Pulse by David Lisenby

Author:David Lisenby [Lisenby, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-22T05:00:00+00:00

As the sound of the tractor pulling the water wagons faded in the distance, Roxie rang the dinner bell. People started heading to the back yard for breakfast.

It didn’t take long before most of the residents of the Landing were gathered near the Grub Hut. They had gone to bed the night before without having dinner and were pretty hungry. Roxie knew they would be. She cooked a lot of pancakes, deer sausage and gravy. She even pulled out the old percolator and had two pots of coffee going.

It took a little convincing, but the volunteers all rested their shovels and joined in the morning meal. For most, it was the best home-cooked breakfast they had eaten in weeks. They were all impressed with the resourcefulness and teamwork they had witnessed already that morning.

And this was only the morning after tragedy struck the Landing.

Most had fixed their plates and were sitting around in little groups when the Lindsey family made their appearance. They group all walked as one (well, except Kay … she was in a wheelchair, remember?). As they came in through the gate, nobody said a word. All eyes were on them, though.

The people standing in the serving line stepped back and allowed the family to fix their plates and fill their cups with the bitter caffeinated nectar that they all craved. It was quiet.

Arlene stepped up and fixed a plate for Kay. She carried it over and laid it upon her lap. Kay looked at her lovingly and softly said, “thank you.” She then bowed her head and offered thanks to God for the nourishment she was about to receive. When she finished her silent prayer, Kay raised her head and said, “Amen.”

Everyone in the back yard repeated, “Amen,” in unison. Even the children.

The family sat and ate together. They had stayed up until late in the night sharing memories and talking about the future. They had felt the earth shake when the explosion occurred in the middle of the night, but none of them were frightened or concerned. After that, they had slept well.

Following their meal, everyone went about their business. Arlene had joined the family, sitting next to Sierra. Apparently, the baby had been active the night before and was causing an awful ruckus in her mama’s belly. Her due date was a couple of days away and Arlene suggested they go to their sleeping quarters and check things out.

Kay was glad to hear this, since she had listened to Sierra moaning most of the night.

The morning wore on and more people showed up to offer their help and to bring covered dishes. That was weird. Yes, this was a small town in Texas and folks did that when someone died, but there had been a solar flare that knocked the entire planet to its knees and people were scrounging for food. Somehow, though, they were able to maintain tradition. Soon there was enough food to feed an army.

Chief Whiteside and Mayor Willis even showed up.

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