2nd Earth 2: Emplacement (27 page)

We are also trying different types of seeds to grow our crops with. Frank, Dad, Eric, Rod, and Andrew, along with James and Jenna and several other members of our family, have been working with the seeds to make hybrid tomatoes, corn, beans, and many other crops to make them more resistant to conditions, and to make them grow more crops per acre. In the case of tomatoes, they have come up with some that we have grown in the smaller gardens that taste better than any tomato we have ever tasted. They have done some great work with strawberries and blackberries that have increased their yield by about thirty percent. They have done some experimentation with peanuts that has improved our peanut butter. I am always willing to sacrifice my taste buds in the interest of science. One crop that we have added to our smaller gardens is melons. We now grow cantaloupes, watermelons, and honeydew melons and they are a big hit with everyone. In fact we started growing them the last time we visited, and our teams of food experts have come up with some varieties of each that grow huge melons that are very tasty as well.

Of course we exchange information with all the other groups and settlements that we know of. In fact that’s how we got some of the seeds to even get started on this project. In other parts of the country the growing season is shorter, and in some cases longer, so the seeds that they use to grow crops are specially developed to work in those climates and growing seasons. By mixing the characteristics of each individual group together, you can sometimes get a better crop. Sometimes it doesn’t work quite like we thought it would, so that’s why we keep trying whenever we find something that may work. We have also been trading goods with other groups as well.

Some of our family members developed a taste for sea food, either in the world we came from before this, or in visiting other groups. One such group is one that started in the panhandle portion of Florida. The group there has been very active in restoring boats and going out into the Gulf of Mexico. They have been to Cuba and to Puerto Rico, as well as many of the other islands in that area, and found that there are groups living on all of the islands. They also catch a lot of fish along with shell fish and mussels. We have made several trips down there to trade some of the seafood, mainly the shrimp, clams, and mussels that they are able to harvest from the sea, in return for some of our excess wheat, oats, and other crops that we have an excess of. We have taken some of our excess to other groups who didn’t have anything to trade as well. Another activity that our young people have done is to go house to house in other cities to get any usable food out of the houses before it is no longer any good, and we have taken this food to groups in other states that perhaps the food didn’t last as long as it has down south here.

That’s the case with a group we found out about on the radio up in New York. They are settling in the lower portion of upstate New York, around the Pennsylvania border. Some of our people decided to leave our group and go back up there to help those people. They said they miss the snow and knowing what they do now, they will be able to enjoy it better. We have been able to go over to the coast and get soft shelled crabs for our seafood lovers. I have never really acquired a taste for seafood, but just about everyone in our house loves it except me. That’s okay; I enjoy the trips over to the coast to get it. We owe being able to get the crabs to our scientific friends as usual. It seems that James, Jenna, Mike, and Morgan have been getting those soft shelled crabs since they were children. We had to get a couple of boats running and into the water as well, but after what we have accomplished, we feel that we can do anything and we did.

Our scientific people are always coming up with ways to make our lives, and the lives of those we share this existence with, better and even a little easier. They are also always looking for ways to take advantage of all the technology that we have around us, but just can’t tap into it yet. They are working on being able to perhaps have all of the groups, at least in the United States, connected by phone lines. Sara asked them when we can expect to have cable TV connected to our groups. I was thinking that, but would never actually ask it. That will probably be a while, but one thing we did do is visit a couple of TV stations in major cities we were in, and found thousands of movies in their files along with the equipment to watch them. We now have a movie night usually on Saturday evening, where we all get together and pop some of the popcorn that we now grow, and watch movies together in the church building we found back when.

The journey has been long, but the love we all share has kept it from being any more difficult than it had to be. Actually it has been fun most of the way, and we look forward to whatever the future brings. If the scientific members of our family have their way, we will not wait for the future to bring us anything. We will go out and find out just what the boundaries are, and then change them as we go past them. No one can know for sure whether or not our new society will ever be like the one that almost destroyed itself. We all agree that instead of concentrating on ways to destroy each other, just in case we have to, we will continue to work on solutions that will allow us to live in peace as one big family, no matter where we are from or the color of our skin. I still have my lucky Indian head nickel, so how can we fail. It’s been great visiting with you. I hope to see you again soon, but right now I hear a couple of little ladies that are pretty sure it’s time for their daddy to pay some attention to them. May the good Lord bless you as he has all of us. If you hear of anyone looking for a place to settle, please send them to us, they as well as you will always be welcome.

