I was driving down my home street in my 18-wheeler when Mama Loria called to ask me how long I would be before I got home. I said I was about to pull into the driveway as we spoke. I pulled in and parked. I grabbed all my dirty clothes and placed them into my laundry bag; I got out and walked. I got to the house with the large bag.
"Ma, I'm home!" I shouted out loud.
Ma came into the kitchen. I put down the laundry bag near the washing machine and went to hug Ma. She hugged me back, saying, "Welcome home, Jim."
"Thanks, Ma; it's good to be home after two months on the road."
She quickly went and started putting my clothes in the washing machine, and I went back to the truck to take out a huge briefcase and bring it into the house. Ma asked, "What is that?"
"Please don't get mad; when I was in Oklahoma, I stopped at a casino because it was the only place I could find where it had truck parking."
"Let me guess," Ma said; "you went inside and gambled."
"I didn't initially go in to play the games," I carefully try to explain. "I went in to try out their restaurant, but on the way, I saw a game with a large cash prize jackpot of fifteen million dollars after taxes, so I took the chance."
Ma looked at the briefcase, "So I take it that you won"?
I sat the briefcase on the kitchen table and opened it. "I explained that not only did I win the fifteen million, they had a triple or nothing, which made the game harder, but I won not only fifteen million but forty-five million dollars. I got two more briefcases in the truck."
"Wow!" Ma said. "That is a lot of money; what will you do with it? I am taking what I owe to the dealership, paying off the pickup truck, and buying the hunting lodge a mile down the road. If you look outside, you will see that I've purchased the 18-wheeler from my company, so I now own that truck and trailer and am currently an owner-operator. I will be able to choose my truckloads now and get better money. I have to go tomorrow to sign the deeds to the property and get moved in."
"I can't entirely agree with gambling, but it seems like this time it paid off," Ma said.
"I don't usually gamble; the game was cheap; it only cost me 20 dollars, so I took the risk, and as you can see, it paid off."
"I am proud of you and congratulations on winning the money, and I hope you don't blow it away," Ma said.
"I don't plan to spend a whole lot. I'm taking one of the gun safes at the hunting lodge, putting the cash in it, taking one million dollars, and putting it in the bank to build interest, and I will live off that until I need more."
Ma said, "I think that will be a good idea. I know you well enough that you don't hold onto money for long."
That evening, Ma made spaghetti for supper, and we ate while watching the news; they talked about the strange phenomena of Auroras popping up worldwide. "The scientist can't figure out why." According to the report, "there haven't been any solar flares that would cause such an event, but they are working on figuring it out. We will keep you updated as we get the information," said the news anchor.
Jim said, "I've seen many of the auroras down in Texas. They are everywhere, and I believe the Earth is undergoing significant change."
"It is the only thing that would make sense. I think you are right," Ma said.
"This is why I purchased a load of survival supplies in the trailer outside and bought the hunting lodge just in case the changes cause the world to shut down."
"Don't you think that is going overboard?" Ma asked.
I replied, "It may be, but I don't want to take any chances. The hunting lodge is already set up in case of world changes and has solar panels on all the buildings. It can receive enough power and electricity through solar and wind power, so hopefully, if something does happen to the planet that might cause everything to shut down, we will be prepared for it."
Ma looked at me and said, "You sound like one of those preppers."
I replied that I might be a prepper, but I would instead be a prepper and be able to survive an apocalypse rather than someone unprepared."
Ma said, "You have a point; at least one of us in the family is preparing for a worst-case scenario."
They heard a sound, and Jim explained that it was just another aurora popping up. They made a weird static sound like someone adjusting an old radio. They stepped outside, and they looked up and saw a rainbow of colored lights in the sky. "Well, at least it is pretty to look at," Ma said.
"Yes, it is quite beautiful and mysterious," I replied.
The following day, they ate breakfast and got dressed to go to the hunting lodge to get the deeds. The owner sells everything to Jim, including merchandise like guns, ammo, hunting clothes, gear, all kinds of survival foods, etc. Both Jim and Loria got into his pickup truck and drove to the hunting lodge, where they would meet both Jim's lawyer and the owner's lawyer waiting to sign the deeds. They arrived at the two-story house and drove into the driveway. The owner was standing on the porch, ready to greet them and welcome them inside. Jim parked the pickup truck, and both he and Loria walked up to Mr. Alan; "welcome Jim to your new home. Come on in; the lawyers are already here," said Mr. Alan.
