¶ … Walk to the End of the World
It is a post-apocalyptic account of a journey of a father and his young son over a time of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed most of civilization and, in the interceding years, all life on Earth. George and his child Tim proceed with a trip together where they know they won't survive. The area is loaded with fiery remains and without living creatures and vegetation. A significant number of remaining human survivors have depended on savagery, searching the debris of city and nation alike for substance. The boy's mom, pregnant with him at the season of the catastrophe, surrendered trust and conferred suicide some time before the story started, in spite of the father's requests. Acknowledging they can't survive the approaching winter where they are, the father takes the boy south, along unfilled streets towards the ocean, conveying their small belonging in their rucksacks and a general store truck.
When he woke up in the woods, it was dark. He reached out to touch the boy resting close to him. Evenings dull past dimness. Furthermore, the days dimmer than what had gone some time recently. With the first dim light, he climbed and left the boy resting and exited to the street and studied the country to the south. He thought the month was October yet he wasn't certain. He hadn't kept a calendar for a considerable length of time. They were moving south. There'd be no surviving another winter here. When he returned, Tim was still snoozing. He pulled the blue plastic tarp off him and did it to the grocery truck and stuffed it. About an hour later, they were on the road. Fiery debris moving over the street and the drooping hands of visually impaired wire hung from the darkened light poles crying daintily in the wind. A burned house in a clearing and past that a scope of grounds stark and dark. Everything as it once had been was now faded and weathered. There were no indications of life there, simply smoldered structures, autos secured in dust, and a dried body in the entrance. It was the end of the day now. They walked up a slope and got their covers to spend the night there. They lit a light. Tim peeked at his father. His face in the little light streaked dark from the downpour such as some old world thespian.
Could I ask you something? He said
Yes.
Are we going to be dead?
At some point. Not at the present time. Go to rest.
Okay.
And later in the darkness....
Could I ask you something?
Yes obviously you can.
What might you do if I die?
I would want to die as well.
George knew that he was giving false hopes to his son. He started wondering that
death would finally surround them. They should look for a
place to hide where they could not be found. On the other hand, Tim was getting very hopeful and he knew that once they reached South, their life would be different. He and his father will start a new life and live happily ever after. At dawn, both decided to leave their camp on the beach, and they cut down their food stores so that the cart is more manageable. They hiked up and down the shore. On returning, they saw that all of their belongings had been stolen. They took off after the
thief and found him. George intended to kill the thief, but Tim stopped him. It made the boy wonder about their roles as good guys. As they walked back, George got hit by an arrow on his leg. He looked behind them and shot the man who hit him. Later, he stitched up his leg. He had lost much
blood and his asthma was getting worse. He knew he didn't have much time left. Blood had started appearing in his cough. He asked for
water. Tim brought him some and his father saw a light surrounding his boy. George told his son to move on and leave him there, but Tim refused. George died eventually and left Tim for good. Tim cried for hours over his father's body and buried him in a nearby ground. He knew then that he had to live for himself. He had to survive and let the goodness in him live. He wondered about the
mystery of this new world and what it would be like since it had been forever changed.
Reflection
A father and his child walk alone through blazed America. Nothing moves in the attacked scene, spare the fiery remains of the wind and water. It is sufficiently cool to break stones, and, when the snow falls, it is dark. The sky is dull. Their destination is the hotter south, despite the fact that they don't realize what, if anything, anticipates them there. They don't have…