Other Books by Ed & Eunice Vought

2
nd
Earth

Shortfall

When you fall asleep on the subway you can wake up to some out of this world experiences.

When we get to the surface it is not dark so now we are totally confused. We couldn’t have slept all night and most of the day on that train. The crowds during the morning rush would definitely have woken us up. While we are looking around for Tim to recognize where we may be we hear what sounds like someone screaming for help. It sounds like it is coming from a couple of blocks over so we head in that direction. By the way there are cars all over the place but no people on the street. This is starting to get kind of spooky. When we turn the corner we see three young men running. They are being followed by a young lady who is apparently the one yelling for help because following her are four other young men who look like fugitives from a punk rock concert. I don’t stop to analyze the situation because the punks are gaining steadily on the young lady who is yelling at the guys running in front of her.

When Jon and Tim boarded the subway to visit Tim’s family they had no idea what kind of life changing adventure they were going on. They will need all the training that they have had as Navy SEALs to survive in a world that is familiar yet totally different.

2
nd
Earth

Adversary

When Jon, Tim, and some of the others go for a boating excursion they run into a situation they were not expecting.

We pretty much run out of stories to tell, so we all kind of sit around with our thoughts. We are all glad that we brought along jackets as well as rain gear, in case we ran into a squall of some kind. The fog is cold and very damp, but none of us want to go below deck, even if we are uncomfortable. I look at my watch and even that has quit working. Tim is looking at his, then he looks at me and says it can’t be. LT starts to say that this is what the fog was like that night he and Kathy came into our world, but stops when he realizes what Tim and I were thinking. All of us came into this world in some kind of dense fog. I think I am speaking for all of us in this boat when I say a prayer to Heavenly Father, praying that he is not sending us back where we came from.

When the guys boarded the boat to explore the coastline they only expected to be gone for a day. When the fog rolls in they are not sure if they will even still be in the world they now love.

Best Friends: The Beginning
(Published 2009)

Sometimes being in the wrong place at the right time can be a good thing.

Oh well, I will go in. I close my eyes as I get into the girls locker room though, I can live with bruises, I’m not sure I could explain a black eye to my mom’s satisfaction. I am ready to call out when from inside I hear a voice that is plainly angry and plainly Mindy. I know that voice well, but now I hear boys’ voices laughing. I shouldn’t be hearing that in here. I follow the sound and wind up just outside the girls shower room. This is not good, what in the heck is going on? I hear Kathy’s contemptuous voice.

“You will never get away with it and when Ed catches you, you’ll be very sorry.”             

I hear a boy’s voice answer.

“Well, he will never find out will he? Because if you tell anyone the next one we get will be your aunt or maybe your mom.” Then he laughs a very evil laugh. I know that voice, I pinned him tonight. Now I am mad but I want to make sure I get as much information as I can before I go in to break this up.

Join Eddie, Mindy, Kathy, Ramona and Amy as they forge a friendship and share life’s adventures together. This first book in the Best Friends series introduces you to Eddie Marlow and his ever increasing group of friends as they experience growing up in a world where true friendship is a very scarce commodity.  

Best Friends 2: First Summer
(Published 2010)

Sometimes when you love someone you may be asked to do things that make you uncomfortable.

I don’t like the way Mindy is looking at me. She leans close and whispers in my ear.

“Do you want to sing a song with me?
Pleeeeeease?
”

“I don’t know how to sing.”

“What about that song you like that your dad plays sometimes, you know that Marie Osmond and Dan Seals song?”

“I don’t know. How does that thing work anyway?”

“They show you the words to the song on a screen and you sing to the music.”

Before I know what is happening she is out of her chair dragging me up to the stage. It’s a good thing she knows how this thing works, wait a minute scratch that, no it’s not. Anyway the music starts playing and I see the words coming up on the screen but I can’t make any sound come out of my mouth.

