Title: Alone at New Year's Eve
Characters: Mr. Smith, Kurdy Malloy, Rose
Wordcount: 1039
finished: 31.12.2015
It was New Year's Eve. Since the Big Death had changed the world about 17 years ago, most people didn't even think about it, but it was different in Thunder Mountain. Erin was not only Markus's confident; she felt responsible for giving everyone at the Mountain some comfort for the soul at least now and then, besides food, fresh water, electricity, and first of all as much safety as possible. She secretly enjoyed it to organize movie-evenings, birthdays, and parties for everyone on holidays. And Markus let get her away with wasting resources; he had long realized that most of the people in Thunder Mountain did respect him as their leader, but they loved Erin for being a caring, wonderful woman.
While everyone was preparing for the New Year's party Smith was only looking for a place to escape this madness. He wished he could go out, to the old hut in the woods nearby; to the lonely sea, the others usually tried to avoid because there were rumors that it was cursed. Or he could take one of the jeeps to go the old convent some miles away from the Mountain, where Sister Hannah had build a school for children. Rose was there too. His little daughter. It still felt like a wonder that he had a family now. Only some months ago he hadn't even known about her existence, but then God had sent him the message.
God always did things like that; he talked to him since that day, where he had decided to put an end to his life. No caring about Smith's wishes, God had told him that he needed a messenger, and even if Smith didn't understand why he had chosen him, he had learned quickly to accept his fate. From this day on for most people, he only was the weird guy with mysterious prophecies, which often enough turned out to be right. It was not going to make him very popular. He had earned the respect of Markus, Erin treated him well, but she actually was nice to everyone. Kurdy was who came closest to a friend. And finally there was Rose. She made his life bearable during the dark times, where everything seemed to be lost.
He had planned to visit her at Christmas, but obviously, God had had other plans; he had sent a massive snowstorm, ice rain, for endless days. The Mountain was isolated from the rest of the world because Markus had decided to reduce the outdoor activities to the absolute minimum, not willing to risk people's life or valuable material. No one complained; it was a welcome rest after the last weeks. Only Smith felt restless and locked-in. He tried to concentrate on his inner voice, but there was nothing but silence. God kept quiet, for some days already, if this was a good or a bad sign, Smith couldn't say.
+++
"Here you are!" Kurdy opened the door to the dark storage room where Smith finally had found a refuge. "Erin is already looking for you. It's time for the party."
"Not for me."
"Smith, come on. There is not much we can do at the moment. And Markus has added some bottles of Whiskey for the party, the good stuff from the old world."
Smith seemed to crouch even deeper into the darkness. "Thanks, but no, thanks. I'm fine. Just go and have some fun. After the last weeks, you deserve it."
Indeed, it had been a hard time for all of them, so much had happened, so many losses. It was difficult for everyone to forget at least for a while and to enjoy the moment. But only Kurdy knew what Smith had had to go through. As his partner, he did spend more time together with him than anyone else. And he knew about the nightmares, the prophecies, the desperate try to prevent the inevitable. He had already fought against all possible dangers, and he had learned not to let it get too close to him. But to see Smith in his desolate state when a mission went awry, was hard every time anew. If someone deserved some rest, for sure it was him.
"If you don't want to join the party, maybe you can do me a favor."
"Sure, why not."
"Markus asked me to get some important papers from his office he wants to talk through with Erin before joining the others in the cafeteria."
Even if he couldn't see it in the darkness, Kurdy was almost sure that Smith was smiling. Probably this sounded pretty familiar for him. Like Smith also Markus was not a guy for amusement. He preferred it to be for himself, and to bear his burden all alone, he had taken over about 16 years ago, right after the Big Death.
"I don't mind to take over this job," Smith said and finally stood up.
"You should go to the party, have some fun."
+++
The long halls of the Mountains were unusually empty when Smith walked across them to get to Markus' office. A large room with a panorama window, looking into the entrance hall of the mountain, usually well lit, the computer monitors showing different parts of the Mountain and strange diagrams.
Smith knocked at the massive door, and finally opened it a crack, when he got no answer. "Markus?" In the next moment, he stiffened. Not the young leader of Thunder Mountain was sitting behind the desk. Smith swallowed hard. It was only an illusion, a wonderful dream, but he knew it would end all too soon, and the reality would be even harder to endure.
Then two small arms fall around his neck, green-brown eyes were sparkling at him, the soft curls were tickling his cheeks. "Daddy!"
"Rose," Smith croaked.
"Daddy," she repeated, giggling slightly. "I did fly in a helicopter. It was so big. And loud. And it was shaking. I was a bit scared at first, but Mister Kurdy put his arm around me and said that everything is okay."
Finally, Smith dared to open his eyes again. She was still there; he could feel her, smell her, hear her voice. Slowly it started to sink in. Kurdy. The reason why he hadn't seen him all day long was that he hadn't been here. He had taken a helicopter...
"Daddy? Why are you crying?"
He noticed tears running down his cheeks, and it felt good. He couldn't remember when he had cried for the last time. All tears seemed to be in vain. Not this time, though. Tears of gratefulness, of love.
Like through a haze, he suddenly noticed Kurdy standing in the hall, watching them with a satisfied smile on his face. And Smith could read the words, his lips formed.
"Happy New Year, Smith!"
He bent his head as a thank you; then he pulled his daughter even closer into his arms. "Don't worry, I'm okay, honey," he whispered. "With you around, I will always be okay."
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