The Great Altruist Read Online Free PDF Page B

for miles in every direction, she refrained from covering herself. Genesis hovered at eye level again with a forlorn expression on her face.
     
                “What’s wrong?” Jadzia asked. “Where are we?”
     
                “We’re in the future; about twenty years,” she said. “The camp that housed your parents does not exist anymore, and this field is all that remains of that horrid place. All the shelters, barracks, and evidence were burned and left here, where the earth reclaimed it. The people who died were left here as well.”
     
                Jadzia looked down and saw a German pistol lied just under the grass. Rust had consumed it and as she brushed her foot against it, the brittle instrument of death crumbled. She crept away from the grass and ran to the nearest tree as she realized what Genesis was trying to say but seemed too scared to utter: her parents were dead, buried somewhere in the field. She fell to the ground and let out a terrible cry as the words reverberated in her head. Her parents were gone, and she would never see them again. Genesis rushed to her side, but there was nothing she could say. She hovered nearby and watched out for any signs of life off in the distance. Jadzia had collapsed against the side of the tree. Her back was bleeding from the scratches of the tree bark, but she didn’t seem to care. When the tears ran out, she just lied at the base of the tree and went numb. Before long, she fell asleep under the weight of her grief.
     
                Jadzia awoke with a terrible headache. High above her, in the boughs of the solitary tree that supported her while she grieved, sat Genesis on one of its branches. She looked out across the horizon for signs of life. Finding none, she glanced back at Jadzia and descended to the ground. Jadzia remained numb and in a tightly-held ball, her back against the tree.
     
                “Do you know what happened to them?” she asked.
     
                “I do," she answered. "But I won’t speak of it. Some things are best left unknown. You already know of the things that went on in these places.”
     
                Jadzia shuddered as the unmentionable memories of her years in the camp returned, images so terrible that she didn’t want to imagine what happened to her parents. No doubt whatever occurred was horrid and if she was ever to live a normal life, perhaps leaving their demise a mystery would help her heal. Still, her one goal upon her freedom was to find her parents. Now that she had, she was confused over what to do. “So, what now?" she mused aloud. "Where do I go from here? Do I go back to Poland and hope to marry? Do I stay in Germany or go to America?” As the immensity of the choices before her sunk in, the tears returned and Jadzia wept.
     
                Genesis swooped closer to Jadzia. “I’ve not brought you here to see only terrible place.”
     
                “I’m scared,” Jadzia said.
     
                “I know. But I’m here to help you. I want to show you something.” Genesis waved her hand as she floated away from her.
     
                She gained control of her emotions and slowly rose to her feet. After struggling to regain her balance, she followed Genesis into a forest over a nearby hill. There, scrambling in the leaves, she saw a fox chase a small rodent into a rotting tree stump. It tried frantically to catch its meal but the fox was left pacing back and forth, deciding if the catch was worth it.
     
                “Watch this,” Genesis said with her hands on her hips and a broad smile across her face.
     
                Jadzia saw nothing spectacular at first. Then, the fox ran away as the rodent scurried out of the stump and chased the fox. Just as the two animals were about to mate with one another, and as though coming out of a trance, the animals stopped