Mountain Valley

The grass was damp with morning dew when Marcus got up. Last night, he'd left more water to filter as he was constantly replenishing his supply to keep up with how much he drunk every day. Yesterday he'd drank a lot from his hike. He wished he could store more but there was barely any room in his bags for extra bottles. Marcus made the decision to build a permanent home base when he got to the mountain valley. It would make survival much easier if he could grow his own food there and have access to fresh water every day.

He wasn't going to quit the search for other people. Hopefully, they would be attracted to the mountains like him or he could go out every day to look. One day he planned to find the remnants of a city because if there was a slight chance civilisation was still around, they could have begun rebuilding!

Snapping out of his dreams of meeting a pretty girl or some loyal friends, Marcus went around preparing breakfast. Yesterday, he'd spotted a bird's nest in the cherry blossom tree so he climbed up to take a peek. His findings were pleasing indeed. The tree had appeared difficult to climb at first but the way it curved let him run up until eventually on his third try, Marcus grabbed a branch before sliding back down.

There were about six eggs and Marcus didn't like the idea of snatching babies so he held up each egg to the light just to check for chicks. They were warm so the mother bird must have only just left to find food for herself.

Where was the father? Wasn't that supposed to be his job? Nature was harsh sometimes. 'Maybe the father had died protecting the eggs from crows...' Marcus dove into another memory flash. This time it was one of him when he was much younger.

"Aaarrrrgghhh! Get away! Get away!" Marcus screamed at a wicked crow who was destroying a robin's nest. Marcus threw a stone at it and the crow flew off in a mad screech. He clawed his way up the tree to let out a cry of dismay. All but one egg were destroyed. When he had to go in for his tea, Marcus wept at how cruel the crow had been. His mother gently caressed him to calm him down until he slowly fell asleep in her arms. Only managing to catch a glimpse at her warm, brown hair.

Gasping for air, Marcus returned to his senses with the same tears flowing down his cheeks. He tasted the saltiness in them as he had cried for at least a minute or two without realising it. Not wanting to risk triggering more memories, Marcus collected two eggs without chicks in them and climbed back down, taking care not to damage his breakfast.

Marcus cracked both eggs into the cooking pot where he'd already rehydrated some milk powder. It only took a moment to light the fire with a match but Marcus scolded himself to try and get better with the firesteel before he ran out. Most of the wood he'd gathered from last night had been burnt so he had to find some more. On top of that, the fire had been too small to rekindle embers from the ashes. There was a dead gorse bush dried out in the hot summer sun which he took apart.

When it was time to put the pot on the fire, Marcus washed a small stick in the river to stir the food with. He'd done the same thing when he first made porridge. On both occasions, there was still no available cutlery so he'd have to use his hands again. Eating porridge or eggs with hands wasn't pleasant but Marcus only cared for the taste and the energy he regained from it.

Marcus whisked the eggs and milk together to make a creamy mixture which soon turned into fluffy, scrambled eggs. An idea he got from his memory of the crow. When it was tea time, the smell of eggs filled the air and suddenly the habits he must have accumulated from making them countless times in the past world filled in the gaps.

Marcus wolfed down his breakfast in seconds before washing the pot and finishing up the packing. The mother bird chirped in confusion from losing two eggs but otherwise sat back down on them without making too much fuss. Marcus smiled filled with a sense of hope for the chicks. And then set off toward the mountains once more...

The sun first warm on his neck began to bother him now. Marcus was lucky not to have woken up during winter but this heat was still unbearable at times. It meant he had to drink often and replenish his water supply way too often.

Eventually, he came to a pass leading into the valley. The path ascended upward but when Marcus arrived at the peak of the hard, gravely hill, the view took his breath away.

A wide river split the valley down the middle but meandered at one end. The bottom of the valley was flat like the heathland but a forest surrounded the edges and halfway up the mountains. A rainbow bridged accross the river like an archway providing him with a cheerful welcome. It was formed by the spray of a waterfall at one end.

A meadow on the opposite side resided outside the forest and was made up of many species of flowers. Most were yellow but that made the rest stand out in clumps of blue, violet, orange, red, white, pink, and so many more colours. It was as though Marcus had escaped a black and white movie he'd been living in up until now.

A section of the mountain had a dark-grey cave with remains from a rock slide scattered near the entrance. 'Seems dangerous but maybe not...' Marcus felt optimistic about the cave. The rubble was mostly boulders and gravel. Marcus noted it down in his head as a potential shelter.

The first thing he wanted to do though, was go for a swim. He stripped off his clothes in seconds and launched himself into the cold waters.

At first his body tensed up but soon the cool feeling was welcomed after having the sun bore down on him all day. Marcus splashed about and kicked around the shallows with joy. Spray gently flew up with an iridescent sheen to it.

There were plenty of fish to sustain a small village here and the valley stretched so far, there was ample space for tending crops and the forests were home to all sorts of creatures. Marcus wondered what birds of prey roosted near the mountain tops.

Some peaks reached so high, they were capped with snow. The acoustics were wonderfully glorious here as the crashing sound of the waterfall roared into the sky. Marcus let out a whoop of excitement to let his presence be known to whoever may be out there.

Running out from the water, Marcus sunk onto the mossy ground to let the grass weave its way in between his fingers and toes. The dirt smelled earthy and full of life. The only thing missing to make this place paradise, was people. Humans might not be around now so Marcus had to hope for the future and turn this haven into a home for when they arrived. Not if. When. He refused to believe anything else as the thought of no one coming to see him was too terrifying to bare.

Striking a fierce pose, Marcus yelled into the sky, "I claim this land in the new world! Let it be known as..." Marcus paused for a moment. What would he name his homebase? It needed to be something memorable. After all, this was going to be (as far as he knew) the first kingdom of the new world.

Marcus took in his surroundings one more time. He breathed in the fresh air with vigor and racked his brain for ideas. Then one idea struck like a hammer on iron in the depths of a blacksmith's forge: Georift.

Literally meaning 'Earth rift'. It made sense since the river literally split the valley in two and as the only human here for miles, Marcus' presence was surely the greatest. A rift amongst the tranquil nature.

Of course in reality, his presence was insignificantly small when compared to the rest of the universe and from his perspective, the last man on Earth. Marcus was determined to keep his spirits high though for now.