The quality of life

We visited Manchester only twice a year when the rations ran low. My mother made the trip into a big event for our family, dressing us nicely and granting each of us our allowance to pick some specialty goods. This year Cal and I had a plan to combine our savings and buy a piglet off Mr. Teri. He gifted us a slab of bacon this past Christmas, it is a rather rare and cherished meat in the northern tundra and was the most delicious thing we had ever tasted. Christmas night Ma, little Cal and I sat around the fire and ate crispy bacon strips while listening to Pa tell stories about life before the snow. We savored every salty morsel and when it was all gone we licked what we could off of our fingertips.

I always enjoyed going to Manchester. The trip was longer and colder than any other but well worth bundling up for. The amount of people in the market made the hall loud and full of energy, hundreds of vendors congregated in their booths, selling and trading goods. There was no other place to find the quantity or variety in food stores and necessities. Pa told me that most of the goods were sent here from the lower lands, once known as Brazil, but some of it was farmed and produced up here, under the ice.

Our family was considered a large family, at full capacity with two children, we were allotted the most ration coins you could get. Mom and Dad had a very strict list of items we needed to get before we were allowed to head out on our own and pick out some less essential goodies. Cal would ride on the sled cart as our dad pulled it from booth to booth. Eventually bags of flour, butter and rice took up a majority of the sled space, forcing him off the cart. He was only six, long days like today easily tired him.

Dad strapped a large wheel of cheese to the frame of the sled cart, he plucked the strap and confirmed "that's not going anywhere" before waving for us to circle around him. This was the moment we had been waiting for. Mom handed us our allowance and went over the map of the market with us. We had an hour to figure out what we wanted before meeting them at the sled and heading home. Cal and I impatiently nodded away to moms warnings. Both her and Pa had little knowledge of our plan and were surprised to see us speed off in the same direction as soon as we could.

Livestock was at the very end of the hall and was usually very crowded. We weaved through the crowds of people, bee-lining it to Mr. Teri's booth. He had promised to hold one of the piglets for us along with enough pig food for three months. We didn't need to rush but this was an exciting day for us, so we raced.

Cal beat me to the fence by only seconds, sweaty and panting, he stuck out his tongue at me before running ahead into the stall. Mr. Teri was packing up for the day, he smiled at Cal and tussled his hair. "I hoped you two would show up, I picked out the perfect one for you in the back here" he turned and lead us into the back room. Cal pushed past Mr. Teri. in pure amazement, he gasped "Wow, she's beautiful! Anna come see!". I squeezed in between the two of them and stared down into the wooden crate, There lay a little orange piglet with black polka dots sleeping in the straw.

"She's prettier than the pigs in our books, why's she so hairy?" I asked, looking up to Mr. Teri. Before answering me he reached into the crate and with one hand lifted the little piglet out. She let out a few cute snorts as he placed her into my arms. "There are many types of pig out there, she's called a Kune Kune, they're hardier in the colder climate". Cal and I stroked her head and back, running our fingers through her coarse hair. She was wearing a little blue collar with a tiny heart shaped locket.

Mr. Teri pulled over a small sled and started loading it with feed "When I was just a wee lad, younger than Cal, I remember making rounds in the morning with my Papi. He ran a hog farm with over sixty sows and provided the best pork in New England.". "Sixty sows?!" Cal gasped unbelievingly. "No joke, sixty sows. A farm that size may seem unrealistic nowadays but before the ice came there were many farms that size or even bigger all over the place." Mr. Teri continued "Nowadays, I'm lucky to have three sows".

Cal stood face to face with the piglet in my arms, she sniffed his cheek leaving little wet spots where her nose touched. He chuckled and reached up to me "I think she likes me! Can I hold her?" he asked excitedly. I handed her down to him, positioning his arms in the correct way to support her weight. She was just a tiny piglet but to little Cal she was an arm full. "Don't drop her Cal, I need to pay Mr. Teri and pull the sled. Do you think you can handle carrying her across the market?" I asked. He gave me a little glare "I'm strong Anna, I can carry her.".

After paying and saying our goodbyes to Mr. Teri we started back to the sled to meet Ma and Pa. Cal and I began to throw around ideas on what to name her while we walked but as we approached the last quarter mile conversation fell silent. Cals face was red and he was huffing and puffing under the piglets weight. "Wow Cal you really are strong!" I encouraged him. A little smirk grew across his face. We could see the sled ahead, Ma and Pa stood by with everything hooked up and ready to go. Cal picked up speed, careful not to lose his grip on the piglet. "PA! MA! We got a pig and she's beautiful!" he yelled.

