Author: Laura Ingalls-Wei
I was born in what was once called Wisconsin, nearly a century after the Great Bust. I have been hard at work setting down recollections of my childhood, growing up on the fringes of civilization during a time of warlords, bandits, and a sickness that turned men into monsters. Some of these early memories will be collected in a forthcoming book aimed at young adult readers, entitled Little House on the Wasteland.
Twenty-Four: The City of Mounds
The door that covered the entrance to the dugout creaked cautiously open. Its misshapen wooden boards scraped the dirt floor as a sneaky shaft of daylight slipped past. From the narrow earthen passageway beyond, the light pushed eagerly through the widening doorway, growing bit by bit. Instinctively, Laura and Ma both looked to Mary. They […]
Read More Twenty-Four: The City of MoundsTwenty-Three: When the Sap Rises
It was a cold night. The elevation, that was part of it. The Great Eighty Road had sloped upwards all day, gently but steadily, and Laura supposed that they were camped higher up than they had been for some time. Even so, no one seemed prepared for the sudden chill. . . .
Read More Twenty-Three: When the Sap RisesTwenty-Two: Badger Creek
The whole convoy was quiet, but no one was quieter than Caleb the Ortega guardsman. As they approached the crossroads to Badger Creek, the young man’s silence stood out, even amid all the other silences. . . .
Read More Twenty-Two: Badger CreekTwenty-One: The Flooded Village
As the Great Eighty Road continued to lead them westward, past the sprawling ruins of Damoyne, there were fewer lectric cars, fewer iron signposts, less nameless lectric clutter lying in piles and creeping across their path. . . .
Read More Twenty-One: The Flooded VillageTwenty: The Ghost City of Damoyne
Laura’s teeth rattled as the bisox wagon clattered over a rough patch of creetrock. The rest of the convoy, following in her wake, became a jittering blur. Beside her, Mary held Baby Grace against her chest. . . .
Read More Twenty: The Ghost City of DamoyneNineteen: On Convoy
The Great Eighty Road stretched on and on, gray and unwavering, day after day. Laura sometimes found herself despairing at its oppressive straightness, longing for the days when her way had meandered and detoured in all manner of surprising directions. . . .
Read More Nineteen: On ConvoyEighteen: The Ferry
The convoy left at dawn, just as Captain Syed said it would. By the time Laura and her family joined the others around the cold pit of charcoal that had held the previous night’s fire, the big wagon was already hitched to the two bisox. . . .
Read More Eighteen: The FerrySeventeen: Hawkeye Crossing
The inside of the assistant supervisor’s office was as much a jumble as the outside. The floor was bare creetrock. It was discolored but clean. . . .
Read More Seventeen: Hawkeye CrossingFifteen: Carrying On
“It’s time for us to go,” Pa said when he found them there.
Laura lay cradled in Ma’s lap, beneath the shade of an apple tree. Mary and Baby Grace huddled close beside. Somewhere up above them, birds chirped. . .
Read More Fifteen: Carrying On