This Road to Nowhere

by Equimorto

Out in the Fields

The tree shook and apples fell from its branches into a series of baskets on the ground. The Sun still wasn't particularly high in the sky, and a fresh, gentle breeze ran through the trees and over the grass. Some tufts here and there were suddenly flattened, then a loud thud resonated all around the orchard. The tree shook again and more apples fell. A few seconds of almost complete silence, as a few specks of dust and dirt were lifted from the ground, most of them falling back to it while a few, the lighter ones, were caught by the wind and flew away. Then the tree shook one final time, and the last of its apples fell down to join their siblings below them.

The baskets began to move across the ground, leaving shallow but still noticeable indents in the dry soil and occasionally running over some of the patches of grass in their path. They stopped beneath the tree right next to the one they'd been under before. A few more seconds passed, then the baskets moved again. Smaller movements this time, and confined to the area underneath the tree, occasionally going back and forth around a certain spot, until finally their motions ceased and they remained still, the apples in them occasionally gleaming as some light filtered through the leaves above and shone down on them.

The tree the baskets were now underneath still had branches full of apples, unlike those in the direction they had come from, but not unlike those in the direction they had moved towards, which outnumbered those without apples left on them. Another loud, dry thud echoed through the trees, coming from the tree's bark. This tree, too, shook, just like the previous one had, and its apples, too, fell from its branches, like the previous one's had. Like the previous tree, thought, not all apples fell, and like the previous times, another thud sounded, the tree shook once more, more apples fell, then once more, and the last ones too reached the baskets. And then the tree was barren of apples, not a speck of red among its green leaves.

The baskets were full. They moved, leaving deeper indents in the ground, but rather than moving towards the next tree their trajectory curved, and they headed for the path between the rows of trees, scattering some dust as they did. Having covered a small distance, they stopped, closer to the row of trees on the other side. Then, one by one, the baskets were lifted into the air, and moved on top of a cart silently and unmovingly waiting in the shade of the trees. The first basket touched the surface of the cart, and then moved towards the back, until it couldn't move further as it encountered other baskets. The second too, and the third as well.

A set of empty baskets waited under the tree next to the last one, already prepared. Another loud and dry thud sounded.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Why is the cover art a blank white box?