Pa ran over and met us halfway to relieve Cal of his obvious exhaustion. He stopped in front of Cal and plucked the piglet out of his arms. "A pig huh?" he held her up in the air and examined her. "Anna and I are going to make a home for her in the chicken room and take good care of her so we can have bacon again when she gets big and fat" Cal said defensively. "We got enough food for the next three months and Mr. Teri said she can eat food waste too" I chimed in. Pa unzipped his parka and tucked the piglet up against his chest before zipping it back up, all you could see is her little nose poking out by his chin. "A pig's a big responsibility kids, I hope you understand this means more chores every day" Pa said as he grabbed the ropes of the feed sled with his free hand. "We know! we promise to take care of her" Cal and I responded in unison.

When we got home Cal was put on "Pig duty" while I helped Ma and Pa bring in the rations. Our home was located 15 feet below the ice surface so we had to pay special attention to our steps down the stairs. Almost as soon as we had everything unloaded the weather alarm sounded from every speaker in the pod "Temperatures dropping to -135F in 27 minutes" the robotic voice informed. Pa and Ma immediately jumped into action, securing the hatch and closing the ventilation systems, double checking for any sign of leaks. This was a regular occurrence up here in the tundra, we had sudden temperature drops every week and in the winter when the ice storms blew in we could be stuck inside for weeks at a time. Last week a freeze cell arrived in the middle of the night without warning. Temperatures plummeted to -210F within half an hour. Our security hatch worked perfectly and was able to protect us from the frost but our neighbors weren't so lucky. Their hatch had a leak and even having a small leak is deadly in those temperatures. They all froze to death that night.

In the livestock room Cal was spreading straw dust around the stalls, the little pig following at his feet. He had set up a cute little bed and a trough for her. "I decided to name her Lucky." he said while giving her a little scratch on the head. "Why Lucky?" I asked thinking it was an odd name for an animal who was in line to become the main course of next years meals. Cal looked up at me with a serious expression on his face "Because we could've been stuck out there right now Anna, If we didn't already have plans on getting her we could've been late coming home and we would've froze to death like the neighbors" He stated. Tears began to well in his eyes for a moment before he shifted his gaze and took a deep breath "That's why she's lucky".

This was the closest call he'd ever experienced in his short life and it had clearly scared him even though he did a pretty good job of holding his "tough guy" persona. "She sure is a lucky piggy!" I goofed, trying to lighten the mood, Cal smirked. "Everything is secure!" Pa entered the room with Ma close behind "How's our new addition liking the place?" she added. "I named her Lucky, she really likes me" Cal said as he walked over to them, Lucky at his heel with every step. "Can she come into the main room with us? I'll clean any mess she makes" he begged. Ma nodded and grabbed Cal's hand, leading us into the main pod.

Ma and I started prepping dinner while Cal watched the weather radar on the pods computer screen, Lucky napping at his side. "Pa... Why do we live in the tundra and not in the lower lands?" Cal asked, petting the sleeping pig. "The south's not safe boy, it's overcrowded and ridden with crime and disease. The quality of life's better here" Pa answered. "But here we have to worry about the freeze" Cal added, not convinced by Pa's short answer. Patting his leg, Pa signaled Cal to have a seat with him. "In the south you would have to worry about a lot more than freezing, In fact, if we where in the south we wouldn't have been allowed to have you... only one child per family is allowed in the south, any unauthorized children would be taken away and killed upon discovery" Cal looked up at Pa with wide eyes "Why would they do that!?" he gasped. Putting a hand on Cal's knee, Pa continued "When the ice came everybody fled to the south in panic but there wasn't enough space for everyone. Unlike up here, the south's crowded with people and they don't have enough resources to care for everybody". Ma joined the conversation "Hungry people become dangerous people Cal, they'd kill a little boy for his pig without a second thought". Cal contemplated this new information, blankly staring at Lucky napping on the floor. "You don't need to worry about those things up here Cal" Ma assured him. I handed out bowls of rice with beef broth and beans to everybody. Before sitting down to join them for dinner I grabbed Cals new favorite movie off the shelf "Who wants to watch Balto?!" I asked, excitedly sliding the disc into the computer. Cal looked up at me and smirked "Okay but I want to sit with Lucky!"