Elemental Island by Kathy Hoopmann

Author:Kathy Hoopmann [Hoopmann, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784502287
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2015-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

14

I’d Rather Fight a Bio Suit than a Scavenger Any Day

“Danny,” I shouted. “Danny!” A couple of cows jerked up their heads. To my surprise, tears pricked my eyes.

Danny emerged from the bushes on the other side of the field and ran back to us. “Stop yelling, sweetheart. You’re scaring the cattle.” He took a long look at me.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I swallowed and nodded.

“Come and see what I found!”

We jogged across the field and Danny pushed aside some prickly branches. In a nearby tree, a sloth gazed at us upside down, unafraid, with a sleepy baby clinging to her tummy. Behind them, in the middle of an overgrown garden, I saw a dilapidated building. One of the attic windows was broken. It made the house look like it was squinting in embarrassment.

“Clear silica glass,” Jakob noted. “It must have been built before they invented photosensitive coating.”

I walked down a path that had grass in the cracks. Wildflowers dotted the rough garden beds. Straggly fruit trees bore custard apples and lemons and there was the scent of mint in the air. A broken swing hung by one strand from the branch of a large tree. Once this would have been a gorgeous house. I imagined it painted pale blue with white trimming and envisaged Neil and his mower let loose on the lawn. The result in my mind was much nicer than our houses back in town, which were all the same.

I walked up three steps onto the rickety veranda. Danny grabbed my hand and dragged me inside.

“Look!” he cried. “We are the first ones here for sure. I can’t see any signs of scavenging. There are still light fittings and stuff all over the place!”

We had stepped into a lounge area with a faded floral couch slumped in one corner. Dull colourless curtains hung lank at the windows. I imagined them bright yellow and blue. Way prettier than my photosensitive smart window. Sunlight streamed through the silica panes, catching dust motes in the air. The floorboards creaked as we walked, but at least they seemed solid enough.

“This place is beautiful!” Danny said as he almost skipped to the next room. I followed him into what appeared to be an old Learning Hub, with hard wooden seats in rows instead of pods. All along one wall were pictures with simple instructions.

Do not touch other people!

Do not look into people’s eyes!

Speak logically!

These were things Mother had said to me all my life, but I couldn’t image why they would print them and hang them on a wall. Most people didn’t have to learn them.

Then it hit me. This was Grandmother’s retraining house! It had to be! What horrors would I find here?

“There are bedrooms down here, with beds in them!” Danny’s voice was shrill with excitement. I followed him to a series of small rooms, each with a single bed, a tiny cupboard and a bed lamp on a side table. The right size for a child.

“Imagine having all this room for one person!” Danny pulled up a rat-eaten mattress and inspected the springs.

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