Before there is a man

Brad was 14 today. He awoke ready to face the day.

The sun was already up. His Mom had let him sleep a little late. He got up out of his bunk and dressed. He put on his jeans, thermal top and the leather jacket his mother made for him. He washed his face and hands in the bath room then started toward the front of the house. He had chores to do.

He walked through the main room and heard his Mother in the kitchen area. “Good morning Mom.”

“Good morning birthday boy!” she yelled and ran to him wanting a hug. Jill was 39 and still in good health. She had Brad about 5 years before the day and she loved Brad more than life itself. He was all she had left after his father passed away from the cough.

Brad tried to pull away, but gave in knowing that it was a loosing battle. “You come and sit down to a good breakfast. We will have your party tonight in the main house. I think there will be quite a few people there.”

“I gotta go do my chores, then I will eat,” he said to his mom pulling away. He hated chores and tried to get out of them every chance he could, but even chores sounded better than the babying mom was putting on now.

“Nope, not today. Today is your special day,” she said pointing to the meal on the stove. It was eggs, grits, blackberry juice, toast and even real sausage. Mom only cooked that once a month since the pigs had not produced to good this past year.

Brad looked at his mom in a questioning way, “huh?”

“Last year you turned 13 and have been studying with Mr. Lewis so hard this year. He says that you are getting stronger and are really good at making nails. Because of you they will have enough for the new community barn in no time. You even made a few custom things this month to sell at the shop. With that and school you have been busier than a 13 year old ought to be,” her stance change to a more matter of fact pose.

“I wanted you to have the day off. No school – I cleared it with Mrs. Eddins. She is even forgiving your homework for today. No chorus – I bartered with Mr. Slade to come by and do your chorus today for a head of lettuce, 2 eggs from the chickens and a small bit of seed. He is the new fellow in the village and was glad for the supplies. No work – Mr. Lewis is letting his favorite blacksmith apprentice off for one day,” she said as she smiled then just as quickly started forming tears. “I want you to be a boy today. Eat your breakfast and then go play.” She turned and walked out of the kitchen area.

Mr. Slade was the new arrival. This man had lost his family in a fire and had been traveling from village to village to find a new home. He was attacked in the woods by some feral dogs and was found by a trade caravan traveling to the village to the North. He had lost everything and would have surely died had he not been taken in.

Brad knew that he needed to leave her alone a little bit. He eagerly wolfed down his meal. It was great. He hadn’t had that good a breakfast in so long. Then Jill had fixed almost the identical meal for Brad in the celebration of Easter.

Jill came back into the kitchen now better composed. Eating the last bit of pork Brad said, “What do you mean play?”

“I mean get out of this house. Go have fun. Do anything that YOU want to do today and don’t come back home till dusk.” Jill handed her boy a small cotton bag containing leftovers from breakfast. “Go now!” she commanded pointing at the door.

Brad stopped just long enough to grab his pack. This was weird. He hadn’t had a whole day to himself in he didn’t know when. Fact of the matter he had never had a day to himself. He was always too young or had to go to school or work. Mom did this. It was her present to him.

He thought for a moment, “But what to do?”

Brad walked outside into the village. It was basically just a group of houses. They were called neighborhoods before the day. But now a small group of houses like this all in working order was not a common site. They surrounded a small pond at their center. It was easy to see why the village picked this area to call home.

There were only two families in the whole neighborhood alive when they came 2 years ago. Mr. Lewis had one of the bigger houses and welcomed the visitors. He had plans to populate the area and start farming. They were happy to have the help. Now each house and building had its purpose and the village now thrived.

There was a standing order to do things to help the community as a whole. The new community barn was being built. Each livestock animal was branded and recorded so each one could be tracked and used the most efficiently. This was the second such barn and would double the room that they had to store animals out of the weather and the animal’s food for future use.

Scouts where sent out every now and again to locate fruit trees, lumber trees and capture wild animals. These men worked as messengers between the villages, scouts for food and supplies and most were great outdoorsmen.
There were only two scouts in the village: Mr. Blackaby and Tom Whittle a young man only 5 years older than Brad.

The location of the trees would be noted and someone would be assigned to gather the food from the tree during its ripening season. They could trade the food with others. Wild animals were tracked and captured for domestication and future food. As soon as the animal was brought in they were branded and assigned an owner.

Brad walked down the road with his pack on his back looking at each house in turn. The pack was Mom’s idea. Even before Dad died, Brad had a pack like this for as long as he could remember. It had everything he needed to stay in the woods for days. Water, shelter, fire makers and things he needed to not only survive, but to “live” in the wilderness.

