Mother's day

The air was heavy with mist , in an age gone by Sam would have expected rain , but it almost never rained anymore . It had only rained half a dozen times in the last twenty years , and never for long

"It's going to be a good day for collecting water ",

Eve always paid attention to her father's advice , even when it was something she had heard a hundred times .

"We need to get the nets up before the mist evaporates "

There were ten masts set in a semi circle with a system of ropes and pulleys to raise the cross beams thirty feet into the morning air which was dense with fog .

The sun wouldn't rise for another hour but by the time it did the opportunity could be lost .

They worked together hauling on the ropes raising the cross beams from which hung the fine mesh nets

One after the other the nets rose into the moist air They could feel them getting heavy with dew even before they were fully raised , by the time they got the last one raised , the first were already laden with dew .

It was hard work but it was their only source of fresh water , Within a few minutes there were trickles of water running down the nets , and into the catch basins , it would be a good day for water gathering

Once the nets were up , they began checking the beetle traps , not many today , but enough , beetles made a great source of protein as well as fertilizer for the crops that they grew in the farm room .

with the first piercing rays of the morning sun , they began lowering the nets and packing them back into the long crates which protected them from the blistering sun ,

the nets came down much easier than they went up

As the sun was making it's way overhead , Sam noticed its reflection off the heart shaped locket which Eve now wore nearly every waking moment , it was the only real keep sake that she had to remember her mother

Sam and Eve made their way into the massive bunker which had been built into the side of a limestone ridge , they closed the concrete doors and moved further into the shelter and down two flights of darkened stairs , their first stop was at the cistern which collected the mornings harvest of water , nearly twelve gallons of new water , the water from the nets passed through a filter which eliminated the radiation and other contamination which the dying civilization had left behind as a constant reminder of their greed and lack of foresight .

Sam closed the infeed valve and opened the out flow valve , allowing the water to pass through a second filter which removed the chemical residue from the first filter . He never really understood the science behind it all but he knew the process ,

Jane had been the smart one , his wife and Eve's mother , she could have gone to the off world colonies with the other scientists , but she had chosen to stay behind with her husband and child , It was Jane who found the abandoned fallout shelter , As a tiny dot on a map .

Sam had discovered how to get into the thing , and when they did , they found a haven , food , equipment and supplies for two hundred people , enough to last for twenty years

and they were the only ones who found it ,

It was a truly impressive structure , seven large rooms ranging in size from a basketball court to the two large storage rooms that were each nearly the size of a football field , plus a dozen or so suites that were clearly intended to be living quarters , plus several workshops with tools and materials to fabricate whatever one might require .

All of it spread out among four levels , there were gardens , an art gallery with copies of every work of art that one might think of .

It was truly a world onto itself , but outside there was a different world , a world decimated by the ecological abuse of decades of neglect and apathy , at the height of the day temperatures could climb as high as 165 degrees , with winds that commonly reached speeds of hurricane force .

But inside it was a virtual utopia , and they had enjoyed seventeen years together before Jane became ill .

Sam saw it coming on as Jane became weaker and weaker

Eve was just fourteen years old when her mother died .

Sam knew that if she had gone off world when she had the chance , that they probably could have saved her life

but here they were in a shelter , that with proper effort would sustain them for decades , but had little in the way of medical treatment .

they passed the remainder of the day as they typically did , daily chores and simple meals , reading from the extensive library .

another began much as the last ,

The water clock chimed at five AM

and they went out to raise the nets

as they were hoisting the fourth net , the rope snapped .

the beam fell and landed on Sam shattering his arm and breaking his leg

Eve managed to drag him back into the shelter , she attempted to set his broken limbs , and tend to his injuries , but she had little medical knowledge , some first aid skills and a limited understanding of human anatomy which she had gleaned from the books that were supplied in the shelter's library .

Sam looked up from his cot , he noticed the locket that Jane had always worn , a heart shaped golden locket , now worn by Eve , and with a smile on his face , he drew his final breath

Eve was beyond heart broken , she was alone in a harsh world .

she dug a grave as best as she could beside that of her mothers , her father had spent weeks carving her mothers grave marker , she tried to match his efforts

but as she worked on the fourth attempt , hammer in one hand chisel in the other

She had been working on her fathers grave marker for months when she realized that the day was now the anniversary of her mother's passing

She renewed her efforts and was nearly finished when she became aware of a movement to her left

she turned and looked and could not believe what she saw

there not forty feet away was a man , in a protective suit

his helmet held at his side , and in his other hand some sort of device

" Jane Davis " he spoke , " On behalf of the Mars colony we have returned to rescue you ,"

" Jane was my mother " was all Eve could manage to say through her tears

The man took in the scene

" I have tracked your device ... that heart shaped locket that you wear , I am sorry for your loss , but you are welcome to join us , we have returned to reclaim this Earth "

An understanding washed over Eve as she realized that her mother had in her own way been with them all along , the locket gave off a radio pulse once every hour and recharged automatically when in daylight

" We are here on our first mission but more will follow , many more will follow ... my name is Adam Williams "

She rose , and walked toward him .

" Welcome Home "

as they embraced