Melvrick’s gruff voice rang over the fire. 

The mountains were the Earth’s last prized possession. After the trees were swept away, the lakes deprived of all waters, and the valleys held nothing but straw grass and starving critters, the mountains pierced nature’s taunts. Refusing to subside to the rubble resembling all surfaces. Cassidy longed to look out over them. Grab them by their peaks and part them to see what was beyond, but Melvrick insisted that emptiness followed Earth to its corners.
    “There’s but a speck of life here” Melvrick said gesturing to the tree “what makes you think there’s more behind them mountains”?

    Cassidy silenced herself. Her retaliation wouldn’t be worth the argument. He’d bring it back to times before and what her parents would have wanted and Cassidy rathered that that topic would stray far from any conversations. 

    After breakfast they scavenged, coursing through the subtle weight of dust floating across their exposed skin. Melvrick wiped sweat off his brow, his fingers aligned with his hunting rifle dangling from his shoulder. Cassidy lolled behind carrying the pop up tent on her back and the wicker baskets that she knew would remain empty. Their last catch was weeks ago, a small billy goat feeding on shrubbery about 6 miles from their house. She watched her grandfather’s every movement studying his hand placement and eye coordination. As they kept searching the predictably deserted trail she asked the same question every time they hunted.

    “Can I do a practice shot today”?

Melvrick huffed up a grizzly cough, shrugging his shoulders back trying to regain balance within himself. 

    “No, you know we have limited ammo”.

    “Just one shot, what if you die on me too and I don’t know how to shoot”. 

Melvrick veins clenched, he turned and leveled with Cassidy, his eyes flaring with anger.

    “Now you listen to me, I ain’t gonna die on you, and hell if I did you’d know how to shoot”.

    Cassidy stepped back but stood tall on her toes matching her grandfather’s infuriated expression. 

    “God forbid if you were out here to fend for yourself by god all means you could do it. I showed you how to hold this thing” he set the rifle in between them 

    “I showed you how to disable the safety. All you have to do is fire and you got enough brains in you to do that”. 

    He stood taking the rifle with him not waiting for Cassidy to pace along beside him. She watched him carry himself through the ruins that surrounded them. His large dust drenched boots smearing through the dust and dirt beneath them. He muttered grumbles to himself, kicking at the sandrocks and any other cluster of Earth in his way. Taking the temperature defying cool air into her lungs Cassidy followed a solemness rippling through her. 

    They walked till daylight retreated, setting up camp in a small hill crest guarded from surface level predators. Melvrick always made himself first watch a steady fire kept the perimeter of the tent toasty enough for a comfortable sleep for Cassidy. She stayed awake for the first hour, finding more comfort in the fire’s tender crackle until it’s harmonic wavelengths coerced her into drifting to slumber. Hours went by and Melvrick woke her with a small tap on the shoulder. She nuzzled her face against her sleeping bag, a small puddle of drool formed at the base of her pillow. Melvrick giggled at this habit of hers and wove his fingers through her hair smiling at her peaceful waking. Her pale skin and loose strands of amber hair favored her mother which evoked silent tears in his eyes. 

    “You take your time sweetheart”. 

Cassidy rose gingerly, stretching her arms and feeling the fabric of the tent. She pulled her hair back again and whispered to her grandfather.

“Sleep tight”. 

He chuckled deeply and patted her shoulder, ushering over to his sleeping bag. For the remaining hours of the night Cassidy sat knees inches from the fire. The flames decorated her hair highlights in a mirroring glow. It was in the night's familiar silence that she heard a disruption. A howl. She launched herself to her feet immediately and listened again. Listened for the beautifully treacherous sound that she would not shy away from. She heard it again sounding somewhere towards home. Home where their limited supply of food and water was. Sparing no hesitation she grabbed her grandfather’s rifle. She turned back, analyzing his lumbering stature and blissful snores. He had built that cottage. Kept her safe through the thunders and lightning of today tomorrow and always. He was a hero before hell occupied earth and he would be until the end of his days. Cassidy shared a silent promise to him that she would be back. 

    She ran against the cool currents of the silver moon’s night. She traced her distance with every step. Imaginary rulers lined her trail. She knew it would be long before she reached the house again but the howl kept her spirits at the height of soaring eagles. So she soared. Only reducing her pace to a walk when her little muscles pulsed with pain. She wheezed dry air. Sweat beaded against her hairline battling the alacrity of the breeze. Her hands stretched to her knees. Gulps of air entered her panting chest. She had one more mile to go, the seconds that turned to minutes abandoned her calculating mind. The weight of the hunting rifle had her shoulders feeling like rocks, glimmering in the shade of the prominent glow of the moon. A moon that was luminescent enough to conjure a whole pack of wolves, so she kept moving. She hauled her legs living off a few hours of sleep across the surface, besotted with deprivation below her. The clouds loitered above her. Appalled by her tenacity and that’s when nature revolted again. A subtle drop of rain leaked out from the sky and embraced Cassidy’s shoulder. Her eyes blackened with worry. She knew what the demonous clouds were capable of. Several drops followed, wetting her hair simultaneously. 

    “No. No no no”. She took off again not waiting for the worst to begin. 

The downpour commenced shortly after the fallen drops, relieving the parched Earth. Cassidy sprinted, heaving heavy breaths with every step. She heard the wolf’s howl again, louder and approaching. The house was a few minutes away. She slung the gun to her forearm balancing it gently. She hoped that it was alone and a pack wouldn’t be waiting for her back at the cul-de-sac. Her ponytail felt that it held gallons of rainwater. Her clothes submerged in saturation. She continued on, an avalanche defying the weather’s punishment. She thought of the tree stronger than any disastrous downfall. It’s branches outstretched, welcoming the earth’s wrath and never shying from the threat of annihilation. 

