GRANTED

When the Elders tell it, it sounds like pure fiction.

The things of legend and myths, but they insist it's true. I don't dare to question how they know that considering that all the information they have from 'Before' is all they have read and what has been passed down to them but, like I said, they insist it's true. And I am finding that conviction is a hard thing to displace.

'Before', if you dare to believe it, the earth was green. Yes, green. All the plants grew comfortably on the outside rather than the dome-raised temperature-conscious things we have that in some seasons will not produce any food. We've had several episodes of mass starvation deaths. It's nothing new.

And there was water! Freely flowing water - not the stuff we work for. Masses and masses of water. The separated what the Elders call 'continents'. The story is that all the different tribes lived on different continents back then. Nothing like the giant sun-scotched land mass we have now. Somedays I stare at the map and I can't believe it was ever any different.

Today though, I start on my journey to demystify the myths. If I can't come up with a better answer in three months for the fall, I will have to take up my new position as the Colony's farmer. If this hasn't been clear yet, no one in their right minds would volunteer for this job because starvation is a given and I will be the pariah that failed to stop it.