Fiction: The end of Lower Broome

AGGY WILCOCKS SURFACED, gasping and coughing. The surging flood had taken her by surprise, separating her from her family, pushing her right through town and slamming her against the tin veranda of the transit station.

Winded, she sucked desperately for air before diving down into the murky water in a frantic search for Uncle or the children. She came back up, still breathless and alone. Aggy dove again, pushing at the shifting debris. Lots of branches, a tractor battery, two dolls and some hydroponic drip-feeding tubes. Nothing important or useful.

Bobbing atop the water-line and blinking back tears, she squinted towards the horizon. The familiar landmarks were missing. No more grain silo or McWilliam’s two-storey Pub. Even the town hall, where she had hoped to attend her first harvest dance with Stevie Bennet, had gone. Swirling, turgid water had swallowed everything and everyone; so quickly.

Aggy grabbed a wooden table that floated within reach and clung to it as she looked west for the source of the flood. It was impossible to see anything clearly in the white-topped turmoil.

Then, looking up she noticed the cavern’s rocky roof approaching as she rose higher in the water. Unless she could find a way out soon, the vast underground cavern that had been her home would fill to become her watery tomb.

Behind her, the roof arched down into the water and merged into the back wall of the drowned transit station. All her life it had been there. A distant, largely ignored wall that defined the edge of their territory and kept them safe. Now it was a dam that was drowning them all.

She forced down a sob and reached out to touch it. The wall was slippery, cold to the touch and impossibly smooth. She clawed at it with her hands but couldn’t get any purchase. Feeling above her head, she found a conduit that ascended from the recently submerged building beneath her feet, and clung to it.

Steady at last, she made herself recall Uncle’s last instructions, hoping it would calm her down and help her to find a way out.

What had he said? Think, Aggy, think! The stories of the world above us are true. Just need to survive this. Find … something? Find what? It had happened so rapidly she couldn’t remember. JayMoe would know.

Aggy was about to dive down to search for him when she heard a low growl. She looked into the distance. Her heart screamed. Another wave loomed. There was only enough time to strengthen her grip and take two deep breaths.

The green wall of frothy water hit and, once again, she was submerged…

***

Click on this link Letters-From-The-Light-Look-Inside to continue reading Chapter 1 or pop over to Amazon or your fav book store to pick up a copy.

You can check out the five star reviews on Goodreads:

“A craft, filled with the sleeping, travels through space on a rescue mission. A girl almost drowns in a flood. A boy lives in perpetual darkness, surrounded by the blind, whilst a privileged few party in the light, oblivious to the suffering around them. Politics and faith are not what they seem in Calopa’s extraordinary science fiction novel, taking these and many more disparate strands and weaving an intricate, mysterious plot that twists and turns in the style of a thriller. “ – Caroline Noe

“A fantastic read from start to finish! Letters To The light is a captivating story with many twists and turns that both delighted and surprised me!” – Melissa Siladi

“Letters from the Light is a engaging debut novel for Australian author, Calopa. The building of her dystopian world creates an great tapestry for a strong storyline and interesting characters, including the AIs (which I really loved the humans interaction with), that kept me turning the pages. I’ll definitely be looking for other stories for this author. Great read.” – Sue-Ellen Pashley