“Cassidy”! A voice broke through the torrential screams. 

She skidded herself to a stop and faced her grandfather, though her vision was clouded with rain she could see his beard sagging with water. She wondered how long he had followed her and why she didn’t hear his calls. She was sedated at the sight of his worn out face. Even from afar she could spot the fear in his eyes must’ve been doubled when he saw she was gone from the tent.  Her body ached with regret. It ached for the man who showed her every ounce of love he could give despite her whining. Her constant wanting for more out of a life that subdued them to almost nothing. 

    “Watch out, behind you”! Melvrick called seconds too late. As Cassidy turned the wolf bared its teeth and pounced ferociously. 

“Melvrick’s calls were lost in the background. Cassidy’s adrenaline released, barricading herself behind the hunting rifle as the wolf latched one. Her ears fixated on it’s growls, her body paralyzed with panic. Still, she held her grip keeping the wolf at arms length. She dug her elbow into the ground and with a short hoping breath kicked off the wolf’s chest with her right foot catapulting the wolf’s body a few feet away from hers. It didn’t wait for her recovery and struck again but not before Melvrick delivered a punch to it’s jaw. It whimpered but then flared it’s eyes in anger striking its claws into Melvrick’s neck. He winced and fell back right beside Cassidy. The thud of her grandfather’s body triggered broke the floodgates of tears and raw anger she usually kept hidden. The wolf sprung again and was met with the front side of the rifle jamming into its face. Cassidy grunted and fidgeted with the safety on the rifle. Saliva dripped from the wolf’s fangs as it shook its injured head. It faced Cassidy one more time leaping towards her, but was grazed with the bullet to the center of it’s chest. The animal fell blood pouring from the wound. She threw the gun to the ground and ran to her grandfather. 

“Grandpoppy, you gotta get up, the rain is coming down too hard. We have to get back to the house”. 

Melvrick groaned and guarded the gash on his neck with his hand. 

“Yes, come on, You’re gonna be ok, we just have to get to the house” Cassidy cried in rhythm with the rain’s impact. 

Melvrick’s breath stammered. His body tried to wriggle free of the anguish coursing through his entire body. 

“There you go come on, I know you can get up”. 

His withering eyes met Cassidy’s and his hand latched onto hers. She cried continuously as she helped lift her grandfather off the ground, throwing his arm over her shoulder. Melvrick groaned in pain and limped sluggishly. They passed where the rifle had landed and Cassidy picked it up with her free arm. She led them back to the cottage, a couple minutes away, the rain beating their bodies ruthlessly. They reached the house and Melvrick fell into the door frame coughing brutally, eager to balance himself. Cassidy led him into the doorway and onto the couch where he crashed, burying the fabric in his weight. Cassidy rushed to what used to be the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth. Her grandfather’s tortured moans quickened her haste as she grabbed a gallon of water, soaking the washcloth. 

    “Here”. She ran to her grandfather’s side “hold this to the wound”. 

In the same plank that they kept the water laid the first aid kit they hadn’t used in a long time. 

She grabbed the bandaging and ointment setting it all up in order of appliance. 

    “Hand it to me, it has to dry before I bandage it”. 

Melvrick groaned and handed the sopping washcloth to Cassidy shifting in discomfort. 

    “It’ll feel better soon I promise” and that was a promise Cassidy could keep. 

    She finished bandaging just as the storm outside ceased to a light drizzle. Cassidy had lost track of the time but figured they’d sleep through dawn anyway. Melvrick snored just as he did in the tent, the soft specks of rain acting as a soothing echo. Cassidy fell asleep beside him, her damp hair sticking to the base of her collarbone. 

    Cassidy woke, the wood floor creaking at every minor movement. She rolled onto her side towards the couch realizing her grandfather was not there. She came upon him outside heating up an ordinary morning’s breakfast. He whistled to himself twiddling his hands as steam rose from the pot. His serene state was misunderstood by Cassidy. Now that the daylight joined them she studied her bandaging work on her grandfather's neck. Sloppy, she thought. 

    “Well there’s my little savior”. Melvrick bellowed. 

An inexplicable jubilance overcame Cassidy as she collapsed into her grandfather’s arms a small joyful tear escaping the corner of her eye. He ruffled her hair squeezing her warmly. 

    “How does it feel”? She gestured to his neck. 

    “I’d say I feel all right”. Melvrick gleefully proclaimed. 

    “That was a very noble thing you did last night, I’m very proud of you”.

Cassidy just hugged her grandfather again trying not to cry anymore. She glanced over at the tree standing still even as the wind tossed it’s branches. She couldn’t help but sob delicately. 

    “That’s why I came out here and fixed you up a hero's breakfast”. Cassidy giggled watching her grandfather pouring the oatmeal into two seperate bowls. As they ate in silence, maple oats coating their tongues Melvrick took a risk with his words. 

    “I was thinking. About what you said about the mountains”.

Cassidy nodded, wiping the remnants of oatmeal off her upper lip.

“I think we ought to venture up there once in a while”. 

Cassidy's heartbeat stumbled over itself. 

“Really”?  

“Yeah, you’re almost 11 you saved my damn life last night, we’ve been scouring the same path for a while now, I think you’re up for a new challenge”. 

Cassidy looked to the terrain. It’s steep peaks separating sky from Earth. The clouds hovered over ominously. The same clouds that conjured the horrific storms that took a familiar life from all livelihood on this withered planet. The ravenous winds could threaten. The thunder could scream treachery, and the lightning could stifle all bravery but she would welcome it all.

    “I’m ready when you are”.