Lyndon Perry - The Last Prayer

At that moment a distant thundering of steps challenged the blaring horn and eventually gained the upper hand. The four who were standing in the open room turned to the stairwell and watched as a few individuals, then dozens, and finally scores of work-vested sweepers enter the commons area. Men and women, young and old, filed in and took positions behind the Tates in support and solidarity.

The new chief priest noted Jedediah’s alarmed reaction as the typically empty cafeteria filled to capacity. The sweepers had come in full force to witness the cleaning and there was no denying the impact they made. Samuel glanced at Adin and Ester and saw a mixture of hope and resolve steal away their grief. Samuel smiled to himself and nimbly fingered the audio device in his pocket as he caught the first glimpse of Lonni’s sister entering the viewing area.

Hanna broke away from the old man and ran part way up the barren hill, spinning, pointing. Skipping? It seemed absurd, but Samuel accepted the truth of it. When the child returned and she and Elias both made their way to the sensors, he heard Ester moan and Adin sob. Hanna’s helmet filled the screen. The crowd watched, stunned to silence, as she sprayed a liquid into the camera, scrubbed, then wiped, and finally placed something over the lens. The grime was gone, the image was much clearer. But the darkness and clouds remained. The land was brown and dead.

Her beckoning call, however, seemed enthusiastic. She pointed to the hills and the tall, broken city towers beyond, a remnant of a destroyed civilization. With all her waving, Hanna looked as if she might simply take flight and disappear into the rising sun.

All eyes in the cafeteria watched as the two of them started their path up the gentle slope. Some whispered their heartbreak as Elias nearly tripped over the remains of the last cleaner who’d died twelve years before. When the priest finally went down, most wept openly. They turned their heads when Hanna tugged at the old man, urging him to get up, only to fall down herself and crawl but a few feet before collapsing, never to rise again this side of heaven.

Samuel, however, watched it all. The joyous entrance, the enthusiastic cleaning, the stumbling toward God. The priest had clung so tenaciously to his faith, all the while worried that his role in the underground community had come to an end. Samuel remembered how, just two days before, Elias had asked if his days were long past, if the sun had already set for believers like him. The secretary hadn’t contradicted his mentor. But he recalled his answer.

“…It may be that a new day will soon dawn.”

Samuel— always truthful, always planning —closed his eyes in solemn satisfaction as the pair ended their journey together. An old priest, a young child, believers till the end.

A streak of light from the rising sun gently stroked their still, small forms. And the sweepers, as one, let out an anguished and embittered cry. A cry they’d bottled up for a generation. One that could no longer be contained.

It was, indeed, the dawning of a brand new day.

Thanks first go to Hugh Howey for allowing (encouraging!) his fans to play in his playground. The Last Prayer is a work of fiction based on the world of Wool , a New York Times Bestseller, created by Mr. Howey. The setting and concepts original with his story are used by permission. This slice of silo life (and any shortcomings or mistakes relative to Howey’s novel) belong to me, Lyndon Perry. [BTW, names, characters, places, and incidents within this story are either the product of my imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Thought I’d lay that out there.]

Second, thanks to Jeff Parish, who designed the cover art. Jeff is the author of Jennings Grove , a modern day horror novel set in a small community in far North Texas. You should read it, it’s really good. The photograph used in the cover is by Ilya Bushuev and licensed through iStockphoto.com.

Thanks, also, to my cadre of beta readers, especially Stoney, Beth, and Steve for their constant feedback, whether on this work or others. And to Wes, who inspired me to write this piece by first posting his own silo story, The Runner . Then to Milo, Simon, and Jeff C — thanks for assimilating me into the SpecFic Authors Collectivewhere we post free stories every month. I’m also grateful to my wife who will sit through just about anything I write as long as I tell her a day ahead of time that I’m going to read something to her. Oh, and to Dictionary dot com. What would I do without your thesaurus?

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to you, the reader. Whether you’re a fan of Howey’s “wooliverse” or stumbled upon The Last Prayer by some other means, thank you for taking the time to read this short story. If you enjoyed it and want to know what happens next in this particular silo, let me know! If you have questions, comments, or even corrections (typos or inconsistencies), drop me a line at lyngperry@yahoo.com. You can also visit my website at www.lyndonperrywriter.comand comment there. It would be most kind if you could post a review as well — both on Amazon and on Goodreads. Thanks!

Q. First, tell us a little bit about you.

A. I’m a middle school Language Arts teacher, part-time pastor, full-time husband, and grateful father of two living in Kansas. I write speculative fiction on the side with plans to make it a career in the next few years. So far I’ve written mostly short stories and novellas in a mix of genres but mainly speculative, including fantasy, SF, even a bit of horror. I enjoy writing humor as well. The sky’s the limit. Who knows, I might try paranormal romance one day!

Q. What’s currently in the works?

A. I’m finishing a suspense novel titled Simply Criminal featuring Ned Nbonivoy, a private eye from Detroit who hates guns, violence, and the mob. Unfortunately, he’s mixed up with all three. My science fiction novel, The Tralian Incident, is well on its way to completion, so look for that if you like space opera with a kick-butt female protag. Until then, check out the next section for a few of my current stories available online.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for The Last Prayer ?

A. A few years ago I reviewed Hugh Howey’s YA science fiction novel, Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue . He was gracious enough to send me a free copy; we struck up an online friendship and an occasional correspondence began. When the original Wool novella started selling hundreds of downloads a day, I asked if other stories were in the works. Duh. He had plenty of ideas and one involved a class of priests. He said he might try to write a short story for the magazine I was editing. But alas, other things came up…like becoming a NY Times Bestselling Author!

So anyway, I decided to write my own version of what might happen if a priestly caste lost its influence and faith spiraled into decline. What power struggles might ensue? Would faith in something beyond life in the silo translate into open rebellion against the ruling class? This “Last Silo” series explores the tension that genuine belief in something “beyond” often causes in our lives.

Q. So this is a religious story?

A. No. It’s an open-ended “what if” that prompts readers (I hope!) to question what’s assumed. I very much intended the story to capture the spirit of Howey’s original. Wool had such an emotional impact, and while I’m not trying to duplicate that, I want the theme to be similar.