He was only allowed by his mom to leave in a group. The teacher had taken the class out of the village several times and so had Mr. Lewis when he gathered firewood, but never on his own. He knew that Mom would be mad if she knew, but she wanted him to have fun and an adventure could be fun.

Brad decided to walk out of the village. To go somewhere he had not gone before. He decided to go West. “I will walk an hour into the woods and just see what’s there.”

John walked to the fence. The fence had been constructed around the village. The gate was opened during the day and villagers were allowed to come and go as they pleased. The guard at the tower today was Patrick Freeman. Mr. Freeman was an older man, but could shoot very well. He had even tried to teach Brad a little about shooting one day.

“Hey Brad. Where are you off to?”

“Just walking. Thought that I would look around a bit.”

“Alright, but don’t go too far.”

“I won’t,” said Brad as he passed through the gate and out on to the road. He reached for his compass and watch. Mom said that the compass was his Dad’s and she taught him how to use it. The watch was just an old watch that his Mom had. It only had to be wound every day or so. He wound it a little, noticed the time (8AM) and then put it back in his pocket.

He walked past the fields and looked out at the men already gathering to start work. Brad turned west as soon as the next Westerly road came by. They called it Flagstaff Rd for some reason. He didn’t know why but that is what they called it.

He looked around to make sure no one was looking. Then he headed West. His plan was to walk west for one hour. The road cut through the over grown landscape so he would stay to the road. He didn’t want to get lost so he kept and eye on his compass.

He kept walking noticing the landscape. Some of the fields were plowed and used. A little farther down the road however the fields became wild again. Oh you could tell that there once was a good field, but now they were overgrown and not baring anything but weeds and wilds.

Brad really didn’t know where he was going and he didn’t care to. Being cooped up in the village most of his life was a far thing to the freedom his was feeling now. He had walked about twenty minutes and he could see up a head that the road turned south. He decided to leave the road and keep on a western path across one of the fields.

Brad began a map making note of the road and the direction of travel. He kept walking for a few more minutes till he reached the other side of the field and the shaded tree line. He decided to rest. Brad drunk some water and sat for a minute. He checked his compass and kept going through the thick forest.

Through the trees he went. Once or twice he heard something rustle the leaves and he made sure that his knife was in reach. Mom said that was Dad’s too. It was a 4 “ full tang deer skinning knife. Mom had told him that Dad loved to hunt. He was home when he was outdoors and he always carried the knife after that day had come.

The woods opened to a stream. It was a small stream and easy to cross. He decided to examine the bed of the stream for good rocks and there on the bank were several fist sized pieces of flint. He struck the rock and it flaked. These pieces were wet so he knew they would not spark, but he put them in his pack anyway. He would be able to trade them at the village.

Brad once again noted on his map marking a symbol for the stream. He crossed the stream and kept his Western course. Brad looked through the woods farther up a head and there was the outline of a building.

He kept moving cautiously forward. No one lived anywhere around the village. He was sure of that. He had heard the grown ups talk and Brad knew that the closest other people were at least 2 days away by horse.

He cleared the woods and stepped into the over grown yard. The building was a house. It had broken windows and there were weeds growing through the floor of the porch, but it was a house. He made sure the clasp that held his knife in place was opened, but he didn’t draw it. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

There was no answer. There would not be for the house had been abandoned long ago. He stepped on to the porch and peaked inside. It was just an old house with cob webs in the corners and the wind flowing through the broken windows. Brad then noted the house on the map and placed the worn parchment back in his pack.

He went to the back yard and there hanging from what looked to be like an old tree was a tire swing. They had one of these in the village, but this one was different. It was a secret swing because no one knew of it. He pulled on the rope, it was a strong thick rope. It held. He pulled himself up and gave it a swing. Brad giggled as he swooshed through the air. He played for the longest time and by the time he looked at his watch it was noon.

He was a bit hungry now and picked up his pack and walked to the porch. He pulled out the cotton sack filled with the leftovers his Mom had prepared for him and the canteen of water again. He sipped some water then opened the sack.

There on the top of the sack was an envelope. “To Brad” was written on the front. He opened the envelope and read the letter he found within as he munched on the leftovers.

“Dear Brad,

If you are reading this, then I am not with you. Know first that I loved you very much. I tried my best to protect you and your mother on that day that every thing went wrong for the world. It is my hope that you will grow up to be a strong, smart and kind man.

I pray that you will have the strength to carry on and straighten out the mess that we have made. Rebuilding the world is not going to be easy and it will take a long time, but you will be a part of that. Learn as much as you can and listen to your mother’s advice.

