John Irvin: Pochatok

And there was a sky. It was a little gray on the horizon from the last bit of nuclear fallout ash. But there were streaks of deep blue painted all over.

And the sun… the sun, it was shining with a deep red hue as it lowered in the sky forming an azure sunset.

“Hello there, our old friend,” Gideon breathed as he held his free hand over his eyes so he could stare at the sunset.

“It’s like he’s waited to see us all this time,” Lynda remarked, her face looking more radiant than ever.

Squeezing his wife’s hand, Gideon nodded.

Both their gazes faced the horizon.

“Do you think they can get here sooner than Terry said?” Lynda asked.

Gideon shrugged as he said, “Hopefully, it would be amazing. It’s probably pretty rough terrain and who knows what all the radiation did to the animals. No telling what they’re going to come across. But, anyways, in the meantime, what are we going to call this new settlement?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well,” he thought out loud. “How about a name meaning ‘new beginnings’ or ‘first settlement’?”

“I like beginnings,” Lynda leaned into him. “Sounds hopeful.”

“I do too,” he wrapped her in his arms. “Hey, you’re Ukrainian.”

“Well, my parents were,” she corrected, looking up into his face. “I was born in Savannah, Georgia before we moved here, remember?”

“Still,” Gideon shrugged. “You have to know some of your native country’s language.”

“A little,” it was her turn to shrug.

“What’s the word for ‘beginning’?”

Her eyes turned off toward the skyline as she thought back to her younger days.

“Pochatok,” she finally answered. “It’s pochatok—beginning.”

“That sounds perfect for a town’s name!” Gideon was elated. “Po-chuh-toke.”

“No,” she grimaced. “Po-cha-tok. Emphasis on the middle syllable, Sweetheart.”

“Oh, gotcha,” he repeated the word, this time much closer to her pronunciation. Then a grin spread across his face for the hundredth time that day.

“Terry and the bunch will like it, I’m sure.”

She snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes. Content to stay there and listen to his heart beat, she smiled.

“A new beginning, a new hope for mankind. Pochatok.” Gideon whispered as he planted a kiss on the top of her head.

John Irvin lives in Florida. He graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities in 2013. John took up writing during his high school days, writing several short science-fiction and fantasy books. He enjoys reading all genres and studying nature or history in his spare time. Besides being a full-time speculative fiction novelist, as he likes to call himself, John also offers his services as a freelance writer.

If you would like to contact him:

Irvinnovelist76@gmail.com

Coming soon is his Author website: johnirvinauthor.com

© Copyright 2018 John Irvin. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Printed in United States of America.

Cover Art: www.shutterstock.com/g/betibup33