Free From the Fire by Kent David Kelly

 
     
    I-1
    TESTAMENT
     
    (As originally published and serialized in the University of Tasmania, Australia [UTAS] Holocaust Studies Newsletter for Q2, 3 and 4, 2317.)
    ~
    The following is the first section of a factual yet restructured narrative derived from the 21 st -century confessional written by one Sophia St.-Germain, a female adult survivor of the 2014-15 Pan-Global Nuclear Holocaust. Saint-Germain lived near to the town of Black Hawk , an unrecoverable site believed to have been located some 60 kilometers west of Denver, somewhere along the eastward-facing “Rocky Mountain” spine of U.S. Province 38 (then known as “Colorado”).
    The narrative — in the form of a single spiral-bound cellulose notebook, reinforced and preserved between two square-shorn and modified automobile door plates — had been re-titled by later generations as a holy book, specifically as “THE BOOK OF WOMAN.” The original title, derived from the first nineteen words inscribed upon the title page in St.-Germain’s own hand, is:
    “FROM THE FIRE /
    GIVE ME SHELTER /
    THAT I MIGHT ENDURE THE STORM, /
    GIVE ME THE STRENGTH /
    TO PRAY MY DAUGHTER WILL PREVAIL.”
    This miraculously intact work was recovered from the fourth excavation of the Shoshone Geyser Basin hunter-shelter conclave, a site discovered in Yellowstone, U.S. Province 44 (“Wyoming”) by UTAS Team CCCXIII/2316. This artifact was originally discovered at dig site 84, 3 rd striation, depth 3.2 meters and had been ceremonially buried with seven female human skeletons and one feline skeleton of indeterminate subtype.
    The preservation and recreation of St.-Germain’s tale represents a very exciting milestone in the field of Holocaust Studies, being only the forty-fifth survivor diary ever found intact, and to date the only one solely written by a woman. The document was written in both English and an obscure 21 st -century language classified as “Teeline Shorthand,” likely to maximize the limited amount of paper available. The current narrative has been slightly extended by this researcher to provide explanatory bridges between the partial entries made during Sophie’s ordeal throughout April and May of 2014, chronicling her experiences on Zero Day and the twenty-six post-impact Cycles (“days”) immediately thereafter.
    This researcher is indebted to both Joseph Peter Carrington and Tatkret Begay of the Kodiak Trial Court Clan on Kodiak Island, Alaska, for their ceaseless efforts in translation, historical reconstruction and artifact preservation. I have written this narrative from Sophie’s diary in an attempt to realistically portray her hopes, her fears, her love and — dare I say — her spirit. Despite a certain artificiality of voice, I have made every endeavor to simulate “suburban” and “upper class” life as it persisted in the 201X post-industrial era, but any errors pertaining to vehicles, products, branding, electronics or other cultural minutiae are certainly my own. Fellow researchers in possession of any conflicting first-source information are respectfully encouraged to correct me with the appropriate artifacts and/or period citations.
    This is the book of a challenging woman, one who may well prove to be unlikeable at times. But she — among the millions — emerged from the Nuclear Holocaust; she became strong and selfless, and she certainly grew to become one of the eminent matriarchs of the Lost Age which emerged from the White Fire. The trauma-induced personality shift of St.-Germain herself, from cold and selfish daughter of wealth to noble-hearted Samaritan, has been portrayed herein as it is directly reflected in her diary’s change of tone, from entry to entry over time.
    This recreated tale of terror, hope and ultimate survival is intended for all, without restriction. May your Lore-Masters and -Mistresses find it pure. Please disseminate, share and retell this tale as one of the Reborn Truths as best you can, wherever your Clan