FALLOUT ~ A modern fairy tale

My name is Monroe. I am an elf, one of the few remaining forest folk. It has been 200 years since we moved here, deep underground, below the fallout. In our war with the dark ones, we fought with humankind, a war of good and evil, a war with reason.

But the humans broke our pact, they have learnt of the atom's secrets. So foolish they were, how could a victory be called one, at the cost of nature? But in our horror, we learnt that the dark ones too had learnt of the atom's secret. Fire never made the world so dark before.

We took our village and five unicorns down below. The unicorns are the guardians of the forest, without them, there is no forest down here. Since then, three have died. Unlike the humans we need the forest. It is our second oxygen, the alchemy of our life. When the last unicorn dies, so will our forest, and so us with.

I had heard there were others, on the surface or below like us. But now it's just us. Humans died out 100 years ago, and the dark ones soon after that. In their folly, they had destroyed their home. For you see, the dark ones also relied on the forests. But their hearts were too like the humans, their desire in alchemy caused them to fall. They were elves once, but their research lead them to experiment, on themselves and on nature. In hindsight, I didn't know why I thought it a surprise the dark ones learnt of the atom's powers.

Our teaching of alchemy respects nature, we will never bend it to our will. So it is because of that, that we cannot grow forests. That is our folly. We are unable to maintain our dying forest, we try our hardest to keep the last two unicorns alive. But it will not last. We have another 5 years before the surface is safe again. It will be bare as it was before life. Then we can begin, that is why we called her Hope.

The fourth unicorn died an unnatural death. If one would study the alchemy one would conclude that it was not a death at all. All elements of life are linked, and so it took upon itself the form of a tree. It is one our people have never seen, its blossom is recognized by our text suggesting it is the tree of genesis. A tree of life.

The tree went through a period of bad health, and we lost the third unicorn then. It sacrificed itself to keep the tree alive. A unicorn cannot be called an animal, our studies suggest it is a living form of alchemy, a form of nature that has will. On the 100th year, we found her. A human girl. The tree had withered away, but by its roots was a female baby. Hope.

In these last 5 years below, we will teach her our science. We will prepare her. I know my life will end shortly after I surface, but still I must live long enough to help her. She is tasked with bringing life back. She will return the forests to Earth. Until then, the unicorns must live. We must educate her correctly. Until then, there is hope.

With all our power and love, there is still hope.