Wisteria’s End

“Jessica!” A voice called out, sounding like an echo in the distance.

Jessica was lost in thought, staring out the window at the clouds of red powdered clay churned up by the storm. Her arm was stretched forward with her fingertips resting on the surface of the glass. There was zero visibility outside of the protected structure she was in, yet her eyes appeared focused on something.

A young thin man charged up to her, red cheeked and puffing air. “Jessica! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

Jessica jerked back to the present moment, snapping her arm back to her chest with her hand landing on her mouth in a balled fist.

“I didn’t hear it, Simon,” she whispered, nervously chewing on her fingernail.

Simon’s blue eyes were round, almost bulbous, when he spoke. “The Reaper hasn’t returned, and we’ve had no contact with the crew since this morning.”

“I know,” she said.

“You’re the leader, what do we do?”

“Nothing,” she said.

Jessica turned her back to the window and stepped forward, walking away from the edge of the dome. Simon followed behind her. They stayed on the worn path stamped into the soil, being careful not to disturb the vegetation in the garden around them. Jessica stepped over a large squash that had overgrown its territory. Simon paused to lean down and gently pick up the vegetable, cradling it gently in his arms as he moved it to a safe location off the trail. He carefully straightened out its branches and leaves to prevent it from choking itself within its own twisting vines.

Simon hurriedly caught up to Jessica, who seemed to be lost inside her own thoughts. “The solstice is at 20:06, only but a few hours away.”

“I know,” said Jessica, “is everything prepared?”

“Yes,” he replied, “except for the missing men. 20:06, that’s Earth time, you know, it’s always Earth time.”

“I know,” said Jessica, keeping her voice steady, not allowing Simon’s little quirks to unbalance her.

On the opposite side of the dome, Jessica and Simon arrived at a steel door. Jessica pressed a few buttons on a keypad and the door slid open with a whooshing sound. As they walked through the entrance into a clean white corridor with lockers and tables full of steel trays, Jessica removed her tool belt and apron. She laid them into one of the trays. Underneath the apron she wore a white, sleek fitted, short dress. On her feet she wore silver mid-calf boots. Simon’s clothing was similar, except he was wearing a vest, and he wasn’t wearing a mini skirt.

Beyond the corridor, they could hear laughter. Simon and Jessica followed the sound into a room filled with Two-hundred-and-six other residents. Wisteria’s End had grown in population this year with the birth of three children, all girls. They had entered into an event hall where people gathered for food and conversation. There was a stage to the left of Jessica. Simon had already rushed up the stairs and onto the platform, where he eagerly grabbed up a microphone that had been resting in its stand, center stage.

Simon tapped the microphone several times to test it. A few people in the hall turned their heads towards the sound. “Today, we’re gathered together to celebrate the summer solstice,” he spoke into the microphone. “As we all know, our planet Mars takes two Earth years to cycle around the sun. The solstice only comes once, to Mars, every two Earth years.”

Grumbles were heard from the audience. “We know, Simon,” someone shouted out. Simon was hit with a soft tomato, and a few other vegetables followed suit. “We’ve heard it all, Simon! Let’s hear something different,” another person shouted. Laughter broke out amongst the crowd.

Jessica stepped up onto the stage to bring the situation under control. She reached for the microphone, but Simon pulled it away from her.

“You want to hear something different! Let’s talk about the gods that we should be paying tribute to for all of our harvests! The ones we’ve ignored for decades!” Simon was spitting mad at the ignorance of these people and their lack of interest in the Earth customs that they disrespected.

People started shouting back. “Get off the stage, Simon!”, “Jessica! We agreed to listen to this fool, not give into his rhetoric!” Simon was pelted with vegetables again, this time potatoes. “There are no gods on Mars, it’s law!”

Jessica made another grab for the microphone, regretting her decision to allow Simon to host his festival. The folk at Wisteria’s End had agreed to the ritual out of curiosity of Earth’s old customs, but Simon took it too far, he always took things too far. His insistence on forcing the town to follow Earth’s time schedule and monthly calendar, to absolute precision, was evidence of his determination. As Jessica wrestled for the microphone, Simon pushed her to the ground and pulled a revolver out from under his vest. He pointed it at the crowd.

“There are gods!” Simon screamed. “The Reaper, it’s stuck out there in the storm, and they won’t let it come back until you believe in them!”

Simon ran off of the stage and pointed the revolver directly into the face of an older farmer, Frank Gaelie. “Move,” Simon said to Frank as he pointed to the steel door that opened with a whoosh.

“What did I do to deserve this?” Frank asked.

“Move!” Simon yelled. A crowd of men chased after Simon and started to converge upon him.

Simon dragged Frank by his arm, down the hallway and towards an exit. The crowd followed warily, keeping an eye on Simon’s gun that he waved about. Simon opened the airlock door and pushed Frank into the chamber. The airlock door closed before the old man could push himself up off the floor.

Jessica forced her way to the front of the crowd of men, where she confronted Simon. “What do you want Simon? What are you expecting from this?”

Simon was wild eyed. “Proof!” Simon cried. “I want to prove to them that the gods are here!”

Frank was close to the window, looking in at the people he helped to raise and feed for more than seven decades. “How’s this gonna work, Simon? How is me being thrown out an airlock going to prove anything?”

“You’re going to pray, Frank. You’re going to get on your knees and pray for the gods to spare you.”

Frank dropped to his knees. “Okay, Simon, I’m on my knees and praying. Let me know if I’m doing it right.”

“Stop,” Jessica cried. “Stop this Simon, I believe you. I saw something earlier, out the garden window. In the dust. You don’t need to prove anything, I believe you!” Jessica dropped to her knees and started to pray. “Please gods, spare Frank,” she begged.

The crowd of men were confused by what they were witnessing. Their own leader was praying to Simon’s gods. It had to be an act. “Get down on your knees, all of you! Pray!” Jessica squawked at her followers. Men started to drop to their knees, clasping their hands together in prayer, not certain what else they should be doing.

“Oh, mighty gods, spare Frank,” Jessica said aloud. The men behind her repeated her words.

Simon pushed the button, opening the airlock to Mars’ harsh surface. Frank gasped for air and his blood boiled out of his eye sockets as he fell to the ground. The Martian dust forced its way into the chamber and settled onto its floor, covering Frank’s body with a fine layer of soft red clay particles. The winds died and the sky cleared. Moments later the Reaper could be seen in the distance, crawling its way across the desert towards the airlock at Wisteria’s End.

Jessica burst into tears at the sight of the Reaper. “They came back, because of Frank’s sacrifice,” Jessica shouted. “Because we believed!”

Simon gloated.

There was silence as the men tried to put the puzzle together.

Jessica turned to speak to them. “I had an experience that I cannot explain. A god spoke to me, trying to tell me…about this.”

Some men turned their backs to her and walked down the hall, to their families. The others stayed; Jessica had always led them to where they needed to be.

In the event hall, Jessica and Simon stood proudly upon the stage. With the microphone in her hand, Jessica made an announcement. “To my fellow Martians, we have neglected to give offerings to the gods that have helped to provide sustenance to us for decades. Today, on this summer solstice, we will repair our relationship with our long-forgotten gods. We will start by making sacrifices on this summer solstice, for every sacrifice we missed since year zero. Our sacrifices will be the ones that need to go, those who do not believe.”