They walked into the house and went into the living room, where two gentlemen were waiting. Jim quickly greeted them with handshakes: "Hello, Mr. Peterson and Mr. Johnson. Thank you for being here. I know these times are troubling, with everyone worrying about the auroras."
Mr. Johnson replied, "Yes, it is worrying, but it has been a beautiful light display in the night sky so far. We still need to get on with life, so we still work to provide for our families."
"Yes, yes," Mr. Alan said. "I need to get on down to Colorado to open a new lodge where the bigger game is available." "So that is why you decided to sell," Jim exclaimed.
"Yes, sir," Mr. Alan said; "I found a large piece of land for sale up in the mountains that would be perfect for what my family and I would need to build an even better hunting lodge, so we are using the money that you paid me for this property to purchase the land in Colorado. Also, it would be a hassle to try to move all the merchandise and materials; that's why I'm selling everything here. With the price we agreed on, I can easily start over."
"Excellent," Mr. Peterson said. Now, we should get this done. I have a couple more clients to meet with after this. I don't mean to sound rude, but I am on a tight schedule today. Many people are worried about those Auroras popping up, but hey! That means more business for people like me."
"Very well," Jim said. "Let us get this done."
They sat down, and Mr. Alan's lawyer, Mr. Peterson, brought out the deeds to the property, and we began the signing. This property is a little over five thousand acres; it includes ten cabins that are powered by solar panels, three ponds, one that could almost be a lake, this house, which both powerlines and solar panels can power, two medium-sized warehouses full of different merchandise for the store and the hunting lodge, the store which has both powerlines and solar panels. There is also a large underground bunker with plenty of space in an emergency powered by solar panels. "You agreed to pay $750,000 for everything; do you have the money?" Mr. Alan asked.
Jim brought out a small briefcase and handed it to Mr. Alan. "It is all there," Jim explained. Mr. Alan opened the briefcase, saw the cash, and gave it to his lawyer to hold on to. Once the deeds were signed and the property and all its contents were paid for in full, they shook hands and walked outside.
Once Jim and Loria made it home, Loria asked Jim, "Was that worth it? That was a lot of money and property; why would you need that much land?"
Jim answered, "I have a gut feeling I would need it. I don't know why, but something told me to buy it."
"Fair enough," Ma said. "What is next?" She asked.
"We head to the dealership to pay off the pickup truck and your car," I replied.
They returned to the pickup and headed to Lumberton, NC, to the dealership. Once they arrived, they walked inside, and one of the salespeople approached them, asking them what they needed. Jim explained they were there to pay off his and Ma's vehicles. The salesperson led them to the office of the dealership manager, and Jim quickly paid for both his and his mother's vehicles.
After they were done at the dealership, they went back home, and he told her she could meet him back at the first warehouse with a dock for big trucks where they could unload the truck of the goods he had in it. She agreed and left for the lodge. He got inside his 18-wheeler, backed out of the driveway, and made his way to the lodge; once he arrived, he opened his trailer doors and backed into the docks at the first warehouse; once he was finished with that, he walked into the warehouse with his Ma and sees the place was full of survival stuff. There were guns, ammo, packaged food, enough water to last for years, batteries of all sizes, toiletries, flashlights, clothes, armored vests, backpacks of different sizes, boots, fishing gear, boats, and much more. "Ma, I think we hit the jackpot with this place. We will need to get some security for this place if the world does change." I also might need to get a license to sell those guns and ammo."
"I agree," Ma said; "if this is in this warehouse, I can't imagine what would be in the other warehouse. Mr. Alan said both warehouses were full of stuff."
They walked to the other warehouse and discovered it was full of farming stuff. There were barrels of vegetable seeds, crates of farming tools, an old-timey plow, and a seeder, and there were old butter churns, jars, and jars of vegetables processed already. "Ma, I think we will be okay if the worst happens in the world; I only think we need some sort of security. I think I will want a fence or build a wall near the road to prevent anyone from breaking in."
Ma replied, "I think that would be best, especially if your gut feeling is right; if things go too crazy, people will target this place for its mass resources."
After they returned to Warehouse One to unload the 18-wheeler, the ma said she would call Aunt Hest to come and help take inventory of everything he had in both warehouses and the store. In contrast, he returned to her house to bring all his belongings to his new house. He said that would be fine; he said, tell her I will pay her as well. He notices a small trailer beside Warehouse Two and hooks his pickup truck. He then grabs a couple of straps and heads to his mother's house to gather all his belongings, which weren't much, so he could bring back everything he had in one trip. When he got back, he saw that Aunt Hest was already there, and before he unloaded, he went to greet her.
