E. M. Townsend

Secrets

Leon’s mother remembered the Rebirth -- had lived through it, in fact. He would sit in rapt attention, curled up against her side in his small, grubby bed listening to her tell stories. Clean water readily available, stores with shelves and shelves of food there at any time without need for your own farm or any particular worry over violent thieves. She laid her head on top of his and whispered the secrets of the World Before, combing calloused fingers through his hair and remembering better days while he gazed at the sullied bronze of her locket hanging soft and warm against her chest, heart-shaped and bright in the darkness of his bedroom.