Your mother has a collection of some things that I collected for you. Ask her for my chest. In there are several things that you will need: books, tools and a few things to protect yourself with.

You have strength in you that is greater than you know. The best thing that I could ever do to help the world rebuild was to put you in it. I love you son.

Love,
Dad”

Brad sat still and read the letter again. His mother expected this. She had planned more than he knew. He cried after reading it again. His father taught him much, but he was now no longer there. He missed him.

He stood up and walked to the tire swing again. He was given this gift by his mother to play, but in this time there was little time for that. His father’s words had hoped that he would be a good MAN. It was time to start working toward that effort. He looked at the tire again. Brad noted is was from a time when great things had happen in the world. He had things to do to rebuild this world. Time to put away childish behavior and play. “I will make you proud Dad,” Brad said as he began to cry.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and starred at the ground for the longest time. He began to notice the leaves on the ground and saw a small nut lying on the ground. He picked it up and cracked it open. “A pecan.”

The nut was ripe. He tasted it and looked up at the tree. He hadn’t noticed before, but the swing was mounted in a fully grown pecan tree. His eyes were open. He then noticed the other trees nearby. There behind the house was a grove of pecan trees all loaded with nuts.

He returned quickly through the woods and back to the village. He turned off Flagstaff and started toward the village down the main road. The signal bell rung once from the front gate. “One bell, someone is signaling Mr. Lewis to the front gate,” Brad said to himself. After a short pause another dong rang out. He hurried to see what the commotion was about.

As he neared the front gate, Mr. Lewis on horse back rode into view. Mr. Freeman yelled something to Mr. Lewis and pointed in Brad’s direction. Fear ran through Brad. He reached in his pack and looked at the watch. It was 4PM. He had been gone all day.

Mr. Lewis road up to him with a look of agitation on his eyes. “Brad! Where have you been? You know that you are not allowed to go so far away from the village.” He was the leader of this village and not someone Brad wanted to anger.

Brad stammered then courage came from within. “I am sorry but I was scouting. I found a grove of pecan trees due west of here. Here is a map.”

Mr. Lewis snatched the paper way from him, “This is no game boy!”

Mr. Lewis delivered him to his mom in a huff. She confined him to his room. Brad did not have the courage to ask about his Dad’s things left for him. He sat in thought for over an hour when there was a knock at the door. His mom appeared at his door and instructed him he had visitors.

Mr. Lewis and Mr. Blackaby stood in the main room of the house. Mr. Lewis looked up at the boy and said, “Brad we just got back from checking out that map of yours.”

Brad’s shoulders tensed.

Mr. Blackaby picked up the que, “14 pecan trees fully ripe located behind an abandoned house approximately 3 miles due west just beyond a small stream.”

Mr. Lewis started again, “Brad because you found them. We are awarding ownership to you. You will be of age soon and we need to start gathering resource for you. This grove could be used for food here at the village and you should be able to export some for other needed supplies. This will mean a LOT to the village and you could probably barter enough for one of the new colts that were just born. You could start by bartering with someone to help you and your mother gather the nuts. They are ready to pick right now.”

Brad thought just a second. Lewis stirred, “Brad do you understand what this means?”

“Yes sir,” he said then turned to the scout. “Mr. Blackaby”

“Oh son, I am too busy to spend all day picking pecans up.”

“No sir. That isn’t what I meant. Can you go get Mr. Slade? Tell him I am in need of someone to help my mother, and I can pay him 10% of everything he gathers. Also I would like to offer you 10% of this years take to allow me to be your apprentice for the summer during the harvest break. I am going to be a scout,” Brad shoulders broadened just a bit.

The older scout smiled then nodded, “Ok. I will go fetch him and we will talk about that other tomorrow after you and your mom have a chance to talk. If she is ok with it, then I am ok with that.” Mr. Blackaby and Mr. Lewis walked out the door. Mr. Lewis paused a moment and smiled back at Brad before leaving.

His mother stirred, “Brad this is too much responsibility.”

“No mother. I am growing up. It is time for me to start acting like it. I read Dad’s letter. He wanted me to ask you for the chest he left for me. But most of all he said he had faith in me. If we are going to rebuild this world, then everyone is gonna have to pitch in. Maybe this is what I can do to help.”

A tear fell from his mom’s eyes, “My boy is growing up. I will give you Dad's chest when we get back. Well, let’s get going or we will be late for your party.”

She hugged his neck again and Brad didn’t seem to mind as much this time.