"Hey, Aunt Hest, how are you?"
"I'm doing fine," she said. "It seems you fell into some money and bought an excellent property with a lot of stuff."
"I did," Jim said, "I didn't realize how much stuff until Ma and I walked into the warehouses. Ma and I decided to inventory everything to know what we had. Ma will do this warehouse; if you can, I would like you to do the other warehouse and pay you for your time."
"I can do that," she said.
"Thank you so much," he replied.
Jim hands her a notebook and a couple of pens. "I will unload my belongings to the house, and after I finish that, I will come out and help y'all."
After unloading his stuff into the house, he returned to Warehouse One to see how Ma was doing. When he walked in, he saw her at the other end warehouse; he walked up to her; "hey Ma, how's it going?"
"It is going well," she replied. "I'm almost done here, and it was easier than I was expecting; everything was already well organized. Each row had basically the same thing; for example, the first row was all crates of different size ammo, the second row was other guns with the size ammo it needed, row three bows and arrows, row four was hunting clothes, etc. Each row is labeled very well; all I had to do was count the crates and write them down, but I plan to go back through again to ensure I have everything written down."
"Excellent," Jim said. "I will put the steaks on the grill around 6 pm; we have steaks, baked potatoes, and green beans for supper."
"Sounds good," Ma said.
Jim left Warehouse One and went into Warehouse Two to check on Aunt Hest. He walks in and sees her counting the jars of vegetables. After she was done, he asked her how she was doing. She replied that she was almost done and said that he had a lot of seeds and well-kept old-fashioned farming stuff like the plows and butter churns. "Did you see those large greenhouses out behind this warehouse?" She asked.
"I did, and I saw that it was empty now but thought about what he would use them for."
"I'm sure you will come up with something," she said.
"I'm putting some steaks on the grill at 6 pm." Jim told her, "I would like you to join us if possible. I would love to join you."
"Thank you, I would love to join," she replied with a smile.
Around 7:30 pm, they sat at his dining room table to eat their steak dinner and talked about everything they found on the property. Jim explained that he went inside the bunker and found it too full of stuff like canned foods, water, and everything else needed in an emergency. Mama Loria explained that after she was done with Warehouse One, she went into the store to get an inventory of what was there and document it with the stuff from the warehouses. Aunt Hest said that she went to check on the greenhouses since she had some knowledge of the upkeep of a greenhouse and explained that all five of the large greenhouses were in top shape and ready to use. "Excellent!" Jim exclaimed. "Thank you for doing that; if my gut feeling is correct, we might need them."
"What gut feeling?" Aunt Hest asked.
"With the auroras popping up like they are, I have a feeling that the Earth is getting ready to make a significant change, and I wanted to make sure that I did everything to prepare for it; call it paranoia, or call me a prepper, but I will rather be safe than sorry. When I won the money and saw that this place was for sale, I didn't hesitate to purchase it. I didn't realize this place is a prepper wet dream with all the stock here. When Mr. Alan said everything would be included with the asking price, I didn't realize how much it was here, but I am glad to have it. It will save me time from gathering it myself."
"I see," Aunt Hest said. "If the worst does happen, can we come here for safety?"
"Absolutely," Jim said; "that is why I bought such a prominent place; it already has ten cabins and plenty of space to build if we need more, and it has a massive bunker in case of emergency, and I want my family and friends to have a place to go if the worst happens."
"Thank you, I will let the family know if what you said is true," Aunt Hest said.
That evening after Aunt Hest and Mama Loria left to go home, Jim sat in his chair to watch the auroras when suddenly the auroras got even brighter than ever. Then, a message appeared before me that wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried.
ATTENTION! I am The Keeper of this world. At this time, creatures of old will reappear on Earth, this world will reset, and almost all of your current technologies will fail. You must learn to survive the new world; a few will receive special abilities to help your communities survive. Those who notice the warnings that the Earth is changing and are prepared for the change will receive extra abilities and will be able to have the tools needed to survive the changes. I also removed weapons like weapons of mass destruction, missiles, and bombs from you, and I will never have access to those kinds of weapons again. The changes will commence in precisely five hours, and the creatures will appear. Good luck, humans. This is a new age; you must rely on instincts to survive.
Well, crap looks like I was right. I called my mother and asked her if she had seen the message?
"I did," she said in a panic. "What does it mean by creatures of old?"
"I'm not sure," Jim replied, "but you need to call the family and get them here as fast as possible before the five hours."
She said she would and that she would be there soon. I am on my way to help you pack while you make the phone calls. She agreed and thanked him.