MAYBE

MAYBE

My great grandfather had thousands of acres of prime land that had a large river running through it. He had seven sons and two daughters. As his children got married, he gave each of the three hundred acres. Back then, neighbors and family would come for a “barn raising”, which provided a house and barn for the young couple to get a start in life. He would give each some cattle and horses, and farm equipment. My grandfather married and received his inheritance when the “Great War” started. He, like many young men, enlisted in the army. Knowing his wife feared for him, he bought a heart shaped locket on a chain that had their wedding picture in it. He told her to look at it when she was afraid. He always thought he'd be coming back.

She found herself pregnant after he was gone. She had a boy who is now my father. She wrote him letters every day and he wrote when he had an opportunity. She would hold the locket and stare at the picture in her morning and evening prayers. She showed the picture to my father hoping he would remember him. My grandfather's brothers visited her farm and helped with all the upkeep. She busied herself canning vegetables and cooking and baking bread. She always provided for the friends and neighbors who were in need. She was a devoted church member and went to service three times a week, plus a prayer circle.

The news came one day that a stray bullet found my grandfather and that he died instantly. My grandmother waited for the military to bring his body back to the States. She wore black and cried all the time. My father grew up not knowing his father in person. All he had was pictures and stories told about him. There was a large crowd at his funeral and he was buried on the farm near the house.

My grandmother succumbed to her sorrow and only lived a few more years. She had said she wanted to be with him. My dad was a teenager and lived on the farm alone. Family and friends came by to check on him and help on the farm.

He only went to school until the tenth grade, but was an avid reader. He wanted to marry so he wouldn’t be alone. He asked a young woman from the church to be his bride. They courted for a few months before they married. They lived together on the farm for several years until they both realized they didn’t love each other. They had two children, my sister and I, when they divorced and we moved to town. They were still friends and would talk when they ran into each other. My sister and I would spend weekends with him and several weeks in the summer. He eventually married again and had three children with his new wife. My mother worked at a cafe as a waitress and didn’t make enough to pay the bills. My father didn’t want to see us suffer so one day he asked us to move back to the farm. He added on to the house so we could all live under one roof. Our father was a simple man that didn’t show much emotion and kept his head down and oversaw everything. Our mothers taught the girls to sew, cook, collect the eggs, can food and keep the house. It was a smooth sailing ship. Father, and I and the next oldest boy would ride into town once a month for supplies. We bought mostly staple goods, flour, sugar, salt, coffee and sometimes a side of pork. We also bought feed for the animals, seeds to plant and things needed to make repairs around the house. Father also bought a small bag of candies for the younger children who were always waiting for us to return. Everyone helped to unload the supplies.That evening the woman prepared a meal and we all sat at a long table for the meal. The men were served first and then the smaller children, and last to older women. We always bowed our heads for grace before we ate.

My brother wanted to marry a young woman from town. Father had his three hundred acres divided into smaller parcels for the children to own some land when they married. As was custom for country folks, the men from church came on Saturday to work on building them a house. Father, and my brothers helped during the week until it was finished. When it was ready they were married. They spent the first 7 days alone in the house to consummate the marriage, a practice used so the couple had time to get to know each other. When they returned to daily life, everyone greeted them and there was a celebration.The next Sunday, they were presented to the congregation as a married couple.

Life went on as usual until my mothers fell and broke both legs while pitching hay from the loft of the barn. She was taken to the elders of the church for prayer and then to the next town. It was the nearest hospital that could reset her bones and where she could stay to get the physical therapy she would need to walk again. She stayed there for 3 weeks before she was sent home. Father went to see her as often as he could which added extra work for us at home. Everyone pitched and cheerfully accepted the extra work. We were taught from an early age that work was good for the soul.

When she came home, she needed extra care with bathing and changing her clothes. She was in good spirits and was always thankful. She returned to church after a few weeks and everyone was glad to see her. She still needed crutches and help sitting down. The elders gathered around her and gave thanks for her returning and asked that she be given strength to heal fully. She was so glad to be back among all her friends and family.

It took mother several months to be able to fully return to her duties on the farm and she never went into the loft of the barn. She mainly did canning and baking. There was a big food cellar where we kept enough food to live for six months. It was rotated to keep the freshest in the rear. We never had needed to go into the storm cellar because of the weather or nuclear threat, but we stayed prepared.

On one of our trips to town I saw a story on the front page of one of the tabloids. I liked to read the stories in them. Some were unbelievable, like aliens landing or the dead rising from the grave. This story caught my eye because it was a prediction that the earth would change its tilt on the north and south axis. This would cause the surface water to move so that what once was dry land would be underwater. The highest mountains would still be above the water, but the lower altitudes would be under water. It went on to say this happens every 300,000 years and was the explanation for sea fossils in the deserts and what happened during Noah’s Ark.

I spoke with my father about it on the way home. He said maybe that could happen but we would never know since it wouldn’t happen in our lifetime. We never spoke about it again, though I pondered what it would be like if we were here when it happened.

Everything went on as usual and thirty five years passed like the twinkling of an eye. The children were grown, married and had families. One night I went to bed and before the morning everything had changed. I woke up to water rushing through the windows, and the furniture floating away. Before I could yell, the house was floating in the rush of the water.

I grabbed for my wife, but could not save her as she floated off in the mighty rushing water. The house itself began to split and I could see the barn, the horses, everything rushing off. Everything was out of control. I realized that the earth had shifted and the world would never be the same. Just when I thought it would be my last breath, I was able to scream, “Help!!!!”.

Then I woke up and realized it was just a bad dream.