Join Eddie, Mindy, Kathy and the gang as they encounter uncharted area’s in their relationship and in life.

Best Friends 3: Sophomore Year
(Fall 2010)

Best Friends 4: Sophomore Year
(Fall 2010)

Sometimes being in love is a good way to expand our horizons and do things that we wouldn’t normally do.

“Eddie, you love me don’t you?”

“You know I do. What do you want me to do this time?” Now I know I am in trouble.

“It’s nothing really, did you hear about the play the sophomore class is putting on in the spring?”

“Yes, each class is putting one on.” I am sensing impending doom.

“This year the class sponsors got together and decided to do something different. Instead of doing traditional, well known plays they decided to allow each class to choose a theme and let them write their own play and put it on.”

We are going in a circle so that everyone gets an opportunity to participate. It seems every time I think of something someone else has the same idea. Finally I have an idea that I think might be worth something and nobody else said it first.

“Maybe we could do something with a patriotic theme, everyone here is talented, except perhaps me, with either musical instruments, singing or dancing. I know a lot of you have been hoping our play would be a musical so you can show those talents off. What if we did something like a USO show, we could pretend we are holding auditions for acts to visit our troops and the people auditioning would do it for our audience. The grand finale could maybe be a song everyone knows and could include the audience.” Everyone is looking at me like I just grew a second head. “Or not, sorry it was just a thought.”

Eddie, Mindy and the rest of their ever expanding group of friends are now sophomores. Their experiences and challenges grow right along with them. Join them as they continue to learn about themselves and the world we live in.

Best Friends 5: A Time of Maturing
(Coming soon)

When Mindy’s mom asked Eddie to spend the night there was no way any of them could imagine how much and how quickly their lives could change.

Somewhere around midnight I must have dozed off but now I am completely awake. Did I hear something or is my imagination playing tricks on me? I have stayed here enough to know the night sounds the house makes, every house is different. There it is again, it sounds like someone at the back door. Not knocking, working the doorknob or something like that.

I get up and grab an aluminum baseball bat that is in the family room for some reason, I’m glad it is. I walk as quietly as I can into the kitchen staying close to the wall so I won’t be highlighted by the light in the family room. Every sense in my body is alive and I have a very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What if someone breaks in and gets past me? I’m still just a teenager, and these may be men, mean vicious men. The mind has a tendency to over react at times like this.

I am almost right by the door now, there is definitely someone or more than one someone’s outside that door, I can hear voices. I definitely hear one tell the other.

“The women are home, I saw them this morning, the old man isn’t, his old lady says he’s in Arizona.” These guys are some nasty customers, they are not just interested in stealing, they want Mindy and her mom. If I have anything to say about it they will have to take them over my dead body. That sounds a bit dramatic but that’s the way I feel.

In the next few seconds all heck breaks loose, I am getting better I don’t even swear in times of stress now. They must have used a pry bar because the door breaks inward and the first guy is through into the kitchen in a step or two. He is followed by another one but I am not sure if there are more or not, can’t worry about that now.

Join Eddie, Mindy and the rest of their ever expanding group of friends in their most challenging experiences and adventures yet.

They Call Me Nuisance
(Published 2010)

With a name like Nuisance life can be challenging to say the least.

Dakota horse stops dead in front of the general store, there’s a wagon out front and he stops right next to it. I am sitting here looking stupid, well stupider than usual. A few minutes after we stop here a very pretty young lady comes out of the store yelling at someone inside. She is dressed in a man’s clothing which is strange for the west these days. She is talking like a man too, this lady can cuss with the best of them. She looks around and sees me staring at her. I’ve never seen a woman as pretty as her.

“What are you looking at? Maybe the question should be what are you?”

Now I’m embarrassed, I’m trying to get that horse to move but he ain’t going nowhere.

When Nuisance, Dakota horse and the dog ambled into town they had no idea what they were getting into. Not that it would have changed anything, they are simply not the type to allow anyone to ride roughshod over a lady. Join them as they help Miss Emily and prove to the bad guys that he is only a nuisance to them.